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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The form of their faces was human, but each of the four also had the face of a lion to the right, the face of an ox to the left, and the face of an eagle behind them.
Then he went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every illness among the people.
Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to eat with him. So he went to the Pharisee's home and took his place at the table.
I will get up, go to my father, and say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and you.
The next day, we left and came to Caesarea. We went to the home of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven, and stayed with him.
And how can people preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are those who bring the good news!"
And it is he who gifted some to be apostles, others to be prophets, others to be evangelists, and still others to be pastors and teachers,
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/isv'>26,26/type/isv'>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 far as you're concerned, you were planning evil against me, but God intended it for good, planning to bring about the present result so that many people would be preserved alive.
I can see him, but not right now. I observe him, but from a distance. A star streams forth from Jacob; a scepter arises from Israel. He will crush Moab's forehead, along with all of Seth's descendants.
yet their message goes out into all the world, and their words to the ends of the earth. He has set up a tent for the sun in the heavens,
The LORD reigns let people tremble; he is seated above the cherubim let the earth quake.
Look! I've inscribed you on the palms of my hands, and your walls are forever before me.
Then you'll ask in your heart, "Who bore these children for me, although I was childless and barren, and an exile and cast aside? Who brought these up? Look! For my part I was left all alone; but as for these, where have they come from?'
"I'll make those who mistreat you eat their own flesh, and they will get drunk on their own blood, as with new wine. "Then all mankind will know that I am the LORD your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob."
"I'll make those who mistreat you eat their own flesh, and they will get drunk on their own blood, as with new wine. "Then all mankind will know that I am the LORD your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob."
Just then, a scribe came up and told him, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus told him, "Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to rest." read more. Then another of his disciples told him, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."
When Jesus arrived on the other side in the region of the Gerasenes, two demon-possessed men met him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so violent that no one could travel on that road.
As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's desk and told him, "Follow me." So he got up and followed him.
Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;
Jesus said, "Come on!" So Peter got down out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came to Jesus.
Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God!" Then Jesus told him, "How blessed you are, Simon son of Jonah, since flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, though my Father in heaven has.
From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he would have to go to Jerusalem and suffer a great deal because of the elders, the high priests, and the scribes. Then he would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised.
When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax came up to Peter and asked, "Your teacher pays the temple tax, doesn't he?"
When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax came up to Peter and asked, "Your teacher pays the temple tax, doesn't he?" He answered, "Yes." When Peter went home, Jesus spoke to him first and asked him, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings on the earth collect tolls or tributes? From their own subjects, or from foreigners?" read more. "From foreigners," he replied. So Jesus told him, "In that case, the subjects are exempt. However, so that we don't offend them, go to the sea and throw in a hook. Take the first fish that comes up, open its mouth, and you will find a coin. Take it and give it to them for me and you."
They told him, "Caesar's." So he told them, "Then give back to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones to death those who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling!
"You know that the Passover will take place in two days, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified."
and stated, "This man said, "I can destroy the sanctuary of God and rebuild it in three days.'"
The eleven disciples went into Galilee to the hillside to which Jesus had directed them.
Then Jesus approached them and told them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, as you go, disciple people in all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, read more. teaching them to obey everything that I've commanded you. And remember, I am with you each and every day until the end of the age."
He was in the wilderness for 40 days being tempted by Satan. He was among wild animals, and angels were ministering to him.
He immediately called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.
As he was walking along, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the tax collector's desk. Jesus told him, "Follow me!" So Levi got up and followed him.
Jesus looked around at them in anger, deeply hurt because of their hard hearts. Then he told the man, "Hold out your hand." The man held it out, and his hand was restored to health.
Zebedee's sons James and his brother John (whom he named Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder),
Jesus took him away from the crowd to be alone with him. Putting his fingers into the man's ears, he touched the man's tongue with saliva. Then he looked up to heaven, sighed, and told him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened!"
Then they left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus didn't want anyone to find out about it, because he was teaching his disciples, "The Son of Man will be betrayed into human hands. They will kill him, but after being dead for three days he will be raised." read more. They didn't understand what this statement meant, and they were afraid to ask him. Then they came to Capernaum. While Jesus was at home, he asked the disciples, "What were you arguing about on the road?"
But one of those standing there drew his sword and struck the high priest's servant, cutting off his ear.
But go and tell his disciples especially Peter that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you."
Since many people have attempted to write an orderly account of the events that have transpired among us,
Now in the sixth month of her pregnancy, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth,
He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David.
Now in those days an order was published by Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be registered.
Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Caesar Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, and Annas and Caiaphas high priests, a message from God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. read more. John went throughout the entire Jordan region, proclaiming a baptism about repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, "He is a voice calling out in the wilderness: "Prepare the way for the Lord! Make his paths straight! Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be leveled. The crooked ways will be made straight, and the rough roads will be made smooth. Everyone will see the salvation that God has provided.'" John would say to the crowds that were coming out to be baptized by him, "You children of serpents! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit that is consistent with repentance! Don't begin to say to yourselves, "We have father Abraham!' because I tell you that God can raise up descendants for Abraham from these stones! The ax already lies against the roots of the trees. So every tree not producing good fruit will be cut down and thrown into a fire." The crowds kept asking him, "What, then, should we do?" He answered them, "The person who has two coats must share with the one who doesn't have any, and the person who has food must do the same." Even some tax collectors came to be baptized. They asked him, "Teacher, what should we do?" He told them, "Stop collecting more money than the amount you are told to collect." Even some soldiers were asking him, "And what should we do?" He told them, "Never extort money from anyone by threats or blackmail, and be satisfied with your pay." Now the people were filled with expectation, and all of them were wondering if John was perhaps the Messiah. John replied to all of them, "I'm baptizing you with water, but one is coming who is more powerful than I, and I'm not worthy to untie his sandal straps. It is he who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clean up his threshing floor. He'll gather the grain into his barn, but he'll burn the chaff with inextinguishable fire." With many other exhortations John continued to proclaim the good news to the people. Now Herod the tetrarch had been rebuked by John because he had married his brother's wife Herodias and because of all of the other evil things Herod had done. Added to all this, Herod locked John up in prison. When all the people had been baptized, Jesus, too, was baptized. While he was praying, heaven opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him, appearing in the form of a dove. Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "You are my Son, whom I love. I am pleased with you!" Jesus himself was about 30 years old when he began his ministry. He was (as legally calculated) the son of Joseph, the son of Heli,
Then Jesus returned to Galilee by the power of the Spirit. Meanwhile, the news about him spread throughout the surrounding country.
After the men had done this, they caught so many fish that the nets began to tear.
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus' knees and said, "Leave me, Lord! I am a sinful man!" -
and so were James and John, Zebedee's sons and Simon's partners.
After that, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax collector's desk. He told him, "Follow me!"
One time Jesus was walking through some grain fields on a Sabbath. His disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them.
After this, Jesus traveled from one city and village to another, preaching and spreading the good news about God's kingdom. The Twelve were with him,
They landed in the region of the Gerasenes, which is just across the lake from Galilee.
Now Peter and the men with him had been overcome by sleep. When they woke up, they saw Jesus' glory and the two men standing with him.
Jesus told him, "Don't stop him! Because whoever is not against you is for you." When the days grew closer for Jesus to be taken up to heaven, he was determined to continue his journey to Jerusalem.
When the days grew closer for Jesus to be taken up to heaven, he was determined to continue his journey to Jerusalem.
While they were walking along the road, a man told him, "I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus told him, "Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to rest." read more. He told another man, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." But he told him, "Let the dead bury their own dead. But you go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Still another man said, "I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say goodbye to those at home."
Then Jesus taught in one town and village after another as he made his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?"
At that hour some Pharisees came and told Jesus, "Leave and get away from here, because Herod wants to kill you!"
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones to death those who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you people were unwilling!
One day, Jesus was traveling along the border between Samaria and Galilee on the way to Jerusalem.
One day, Jesus was traveling along the border between Samaria and Galilee on the way to Jerusalem.
Now some people were even bringing their infants to Jesus to have him touch them. But when the disciples saw this, they sternly told the people not to do that.
But they kept insisting, "He is stirring up the people with what he teaches all over Judea, from where he started in Galilee to this place."
They kept saying, "The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon!"
The next day, Jesus decided to go away to Galilee, where he found Philip and told him, "Follow me."
Jesus answered them, "Destroy this sanctuary, and in three days I will rebuild it."
After this, Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside. He spent some time there with them and began baptizing.
he left Judea and went back to Galilee. Now it was necessary for him to go through Samaria. read more. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the piece of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's Well was also there, and Jesus, tired out by the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus told her, "Please give me a drink," since his disciples had gone off into town to buy food. The Samaritan woman asked him, "How can you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?" Because Jews do not have anything to do with Samaritans. Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who is saying to you, "Please give me a drink,' you would have been the one to ask him, and he would have given you living water." The woman told him, "Sir, you don't have a bucket, and the well is deep. Where are you going to get this living water? You're not greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it, along with his sons and his flocks, are you?" Jesus answered her, "Everyone who drinks this water will become thirsty again. But whoever drinks the water that I will give him will never become thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become a well of water for him, springing up to eternal life." The woman told him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I won't get thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water." He told her, "Go and call your husband, and come back here." The woman answered him, "I don't have a husband." Jesus told her, "You are quite right in saying, "I don't have a husband,' because you have had five husbands, and the man you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true." The woman told him, "Sir, I see that you are a prophet! Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain. But you Jews say that the place where people should worship is in Jerusalem." Jesus told her, "Believe me, dear lady, the hour is coming when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You don't know what you're worshiping. We Jews know what we're worshiping, because salvation comes from the Jews. Yet the time is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. Indeed, the Father is looking for people like that to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." The woman told him, "I know that the Anointed One is coming, who is being called "the Messiah'. When that person comes, he will explain everything." "I am he," Jesus replied, "the one who is speaking to you." At this point his disciples arrived, and they were astonished that he was talking to a woman. Yet no one said, "What do you want from her?" or, "Why are you talking to her?" Then the woman left her water jar and went back to town. She told people, "Come, see a man who told me everything I've ever done! Could he possibly be the Messiah?" The people left the town and started on their way to him. Meanwhile, the disciples were urging him, "Rabbi, have something to eat." But he told them, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about." So the disciples began to say to one another, "No one has brought him anything to eat, have they?" Jesus told them, "My food is doing the will of the one who sent me and completing his work. You say, don't you, "In four more months the harvest will begin?' Look, I tell you, open your eyes and observe that the fields are ready for harvesting now! The one who harvests is already receiving his wages and gathering a crop for eternal life, so that the one who sows and the one who harvests may rejoice together. In this respect the saying is true: "One person sows, and another person harvests.' I have sent you to harvest what you have not worked for. Others have worked, and you have adopted their work as your own." Now many of the Samaritans of that town believed in Jesus because the woman had testified, "He told me everything I've ever done." So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there for two days. And many more believed because of what he said. They kept telling the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, because now we have heard him ourselves, and we know that he really is the Savior of the world." Two days later, Jesus left for Galilee from there,
Later on, there was another festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
After this, Jesus traveled throughout Galilee, because he didn't want to travel in Judea, since the Jewish leaders there were trying to kill him.
After this, Jesus traveled throughout Galilee, because he didn't want to travel in Judea, since the Jewish leaders there were trying to kill him. Now the Jewish Festival of Tents was approaching.
But after his brothers had gone up to the festival, he went up himself, not openly but, as it were, in secret.
As a result, Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews. Instead, he went from there to a town called Ephraim in the region near the wilderness. There he remained with his disciples.
Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant, cutting off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus.
Later on, Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. This is what happened:
He told them, "Throw the net on the right hand side of the boat, and you'll catch some." So they threw it out and were unable to haul it in because it was so full of fish. That disciple whom Jesus kept loving told Peter, "It's the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put his clothes back on, because he was practically naked, and jumped into the sea.
In my first book, Theophilus, I wrote about everything Jesus did and taught from the beginning,
All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in foreign languages as the Spirit gave them that ability. Now devout Jews from every nation on earth were living in Jerusalem. read more. When that sound came, a crowd quickly gathered, startled because each one heard the disciples speaking in his own language. Stunned and amazed, they asked, "All of these people who are speaking are Galileans, aren't they? So how is it that each one of us hears them speaking in his own native language: Parthians, Medes, Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the district of Libya near Cyrene, Jewish and proselyte visitors from Rome, Cretans, and Arabs, listening to them talk in our own languages about the great deeds of God?"
This is how God fulfilled what he had predicted through the voice of all the prophets that his Messiah would suffer.
But many of those who heard their message believed, and the men grew to number about 5,000.
But Peter said, "Absolutely not, Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean!"
When he found him, he brought him to Antioch, and for a whole year they were guests of the church and taught many people. It was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.
When Peter realized what had happened, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where a large number of people had gathered and were praying.
Then Paul and his men set sail from Paphos and arrived in Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them and went back to Jerusalem.
After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the synagogue leaders asked them, "Brothers, if you have any message of encouragement for the people, you may speak." Then Paul stood up, motioned with his hand, and said: read more. "Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen! The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors and made them a great people during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with a public display of power he led them out of there. After he had put up with them for 40 years in the wilderness, he destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan. Then God gave their land to the Israelis as an inheritance for about 450 years. "After that, he gave them judges until the time of the prophet Samuel. When they demanded a king, God gave them Kish's son Saul, from the tribe of Benjamin, for 40 years. Then God removed Saul and made David their king, about whom he testified, "I have found that David, the son of Jesse, is a man after my own heart, who will carry out all my wishes.' It was from this man's descendants that God, as he promised, brought to Israel a Savior, who is Jesus. Before Jesus' appearance, John had already preached a baptism of repentance to all the people in Israel. When John was finishing his work, he said, "Who do you think I am? I'm not the Messiah. No, but he is coming after me, and I'm not worthy to untie the sandals on his feet.' "My brothers, descendants of Abraham's family, and those among you who fear God, it is to us that the message of this salvation has been sent. For the people who live in Jerusalem and their leaders, not knowing who Jesus was, condemned him and so fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath.
For the people who live in Jerusalem and their leaders, not knowing who Jesus was, condemned him and so fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. Although they found no reason to sentence him to death, they asked Pilate to have him executed. read more. When they had finished doing everything that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and placed him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead, and for many days he appeared to those who had come with him to Jerusalem from Galilee. These are now his witnesses to the people. We're telling you the good news: What God promised our ancestors he has fulfilled for us, their descendants, by raising Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm, "You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.' God raised him from the dead, never to experience decay, as he said, "I'll give you the holy promises made to David.' In another Psalm he says, "You will not let your Holy One experience decay.' Now David, after he had served God's purpose in his own generation, died and was buried with his ancestors, and so he experienced decay. However, the man whom God raised did not experience decay. "Therefore, brothers, you must understand that through him the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and that everyone who believes in him is justified and freed from everything that kept you from being justified by the Law of Moses. So be careful that what the prophets said doesn't happen to you: "Look, you mockers! Be amazed and die! Since I am performing an action in your days, one that you would not believe even if someone told you!'" As Paul and Barnabas were leaving, the people kept urging them to tell them the same things the next Sabbath. When the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who kept talking to them and urging them to continue in the grace of God. The next Sabbath almost the whole town gathered to hear the word of the Lord.
In Iconium, Paul and Barnabas went into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed.
but Paul did not think it was right to take along the man who had deserted them in Pamphylia and who had not gone with them into the work.
Paul and Silas traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. As usual, Paul entered there and on three Sabbaths discussed the Scriptures with them. read more. He explained and showed them that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead: "This very Jesus whom I proclaim to you is the Messiah." Some of them were persuaded and began to be associated with Paul and Silas, especially a large crowd of devout Greeks and the wives of many prominent men.
After spending some time there, he departed and went from place to place through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.
For in the Law of Moses it is written, "You must not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain." God is not only concerned about oxen, is he? Isn't he really speaking for our benefit? Yes, this was written for our benefit, because the one who plows should plow in hope, and the one who threshes should thresh in hope of sharing in the crop.
to another miraculous results; to another prophecy; to another the ability to distinguish between spirits; to another various kinds of languages; and to another the interpretation of languages.
If anyone thinks he is a prophet or a spiritual person, he must acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord's command.
With him we have sent the brother who is praised in all the churches for spreading the gospel.
But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly wrong. Until some men arrived from James, he was in the habit of eating with the gentiles, but after those men came, he withdrew from the gentiles and would not associate with them any longer, because he was afraid of the circumcision party. read more. The other Jews also joined him in this hypocritical behavior, to the extent that even Barnabas was caught up in their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not acting consistently with the truth of the gospel, I told Cephas in front of everyone, "Though you are a Jew, you have been living like a gentile and not like a Jew. So how can you insist that the gentiles must live like Jews?"
Yes, I also ask you, my true partner, to help these women. They have worked hard with me to advance the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life.
Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. You have received instructions about him. If he comes to you, welcome him.
Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful in my ministry.
Greet one another with a loving kiss. Peace be to all of you who are in the Messiah!
When we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, we did not follow any clever myths. Rather, we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
Dear friends, stop believing every spirit. Instead, test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many 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
Later, King Hazael of Aram invaded and attacked Gath, captured it, and then set out to approach Jerusalem.
to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor, the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;
"Son of Man, look toward Jerusalem, preach against its sanctuaries, and prophesy against Israel's land.
"Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I didn't come to destroy them, but to fulfill them,
"You have heard that it was told those who lived long ago, "You are not to commit murder,' and, "Whoever murders will be subject to punishment.'
"No one can serve two masters, because either he will hate one and love the other, or be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and riches!"
Can any of you add a single hour to the length of your life by worrying?
But so you will know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"" he told the paralyzed man, "Get up, pick up your stretcher, and go home!"
"Come to me, all of you who are weary and loaded down with burdens, and I will give you rest.
When the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word throughout that region and brought him everyone who was sick.
"Why do your disciples disregard the tradition of the elders? They don't wash their hands when they eat."
He told them, "Because of your lack of faith. I tell all of you with certainty, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, "Move from here to there,' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.
Jesus answered them, "I tell all of you with certainty, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you be able to do what has been done to the fig tree, but you will also say to this mountain, "Be removed and thrown into the sea,' and it will happen.
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones to death those who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling!
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones to death those who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling! Look! Your house is left abandoned! read more. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, "How blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!'"
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels are with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.
As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, "See! I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way.
But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"" Then he told the paralyzed man,
because Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him with chains, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, whom Herod had married.
Peter answered him, "You are the Messiah!" Jesus sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.
If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes with the holy angels in his Father's glory."
because even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many people."
While Jesus was in Bethany sitting at the table in the home of Simon the leper, a woman arrived with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume made from pure nard. She broke open the jar and poured the perfume on his head.
He told them, "This is my blood of the covenant that is being poured out for many people.
Jesus said, "I AM, and "you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power' and "coming with the clouds of heaven.'"
After Jesus had risen early on the first day of that week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had driven out seven demons. She went and told those who had been with Jesus and who now were grieving and crying. read more. When they heard that he was alive and that he had been seen by her, they refused to believe Mary. After this, Jesus appeared in a different form to two disciples as they were walking into the country. They went back and told the others, who didn't believe them, either. Finally he appeared to his eleven disciples while they were eating. He rebuked them for their unbelief and stubbornness, because they had not believed those who had seen him after he had risen. Then he told them, "As you go into the entire world, proclaim the gospel to everyone. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever doesn't believe will be condemned. These are the signs that will accompany those who believe: In my name they'll drive out demons, they'll speak in new languages, and they'll pick up snakes with their hands.Even if they drink any deadly poison, it won't hurt them, and they'll place their hands on the sick, and they'll recover." So the Lord Jesus, after talking with his disciples, was taken up to heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. Then his disciples went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord kept working with them and confirming the message by the signs that accompanied it.
Since many people have attempted to write an orderly account of the events that have transpired among us,
Since many people have attempted to write an orderly account of the events that have transpired among us, just as they were passed down to us by those who had been eyewitnesses and servants of the word from the beginning,
just as they were passed down to us by those who had been eyewitnesses and servants of the word from the beginning,
just as they were passed down to us by those who had been eyewitnesses and servants of the word from the beginning, I, too, have carefully investigated everything from the beginning and have decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, read more. so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.
Now Herod the tetrarch had been rebuked by John because he had married his brother's wife Herodias and because of all of the other evil things Herod had done.
But so you'll know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"." he told the paralyzed man, "I say to you: Get up, pick up your stretcher, and go home!"
When the days grew closer for Jesus to be taken up to heaven, he was determined to continue his journey to Jerusalem.
When the days grew closer for Jesus to be taken up to heaven, he was determined to continue his journey to Jerusalem.
Can any of you add an hour to the length of your life by worrying?
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones to death those who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you people were unwilling!
"No servant can serve two masters, because either he will hate one and love the other, or be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and wealth!"
I tell you, this man, rather than the other one, went down to his home justified, because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the person who humbles himself will be exalted."
Then an angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.
he had not voted for their plan and action from the Jewish town of Arimathea; and he was waiting for the kingdom of God.
The Word became flesh and lived among us. We gazed on his glory, the kind of glory that belongs to the Father's unique Son, who is full of grace and truth.
The Word became flesh and lived among us. We gazed on his glory, the kind of glory that belongs to the Father's unique Son, who is full of grace and truth.
The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
John also testified, "I saw the Spirit coming down from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.
I have seen this and have testified that this is the Son of God."
The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and say to him, "We have found the Anointed One!" (which is translated "Messiah").
Philip found Nathaniel and told him, "We have found the man about whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets wrote Jesus, the son of Joseph, from Nazareth." Nathaniel asked him, "From Nazareth? Can anything good come from there?" Philip told him, "Come and see!"
Nathaniel replied to him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!"
Nicodemus asked him, "How can a person be born when he is old? He can't go back into his mother's womb a second time and be born, can he?"
The Samaritan woman asked him, "How can you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?" Because Jews do not have anything to do with Samaritans.
The woman told him, "Sir, you don't have a bucket, and the well is deep. Where are you going to get this living water?
The woman told him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I won't get thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water."
Then the Jewish leaders debated angrily with each other, asking, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
Now he was speaking about Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, because this man was going to betray him, even though he was one of the Twelve.
Then the Jewish leaders asked one another, "Where does this man intend to go that we won't be able to find him? Surely he's not going to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, is he?
They answered him, "You aren't from Galilee, too, are you? Search and see that no prophet comes from Galilee." Then all of them went to their own homes.
"No one, sir," she replied. Then Jesus said, "I don't condemn you, either. Go home, and from now on don't sin anymore."
I and the Father are one."
Now it was the Preparation Day for the Passover, about noon. He told the Jewish leaders, "Here is your king!"
The one who saw this has testified, and his testimony is true. He knows he is telling the truth so that you, too, may believe,
Jesus told her, "Don't hold on to me, because I haven't yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, "I'm ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'"
But these have been recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and so that through believing you may have life in his name.
If I have the gift of prophecy and can understand all secrets and every form of knowledge, and if I have absolute faith so as to move mountains but have no 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.