The synoptic study
The men on the road to Emmaus returned to Jerusalem and shared what Jesus had taught them—that all the Scriptures spoke of Him. They then recalled that He had been teaching this all along, but they had neither understood nor remembered. At Pentecost, He sent them the Holy Spirit to remind them of what He had previously taught.
As they read the Scriptures, they began to see Christ in them. At first, they recognized Him in simple prophecies. But they realized that the Greek churches were not benefiting from their discoveries. To address this, they gathered the teachings they had been sharing in Jewish congregations—primarily those of Peter—and compiled them into a book, intending to pass it along to the Gentiles who did not want to learn Hebrew. This first book, Mark, began with the teaching of John the Baptist.
Over the following years, they discovered that Israel itself was a shadow of Christ. This led them to start their account with Abraham. They revised and expanded Mark, creating Matthew. In doing so, they removed the long ending of Mark, recognizing that it was written in riddle: “You will be tempted (serpents) and will learn bad things (poison), yet you will not be harmed.” The Greeks, reading it literally, had put themselves in danger. The apostles also incorporated prophetic riddles and reinterpreted their memories of Jesus' actions through the lens of Him being the fulfillment of Israel.
As time passed, they made another discovery: the men before Abraham were also shadows of Christ. This led them to begin their account with Adam. They omitted Yeshua-Emmanuel because understanding its meaning required familiarity with Hebrew wordplay. The additions reflected their growing understanding of Christ as the second Adam and the federal head of all humanity.
Then John, having learned to read Hebrew word formations, wrote his Gospel. Since the details of Christ’s ministry had already been covered two or three times, he focused on doctrinal discoveries as he saw Christ in the Old Testament. He began his account with the wordplay in Genesis 1:1, forming John 1:1-4.
The apostles knew and corresponded with one another. Scoffers claim that the Gospels were not written by eyewitnesses and date them late to cast doubt on their authenticity. They fabricate the Synoptic Problem to support their argument. However, Matthew can rightly be seen as Mark 2.0, and Luke as Mark 3.0.
When the Gospels are studied in parallel, it becomes clear that the apostles' understanding of Christ deepened over time. Subtle additions, often overlooked, serve as rich expansions of the simple Gospel taught by Peter and Mark. These were not cases of “magic new knowledge” or “fading memories”—rather, each Gospel builds upon the last, adding new material.
This troubles the scoffers because, typically, memories fade. To explain the additional material, they invent a lost Gospel of Q, effectively calling Jesus a liar when He said His word would not pass away.
Now, we understand that the Holy Spirit reminded the apostles of what Jesus had done as they read the Old Testament and saw Him in it. Their deeper understanding of Christ came through study, guided by the Holy Spirit. This should encourage us, for we too can study and call upon the Holy Spirit for insight.
This we will endeavor to do as we study the gospels side by side.
