Examining the Audience of the Four Gospels (Essay Sample)

Student’s Name
Professor’s Name
Course Code and Title
Date of Submission
Examining the Audience of the Four Gospels
Introduction
The Bible is one of the most respected accounts. It is composed of two sections namely the old and new testaments. However, the New Testament is more emphasized as it discusses the teachings of Jesus and the events of the first century of Christianity. The New Testament encompasses various books, but the gospel accounts are more highlighted and thought critically important because they narrate the happenings during the ministry of Jesus Christ. The four gospels are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The four gospel books contain almost similar information, which implies that they are harmonious in the message they pass. However, allegations have it that each of the four gospel books was intended for a different audience. The aim of this paper is to determine the audiences of each of the gospel books.
The Four Gospel Accounts and Different Audiences
It has been alleged that the four gospel books were targeted at diverse audiences. The claim is linked to the setting of the execution of Jesus where a superscript was positioned above his head reading in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, and it read, "This is Jesus of Nazareth, King of Jews”. The dialects reflected the three dominant cultures of the Mediterranean world when the New Testament was written (Burridge 140). The allegation is closely linked to another, which alleges that the Gospel of Matthew was written for the Hebrews while the book of Mark targeted the Romans. Luke was intended to address the Greeks while John’s narrative was broad-based as it targeted various rather than specific cultures.
The Gospel of Matthew
Matthew was the author of the Gospel of Matthew, which intended to assure the Jews that Jesus Christ was the Savior foretold in the Old Testament by Prophet Isaiah. The account was written from a Jewish viewpoint for the Jews (Burridge 147). The evidence presented for the account is so overwhelming such that it is referred to as the Gospel of the Jews. The Jewishness of Matthew is evident from the start to the end. In the text, Jesus is more numerously referred to as the Son of David than in the other gospel books’ narrations.
The Gospel of Mark
Mark is the writer of the book. The gospel targeted to a group of Gentile Christians, the Romans of Rome (Von Tischendorf and Gage 201). It was written as an evangelism and apostolic manual.
The Gospel of Luke
Luke was written by Apostle Luke, who was targeting the Greeks. The book was written with the aim of reaching the Greeks with the gospel of Jesus Christ. He delivers a firsthand testimony of the genuineness of the miracles of Jesus Christ (Von Tischendorf and Gage 210).
The Gospel of John
John is identified as the writer of the Gospel of John, which was focused on the Gentiles of all ethnic groups. The gospel was meant to convince the Christians that Jesus was indeed the son of God and that believing in him would lead to eternal life (Burridge 150).
Conc...