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FOREWORD
This is an attempt to tell the story of Jesus in chronological order.
I believe that all four of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke,
and John) are accurate and divinely inspired. Therefore, I have tried
to do no violence to any of the four.
Although I have told the story of Jesus in my own words, I
have tried to let the words of Jesus shine forth in their true
brightness; for His words are pearls of wisdom, diamonds of truth,
emeralds of hope, and rubies of love.
I have leaned heavily on the “New International Version of
the Holy Bible,” published by Zondervan Bible Publishers of Grand
Rapids, Michigan. Most of the quotations are taken from the NIV, and
are indicated as being from that source.
A few of the quotations come from other versions, and I tried
to show from which version all the sizable quotes are taken.
Occasionally, I translated a passage myself, and in that case, there is
no notation as to the source of the translation.
I assume that the gospels were written in the following
order:
1. The gospel of Matthew
2. The Gospel of Luke
3. The Gospel of Mark
4. The Gospel of John.
In addition to historical reasons for thinking that this is
the order in which they were written, there is internal evidence that
supports this order as well.
I have heard that about 80% of Mark’s material can be found
almost word for word in either the gospel of Matthew or the gospel of
Luke. Although I have not checked out the percentage, I estimate that
80% is about right.
It is unreasonable to think that Matthew and Luke sat
together and said to each other, “I will take this verse from Mark, and
you take that verse,” or “I’ll take this phrase from Mark, and you take
that phrase.” It seems highly improbable that something like that took
place, but it would have taken place if Mark were the first of the
three.
Therefore, the material passed, not from the Gospel of Mark
to the gospels of Matthew and Luke, but the other way around. It flowed
from Matthew and Luke to Mark. Thus, Mark wrote his gospel after Matthew
and Luke had already written their gospels, and he used wording from
each of them.
John’s gospel was the last of the four to be written. This
is shown by the fact that John avoided, for the most part, material that
had already been given in the earlier gospels. John tells some of the
additional things that Jesus did and said, in addition to what was told
in the three previous gospels.
In telling the story of Jesus, I have tried to follow the
order of events as presented by the Gospel of Mark. I chose Mark to be
my guide because I think he was the last of the three synoptic writers
to write and had, presumably, the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of
Luke before him as he wrote.
I realize, of course, that no one can do justice to the story
of Jesus. It has been said that the story of Jesus is “the greatest
story ever told.” I am sure this is true, because Jesus was the
greatest person that has ever lived.
The questions at the end of each chapter are designed to
encourage readers to think about Jesus and to answer for themselves the
question, which He asked, “What do you think about the Christ?”
Richard Walker
Lubbock, Texas
March 11, 2005