According to the Word of Faith Christian Fellowship there are a few notable differences (but as well as similarities) between the Gospels of Mathew and John. The two are also believed to account to the different portrayals of death and crucifixion of Jesus. The difference is found in terms of not only the manner of how the two presented the events but in other aspects as well. On the other hand, the similarity between the two is found in the Old Testament references they made. It was mentioned that Mathew is the lone evangelist who shared the story of Magi who came from the East to worship a new born king of Israel. In addition, despite Mathew being considered to be the most missionary text amongst the four Gospels, some scholar according to the Word of Faith Christian Fellowship, missed out on John’s as well.
John’s Gospels are no less missionary than Mathew’s. One of the differences between the two is in terms of defining the object of Jesus’ mission. John uses the concept of ‘world’ while Mathew utilizes ‘nations.’ Based on the writing of John, Jesus and the rest of His disciples where sent into the world. However, the same ideology was used in Mathew but with a different world mainly changing world into all nations.
Mathew focuses on the mission of Jesus in the world. In the beginning of his Gospel, Mathew connects the gentile nations. He focused on not only Israel, but also other gentiles who were also looking forward for the coming of the one. The tone of Mathew is to make the readers realize that the impact of the Messiah is not exclusive to Israel but other nations all well. The story of the Magi, for example, depicts Mathew’s contrasting the soberness of the gentile Magi as compared to the slumbering nobles of Israel. He introduces the concept that Kingdom together with its King will have a lasting impact on the gentile nations. The main theme of Mathew is that the grace of God will overflow in all nations. The gospel of Mathew is observed by his attempt to introduce his gospel through the portrayal of the birth of Christ. His motif is that the birth of Jesus was desired by the nations. The theme begins to deepen as he develops the notion of Showing that God was indeed prepared to accept those who have faith in Jesus as their Saviour. Due to the presence of Jesus, the disciples are then prepared to take on the mission with Him in order to spread the Words.
Another difference between the two Gospels is that John made use of the concept of shaliach (or the sent one, agent of God). In order to clearly articulate the development of John’s mission motif it is identified in a certain sequence. The initial was due to the love of God the Father, He sends Jesus into the world. The next instance portrays the sending of the Holy Spirit to His disciples and lastly Jesus asking the disciples to spread the Word into the world. Chapter 1 of John (as of the rest of his chapters) uses the portrayal of Jesus as the one sent from God. In John’s words, Jesus was sent to the world to perform a redemptive task which is to bring salvation to mankind. Similar to Mathew, the climax of the mission in John’s gospel is found during the resurrection. Bosh (2004) added that John is connected to the Keys of the Kingdom presented by Mathew. Although the goal of the two Gospels is relatively the same, their difference in style highlights their attempt to provide variation in terms of mission of Jesus on Earth. Mathew wants to portray that it is not only exclusive to one nation as John focuses on Jesus primary mission.
Reference:
The Word of Faith Christian Fellowship. Mission in the Gospel of Matthew and John: similarities and contrasts. 2013
Bosh, David J. Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission. Maryknoll: Orbis Books. 2004.
Kostenberger, Andreas J. and O'Brien, Peter T. Salvation to the ends of the earth. Downers Grove: Inter Varsity Press. 2001.
