Reference: Gospels
Easton
The central fact of Christian preaching was the intelligence that the Saviour had come into the world (Mt 4:23; Ro 10:15); and the first Christian preachers who called their account of the person and mission of Christ by the term evangelion (= good message) were called evangelistai (= evangelists) (Eph 4:11; Ac 21:8).
There are four historical accounts of the person and work of Christ: "the first by Matthew, announcing the Redeemer as the promised King of the kingdom of God; the second by Mark, declaring him 'a prophet, mighty in deed and word'; the third by Luke, of whom it might be said that he represents Christ in the special character of the Saviour of sinners (Lu 7:36; 15:18); the fourth by John, who represents Christ as the Son of God, in whom deity and humanity become one. The ancient Church gave to Matthew the symbol of the lion, to Mark that of a man, to Luke that of the ox, and to John that of the eagle: these were the four faces of the cherubim" (Eze 1:10).
Date. The Gospels were all composed during the latter part of the first century, and there is distinct historical evidence to show that they were used and accepted as authentic before the end of the second century.
Mutual relation. "If the extent of all the coincidences be represented by 100, their proportionate distribution will be: Matthew, Mark, and Luke, 53; Matthew and Luke, 21; Matthew and Mark, 20; Mark and Luke, 6. Looking only at the general result, it may be said that of the contents of the synoptic Gospels [i.e., the first three Gospels] about two-fifths are common to the three, and that the parts peculiar to one or other of them are little more than one-third of the whole."
Origin. Did the evangelists copy from one another? The opinion is well founded that the Gospels were published by the apostles orally before they were committed to writing, and that each had an independent origin. (See Matthew, Gospel according to.)
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As for the form of their faces, they had the face of a man, and the four of them had the face of a lion on the right side, and the four of them had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four of them had the face of an eagle.
And Jesus went about in all Galilee, teaching in their Synagogues and preaching the good news of the kingdom, and making well those who were ill with any disease among the people.
And one of the Pharisees made a request that he would take a meal with him. And he went into the Pharisee's house and took his seat at the table.
I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have done wrong, against heaven and in your eyes:
And on the day after, we went away and came to Caesarea, where we were guests in the house of Philip, the preacher, who was one of the seven.
And how will there be preachers if they are not sent? As it is said, How beautiful are the feet of those who give the glad news of good things.
And he gave some as Apostles, and some, prophets; and some, preachers of the good news; and some to give care and teaching;
Fausets
From the Old English god spel, "good news." The providential preparations for the gospel attest its divine origin.
(1) The translation at Alexandria of the Old Testament into Greek (by the Septuagint), rendering the Jewish Scriptures accessible through that then universal language of the refined and polite to the literary of all nations. All possibility of questioning the existence or falsifying the contents of Old Testament prophecy was precluded thereby, however much the Jews who rejected Jesus would have wished to alter the prophecies which plainly identified Him as the foretold Messiah. The canon of the Old Testament having been completed, and prophecy having ceased before the Sept. translation, they could not deny that the divine knowledge derivable from it was complete.
(2) Greek and oriental philosophy had drawn attention to religious and moral speculations, which at once exposed and undermined paganism, and yet with all its endless labors gave no satisfactory answer to the questionings and cravings of man's spiritual being.
(3) The Roman empire had broken down the barriers between E. and W. and united almost the whole world, Asia, Africa, and Europe, in one, and established peace and good order, making possible the rapid transmission of the glad tidings from country to country; compare Lu 2:1; Mt 22:21.
(4) The universal expectation in the East of a great king to arise in Judea, probably due to fragments of revelation (as the prophecy of Balsam, Nu 24:17) such as led the wise men of the East to conic seeking "the king of the Jews."
(5) The settling of the Jews, and the consequent erection of synagogues, throughout all the towns of Asia. Greece, Italy, Africa, and western Europe. Hence by the reading of the law and the prophets in the synagogues everywhere each sabbath proselytes of righteousness were gathered from the Gentiles, such as the eunuch or chamberlain of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, a student of Scripture, Cornelius the centurion who "feared God with all his house, and gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God always."
These not being bound under the ceremonial yoke, as the original Jews, formed a connecting link with the Gentiles; and hence at Antioch in Pisidia, when the Jews rejected the preaching of Paul and Barnabas, these proselytes, with the Gentiles, "besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath, ... and on that day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God" (Ac 13:15-44). So at Iconium (Ac 14:1), and at Thessalonica (Ac 17:1-4). Such were the "devout men, out of every nation under heaven," the collected representatives of the world, to whom Peter preached with such success (Ac 2:4-11). The 3,000 converts of that day and the 5,000 of a few days after (Ac 4:4) would act as missionaries on their return to their several nations. To the Jews first in each synagogue abroad the apostles preached, and gathered many converts from among them; and then to the Gentiles.
The Jews' national rejection of Jesus is no valid objection to the gospel, since He foretold it Himself (Mt 16:21; 26:2), and the Old Testament prophets did so too (Isa 49:16,21,26/type/bbe'>26,26/type/bbe'>26; Psalm 22); so that, fixing their eyes on the prophecies of Messiah's glory and kingdom which they wrested to mean His setting up a temporal kingdom at Jerusalem and overthrowing the Roman existing dominion, and shutting their eyes to the prophecies of His humiliation, "they knew Him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath," and yet in spite of themselves, like their types Joseph's brethren (Ge 50:20), "they have fulfilled them in condemning Him" (Ac 13:27; 3:18). The harmony in Christ of prophecies seemingly so opposite, His temporal and temporary humiliation, and yet His spiritual dominion now and His final visible and everlasting kingdom, furnish conclusive proof of the Divinity of prophecies which no human sagacity could have anticipated or human agency fulfilled.
The correspondence of the gospel event to the predictions of the Old Testament is thus established by the Jews, unwilling witnesses and therefore beyond suspicion. Graves (Pentateuch, 2:3,6) well says, had they universally embraced the gospel at its first publication, the sceptic might allege the prophecies to have been fabricated or altered to fit them to the events; the contrary is now certain. This is one great cause why the national conversion of the Jews is delayed "until the fullness of the Gentiles shall come in" (Ro 11:35). They continue guardians of the prophetic records until these shall have had their contents examined, and their application ascertained, by every other nation in the world. Genuineness and inspiration of the Four Gospels. The "prophets" in the Christian church who had the spiritual gift of "discerning spirits" were an effectual check on the introduction of a pseudo-inspired writing. Paul appeals to them on the inspiration of his letters (1Co 14:37; 12:10; compare 1Jo 4:1).
Thus, by the two-fold inspiration, that of the authors and that of the judges, the canonicity of the four Gospels, as of the other books of New Testament, is established. The anonymous fragment of the canon of the New Testament attributed to Caius a presbyter of Rome (published by Muratori, Antiq. Ital., iii. 854, and known as the Muratorian Fragment), recognizes the Gospels (Luke and John, the sentences as to Matthew and Mark are obliterated) as inspired, and condemns as uninspired the Shepherd by Hermes, "written very recently in our own times," i.e. in the first part of the second century, the age in which John the last apostle died. Theophilus (Ad Autol., iii. 11), Bishop of Antioch A.D. 168, refers to "the evangelists" and "the Holy Scriptures" of the New Testament. Clement of Alexandria in the latter part of the second century refers to the collection of Gospels as one whole, "the gospel" (Quis Dives Salvus?).
The anonymous letter to Diognetus (sec. 11 ed. Hefele) attributed to Justin Martyr refers to "the Gospels and the Apostles" (i.e. the letters). Ignatius of Antioch, a hearer of John (Ep. ad Philad., sec. 5), calls "the (written) Gospel the flesh of Jesus," and classes it with the Old Testament prophets. Tertullian (Adv. Marc. iv. 2), mentioning the Four Gospels two as the work of apostles and two as that of apostolic men (A.D. 208); Irenaeus (Adv. Haer., ii. 27; iii. 11, sec. 7); martyred A.D. 202; Origen, speaking of the four Gospels as "the elements of the church's faith"; Eusebius; and not only these orthodox writers but heretics, Marcion dud others, appeal to the Gospels as the inspired standard Canon. (See CANON.) .
They were translated into Syriac in the second century, and into Latin and the two Egyptian dialects by the fourth century. We have better evidence for their genuineness than for any other ancient writing. Theophilus arranged the Four Gospels so as to form one work (Jerome, Ep. ad Algas., iv. 197). Tartan, who died A.D. 170, formed a Diatessaron or harmony of the Four Gospels. Barnabas (Paul's companion), Clement of Rome (Php 4:3), and Polycarp quote the Gospels, though not with verbal exactness. Justin Martyr quotes Matthew, Luke, and John largely and exactly. As the heretic Gnostics and Marcion arose early in the second century their acceptance of the Gospels proves that these had been promulgated some time before (i.e. in the apostolic age itself), for after the dissensions between the orthodox and heretics had arisen the Gospels would never have been accepted by mutually hostile parties.
A distinct line was drawn between the apocryphal and the genuine Gospels. Unbelievers, as Celsus in controversy with Origen, could not deny the genuineness of the four even while rejecting their contents. The fathers' large quotations (Origen's especially) prove our Gospels were the same as theirs. Our Saviour wrote nothing Himself, the alleged letter to Abgarus, king of Edessa, being probably spurious. If He had (like Muhammed) recorded His own miracles and teachings, internal consistency would have been nothing marvelous. People would have deified the form, while failing to discern the inner essence. "If I bear witness of Myself My wit
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As for you, it was in your mind to do me evil, but God has given a happy outcome, the salvation of numbers of people, as you see today.
I see him, but not now: looking on him, but not near: a star will come out of Jacob, and a rod of authority out of Israel, sending destruction to the farthest limits of Moab and on the head of all the sons of Sheth.
Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them has he put a tent for the sun,
The Lord is King; let the peoples be in fear: his seat is on the winged ones; let the earth be moved.
See, your name is marked on my hands; your walls are ever before me.
Then you will say in your heart, Who has given me all these children? when my children had been taken from me, and I was no longer able to have others, who took care of these? when I was by myself, where then were these?
And the flesh of your attackers will be taken by themselves for food; and they will take their blood for drink, as if it was sweet wine: and all men will see that I the Lord am your saviour, even he who takes up your cause, the Strong One of Jacob.
And the flesh of your attackers will be taken by themselves for food; and they will take their blood for drink, as if it was sweet wine: and all men will see that I the Lord am your saviour, even he who takes up your cause, the Strong One of Jacob.
Now when it came to his ears that John had been put in prison, he went away to Galilee;
And there came a scribe and said to him, Master, I will come after you wherever you go. And Jesus said to him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of heaven have a resting-place; but the Son of man has nowhere to put his head. read more. And another of the disciples said to him, Lord, let me first go and give the last honours to my father. But Jesus said to him, Come after me; and let the dead take care of their dead.
And when he had come to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, there came out to him from the place of the dead, two who had evil spirits, so violent that no man was able to go that way.
And when Jesus was going from there, he saw a man whose name was Matthew, seated at the place where taxes were taken; and he said to him, Come after me. And he got up and went after him.
Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew, the tax-farmer; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;
And he said, Come. And Peter got out of the boat, and walking on the water, went to Jesus.
And Simon Peter made answer and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus made answer and said to him, A blessing on you, Simon Bar-jonah: because this knowledge has not come to you from flesh and blood, but from my Father in heaven.
From that time Jesus went on to make clear to his disciples how he would have to go up to Jerusalem, and undergo much at the hands of those in authority and the chief priests and scribes, and be put to death, and the third day come again from the dead.
And when they had come to Capernaum, those who took the Temple tax came to Peter and said, Does not your master make payment of the Temple tax?
And when they had come to Capernaum, those who took the Temple tax came to Peter and said, Does not your master make payment of the Temple tax? He says, Yes. And when he came into the house, Jesus said to him, What is your opinion, Simon? from whom do the kings of the earth get payment or tax? from their sons or from other people? read more. And when he said, From other people, Jesus said to him, Then are the sons free. But, so that we may not be a cause of trouble to them, go to the sea, and let down a hook, and take the first fish which comes up; and in his mouth you will see a bit of money: take that, and give it to them for me and you.
They say to him, Caesar's. Then he said to them, Give to Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and to God the things which are God's.
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, putting to death the prophets, and stoning those who are sent to her! Again and again would I have taken your children to myself as a bird takes her young ones under her wings, and you would not!
After two days is the Passover, and the Son of man will be given up to the death of the cross.
But later there came two who said, This man said, I am able to give the Temple of God to destruction, and to put it up again in three days.
But the eleven disciples went into Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had given them orders to go.
And Jesus came to them and said, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go then, and make disciples of all the nations, giving them baptism in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: read more. Teaching them to keep all the rules which I have given you: and see, I am ever with you, even to the end of the world.
And he was in the waste land for forty days, being tested by Satan; and he was with the beasts; and the angels took care of him.
And he said, Come after me: and they went away from their father Zebedee, who was in the boat with the servants, and came after him.
And when he went by, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, seated at the place where taxes were taken, and he said to him, Come with me. And he got up, and went with him.
And looking round on them he was angry, being sad because of their hard hearts; and he said to the man, Put out your hand. And he put it out, and his hand was made well.
And to James, the son of Zebedee, and John, the brother of James, he gave the second name of Boanerges, which is, Sons of thunder:
And he took him on one side from the people privately, and put his fingers into his ears, and he put water from his mouth on the man's tongue with his finger; And looking up to heaven, he took a deep breath, and said to him, Ephphatha, that is, Be open.
And straight away all the people, when they saw him, were full of wonder, and running to him, gave him worship.
And they went out from there, through Galilee; and it was his desire that no man might have knowledge of it; For he was giving his disciples teaching, and saying to them, The Son of man is given up into the hands of men, and they will put him to death; and when he is dead, after three days he will come back from the dead. read more. But the saying was not clear to them, and they were in fear of questioning him about it. And they came to Capernaum: and when he was in the house, he put the question to them, What were you talking about on the way?
But a certain one of those who were near took out his sword, and gave the servant of the high priest a blow, cutting off his ear.
But go, say to his disciples and to Peter, He goes before you into Galilee: there you will see him, as he said to you.
As a number of attempts have been made to put together in order an account of those events which took place among us,
Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town in Galilee, named Nazareth,
He will be great, and will be named the Son of the Most High: and the Lord God will give him the kingdom of David, his father:
Now it came about in those days that an order went out from Caesar Augustus that there was to be a numbering of all the world.
Now in the fifteenth year of the rule of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being ruler of Judaea, and Herod being king of Galilee, his brother Philip king of the country of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias king of Abilene, When Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of the Lord came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the waste land. read more. And he came into all the country round about Jordan, preaching baptism as a sign of forgiveness of sin for those whose hearts were changed. As it says in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, The voice of one crying in the waste land, Make ready the way of the Lord, make his roads straight. Every valley will be lifted up, and all the mountains and hills made low, and the twisted will be made straight, and the rough ways smooth; And all flesh will see the salvation of God. So he said to the people who went out to him for baptism: You offspring of snakes, at whose word are you going in flight from the wrath to come? Make clear by your acts that your hearts have been changed; and do not say to yourselves, We have Abraham for our father: for I say to you that God is able from these stones to make children of Abraham. And even now the axe is put to the root of the trees; and every tree which does not have good fruit will be cut down and put into the fire. And the people put questions to him, saying, What have we to do? And he made answer and said to them, He who has two coats, let him give to him who has not even one; and he who has food, let him do the same. Then tax-farmers came to him for baptism and said to him, Master, what have we to do? And he said to them, Do not make an attempt to get more money than the right amount. And men of the army put questions to him, saying, And what have we to do? And he said to them, Do no violent acts to any man, and do not take anything without right, and let your payment be enough for you. And while the people were waiting, and all men were questioning in their hearts about John, if he was the Christ or not, John made answer, saying to them all, Truly, I give you baptism with water, but one is coming who is greater than I, whose shoes I am not good enough to undo: he will give you baptism with the Holy Spirit, and with fire: In whose hand is the instrument with which he will make clean his grain; he will put the good grain in his store, but the waste will be burned in the fire which will never be put out. And so comforting them with these and other words, he gave the good news to the people; But Herod the king, because John had made a protest on account of Herodias, his brother's wife, and other evil things which Herod had done, Did this most evil thing of all, and had John shut up in prison. Now it came about that when all the people had been given baptism, Jesus, having had baptism with them, was in prayer, when, the heaven being open, The Holy Spirit came down in the form of a dove, and a voice came from heaven, saying, You are my dearly loved Son, with whom I am well pleased. And Jesus at this time was about thirty years old, being the son (as it seemed) of Joseph, the son of Heli,
And Jesus came back to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and the news of him went through all the country round about.
And when they had done this, they got such a great number of fish that it seemed as if their nets would be broken;
But Simon, when he saw it, went down at the knees of Jesus and said, Go away from me, O Lord, for I am a sinner.
And so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were working with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, Have no fear; from this time forward you will be a fisher of men.
And after these things he went out, and saw Levi, a tax-farmer, seated at the place where taxes were taken, and said to him, Come after me.
Now it came about that on the Sabbath he was going through the fields of grain, and his disciples took the heads of the grain for food, crushing them in their hands.
And it came about, after a short time, that he went through town and country giving the good news of the kingdom of God, and with him were the twelve,
Now Peter and those who were with him were overcome with sleep: but when they were fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men who were with him.
But Jesus said to him, Let him do it, for he who is not against you is for you. And it came about that when the days were near for him to be taken up, his face was turned to go to Jerusalem,
And it came about that when the days were near for him to be taken up, his face was turned to go to Jerusalem,
And when they were on the way, a certain man said to him, I will come after you wherever you go. And Jesus said to him, Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have resting-places, but the Son of man has nowhere to put his head. read more. And he said to another, Come after me. But he said, Lord, let me first go and give the last honours to my father. But he said to him, Let the dead take care of their dead; it is for you to go and give news of the kingdom of God. And another man said, I will come with you, Lord, but first let me say a last good-day to those who are at my house.
And he went on his way, through towns and country places, teaching and journeying to Jerusalem. And someone said to him, Lord, will only a small number have salvation? And he said to them,
At that time, certain Pharisees came to him and said, Go away from this place, because Herod's purpose is to put you to death.
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, putting to death the prophets, and stoning those who were sent to her! again and again would I have taken your children to myself, as a bird takes her young ones under her wings, but you would not!
And it came about that when they were on the way to Jerusalem he went through Samaria and Galilee.
And it came about that when they were on the way to Jerusalem he went through Samaria and Galilee.
And they took their children to him, so that he might put his hands on them: but when the disciples saw it, they said sharp words to them
But they became more violent than before, saying, He has made trouble among the people, teaching through all Judaea from Galilee to this place.
And they said to them, The Lord has truly come back to life again, and Simon has seen him.
The day after this, Jesus had a desire to go into Galilee. He came across Philip and said to him, Come and be my disciple.
And Jesus said to them, Send destruction on this Temple and I will put it up again in three days.
After these things Jesus and his disciples went into the land of Judaea, and there he was with them for some time, giving baptism.
He went out of Judaea into Galilee again. And it was necessary for him to go through Samaria. read more. So he came to a town of Samaria which was named Sychar, near to the bit of land which Jacob gave to his son Joseph: Now Jacob's fountain was there. Jesus, being tired after his journey, was resting by the fountain. It was about the sixth hour. A woman of Samaria came to get water, and Jesus said to her, Give me some water. For his disciples had gone to the town to get food. The woman of Samaria said to him, Why do you, a Jew, make a request for water to me, a woman of Samaria? She said this because Jews have nothing to do with the people of Samaria. In answer Jesus said, If you had knowledge of what God gives freely and who it is who says to you, Give me water, you would make your prayer to him, and he would give you living water. The woman said to him, Sir, you have no vessel and the fountain is deep; from where will you get the living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob who gave us the fountain and took the water of it himself, with his children and his cattle? Jesus said to her, Everyone who takes this water will be in need of it again: But whoever takes the water I give him will never be in need of drink again; for the water I give him will become in him a fountain of eternal life. The woman said to him, Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be in need again of drink and will not have to come all this way for it. Jesus said to her, Go, get your husband and come back here with him. In answer, the woman said, I have no husband. Jesus said to her, You have said rightly, I have no husband: You have had five husbands, and the man you have now is not your husband: that was truly said. The woman said to him, Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our fathers gave worship on this mountain, but you Jews say that the right place for worship is in Jerusalem. Jesus said to her, Woman, take my word for this; the time is coming when you will not give worship to the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. You give worship, but without knowledge of what you are worshipping: we give worship to what we have knowledge of: for salvation comes from the Jews. But the time is coming, and is even now here, when the true worshippers will give worship to the Father in the true way of the spirit, for these are the worshippers desired by the Father. God is Spirit: then let his worshippers give him worship in the true way of the spirit. The woman said to him, I am certain that the Messiah, who is named Christ, is coming; when he comes he will make all things clear to us. Jesus said to her, I, who am talking to you, am he. At that point the disciples came back, and they were surprised to see him talking to a woman; but not one of them said to him, What is your purpose? or, Why are you talking to her? Then the woman put down her water-pot and went into the town, and said to the people, Come and see a man who has been talking to me of everything I ever did! Is it possible that this is the Christ? So they went out of the town and came to him. While this was taking place, the disciples were saying to Jesus, Master, take some food. But he said to them, I have food of which you have no knowledge. So the disciples said one to another, Did anyone give him food? Jesus said, My food is to do the pleasure of him who sent me and to make his work complete. You would say, Four months from now is the time of the grain-cutting. Take a look, I say to you, at the fields; they are even now white for cutting. He who does the cutting now has his reward; he is getting together fruit for eternal life, so that he who did the planting and he who gets in the grain may have joy together. In this the saying is a true one, One does the planting, and another gets in the grain. I sent you to get in grain which you had no hand in planting: other men did that work, and you take the reward. Now a number of the people of that town had faith in him because of the woman's witness: He has been talking to me of everything I ever did. So when the people came to him they made request to him to be among them for a time, and he was there two days. And a great number more of them came to have faith in him because of what he himself said. And they said to the woman, Now we have faith, but not because of your story: we ourselves have given ear to his words, and we are certain that he is truly the Saviour of the world. And after the two days he went on from there into Galilee.
After these things there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
After this, Jesus went from place to place in Galilee. He did not go about in Judaea, because the Jews were looking for a chance to put him to death.
After this, Jesus went from place to place in Galilee. He did not go about in Judaea, because the Jews were looking for a chance to put him to death. But the feast of the Jews, the feast of tents, was near.
But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he went up, not publicly, but in secret.
So Jesus no longer went about publicly among the Jews, but went from there into the country near to the waste land, to a town named Ephraim, where he was for some time with the disciples.
Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, took it out and gave the high priest's servant a blow, cutting off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus.
After these things Jesus let himself be seen again by the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and it came about in this way.
And he said to them, Let down the net on the right side of the boat and you will get some. So they put it in the water and now they were not able to get it up again because of the great number of fish. So the disciple who was dear to Jesus said to Peter, It is the Lord! Hearing that it was the Lord, Peter put his coat round him (because he was not clothed) and went into the sea.
I have given an earlier account, O Theophilus, of all the things which Jesus did, and of his teaching from the first,
And they were all full of the Holy Spirit, and were talking in different languages, as the Spirit gave them power. Now there were living at Jerusalem, Jews, God-fearing men, from every nation under heaven. read more. And when this sound came to their ears, they all came together, and were greatly surprised because every man was hearing the words of the disciples in his special language. And they were full of wonder and said, Are not all these men Galilaeans? And how is it that every one of us is hearing their words in the language which was ours from our birth? Men of Parthia, Media, and Elam, and those living in Mesopotamia, in Judaea and Cappadocia, in Pontus and Asia, In Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt and the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and those who have come from Rome, Jews by birth and others who have become Jews, Men of Crete and Arabia, to all of us they are talking in our different languages, of the great works of God.
But the things which God had made clear before, by the mouth of all the prophets, that the Christ would have to undergo, he has put into effect in this way.
But a number of those who gave hearing to the word had faith; and they were now about five thousand.
But Peter said, No, Lord; for I have never taken food which is common or unclean.
And when he had come across him, he took him to Antioch. And they were with the church there for a year, teaching the people; and the disciples were first given the name of Christians in Antioch.
And when he became clear about this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John named Mark, where a number of them had come together for prayer.
Then Paul and those who were with him went by ship from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia: and there John went away from them and came back to Jerusalem.
And after the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the Synagogue sent to them, saying, Brothers, if you have a word of comfort for the people, say on. And Paul, getting up and making a sign with his hand, said, Men of Israel, and you who have the fear of God, give ear. read more. The God of this people Israel made selection of our fathers, lifting the people up from their low condition when they were living in the land of Egypt, and with a strong arm took them out of it. And for about forty years he put up with their ways in the waste land. And having put to destruction seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them the land for their heritage for about four hundred and fifty years. And after these things he gave them judges, till the time of Samuel the prophet. Then at their request for a king, God gave them Saul, the son of Kish, a man of the family of Benjamin, who was their king for forty years. And having put him on one side, he made David their king, to whom he gave witness, saying, I have taken David, the son of Jesse, a man dear to my heart, who will do all my pleasure. From this man's seed has God given to Israel a Saviour, even Jesus, as he gave his word; For whose coming John made ready the way by preaching to all the people of Israel the baptism which goes with a change of heart. And when John was completing his work, he said, What do I seem to you to be? I am not he; but one is coming after me, whose shoes I am not good enough to undo. My brothers, children of the family of Abraham, and those among you who have the fear of God, to us the word of this salvation is sent. For the men of Jerusalem and their rulers, having no knowledge of him, or of the sayings of the prophets which come to their ears every Sabbath day, gave effect to them by judging him.
For the men of Jerusalem and their rulers, having no knowledge of him, or of the sayings of the prophets which come to their ears every Sabbath day, gave effect to them by judging him. And though no cause of death was seen in him, they made a request to Pilate that he might be put to death. read more. And when they had done all the things said in the Writings about him, they took him down from the tree, and put him in the place of the dead. But God gave him back from the dead: And for a number of days he was seen by those who came with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses before the people. And we are giving you the good news of the undertaking made to the fathers, Which God has now put into effect for our children, by sending Jesus; as it says in the second Psalm, You are my Son; this day I have given you being. And about his coming back from the dead, never again to go to destruction, he has said these words, I will give you the holy and certain mercies of David. Because he says in another Psalm, You will not let your Holy One see destruction. Now David, having done God's work for his generation, went to sleep, and was put with his fathers, and his body came to destruction: But he, who was lifted up by God, did not see destruction. And so, let it be clear to you, my brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is offered to you: And through him everyone who has faith is made free from all those things, from which the law of Moses was not able to make you free. So take care that these words of the prophets do not come true for you; See, you doubters, have wonder and come to your end; for I will do a thing in your days to which you will not give belief, even if it is made clear to you. And when they went out, they made a request that these words might be said to them again on the Sabbath after. Now when the meeting was ended, a number of the Jews and of the God-fearing Gentiles who had become Jews, went after Paul and Barnabas: who put before them how important it was to keep on in the grace of God. And on the Sabbath after, almost all the town came together to give hearing to the word of God.
Now in Iconium they went together to the Synagogue of the Jews and gave such teaching that a great number of Jews and Greeks had faith.
But Paul was of the opinion that it was not right to take with them one who had gone away from them in Pamphylia, and had not gone on with the work.
Now when they had gone through Amphipolis and Apollonia they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Synagogue of the Jews: And Paul, as he generally did, went in to them, and on three Sabbath days had discussions with them from the holy Writings, read more. Saying to them clearly and openly that Christ had to be put to death and come back to life again; and that this Jesus, whom, he said, I am preaching to you, is the Christ. And some of them had faith, and were joined to Paul and Silas; and a number of the God-fearing Greeks, and some of the chief women.
And having been there for some time, he went through the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order, making the disciples strong in the faith.
For it says in the law of Moses, It is not right to keep the ox from taking the grain when he is crushing it. Is it for the oxen that God is giving orders? Or has he us in mind? Yes, it was said for us; because it is right for the ploughman to do his ploughing in hope, and for him who is crushing the grain to do his work hoping for a part in the fruits of it.
And to another the power of working wonders; and to another the prophet's word; and to another the power of testing spirits; to another different sorts of tongues; and to another the power of making clear the sense of the tongues:
If any man seems to himself to be a prophet or to have the Spirit, let him take note of the things which I am writing to you, as being the word of the Lord.
And with him we have sent a brother whose praise in the good news has gone through all the churches;
But when Cephas came to Antioch, I made a protest against him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. For before certain men came from James, he did take food with the Gentiles: but when they came, he went back and made himself separate, fearing those who were of the circumcision. read more. And the rest of the Jews went after him, so that even Barnabas was overcome by their false ways. But when I saw that they were not living uprightly in agreement with the true words of the good news, I said to Cephas before them all, If you, being a Jew, are living like the Gentiles, and not like the Jews, how will you make the Gentiles do the same as the Jews?
And I make request to you, true helper in my work, to see to the needs of those women who took part with me in the good news, with Clement and the rest of my brother-workers whose names are in the book of life.
Aristarchus, my brother-prisoner, sends his love to you, and Mark, a relation of Barnabas (about whom you have been given orders: if he comes to you, be kind to him),
Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and take him with you; for he is of use to me in the work.
Give one another the kiss of love. Peace be to you all in Christ.
For when we gave you news of the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, our teaching was not based on stories put together by art, but we were eye-witnesses of his glory.
My loved ones, do not put your faith in every spirit, but put them to the test, to see if they are from God: because a great number of false prophets have gone out into the world.
Hastings
Under this heading we may consider the four Gospels as a whole, and their relations to one another, leaving detailed questions of date and authorship to the separate articles.
1. The aims of the Evangelists.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Then Hazael, king of Aram, went up against Gath and took it; and his purpose was to go up to Jerusalem.
To give knowledge that the year of the Lord's good pleasure has come, and the day of punishment from our God; to give comfort to all who are sad;
Son of man, let your face be turned to Jerusalem, let your words be dropped in the direction of her holy place, and be a prophet against the land of Israel;
Let there be no thought that I have come to put an end to the law or the prophets. I have not come for destruction, but to make complete.
You have knowledge that it was said in old times, You may not put to death; and, Whoever puts to death will be in danger of being judged:
No man is able to be a servant to two masters: for he will have hate for the one and love for the other, or he will keep to one and have no respect for the other. You may not be servants of God and of wealth.
And which of you by taking thought is able to make himself a cubit taller?
But so that you may see that on earth the Son of man has authority for the forgiveness of sins, (then said he to the man who was ill,) Get up, and take up your bed, and go to your house.
Come to me, all you who are troubled and weighted down with care, and I will give you rest.
And when the men of that place had news of him, they sent into all the country round about, and took to him all who were ill,
Why do your disciples go against the teaching of the fathers? for they take food with unwashed hands.
And he says to them, Because of your little faith: for truly I say to you, If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, Be moved from this place to that; and it will be moved; and nothing will be impossible to you.
And Jesus in answer said to them, Truly I say to you, If you have faith, without doubting, not only may you do what has been done to the fig-tree, but even if you say to this mountain, Be taken up and put into the sea, it will be done.
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, putting to death the prophets, and stoning those who are sent to her! Again and again would I have taken your children to myself as a bird takes her young ones under her wings, and you would not!
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, putting to death the prophets, and stoning those who are sent to her! Again and again would I have taken your children to myself as a bird takes her young ones under her wings, and you would not! See, your house is made waste read more. For I say to you, You will not see me from this time till you say, A blessing on him who comes in the name of the Lord.
But when the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then will he be seated in his glory:
Even as it is said in the book of Isaiah the prophet, See, I send my servant before your face, who will make ready your way;
But so that you may see that the Son of man has authority for the forgiveness of sins on earth, (he said to the man,)
For Herod himself had sent men out to take John and put him in prison, because of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, whom he had taken for himself.
Whoever has a feeling of shame because of me and my words in this false and evil generation, the Son of man will have a feeling of shame because of him, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
For truly the Son of man did not come to have servants, but to be a servant, and to give his life for the salvation of men.
And while he was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, seated at table, there came a woman with a bottle of perfumed oil of great price; and when the bottle was broken she put the perfume on his head.
And he said to them, This is my blood of the testament, which is given for men.
And Jesus said, I am: and you will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.
Now when he came back from the dead early on the first day of the week, he went first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had sent out seven evil spirits. She went and gave news of it to those who had been with him, while they were sorrowing and weeping. read more. And they, when it came to their ears that he was living, and had been seen by her, had no belief in it. And after these things he was seen in another form by two of them, while they were walking on their way into the country. And they went away and gave news of it to the rest; and they had no belief in what was said. And later he was seen by the eleven themselves while they were taking food; and he said sharp words to them because they had no faith and their hearts were hard, and because they had no belief in those who had seen him after he had come back from the dead. And he said to them, Go into all the world, and give the good news to everyone. He who has faith and is given baptism will get salvation; but he who has not faith will be judged. And these signs will be with those who have faith: in my name they will send out evil spirits; and they will make use of new languages; They will take up snakes, and if there is poison in their drink, it will do them no evil; they will put their hands on those who are ill, and they will get well. So then the Lord Jesus, after he had said these words to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God. And they went out, preaching everywhere, the Lord working with them, and giving witness to the word by the signs which came after. So be it.
As a number of attempts have been made to put together in order an account of those events which took place among us,
As a number of attempts have been made to put together in order an account of those events which took place among us, As they were handed down to us by those who saw them from the first and were preachers of the word,
As they were handed down to us by those who saw them from the first and were preachers of the word,
As they were handed down to us by those who saw them from the first and were preachers of the word, It seemed good to me, having made observation, with great care, of the direction of events in their order, to put the facts in writing for you, most noble Theophilus; read more. So that you might have certain knowledge of those things about which you were given teaching.
But Herod the king, because John had made a protest on account of Herodias, his brother's wife, and other evil things which Herod had done,
But so that you may see that on earth the Son of man has authority for the forgiveness of sins, (he said to the man who was ill,) I say to you, Get up, and take up your bed, and go into your house.
And it came about that when the days were near for him to be taken up, his face was turned to go to Jerusalem,
And it came about that when the days were near for him to be taken up, his face was turned to go to Jerusalem,
And which of you by taking thought is able to make himself any taller?
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, putting to death the prophets, and stoning those who were sent to her! again and again would I have taken your children to myself, as a bird takes her young ones under her wings, but you would not!
No man may be a servant to two masters: for he will have hate for the one and love for the other; or he will keep to the one and have no respect for the other. You may not be servants of God and of wealth.
I say to you, This man went back to his house with God's approval, and not the other: for everyone who makes himself high will be made low and whoever makes himself low will be made high.
And an angel from heaven came to him, to give him strength.
(He had not given his approval to their decision or their acts), of Arimathaea, a town of the Jews, who was waiting for the kingdom of God:
And so the Word became flesh and took a place among us for a time; and we saw his glory--such glory as is given to an only son by his father--saw it to be true and full of grace.
And so the Word became flesh and took a place among us for a time; and we saw his glory--such glory as is given to an only son by his father--saw it to be true and full of grace.
The day after, John sees Jesus coming to him and says, See, here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
And John gave this witness, saying, I saw the Spirit coming down from heaven like a dove and resting on him.
This I saw myself and my witness is that he is the Son of God.
Early in the morning he came across his brother and said to him, We have made discovery! It is the Messiah! (which is to say, the Christ).
Philip came across Nathanael and said to him, We have made a discovery! It is he of whom Moses, in the law, and the prophets were writing, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Nazareth! said Nathanael, Is it possible for any good to come out of Nazareth? Philip said to him, Come and see.
Nathanael said to him, Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are King of Israel!
Nicodemus said to him, How is it possible for a man to be given birth when he is old? Is he able to go into his mother's body a second time and come to birth again?
The woman of Samaria said to him, Why do you, a Jew, make a request for water to me, a woman of Samaria? She said this because Jews have nothing to do with the people of Samaria.
The woman said to him, Sir, you have no vessel and the fountain is deep; from where will you get the living water?
The woman said to him, Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be in need again of drink and will not have to come all this way for it.
Then the Jews had an angry discussion among themselves, saying, How is it possible for this man to give us his flesh for food?
What then will you say if you see the Son of man going up to where he was before?
He was talking of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. It was he who was to be false to Jesus--one of the twelve.
So the Jews said among themselves, To what place is he going where we will not see him? will he go to the Jews living among the Greeks and become the teacher of the Greeks?
Others said, This is the Christ. But others said, Not so; will the Christ come from Galilee?
This was their answer: And do you come from Galilee? Make search and you will see that no prophet comes out of Galilee. [And every man went to his house;
And she said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said, And I do not give a decision against you: go, and never do wrong again.]
I and my Father are one.
(It was the day when they made ready for the Passover; and it was about the sixth hour.) And he said to the Jews, There is your King!
And he who saw it has given witness (and his witness is true; he is certain that what he says is true) so that you may have belief.
Jesus said to her, Do not put your hand on me, for I have not gone up to the Father: but go to my brothers and say to them, I go up to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.
But these are recorded, so that you may have faith that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and so that, having this faith you may have life in his name.
And if I have a prophet's power, and have knowledge of all secret things; and if I have all faith, by which mountains may be moved from their place, but have not love, I am nothing.
Smith
Gos'pels.
The name Gospel (from god and spell, Ang. Sax. good message or news, which is a translation of the Greek euaggelion) is applied to the four inspired histories of the life and teaching of Christ contained in the New Testament, of which separate accounts are given in their place. They were all composed during the latter half of the first century: those of St. Matthew and St. Mark some years before the destruction of Jerusalem; that of St. Luke probably about A.D. 64; and that of St. John towards the close of the century. Before the end of the second century, there is abundant evidence that the four Gospels, as one collection, were generally used and accepted. As a matter of literary history, nothing can be better established than the genuineness of the Gospels. On comparing these four books one with another, a peculiar difficulty claims attention, which has had much to do with the controversy as to their genuineness. In the fourth Gospel the narrative coincided with that of the other three in a few passages only. The received explanation is the only satisfactory one namely, that John, writing last, at the close of the first century had seen the other Gospels, and purposely abstained from writing anew what they had sufficiently recorded. In the other three Gospels there is a great amount of agreement. If we suppose the history that they contain to be divided into 89 sections, in 42 of these all the three narratives coincide, 12 more are given by Matthew and Mark only, 5 by Mark and Luke only, and 14 by Matthew and Luke. To these must be added 5 peculiar to Matthew, 2 to Mark and 9 to Luke, and the enumeration is complete. But this applies only to general coincidence as to the facts narrated: the amount of verbal coincidence, that is, the passages either verbally the same or coinciding in the use of many of the same words, is much smaller. It has been ascertained by Stroud that "if the total contents of the several Gospels be represented by 100, the following table is obtained: Matthew has 42 peculiarities and 58 coincidences. Mark has 7 peculiarities and 93 coincidences. Luke has 59 peculiarities and 41 coincidences. John has 92 peculiarities and 8 coincidences. Why four Gospels. --
1. To bring four separate independent witnesses to the truth.
2. It is to give the Lord's life from every point of view, four living portraits of one person. There were four Gospels because Jesus was to be commended to four races or classes of men, or to four phases of human thought,--the Jewish, Roman, Greek and Christian. Had not these exhausted the classes to be reached, there would doubtless have been more Gospels. In all ages, the Jewish, Roman and Greek natures reappear among men, and, in fact, make up the world of natural men, while the Christian nature and wants likewise remain essentially the same. The FIRST GOSPEL was prepared by Matthew for the Jew. He gives us the Gospel of Jesus, the Messiah of the Jews, the Messianic royalty of Jesus. He places the life and character of Jesus, as lived on earth, alongside the life and character of the Messiah, as sketched in the prophets, showing Christianity as the fulfillment of Judaism. Mark wrote the SECOND GOSPEL. It was substantially the preaching of Peter to the Romans. The Gospel for him must represent the character and career of Jesus from the Roman point of view, as answering to the idea of divine power, work, law, conquest and universal sway; must retain its old significance and ever-potent inspiration at the battle-call of the almighty Conqueror. Luke wrote the THIRD GOSPEL in Greece for the Greek. It has its basis in the gospel which Paul and Luke, by long preaching to the Greeks, had already thrown into the form best suited to commend to their acceptance Jesus as the perfect divine man. It is the gospel of the future, of progressive Christianity, of reason and culture seeking the perfection of manhood. John, "the beloved disciple," wrote the FOURTH GOSPEL for the Christian, to cherish and train those who have entered the new kingdom of Christ, into the highest spiritual life. --Condensed from, Prof. Gregory.