The first four books of the New Testament present to us a fourfold mirror, reflecting the glorious Person and earthly life of our Lord Jesus Christ. While there is certainly some over-lapping in their messages, each one is a distinct biography revealing to us the identity of that One sent by the Father to accomplish redemption. There is a beautiful harmony of the four gospel writers which blend together to tell us of the Son of God, sent from above to save His people from their sins.
MATTHEW sets forth our Savior as being royalty, therefore, He began his inspired record with these words, "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham" (1:1). It is only in Matthew that we hear the wise men inquire, "Where is He that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east, and are come to worship Him" (2:2). The life of Christ is presented in the light of Messianic prophecies. Matthew demonstrates the fulfillment of these predictions in order to certify that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed Messiah, the One promised and typified in the Old Testament.
MARK describes our Lord as being the perfect Servant, therefore, he gives no genealogy, as does Matthew and Luke. The second evangelist shows that the Lord's life was one of service. "For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45).
LUKE mentions the genealogy of our Savior, but not in the same way as Matthew. Since Matthew was establishing the royalty of Christ, he began by linking the Savior to David and Abraham. Luke, on the other hand, sets Him forth as being the Son of Man, so his genealogy goes all the way back to Adam (Luke 3:38). It is in Luke that we hear the Master say, "The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost" (19:10).
JOHN's record contains no genealogy because his purpose was to set forth the Savior as being the eternal Son of God. Unlike Matthew and Luke, John does not mention His birth, but begins by declaring, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God."
These four different views of the Redeemer present to us the inspired revelation of Who our Savior is and what He did during His earthly sojourn. Behold the qualifications of Jesus of Nazareth to be the Savior of sinners. He is the promised Messiah, the predicted King Who came to serve Jehovah and accomplish the work of salvation for which He was sent. He is, at the same time, the Son of Man, born of a virgin and yet the Son of God, the eternal Word, God of very God. "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). Thank God for the inspired fourfold record of the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ Who brought in everlasting life by His sinless life, substitutionary death, and victorious resurrection.