Have you ever visited an art museum that had several portraits of the same person? Each portrait showed the same individual, and yet each one also showed different sides to their character or personality.

The same is true of the four Gospels that God has given us in the New Testament. Each one tells us about Jesus, and at certain points they even tell us about the same incident in His life. But each one of the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke and John—also gives us a portrait of Jesus, each revealing aspects of Jesus’ life and ministry that are important for us to know.

Take, for example, the Gospel of Matthew. It was written by Matthew, who had been a tax collector for the Roman government—and as such, was probably despised by most of his fellow Jews. He probably would have been relatively wealthy also, since tax collectors were notorious for keeping part of what they collected. But one day he met Jesus—and his life was completely changed. ” ‘Follow me,’ [Jesus] told him, and Matthew got up and followed him” (Matthew 9:9).

As a result, Matthew in his Gospel tells us something very important about Jesus: only Jesus—and not Caesar—can save us and satisfy our deepest spiritual hunger. Only Jesus, Matthew tells us, is worthy of our worship and obedience, for He alone is our Lord and Savior. Thank God for each of the Gospels (as well as the whole Bible), and make His Word part of your life every day.

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