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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Then he made a tour through the whole of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the Reign, and healing all the sickness and disease of the people.
One of the Pharisees asked him to dinner, and entering the house of the Pharisee he reclined at table.
I will be up and off to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you;
and started next morning for Caesarea, where we entered the house of Philip the evangelist (he belonged to the Seven,
And how can men preach unless they are sent? ??as it is written, How pleasant is the coming of men with glad, good news!
he granted some men to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, some to shepherd and teach,
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/moffatt'>26,26/type/moffatt'>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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Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee; ??13 he left Nazaret and settled at Capharnahum beside the lake, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali
A scribe came up and said to him, "Teacher, I will follow you anywhere"; Jesus said to him, "The foxes have their holes, the wild birds have their nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head." read more. Another of the disciples said to him, "Lord, let me go and bury my father first of all"; Jesus said to him, "Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead."
When he reached the opposite side, the country of the Gadarenes, he was met by two demoniacs who ran out of the tombs; they were so violent that nobody could pass along the road there.
As Jesus passed along from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax-office; he said to him, "Follow me"; and he rose and followed him.
Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the taxgatherer, James the son of Alphaeus and Lebbaeus whose surname is Thaddaeus,
He said, "Come." Then Peter got out of the boat and walked over the water on his way to Jesus;
So Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus answered him, "You are a blessed man, Simon Bar-jona, for it was my Father in heaven, not flesh and blood, that revealed this to you.
From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he had to leave for Jerusalem and endure great suffering at the hands of the elders and high priests and scribes, and be killed and raised on the third day.
When they reached Capharnahum, the collectors of the temple-tax came and asked Peter, "Does your teacher not pay the temple-tax?"
When they reached Capharnahum, the collectors of the temple-tax came and asked Peter, "Does your teacher not pay the temple-tax?" He said, "Yes." But when he went indoors Jesus spoke first; "Tell me, Simon," he said, "from whom do earthly kings collect customs or taxes? Is it from their own people or from aliens?" read more. "From aliens," he said. Then Jesus said to him, "So their own people are exempt. However, not to give any offence to them, go to the sea, throw a hook in, and take the first fish you bring up. Open its mouth and you will find a five-shilling piece; take that and give it to them for me and for yourself."
"Caesar's," they said. Then he told them, "Give Caesar what belongs to Caesar, give God what belongs to God."
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! slaying the prophets and stoning those who have been sent to you! How often I would fain have gathered your children as a fowl gathers her brood under her wings! But you would not have it!
"You know the passover is to be held two days after this; and the Son of man will be delivered up to be crucified."
and said, "This fellow declared, 'I can destroy the temple of God and build it in three days.'"
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the hill where Jesus had arranged to meet them.
Then Jesus came forward to them and said, "Full authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth; go and make disciples of all nations, baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the holy Spirit, read more. and teach them to obey all the commands I have laid on you. And I will be with you all the time, to the very end of the world."
and in the desert he remained for forty days, while Satan tempted him; he was in the company of wild beasts, but angels ministered to him.
he called them at once, and they left their father Zebedaeus in the boat with the crew and went to follow him.
As he passed along he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax-office; he said to him, "Follow me," and he rose and followed him.
Then glancing round him in anger and vexation at their obstinacy he told the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out and his hand was quite restored.
James the son of Zebedaeus and John the brother of James (he surnamed them Boanerges, or "Sons of thunder"),
Then they reached the opposite side of the sea, the country of the Gerasenes.
So taking him aside from the crowd by himself, he put his fingers into the man's ears, touched his tongue with saliva, and looking up to heaven with a sigh he said to him, "Ephphatha" (which means, Open).
On leaving there they passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know of their journey, for he was teaching his disciples, telling them that the Son of man would be betrayed into the hands of men, that they would kill him, and that when he was killed he would rise again after three days. read more. But they did not understand what he said, and they were afraid to ask him what he meant. Then they reached Capharnahum. And when he was indoors he asked them, "What were you arguing about on the road?"
but one of the bystanders drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.
Go you and tell his disciples and Peter, 'He precedes you to Galilee; you shall see him there, as he told you.'"
Inasmuch as a number of writers have essayed to draw up a narrative of the established facts in our religion
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazaret,
He will be great, he will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father;
Now in those days an edict was issued by Caesar Augustus for a census of the whole world.
Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judaea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, Philip his brother tetrarch of the country of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysias tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert; read more. and he went into all the Jordan-district preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins ??4 as it is written in the book of the sayings of the prophet Isaiah, The voice of one who cries in the desert, 'Make the way ready for the Lord, level the paths for him.
Every valley shall be filled up, every hill and mound laid low, the crooked made straight, the rough roads smooth; so shall all flesh see the saving power of God.' read more. To the crowds who came out to get baptized by him John said, "You brood of vipers, who told you to flee from the coming Wrath? Now, produce fruits that answer to your repentance, instead of beginning to say to yourselves, 'We have a father in Abraham.' I tell you, God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones! The axe is lying all ready at the root of the trees; any tree that is not producing good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire." The crowds asked him, "Then what are we to do?" He replied, "Let everyone who possesses two shirts share with him who has none, and let him who has food do likewise." Taxgatherers also came to get baptized, and they said to him, "Teacher, what are we to do?" He said to them, "Never exact more than your fixed rate." Soldiers also asked him, "And what are we to do?" He said to them, "Never extort money, never lay a false charge, but be content with your pay." Now as people's expectations were roused and as everybody thought to himself about John, "Can he be the Christ," John said to them all, "I baptize you with water, but after me one who is mightier will come, and I am not fit to untie the string of his sandals; he will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing-fan is in his hand to purge his threshing-floor, to gather the wheat into his granary and burn the straw with fire unquenchable." Thus with many another appeal he spoke his message to the people. But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias his brother's wife as well as for all the wickedness that he, Herod, had committed, crowned all by shutting John up in prison. Now when all the people had been baptized and when Jesus had been baptized and was praying, heaven opened and the holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon him; and a voice came from heaven, "Thou art my son, the Beloved, to-day have I become thy father." At the outset Jesus was about thirty years of age; he was the son, as people supposed, of Joseph, the son of Heli,
Then Jesus came back in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and the news of him spread over all the surrounding country.
And when they did so, they enclosed a huge shoal of fish, so that their nets began to break.
But when Simon Peter saw it he fell at the knees of Jesus, crying, "Lord, leave me; I am a sinful man."
as was the case with James and John, the sons of Zebedaeus, who were partners of Simon. Then said Jesus to Simon, "Have no fear; from now your catch will be men."
On going outside after this he noticed a taxgatherer called Levi sitting at the tax-office and said to him, "Follow me";
One sabbath it happened that as he was crossing the cornfields his disciples pulled some ears of corn and ate them, rubbing them in their hands.
Shortly afterwards he went travelling from one town and village to another preaching and telling the good news of the Reign of God; he was accompanied by the twelve
Now Peter and his companions had been overpowered with sleep, but on waking up they saw his glory and the two men who were standing beside him.
Jesus said to him, "Do not stop him; he who is not against you is for you." As the time for his assumption was now due, he set his face for the journey to Jerusalem.
As the time for his assumption was now due, he set his face for the journey to Jerusalem.
And as they journeyed along the road a man said to him, "I will follow you anywhere." Jesus said to him, "The foxes have their holes, the wild birds have their nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head." read more. He said to another man, "Follow me"; but he said, "Let me go and bury my father first of all." Jesus said to him, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead; you go and spread the news of the Reign of God." Another man also said to him, "I will follow you, Lord. But let me first say good-bye to my people at home."
On he went, teaching from one town and village to another, as he made his way to Jerusalem. A man said to him, "Is it only a few, sir, who are saved?" So he said to them,
Just then some Pharisees came up to tell him, "Get away from here, for Herod intends to kill you."
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, slaying the prophets and stoning those who have been sent to you! How often I would fain have gathered your children as a fowl gathers her brood under her wings! But you would not have it!
Now it happened in the course of his journey to Jerusalem that he passed between Samaria and Galilee.
Now it happened in the course of his journey to Jerusalem that he passed between Samaria and Galilee.
Now people even brought their infants for him to touch them; when the disciples noticed it they checked them,
But they insisted, "He stirs up the people by teaching all over Judaea. He started from Galilee and now he is here."
who told them that the Lord had really risen and that he had appeared to Simon.
Next day Jesus determined to leave for Galilee; there he met Philip and told him, "Follow me."
Jesus replied, "Destroy this sanctuary and I will raise it up in three days."
[vss 22-30 moved to between 2:12 and 2:13] After this Jesus and his disciples went into the country of Judaea, where he spent some time with them baptizing.
he left Judaea and went back to Galilee. He had to pass through Samaria, read more. and in so doing he arrived at a Samaritan town called Sychar; it lay near the territory which Jacob had given to his son Joseph, and Jacob's spring was there. Jesus, exhausted by the journey, sat down at the spring, just as he was. It was about noon, and a Samaritan woman came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink" (his disciples had gone to the town to buy some food). The Samaritan woman said, "What? You are a Jew, and you ask me for a drink ??me, a Samaritan!" (Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered, "If you knew what is the free gift of God and who is asking you for a drink, you would have asked him instead, and he would have given you 'living' water." "Sir," said the woman, "you have nothing to draw water with, and it is a deep well; where do you get your 'living' water? Are you a greater man than Jacob, our ancestor? He gave us this well, and he drank from it, with his sons and his cattle." Jesus answered, "Anyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but anyone who drinks the water I shall give him will never thirst any more; the water I shall give him will turn into a spring of water welling up to eternal life." "Ah, sir," said the woman, "give me this water, so that I need not thirst or come all this road to draw water." Jesus said to her, "Go and call your husband, then come back here." The woman replied, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You were right in saying, 'I have no husband'; you have had five husbands, and he whom you have now espoused is not your husband. That was a true word." "Sir," said the woman, "I see you are a prophet. Now our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, whereas you Jews declare the proper place for worship is at Jerusalem." "Woman," said Jesus, "believe me, the time is coming when you will be worshipping the Father neither on this mountain nor at Jerusalem. You are worshipping something you do not know; we are worshipping what we do know ??for salvation comes from the Jews. But the time is coming, it has come already, when the real worshippers will worship the Father in Spirit and in reality; for these are the worshippers that the Father wants. God is Spirit, and his worshippers must worship him in Spirit and in reality." The woman said to him, "Well, I know messiah (which means Christ) is coming. When he arrives, he will explain it all to us." "I am messiah," said Jesus, "I who am talking to you." At this point his disciples came up; they were surprised that he was talking to a woman, but none of them said, "What is it?" or, "Why are you talking to her?" Then the woman left her water-pot, and going off to the town told the people, "Come here, look at a man who has told me everything I ever did! Can he be the Christ?" They set out from the town on their way to him. Meanwhile the disciples pressed him, saying, "Rabbi, eat something." But he said to them, "I have food, of which you know nothing." So the disciples asked each other, "Can anyone have brought him something to eat?" Jesus said, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work. You have a saying, have you not, 'Four months yet, then harvest'? Look round, I tell you; see, the fields are white for harvesting! The reaper is already getting his wages and harvesting for eternal life, so that the sower shares the reaper's joy. That proverb, 'One sows and another reaps,' holds true here: I sent you to reap a crop for which you did not toil; other men have toiled, and you reap the profit of their toil." Now many Samaritans belonging to that town believed in him on account of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I ever did." So when the Samaritans arrived, they pressed him to stay with them; he did stay there two days, and far more of them believed on account of what he said himself. As they told the woman, "We no longer believe on account of what you said; we have heard for ourselves, we know that he is really the Saviour of the world." When the two days were over, he left for Galilee
After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
After this Jesus moved about in Galilee; he would not move in Judaea, because the Jews were trying to kill him.
After this Jesus moved about in Galilee; he would not move in Judaea, because the Jews were trying to kill him. Now the Jewish festival of booths was near,
But after his brothers had gone up to the festival, he went up too, not publicly but as it were privately.
Accordingly Jesus no longer appeared in public among the Jews, but withdrew to the country adjoining the desert, to a town called Ephraim; there he stayed with the 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);
After that, Jesus disclosed himself once more to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias. It was in this way.
So he told them, "Throw your net on the right of the boat, and you will have a take." At this they threw the net, and now they could not haul it in for the mass of fish. So the disciple who was Jesus' favourite said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" Hearing it was the Lord, Simon Peter threw on his blouse (he was stripped for work) and jumped into the water,
IN my former volume, Theophilus, I treated all that Jesus began by doing and teaching
and they were all filled with the holy Spirit ??they began to speak in foreign tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to express themselves. Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem. read more. So when this sound was heard, the multitude gathered in bewilderment, for each heard them speaking in his own language. All were amazed and astonished. "Are these not all Galileans," they said, "who are speaking? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native tongue? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, residents in Mesopotamia, in Judaea and Cappadocia, in Pontus and Asia, in Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt and the districts of Libya round Cyrene, visitors from Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians, we hear these men talking of the triumphs of God in our own languages!"
(A number of those who heard them speak believed, bringing up their numbers to [about] five thousand.)
But Peter said, "No, no, my Lord; I have never eaten anything common or unclean."
and on finding him he brought him to Antioch, where for a whole year they were guests of the church and taught considerable numbers. It was at Antioch too that the disciples were originally called "Christians."
When he grasped the situation, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was surnamed Mark, where a number had met for prayer.
Setting sail from Paphos, Paul and his companions reached Perga in Pamphylia; John left them and went back to Jerusalem,
and, after the reading of the Law and the prophets, the presidents of the synagogue sent to tell them, "Brothers, if you have any word of counsel for the people, say it." So Paul stood up and motioning with his hand said, "Listen, men of Israel and you who reverence God. read more. The God of this People Israel chose our fathers; he multiplied the people as they sojourned in the land of Egypt and with arm uplifted led them out of it. For about forty years he bore with them in the desert, and after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan he gave them their land as an inheritance for about four hundred and fifty years. After that he gave them judges, down to the prophet Samuel. Then it was that they begged for a king, and God gave them forty years of Saul, the son of Kish, who belonged to the tribe of Benjamin. After deposing him, he raised up David to be their king, to whom he bore this testimony that 'In David, the son of Jessai, I have found a man after my own heart, who will obey all my will.' From his offspring God brought to Israel, as he had promised, a saviour in Jesus, before whose coming John had already preached a baptism of repentance for all the people of Israel. And as John was closing his career he said, 'What do you take me for? I am not He; no, he is coming after me, and I am not fit to untie the sandals on his feet!' Brothers, sons of Abraham's race and all among you who reverence God, the message of this salvation has been sent to us. The inhabitants of Jerusalem and their rulers, by condemning him in their ignorance, fulfilled the words of the prophets which are read every sabbath;
The inhabitants of Jerusalem and their rulers, by condemning him in their ignorance, fulfilled the words of the prophets which are read every sabbath; though they could find him guilty of no crime that deserved death, they begged Pilate to have him put to death, read more. and, after carrying out all that had been predicted of him in scripture, they lowered him from the gibbet and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead. For many days he was seen by those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem; they are now his witnesses to the People. So we now preach to you the glad news that the promise made to the fathers has been fulfilled by God for us their children, when he raised Jesus. As it is written in the second psalm, thou art my son, to-day have I become thy father. And as a proof that he has raised him from the dead, never to return to decay, he has said this: I will give you the holiness of David that fails not. Hence in another psalm he says, thou wilt not let thy holy One suffer decay. Of course David, after serving God's purpose in his own generation, died and was laid beside his fathers; he suffered decay, but He whom God raised did not suffer decay. So you must understand, my brothers, that remission of sins is proclaimed to you through him, and that by him everyone who believes is absolved from all that the law of Moses never could absolve you from. Beware then in case the prophetic saying applies to you: Look, you disdainful folk, wonder at this and perish for in your days I do a deed, a deed you will never believe, not though one were to explain it to you." As Paul and Barnabas went out, the people begged to have all this repeated to them on the following sabbath. After the synagogue broke up, a number of the Jews and the devout proselytes followed them; Paul and Barnabas talked to them and encouraged them to hold by the grace of God. And on the next sabbath nearly all the town gathered to hear the word of the Lord.
At Iconium the same thing happened. They went into the synagogue of the Jews and spoke in such a way that a great body both of Jews and Greeks believed.
Paul held they should not take a man with them who had deserted them in Pamphylia, instead of accompanying them on active service.
Travelling on through Amphipolis and Apollonia they reached Thessalonica. Here there was a Jewish synagogue, and Paul as usual went in; for three sabbaths he argued with them on the scriptures, read more. explaining and quoting passages to prove that the messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead, and that "the Jesus I proclaim to you is the messiah." Some were persuaded and threw in their lot with Paul and Silas, including a host of devout Greeks and a large number of the leading women.
After spending some time there he went off on a journey right through the country of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening the disciples.
It is written in the law of Moses, You must not muzzle an ox when he is treading the grain. Is God thinking here about cattle? Or is he speaking purely for our sakes? Assuredly for our sakes. This word was written for us, because the ploughman needs to plough in hope, and the thresher to thresh in the hope of getting a share in the crop.
one has prophecy, another the gift of distinguishing spirits, another the gift of 'tongues' in their variety, another the gift of interpreting 'tongues.'
If anyone considers himself a prophet or gifted with the Spirit, let him understand that what I write to you is a command of the Lord.
Along with him I am sending that brother whose services to the gospel are praised by all the churches;
But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face. The man stood self-condemned. Before certain emissaries of James arrived, he ate along with the Gentile Christians; but when they arrived, he began to draw back and hold aloof, because he was afraid of the circumcision party. read more. The rest of the Jewish Christians also played false along with him, so much so that even Barnabas was carried away by their false play. But I saw they were swerving from the true line of the gospel; so I said to Cephas in presence of them all, "If you live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, though you are a Jew yourself, why do you oblige the Gentiles to become Jews?" ??15 We may be Jews by birth and not 'Gentile sinners,'
And you, my true comrade, lend a hand to these women, I beg of you; they have fought at my side in the active service of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow-workers, whose names are in the book of life.
Aristarchus my fellow-prisoner salutes you; so does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas, about whom you have got instructions (if he comes to you, give him a welcome);
Luke is the only one who is with me. Pick up Mark and bring him along with you, for he is of great use in helping me.
Salute one another with a kiss of love. Peace be to you all who are in Christ [Jesus].
For it was no fabricated fables that we followed when we reported to you the power and advent of our Lord Jesus Christ; we were admitted to the spectacle of his sovereignty,
Do not believe every spirit, beloved, but test the spirits to see if they come from God; for many false prophets have emerged in 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
Do not imagine I have come to destroy the Law or the prophets; I have not come to destroy but to fulfil.
You have heard how the men of old were told, 'Murder not: whoever murders must come up for sentence,
No one can serve two masters: either he will hate one and love the other, or else he will stand by the one and despise the other ??you cannot serve both God and Mammon.
Which of you can add an ell to his height by troubling about it?
But to let you see the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins" ??he then said to the paralytic, "Get up, lift your pallet, and go home."
Come to me, all who are labouring and burdened, and I will refresh you.
The men of that place recognized him and sent all over the surrounding country, bringing him all who were ill
"Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? They do not wash their hands when they take their food."
He said to them, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you truly, if you had faith the size of a grain of mustard-seed, you could say to this hill, 'Move from here to there,' and remove it would; nothing would be impossible for you."
Jesus answered, "I tell you truly, if you have faith, if you have no doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree but even if you say to this hill, 'Take and throw yourself into the sea,' it will be done.
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! slaying the prophets and stoning those who have been sent to you! How often I would fain have gathered your children as a fowl gathers her brood under her wings! But you would not have it!
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! slaying the prophets and stoning those who have been sent to you! How often I would fain have gathered your children as a fowl gathers her brood under her wings! But you would not have it! See, your House is left to you, desolate. read more. For I tell you, you will never see me again till you say, Blessed be he who comes in the Lord's name."
When the Son of man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory,
As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, Here I send my messenger before your face to prepare the way for you:
But to let you see the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins" ??he said to the paralytic,
For this Herod had sent and arrested John and bound him in prison on account of his marriage to Herodias the wife of his brother Philip;
Whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this disloyal and sinful generation, the Son of man will be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
for the Son of man himself has not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Now when he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, lying at table, a woman came up with an alabaster flask of pure nard perfume, which had cost a great sum; the flask she broke and poured the perfume over his head.
he said to them, "This means my covenant-blood which is shed for many;
Jesus said, "I am. And, what is more, you will all see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven."
(a) Now after he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary of Magdala out of whom he had cast seven daemons. She went and reported it to those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept; read more. but although they heard he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it. After this he appeared in another form to two of them as they were walking on their way to the country. They too went and reported it to the rest, but they would not believe them either. Afterwards he appeared at table to the eleven themselves and reproached them for their unbelief and dulness of mind, because they had not believed those who saw him risen from the dead. [But they excused themselves, saying, "This age of lawlessness and unbelief lies under the sway of Satan, who will not allow what lies under the unclean spirits to understand the truth and power of God; therefore," they said to Christ, "reveal your righteousness now." Christ answered them, "The term of years for Satan's power has now expired, but other terrors are at hand. I was delivered to death on behalf of sinners, that they might return to the truth and sin no more, that they might inherit that glory of righteousness which is spiritual and imperishable in heaven."] And he said to them, "Go to all the world and preach the gospel to every creature: he who believes and is baptized shall be saved, but he who will not believe shall be condemned. And for those who believe, these miracles will follow: they will cast out daemons in my name, they will talk in foreign tongues, they will handle serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick and make them well." Then after speaking to them the Lord Jesus was taken up to heaven and sat down at the right hand of God, while they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the miracles that endorsed it. (b) But they gave Peter and his companions a brief account of all these injunctions. And, after that, Jesus himself sent out by means of them from east to west the sacred and imperishable message of eternal salvation.
Inasmuch as a number of writers have essayed to draw up a narrative of the established facts in our religion
Inasmuch as a number of writers have essayed to draw up a narrative of the established facts in our religion exactly as these have been handed down to us by the original eyewitnesses who were in the service of the Gospel Message,
exactly as these have been handed down to us by the original eyewitnesses who were in the service of the Gospel Message,
exactly as these have been handed down to us by the original eyewitnesses who were in the service of the Gospel Message, and inasmuch as I have gone carefully over them all myself from the very beginning, I have decided, O Theophilus, to write them out in order for your excellency, read more. to let you know the solid truth of what you have been taught.
But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias his brother's wife as well as for all the wickedness that he, Herod, had committed,
But to let you see the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins" ??he said to the paralysed man, "Rise, I tell you, lift your mattress and go home."
As the time for his assumption was now due, he set his face for the journey to Jerusalem.
As the time for his assumption was now due, he set his face for the journey to Jerusalem.
Which of you can add an ell to his height by troubling about it?
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, slaying the prophets and stoning those who have been sent to you! How often I would fain have gathered your children as a fowl gathers her brood under her wings! But you would not have it!
No servant can serve two masters: either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will stand by the one and despise the other, you cannot serve both God and Mammon."
I tell you, he went home accepted by God rather than the other man; for everyone who uplifts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be uplifted."
[And an angel from heaven appeared to strengthen him;
who had not voted for their plan of action; he belonged to Arimathaea, a Jewish town, and he was on the outlook for the Reign of God.
So the Logos became flesh and tarried among us; we have seen his glory ??glory such as an only son enjoys from his father ??seen it to be full of grace and reality.
So the Logos became flesh and tarried among us; we have seen his glory ??glory such as an only son enjoys from his father ??seen it to be full of grace and reality.
Next day he observed Jesus coming towards him and exclaimed, "Look, there is the lamb of God, who is to remove the sin of the world!
And John bore this testimony also: "I saw the Spirit descend like a dove from heaven and rest on him.
Now I did see it, and I testify that he is the Son of God."
In the morning he met his brother Simon and told him, "We have found the messiah" (which may be translated, 'Christ').
he met Nathanael and told him, "We have found him whom Moses wrote about in the Law, and also the prophets ??it is Jesus, the son of Joseph, who comes from Nazaret." "Nazaret!" said Nathanael, "can anything good come out of Nazaret?" "Come and see," said Philip.
"Rabbi," said Nathanael, "you are the Son of God, you are the king of Israel!"
Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter his mother's womb over again and be born?"
The Samaritan woman said, "What? You are a Jew, and you ask me for a drink ??me, a Samaritan!" (Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
"Sir," said the woman, "you have nothing to draw water with, and it is a deep well; where do you get your 'living' water?
"Ah, sir," said the woman, "give me this water, so that I need not thirst or come all this road to draw water."
The Jews then wrangled with one another, saying, "How can he give us his flesh to eat?"
Then what if you were to see the Son of man ascending to where he formerly existed?
(He meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot; for Judas was to betray him ??and he was one of the twelve.)
The Jews said to themselves, "Where is he going, that we will not find him? Is he off to the Dispersion among the Greeks, to teach the Greeks?
others said, "He is the Christ"; but others said, "No, surely the Christ does not come from Galilee?
They answered him, "And are you from Galilee, too? Search and you will see that no prophet ever springs from Galilee." [And everyone of them went home,
She said, "No one, sir." Jesus said, "Neither do I; be off, and never sin again."]
I and my Father are one ??."
(it was the day of Preparation for the passover, about noon). "There is your king!" he said to the Jews.
He who saw it has borne witness (his witness is true; God knows he is telling the truth), that you may believe.
Jesus said, "Cease clinging to me. I have not ascended yet to the Father, but go to my brothers and tell them, 'I am ascending to my Father and yours, to my God and yours.'"
but these Signs are recorded so that you may believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and believing may have life through his Name.
I may prophesy, fathom all mysteries and secret lore, I may have such absolute faith that I can move hills from their place, but if I have no love, I count for 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.