History Literature / TheFourGospels

* MakeAnExampleOfThem: On top of the already-grisly spectacle that is a public crucifixion, Pontius Pilate orders a sign put up above Jesus head on the cross reading ''Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum'' (Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews).[[note]]And that's where that INRI thing comes from in paintings.[[/note]] The Jewish leaders take offense at this, interpreting it as Pilate claiming authority to execute ''any'' Jewish leader, and demand he tone it down to "He ''claimed'' to be King of the Jews"--Pilate flatly refuses, telling them "[[BecauseISaidSo What I have written, I have written.]]"

** Some scholars have interpreted the relationship between Pilate and the Jewish leaders as evidence for one; not Tiberius, who besides a single mention in Luke is TheGhost, but the captain of the Prateorian Guard and effective tyrant in Rome, Sejanus,[[note]]Tiberius had absconded his duties to have sex parties in Rhodes during Jesus' career as a preacher[[/note]] who was notorious for his antisemitic policies. Pilate's extrabiblical activities are generally heavy-handed and brutal, but his execution of Jesus after the implied threat that refusing to do so would mean incurring Caesar's wrath has been taken to mean that Sejanus had died by that point and he would've had to answer directly to Tiberius, who had rescinded Sejanus' antisemitic policies.

* EvilGloating: The Romans mock Jesus heavily while torturing him before finally killing him, asking him if he's really the King of the Jews. They even put up a sign above his head on the cross reading ''Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum'' (Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews).[[note]]And that's where that INRI thing comes from in paintings.[[/note]]

* TheManBehindTheMan: In the gospels of Matthew and Mark, when Jesus tells His disciples that He is going to Jerusalem to be crucified, Peter pulls Jesus aside and rebukes Him for making such a statement. Jesus in turn says, "Get behind Me, Satan. For you do not savor the things that be of God, but the things that be of men." Some Bible students interpret that as Jesus not speaking directly to Peter, but rather to the spirit that was using Peter to dissuade Jesus from His earthly mission.

** Jesus, and possibly others we forget. Some people think that Jesus was married, but that His wife was not mentioned in the Bible (there are also a lot of speculations about why this is). Other people see this idea as heresy. Also, throughout New Testament Scripture, Jesus is spoken of as being the Bridegroom waiting to be united with His bride, which most, if not all Christians interpret as being the church.

* AnachronismStew: The "Give unto Caesar" scene relies on the coins having Caesar's face on them; such coins were not used in Judea prior to the destruction of the Temple in AD 70. The coins the Jews used to pay taxes to the Roman government was the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrian_shekel Tyrian shekel]], which had another image on it (seen by the Tyrians as Melqart, and by the Romans as Hercules).

* AncientRome: Judea (now part of modern-day Israel) was a Roman province during the time of Jesus.

The first four books of the [[Literature/TheBible New Testament]], chronicling the life of one [[UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} Jesus Christ]], [[IAmXSonOfY the son of David, the son of Abraham]]. Their name means "[[MeaningfulName Good News]]";[[note]]This etymology dates back to the Gospels' original writing in [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koine_Greek Koine Greek]]: ''euangélion'' ([[JustForFun/IThoughtThatWas no, it's not what]] [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion you might be thinking of]]). The actual word ''gospel'' originates in Old English as ''gōdspel'', a transliteration of the original Greek.[[/note]] the idea behind the Gospels is that they exist to record the "good news" of Jesus's death and resurrection and to allow that news to be spread by Christians to the world. As a result, each of the four has a slightly different tone and target. [[note]] There are overlaps in these descriptions, and we must be careful not to oversimplify these differences in approach.[[/note]]

The first four books of the [[Literature/TheBible New Testament]], chronicling the life of one [[UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} Jesus Christ]], [[IAmXSonOfY the son of David, the son of Abraham]]. Their name means "[[MeaningfulName Good News]]";[[note]]This etymology dates back to the Gospels' original writing in [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koine_Greek Koine Greek]]: ''euangélion'' ([[JustForFun/IThoughtThatWas no, it's not what]] [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion you might be thinking of)]]. The actual word ''gospel'' originates in Old English as ''gōdspel'', a transliteration of the original Greek.[[/note]] the idea behind the Gospels is that they exist to record the "good news" of Jesus's death and resurrection and to allow that news to be spread by Christians to the world. As a result, each of the four has a slightly different tone and target. [[note]] There are overlaps in these descriptions, and we must be careful not to oversimplify these differences in approach.[[/note]]

The first four books of the [[Literature/TheBible New Testament]], chronicling the life of one [[UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} Jesus Christ]], [[IAmXSonOfY the son of David, the son of Abraham]]. Their name means "[[MeaningfulName Good News]]";[[note]]This etymology dates back to the Gospels' original writing in [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koine_Greek Koine Greek]]: ''euangélion'' ([[JustForFun/IThoughtThatWas no, it's not what]] [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion you might be thinking of)]]. The actual word "Gospel" originates in Old English as a transliteration of the original Greek.[[/note]] the idea behind the Gospels is that they exist to record the "good news" of Jesus's death and resurrection and to allow that news to be spread by Christians to the world. As a result, each of the four has a slightly different tone and target. [[note]] There are overlaps in these descriptions, and we must be careful not to oversimplify these differences in approach.[[/note]]

The first four books of the [[Literature/TheBible New Testament]], chronicling the life of one [[UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} Jesus Christ]], [[IAmXSonOfY the son of David, the son of Abraham]]. Their name means "[[MeaningfulName Good News]]"; the idea behind the Gospels is that they exist to record the "good news" of Jesus's death and resurrection and to allow that news to be spread by Christians to the world. As a result, each of the four has a slightly different tone and target. [[note]] There are overlaps in these descriptions, and we must be careful not to oversimplify these differences in approach.[[/note]]

** A well-known example is that Matthew and Luke agree on only just a tiny handful of details about the birth of Jesus: his mother was named Mary, she was a virgin, she was married to a man named Joseph, and she gave birth to him in Bethlehem. They disagree on why Mary and Joseph were in Bethlehem: Matthew just implies that they lived there, Luke says it was Nazareth resident Joseph's ancestral hometown and he had to go there to be registered in a census. The Wise Men are in Matthew, the shepherds are in Luke.

* RealMenLoveJesus: Oh yes. Most of the disciples qualify, for a start.

* RashomonStyle: There's a reason this page isn't called "The One Gospel." The four different versions of the story mostly serve to complement and expand on each other, though a few points are harder to reconcile. For example, the Synoptic Gospels do not all include the same events, nor do they record them in the same sequence. Among scholars, this is known as the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_harmony "Harmony of the Gospels"]]; you can even buy editions of Literature/TheBible that lay out the four accounts side by side for easy comparison.

* UnknownRival: It's all too clear that Jesus's has his oppressors, particularly the Pharisees, but Jesus, being Jesus has nothing but love for them. During his time on the cross, he openly laments to God praying for his killers that there are ''confused'', not detestful.

For the many, many works based off of the Gospels and the Jesus story, see the [[UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} Useful Notes page for Jesus]], the trope PassionPlay, and the ArtSubjects index. And for the religion that's been fond of the Gospels, see UsefulNotes/{{Christianity}}.

-->"My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will."

* GreaterScopeVillain: Satan, being the BigBad of the Bible, is obviously this. But the only times he himself is an active threat is when he attempts to trick Jesus thrice in the wilderness.

* ImAHumanitarian: Jesus tells His followers in John chapter 6 that unless they "eat His flesh" and "drink His blood", they will have no life in Him. This was assumed to mean some form of cannibalism among the Jews, which caused many to walk away from Him. Catholic interpretations take this to mean transubstantiation, which is what was assumed to take place at the Last Supper when Jesus blessed the bread and the wine, saying "This is My body" and "This is the cup of the new covenant in My blood." Other groups take a more metaphorical interpretation, seeing the bread and cup as simply a reminder and memorial of Jesus's sacrifice.

* JesusTheEarlyYears: Except for His birth and a brief ([[CallToAdventure but important]]) story that takes place when He was twelve, the Gospels are [[AvertedTrope pretty much silent on this]]; we just get a TimeSkip to His early thirties when He took up the preaching gig. [[StockUnsolvedMysteries Speculation abounds.]] The [[OccamsRazor most likely but boring explanation]] is that He just spent His time working for/with His dad, i.e. nothing exciting enough to write about. Indeed, the Gospels' lack of info on Jesus's childhood is probably why this trope exists in the first place.

* GodsNeedPrayerBadly: In the gospels of Matthew and Mark, Jesus found himself unable to perform many miracles in a certain town due to unbelief, since they saw Him merely as the son of a carpenter and not God made manifest in the flesh.

** Matthew, Mark and Luke have Passover beginning on Thursday night, with the Last Supper as a seder Jesus celebrated with his followers the night before he was crucified on Friday afternoon. The issue with this is that, according to the rules of the Hebrew calendar, Passover can't start on a Thursday night (though the rules governing that weren't completely codified until TheMiddleAges).[[labelnote:Explanation]]It's convoluted, but basically, the calendar is structured so that the major holidays can only fall on a specific set of four days of the week, and Passover can only start at sundown on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday or Saturday.[[/labelnote]] John avoids this by explicitly placing the start of Passover on Friday night, after the Crucifixion. It's been argued that the other three gospels are actually compatible with a Friday Passover too, it's just that Jesus decided to celebrate one day early since he wouldn't be around for the real holiday.

** When Herod Antipas heard about Jesus and His doing miracles, he assumed that it was John the Baptist, whom he had beheaded, come back to life and was eager to meet Him.

** The parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25:1-13 is interpreted as one for the Rapture, as only the wise virgins who brought oil with their lamps are the saints who are allowed entry into the Lord's wedding feast in heaven.

** Jesus, and possibly others we forget. Some people think that Jesus was married, but that His wife was not mentioned in the Bible (there are also a lot of speculations about why this is). Other people see this idea as heresy. Also, throughout New Testament Scripture, Jesus is spoken of as being the Bridegroom waiting to be united with His bride, which most if not all Christians interpret as being the church.

The first four books of the [[Literature/TheBible New Testament]], chronicling the life of one [[UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} Jesus Christ]], [[IAmXSonOfY the son of David, the son of Abraham]]. Their name means "[[MeaningfulName Good News]]"; the idea behind the Gospels is that they exist to record the "good news" of Jesus's death and resurrection and to allow that news to be spread by Christians to the world. As a result, each of the four has a slightly different tone and target.

** The Wise Men are clearly supposed to be [[UsefulNotes/{{Zoroastrianism}} Zoroastrian]] priests; the Greek word ''magoi'' derives from the old Persian and Avestan terms for the Zoroastrian priestly caste, and frankincense is a common element in Zoroastrian temple fires and home rituals, as is myrrh to lesser extent. The idea that they'd travel a long way to honor a Jewish baby as a future king is a big stretch. Accounts in Literature/TheTalmud suggest that Zoroastrians and Jews didn't get along very well, often clashing over their vastly different purity rituals, and the only lore in the religion about a savior of humanity is connected with the end of time and the final battle between good and evil, and almost certainly they wouldn't have been expecting this figure to be someone from outside their religion.

* SinInvitesPossession: Matthew 12 43:45 suggests that a demon, once expelled, may return to the person it possessed:

* RightWayWrongWayPair: Many of the parables of Jesus take this form"

* KungFuJesus: The moment in the Gospel of Matthew when Jesus cleared the temple in Jerusalem. With a whip. That he made himself for that very purpose (meaning that it wasn't a moment of blind rage, but rather a very deliberate thing he put time and effort into while the Apostles watched him do it). It's worth emphasizing pacifists are not usually known for wandering into public meeting places with weapons to beat eight tons of crap out of everyone making a quick buck off of religion. He also [[FlippingTheTable flipped a table made of marble]]. Yet that is ''exactly'' what Jesus did.

* GreaterScopeVillain: Well Satan, being the BigBad of the Bible, is obviously this. But the only times he himself is an active threat is when he attempts to trick Jesus thrice in the wilderness.