You may or may not know that one of my two callings in my ward (scouts being one) and the other is Gospel Doctrine Teacher. I have to study hard and have learned quite a bit. Here is some interesting info I collected that makes for a nice insert in your scriptures about the four gospels. Cut and paste it into a document and then print for your own scripture set.
Overview of the New Testament
The 27 books in the New Testament can easily be divided into four parts:
a. The Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John)
b. The book of Acts, which is an account of the ministry of the Apostles after Jesus’ death and Resurrection. This book focuses on Peter’s work among the Jews and Paul’s work among the Gentiles.
c. The epistles (letters) of Paul and other Church leaders, written to instruct and edify the Saints of their time.
d. The Lord’s revelation to the Apostle John on the isle of Patmos .
The Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), which are a record and witness of Jesus Christ’s life, mission, and teachings. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are quite similar in phraseology and content, and for that reason they are called "The Synoptic Gospels" (Bible Dictionary, p. 683). They are basically testimonies of Christ. Keep in mind that many plain and precious things have been taken out of the writings in the gospels. Gospel writers had different approaches to describing Jesus’ life. Each author came from a different walk of life, and was writing to a specific audience. The study of the authorship, audience, and angle of each of the gospels is fascinating and instructive. It may be that they were later written by followers of those leaders, who learned from their teachings about Christ. This was a very common thing done anciently, where the disciple would write a book and name their teacher as author.
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Matthew wrote to the unbelieving Jews, referring often to Old Testament prophecies to demonstrate to the Jews that Jesus the Christ was the promised Messiah. Matthew wrote either in Hebrew or Aramaic, because the Church had not yet spread to Greek speaking areas around Palestine
Matthew picked and chose who to represent in the genealogy, as there were actually more than 14 generations between each important individual (and this was acceptable to the Jews, because the symbolic number was the most important thing, not the literal number), but in that picking and choosing, he referenced five women. Besides Mary (1:16), he listed Thamar or Tamar (1:3), Rachab or Rahab, Ruth (1:5), and Bathsheba (1:6). Every one of these women had questionable pasts, particularly in relation to their conception and child-bearing, but produced great results for the House of Israel, making themselves ancestral heroines. By including these particular women, revered by the Jews but with imperfect and even abhorrent family situations, Matthew presented the perfect defense for Mary's unusual circumstance of conception.
Matthew's is the only gospel that includes the story of the wise men. Jews would have been most impressed by wealthy, learned men who had studied the scriptures in far away lands (they might possibly have been displaced Jews) and recognized the signs of the Messiah's coming.
Matthew included five major discourses given by Jesus Christ. He highlighted these in a way similar to the way he highlighted the 14 prophecies, using a key phrase at the end of each. The phrase is "When Jesus had finished these sayings..." Is there a reason he chose five sermons? Of course! There is a reason for every number used by a Jew in the Bible! In this case, Matthew was adding a sequel to five writings that were very near and dear to every Jew, and were in fact, a foundation of their religion: The five books of Moses, the Torah. By doing this, he was showing the Jews that Christ was the fulfillment of the Law of Moses, and that His counsel superseded or added to that Law.
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Mark probably directed his writings to his missionary acquaintances, the Romans. He wrote in a simple style and highlighted the miracles of the Savior. It is generally accepted that the Apostle Peter greatly influenced Mark’s writings.
Mark was the interpreter of Peter. He neither heard the Lord, nor followed him, but wrote what he heard Peter say of his experiences with Jesus. It is believed that Mark wrote mainly to the Romans or Gentiles, stressing the deeds and miracles of Jesus. Mark’s given name was John and his Latin surname was Marcus, or Mark. Acts 12:12-13:13. He was the son of a woman named Mary in whose Jerusalem
"[Mark's] object is to describe our Lord as the incarnate Son of God, living and acting among men. The gospel contains a living picture of a living Man.
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Luke was strongly influenced by the Apostle Paul, his close associate and missionary companion. Luke was a more polished writer and seems to have directed his testimony to the educated, cultured Greeks.
Luke, the physician, was well educated. Luke gives full detail on the psychological reactions of the apostles and the physical proof of the resurrection. Luke was converted by those who walked with Christ. Luke may have met with many of the women mentioned in his Gospel while waiting for Paul to be released from prison. Luke's gospel is the one with the beautiful Christmas story, told from a woman's perspective. (Matthew tells it from a man's.) These interviews were the source regarding the birth of Jesus. Luke wrote mainly to the Greeks. Luke was companion to Paul on some of his missionary travels.
Luke was a Gentile convert, likely converted through the labors of Paul’s writing to Gentiles and to minorities, and to those looked down upon by the Jews: women, lepers, Samaritans, sinners (prostitutes). Luke was a physician, and therefore had close contact with and compassion for all types and both genders of people, a unique position. Most male professions in that day involved dealings with other men only, but a physician dealt with all, even the "unclean."
As a missionary, Luke ministered to the Gentiles with Paul. Like Matthew, Luke gives a genealogy of Christ, but it differs from Matthew's. Matthew introduced Christ as "the son of David, the son of Abraham" (Matt. 1:1). This is what was important to the Jews: that Christ was one of the chosen people, and was in the kingly and priestly line. It was the first thing Matthew said in his testimony. Luke, on the other hand, gives a genealogy of Christ that identifies him as "the son of Joseph" (Luke 3:23) (even though Luke testifies of the divinity of Christ) and takes Christ's ancestry all the way back to Adam (Luke 3:38), making everyone, Jew and Gentile, a relative of Christ.
Luke had a special understanding of women as a result of his medical ministry among them. He was the only one who wrote of the annunciation of Mary, and of her visit to Elizabeth, John the Baptist's mother. He knew that "Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart" (Luke 2:19). He knew of Simeon's personal prophecy to Mary that "a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also" (Luke 2:35). How did he know of these things? Very likely he was a close personal acquaintance of Mary's in the Church, and he heard these stories from her own mouth. Luke gives what little information we have about the childhood of Christ. He was the one who told of Mary's terror when she realized her 12-year-old was not with the caravan. (See Luke 2:51).
Where is the parable of the Good Samaritan found? Only in Luke. What about Christ's visit to Mary and Martha? Only in Luke. Many of the most treasured parables are found only in Luke: The woman with the lost coin, the shepherd with the lost sheep, the Prodigal Son, the rich man and the beggar Lazarus. The cleansing of the ten lepers is recorded only in Luke. Luke wrote to the underdog, to tell him (and her!) that Christ was come for them as well as for anyone.
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John emphasized doctrine because he was writing for the newly converted saints. In his writing, we see an emphasis on spiritual things that would increase the understanding of the new saints.
John is the gospel that is not like the others. Like Matthew and Mark, John was a Jew converted to Christianity. Like Matthew he was one of the apostles. But unlike Matthew, he was not writing to convince the Jews that Jesus was the Christ, and unlike Mark, he was not writing to convince the Gentiles that Jesus was the Christ. He was not writing to convince anyone that Jesus was the Christ: he was writing to those who already knew. He was writing to the Christians. This makes his gospel very different. John’s purpose is to explain WHAT He is and begins by describing Him as the WORD. John’s book has 21 chapters that deal with the period before and during Jesus’ mortal life. The last chapter is after His resurrection. Of the first 20 chapters, half are devoted to His last six days in mortality. John was the last writer and had the benefit of having copies of the other three Gospels. He added, what the others lacked,an account of what had been done by Jesus first of all and at the beginning of the preaching. His writings were as an intimate eye-witness of Jesus’ life. John tells what it was like to be with the Master privately. John is in part the Gospel of the personal conversations of the Savior. John’s main objective is to bear witness that Jesus is the Christ.
Near the conclusion of his book, we read, "But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name" (John 20:31).
John was in the Church from the very beginning. A follower of John the Baptist, he then became one of the first disciples of Christ. John was one of the "inner circle of three who were with the Lord at the raising of Jairus's daughter, at the Transfiguration, and in Gethsemane " (BD, p. 715). So he was like a member of the First Presidency, one of the "three pillars of the Christian Church". John wrote not only his gospel, but also three of the epistles, and the amazing book of Revelation. He identified himself as "the disciple whom Jesus loved," the one who wanted to continue to minister upon the earth until the Second Coming. His testament was the last one written, and contains unique contributions, and many more of Christ's teachings than do the others. He had a deep understanding of the Savior and his gospel by the time he wrote his book.
Only John tells how Christ raised Lazarus from the dead. Only John records the cleansing of the temple. In John, Christ explains his death to the apostles. Only in John do we read of Jesus washing his disciples' feet, and his commandment to them to be an example of love for each other. In John, the apostles are warned that the world will hate them and try to kill them. In John the gift of the Comforter is explained. The Intercessory prayer for the disciples is found in John. Only in John is Peter told three times, "Feed my sheep." More of the resurrected Christ's visit back to his disciples is recorded in John than in the other gospels.
John records seven miraculous signs of the divinity of Christ, five of which are only found in his gospel. The Gospel of John is a college text, where the other gospels are elementary school primers. The other three gospels are like sacrament meeting, and the Gospel of John is like a temple. In fact, John is better understood in relation to the temple ceremony. It is deep and rich and symbolic, and it builds upon what the other gospels give us and raises our understanding to a higher level. It is for the increased edification of those who are already saints.
Only John records the descriptions Christ gave of himself, many of which hearken back to the term used in the Old Testament to identify Jehovah: "I AM." Seven of them are especially noted, possibly symbolic of the meaning of the number seven: godly perfection. These are marked with a tag, similar to Matthew's tags; they all begin with some form of the phrase "Jesus said unto them." "John's witness of the Lord is unique. His Gospel and epistles record some of the Savior's noblest feelings and doctrines, especially His message of love"
Sources:
Bible Dictionary entries for Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
David H. Stern, Jewish New Testament Commentary, p. 114.
Camille Fronk [Olson], "The Four Gospels," Know Your Religion Lecture, January 1998, Logan , Utah
David Bokovoy, "A Literary Analysis of the Four Gospels," BYU Education Week Lecture, August 2002
Victor Ludlow, "John: The Once and Future Witness," Ensign, December 1991, p. 51-52
Thomas Mumford, Horizontal Harmony of the Gospels
Gospel Doctrine Teaching Manual, LDS.org
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