It can be very instructive to examine how the different gospel writers tell the story of Jesus. Since the gospels were not written until fifty or so years after the events themselves, the Church had to remember what Jesus said and did. The evangelist then would shape those memories into a narrative. For example, both Matthew and Luke have Jesus leaving a list of Beatitudes. Each tells the story in their own way — Matthew had eight and Luke four, but he appends for “woes” to the beatitudes. We can not be sure which version was spoken by Jesus but we learn how those first believers thought about his words in how they remembered them. For example, when Matthew says that “the poor in spirit” are blessed, Luke has Jesus say: “Blessed are you who are poor.” Very concrete, very direct, addressing the actual situation people were in. In Matthew Jesus blesses those who “hunger and thirst for justice.” In Luke: “Blessed are you who are now hungry.” Luke’s community remembered Jesus has bringing a message of hope to people who were suffering.
