Mark 1:1, Matthew 1:1, and Luke 1:1–4

This essay is the first in a series that follows the four Gospels chronologically, using Aland’s Synopsis of the Four Gospels and the NASB 2020 translation.

Mark’s Gospel explicitly states its purpose: to prove that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God. Matthew focuses on Jewish history and prophecy to demonstrate how Jesus fulfills messianic hopes. Luke bases his account on detailed investigation, using earlier written sources and eyewitness testimonies. These are not three versions of one preface but three different arguments about how to introduce Jesus, and that difference, more than the events each writer narrates, is the thread this series will follow.