The Four Gospels...

Fr. Joachim Trytania

The FOUR GOSPELS are the principal source of information about the life of Christ. In order to understand both the form under which they have come and the purpose they serve, we must recall their origin and character. We must not regard the Gospels as literary works that came out of the initiative of the writers (Matthew, Mark, Luke or John), but rather as the inspired Word of God and the essence of many years of catechetical instructions which resulted in the writings we know. As a matter of fact, from the earliest days of the Church, the Apostles handed down the message of Christ in the form of oral instruction. They were its accredited witnesses, a solemn function that they had received from our Lord himself (Luke 24:48; Acts 1:8).

The Scripture tells us that holding true to this testimony was the Apostles principle duty. Even before the Pentecost, when it was necessary to choose someone to replace Judas and so to become the twelfth Apostle, the Disciples were aware of an indispensable condition, that the chosen replacement should have followed the Redeemer from the time of Jesus baptism by John until his Ascension itself (Acts 1;21-22). And so, this testimony appears as collective from the beginning. The whole band of the Apostles, not isolated individuals, recount the life and teaching of the Master, with whom they ate and drank during the course of his public life.

In our Lords public life, which took place entirely under the eyes of his disciples, certain facts stand out in a light stronger than others. First among these are the Passion and Resurrection, then certain more solemn revelations of the nature and mission of our Lord Jesus Christ, such as were given at our Lords baptism and on the Mount of Transfiguration. Then appear the events from the life of Christ and his teaching. The miracles, wonders and signs which God did through Jesus are the revelations of the Father. Later on, to the memories of the Twelve Apostles will be added that of other witnesses of our Lords life - such as his Blessed Mother and other members of his family to whom we owe the Infancy narratives, or the disciples of Emmaus in the story recorded by St. Luke. These personal recollections are handed down to us in the Gospel, on the collective authority of the Church.

The decisive part played by the Church in the origin and development of the tradition has never been lost from the sight of the Catholic theologians, because tradition preceded the Scripture. The Church never ignored the important period when the Gospel existed only under the form of the spoken word. The Church bears witness of Christ. The Gospels are historical narratives, sprung from the apostolic catechesis and bearing marks and guarantees of the witness borne to their Master by the Twelve.

Toward the end of his Gospel, St. John writes: Many other signs Jesus did in the sight of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.(20:30-31). What is so explicitly stated by St. John is equally assumed by the Synoptical writers. It was never their object to satisfy the curiosity of their readers, but to kindle their faith. That was the purpose of the catechetical system of the primitive Church, on which the Gospels are based, and it was that motive that determined the character of the Gospels, and of the Church.