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Life of Jesus in the Gospels:

A High-Level view of the Gospel Accounts

This Study is currently incomplete but I hope to complete it as I finish Version 2 of the Studies of the Gospels.

Subject links: General Considerations, Summary of Matthew, Summary of Mark, Summary of Luke, Summary of John, Homework.

General Considerations

The four (4) different Gospel accounts give us (4) different perspectives of the physical life and ministry while Jesus was living as a literal physical man in this physical reality. Devil-motivated liars, and deceived people who were too lazy to verify what they believe, claim that there are conflicts between these accounts.

Consider that Matthew was a government employee. While most claim that Matthew's Gospel presents Jesus as God's King, Matthew actually tells us how Jesus fulfilled the requirements of the Mosaic law. As a government employee, Matthew would be concerned with matters of the law. However, Mark was a preacher's servant and Mark presents Jesus as the example perfect servant. Servants are, usually, not concerned with matters of law but are concerned with making their masters happy. Thus, Mark ignores most matters of law while Matthew is more concerned with the perspective of a master and less with the perspective of a servant. At the same time, Luke is the beloved physician (Colossians 4:14). Luke presents Jesus as a literal physical man and gives us the doctrine of His humanity. As a typical man, there are times that Jesus would be concerned with matters of the law but most of the time those concerns would not affect most men. At the same time, most men are concerned with the concerns of other men and how those concerns affect their life. Thus, while most men have similar concerns as a servant, the way that they viewed those concerns would often be different from the view of a servant.

John's Gospel is the most different from the others because John presents Jesus as the Son of God and gives us a spiritual perspective. His Gospel account is usually different because most men most of the time, unfortunately, ignore spiritual concerns.

The claims that there are errors or conflicts are all lies and I have provided the proof of this truth.

There is one interpretation and many applications of the Bible. You can not start at the word of God and arrive at these two different results using the exact same procedure.
The main job of a preacher is the the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:12). That requires them to study their Bible for the many applications. However, they get into trouble when they declare their favorite application to be the single interpretation. Then when someone else points out that their application does not match what the word of God says elsewhere, they swell up in pride and declare that there are errors, and conflicts, in God’s word instead of admitting their own error by claiming that any application is the single interpretation.
In addition to people thinking that one, of many, applications is the single interpretation, they use the wrong method for interpretating the word of God. Isaiah 55:9 says: For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. They use the methods which Baptist have used for at least 150 years and which result in ‘Bible Experts’ claiming that there are errors and conflicts in the word of God and also caused preachers to turn from the true word of God and trust a devil-motivated perversion of the Bible. However, when we use God’s way to interpret the word of God, we receive an interpretation with no conflicts and no errors.
A simple example of this truth is the definition of Bible words. Nineteen times the Bible calls itself the book of the law. Ask any honest lawyer and they will tell you that they must use the legal definition for a word used in law when they are speaking about the law as a lawyer. The same is true with a medical person and any other type of professional. However, lying self-proclaimed Bible experts use non-Biblical definitions for Bible words when they claim what the Bible says. For example, God does not change (Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8). When God said a word, He gave it a meaning. God would have to change if He gave a different word the same meaning or gave that word a different meaning. Man written dictionaries do this all of the time. However, the true meaning of a Bible word is found by looking at every place that it is used and seeing what is the same in every place. So, Doctrinal Error claims that Jesus means Saviour. But, three places where we find Jesus, the name is not used for our Saviour. The true Biblical meaning Jesus is the name of a literal physical man and where we see Jesus used in the Gospels, the context is not telling us about our salvation but is telling us how Jesus is our example of how to live in our flesh, as a literal physical man, and please God. Simply put, people use wrong definitions for Bible words in order to teach doctrinal error. And, in order to understand what the Gospels are truly teaching us, we must use true Bible definitions for Bible words.
The Detailed Studies, on my web site, have 2200-word studies which go through every usage of each of those words as they are used in the New Testament. (Sometimes the word is studied for the entire Bible.) Those studies give the true Biblical definition of those words. In addition, if the links are followed from basic studies, such as Book Studies, through the links to the Bible references, and all of those Bible references were added up, there would be well over 15 million Bible references provided for the interpretations provided. There is no other work anywhere in the world that has that many Bible references for the New Testament. This is to assure you that what I provide is based upon what the Bible itself says and is not the traditional religious doctrine of anyone.
I have gone through every sentence, every verse, every phrase, every punctuation mark, and every doctrinally significant Bible word in all of the Gospels and all of the Epistles. I have proven that there are no errors if people use God’s way to interpret God’s word (as explained in the second prior point) and if they use the true Biblical definitions for Bible words. I then created a summary for each sentence and a summary for each chapter from the sentence summaries and a summary of each Bible book from the chapter summaries. Now, even those chapter summaries are too much detail to cover in a one semester class on all that is available within the Gospel accounts. However, it is important that the Bible student know what level of evidence is available to support the summaries provided and that the Bible student understand that all supporting material comes directly from the Bible. And, the student is welcome, and even encouraged, to verify anything that they question. As already explained, there is more detail, and depth of detail, available to support the summaries used than the student will find for any other study on the Gospels.
With the prior written, and hopefully understood, we will move onto other considerations.
There are certainly many other written and preached claims about the Gospels which disagree with what I present. In fact, many deceived and devil-motivated liars claim that there are errors and conflicts in the Gospels. Ho0wever, when they use flagrantly wrong methods to arrive at their claims, it should be obvious that they are lying and that only fools will believe them.
For example, when people deliberately deny the Bible writer should use methods which are common to all people, those critics are lying. Following is an example of one of the types of lies told by people wo claim to be Bible experts.
1. If four (4) women went for a weekend of shopping at a major mall, and you asked them what happened on their shopping trip, you would get four (4) different accounts. This does not make them liars. The differences will be due to receiving four (4) different perspectives. When we see the same thing in the Bible, and people claim that all four (4) Gospel accounts must say the exact same thing in the exact same way and using the exact same words, they prove themselves to be unreasonable liars and all of the followers to be fools.
2. While listening to the women, you should not expect them all to report what happened in a strict time sequence. They will present their report in the sequence of what was most important to them. Even if two, or more, report the same thing, it would be unreasonable to expect them to use the exact same sequence, since each will have their own priority. Yet, when we see the same thing in the Gospel accounts the liars claim that is evidence of error.
3. While I could go on with more examples, I will move on after presenting this note. When the same incident is reported in the Gospel of Matthew and one or more other Gospel account, the Detail Notes, for Matthew, have a word-for-word comparison of the different accounts and explain all of the differences and show how the differences are dure strictly to the different perspective of each Gospel writer. In truth, the differences give greater understanding, and no conflict, when the Bible student is diligent enough to properly study what is reported using the help of God’s Holy Ghost and a proper attitude.
While I was studying the Gospels for what is actually written in each, God had me create certain reference works. Several people have searched and failed to find any other similar work which matches what I provide for thoroughness and accuracy. This is not to brag about my work but to say that this is evidence of God working through me. Several of these reference works God had me record while I was concentrating on studying the Gospels, and I did not realize what I had until I was almost finished. Therefore, I did not plan to create these but God used me to make them available to His people. And, they are all related to the Gospels. Therefore, they need to be considered when the Gospel accounts are studied.
1. The first was already mentioned slightly. On the Main Menu, of ljc1611kjv.com, is the Lord Jesus Christ link. At that web page is a table of links which will take the reader to a web page for each book of the New Testament. Those linked web pages have a note for every usage of a major name of the Son of God within that Bible book. The note explains how that name is used within the context where it is found and how that usage matches the doctrinal definition of the name. People have been looking since 2005 and no one has found any other source for this complete of a published study. In addition to those detail notes, there is a link to the Overview which explains the doctrinal meaning of each name and how each name has a different doctrinal meaning. (Therefore, using a different name than is found in the Bible is teaching doctrinal error.) And, finally, there is a link to the Verses. That web page has links to every usage of the major names of the Son of God organized by name and by applications within each name. Thus, for example, it separates when the Bible uses Lord for God the Father from when it uses Lord for the Son of God and separates both from when the Bible uses lord for a human man.
2. Next, on that same web page, there is a link to the Study called Relational Prepositions. That Study has links to every place where a preposition is connected to a role of the Son of God and tells us about our relationship to Him. This Study was started because people claimed that all saved have Christ in them. The Bible teaches that is a lie. All saved have the Holy Spirit in them and Christ will never leave nor forsake them. However, the saved can leave their relationship with Christ by refusing to fulfill their responsibilities in the relationship. If they do so, they lose all of the promises related to having Christ in them.
3. There is a Study, under the Doctrines Menu, of ljc1611kjv.com, called: What Did Jesus Do? It has references to Gospel accounts. There was a popular movement which asked What Would Jesus Do?, and it fell apart when liars claimed that Jesus would do many things which the true Jesus would not do. However, this Study specifically requires a reference to a Gospel account where we have God’s preserved accounts of what the true Jesus of the Bible would do. And, all non-Gospel claims are tr4eated as lies. That written, this document is organized according to different circumstances that we live with. And, Jesus is our example of how to live in the flesh. There is a very true saying that the Bile has the answer for all of our problems. The problem that many people have is finding the right answer. This Study helps the Bible student to find the answer to circumstances in life. (Related to that Study is the Study called: Jesus Used the Power of the Holy Ghost.)
4. Next, there is another Study, under the Doctrines Menu, called: Table Of Miracles in the Gospels It has been proven to be more complete and error free than any other reference that can be found. When studying miracles, it is important to understand that there were many more miracles performed by Jesus than are reported in the Gospels. Every miracle reported was reported where it is for a reason. And, the doctrine of the context, where the miracle is reported, must be considered because the miracle is a physical example of that doctrine. For example, we have two different wrong interpretations of what happened when Jesus turned the water into wine. (The Detail Note, in the Book Study on John, explains the truth.) The doctrinal context tells us that this miracle manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him. Neither wrong interpretation of this miracle would product these results. Therefore, it is important to consider the doctrinal context when studying miracles.
5. Next, there is another Study, under the Doctrines Menu, called: Table of Parables in the New Testament. Many people know that a parable is; a physical story with a spiritual meaning.
  1. But liars claim that the account of Lazarus and the rich man is a parable when it is not a story but is an actual account. And, many sources of doctrinal error also deny that certain parables are parables in spite of the word of God saying that they are. And, some sources of doctrinal error claim that other things are parables which do not meet the true definition of a parable.
  2. Next, many do not understand that Jesus used parables to teach spiritual truth to saved people who listen to God’s Holy Spirit while also leading the lost and the carnal into doctrinal error. Therefore, there are many wrong so-called interpretations of parables from those deceived sources. I have provided a true interpretation of all Gospel parables but I am still working on providing an explanation which is easier to understand.
  3. Please also see the Message called How To Know Parables about the doctrine from Jesus on this subject.
6. Next, there is another Study, under the Doctrines Menu, called: Sequence of Gospel Events. This Study provides the time sequence of incidents reported in the four (4) Gospel accounts. Please understand that none of the four (4) Gospel accounts. Were written in time sequence. All report incidents in the order which supports the point that they are making. Therefore, people who complain about incidents presented in different sequences, between different Gospel accounts, are ignoring what the authors are actually reporting. That written, I created this Study to answer those critics. I know of no other study, of the time sequence of events in the Gospels, which is as comprehensive. I have asked others to send me an email with any correction, but have heard nothing from others. With that in mind, what I found is that, starting when Jesus started towards Jerusalem for the last time, we can put various events in a time sequence. However, before that event, we can have a general idea of the time sequence but can not be exact on the time sequence of all incidents. The Gospel accounts do not provide enough information to be exact for all incidents.
7. Next, there is another Study, under the Doctrines Menu, called: Significant Gospel Events and, a matching Study is: Significant New Testament Events. Within these Studies we have several sections which are important to understanding the Gospels. (If you are looking to find a specific Gospel reference use the Find function {CNTL-F} of Windows.) These sections are:
  1. Harmony: This Study has links to many places the same incident is reported in more than one Gospel account. There were more entries in this section but they were moved to other sections within this Study.
  2. Significant Events Reported only Once Within the Gospels is clear in the title.
  3. Promises: These promises are made for the ‘Church Age’. Every one of these promises include a requirement that we must fulfil in order to receive the promise. In addition, we must understand that God fulfills His promises in His time and His way. He will fulfill all of His promises but we can not demand that God do so when we want the promise fulfilled. For example, some of the promises that God made to Abraham will not be fulfilled until the 1,000 years reign of Christ. In addition, we need to understand that most of these promises are for what we will receive in eternity because we lose anything received now but can not lose promises given in eternity. Yes, some promises are for blessings here and now. However, those promises also have an everlasting component. Finally, fulfilling the requirements, by faith, are how we mature spiritually. We were saved by believing, and acting, on the promise of God. Likewise, God uses the same method to bring us to spiritual maturity.
  4. Prophecies: These are links to prophecies made within the Gospels that I have personally researched and verified. They are not copied from anyone else. In addition, there are well over five hundred (500) of these links with some prophecies being made in more than one Gospel account. This is more than you will likely find published by most so-called prophecy preachers. In addition, I do not prove myself to be a false prophet by claiming that I know exactly how and when God will fulfill a prophecy. Jesus told us: But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only (Matthew 24:36 and Mark 13:32). God lets us know much about what He will do in the future, but God always hides the exact time and way that he will fulfill a prophecy. Now, with that understanding, we need to realize that prophecies are promises to groups of people. And, if we are not in the group that the prophecy is given to, then it does not apply to us. For example, lots of people want to understand the prophecies for the time of the great tribulation. However, that time starts with the 'Rapture' an all truly saved will be in Heaven. So, those prophecies do not apply to the saved. And, they will be busy with the judgment seat of Christ and the marriage supper of the lamb. In addition, people who had a chance to receive salvation, but rejected it, will receive strong delusion (2Thessalonians 2:11). Therefore, they will die lost even though they are alive through the great tribulation. No, most of those prophecies are for Jews who will live at that time and most of them are currently ignoring such prophecies because they were made by Jesus. Therefore, we need to concentrate on prophecies made for us and use other prophecies to convince the lost to get saved before it is too late for them.
  5. Prophecy Fulfilled: This section also has links to prophecies fulfilled within the Gospels that I have personally researched and verified. They are not copied from anyone else. In addition, there are well over five hundred (600) of these links with some prophecies being made in more than one Gospel account. Now, the main purpose of these prophecies is to probe to people that the God of the Bible is the most powerful Being that exists anywhere and that all other beings combined can not match His power. They can not stop Him from doing exactly what he promised. In addition, since God never changes (Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8), and God has proven that he will fulfill all of His prophecies and promises, we can be assured that God will fulfill any promise made to us. In addition, we need to understand that these prophecies were very specific. There is only one ‘Bethlehem of Judea’ and every Christmas the entire world is reminded of this fulfilled prophecy. And, God allowed all devils and people hundreds of years to try and stop Him from fulfilling this prophecy. Now, we have so-called prophecies such as from Nostradamus. It’s been years ago but I read his work. It had things like: ‘A girl will find a man to be cute and get pregnant and her son will be a leader among men.’ That can be fulfilled by thousands of different people. No, Nostradamus did not make specific prophecies. Then you have the Muslims claiming that their founder was a prophet. However, the only prophecy which, reportedly, that he made and fulfilled was I will return. According to that measure, everyone is a prophet. We need to realize that the fulfillment of true prophecies is limited to the true word of God and that no other being has the power to make and fulfil prophecies. The purpose of these fulfilled prophecies is to assure us that we can rely on God completely fulfilling any promise that He makes to us.
  6. Non-Prophecy Godly Knowledge has a few references to where Jesus knew certain things that the normal human being could not know under the circumstances presented. These assure us that Jesus truly was / is ‘God in human flesh’.
8. Minor Titles of the Son of God is exactly what the title claims and provides links to where we can find these titles. We are not supposed to study the Bible so that we can memorize verses that we can use while arguing about doctrine. We are supposed to study the Bible so that we can learn the character of God and become like Him. And, one of the best ways to learn and understand God’s character is to study the titles given to God and understand what those titles tell us about His character. This section, with the links to where those titles are used, allows that type of study.
9. There are other Studies under the Doctrines Menu which help the Bible student understand different doctrines found in the Bible. However, they are not limited to what is found in the Gospels.
There is too much detail in the available material for a student to cover it all in a single class. It would actually take several years, with breaks, to digest what is available. With that recognized, this document only provides an outline for a high-level overview of the Gospels. It also lets the Bible student know that there is detailed proof to back every part of the summary level information. That way, should anyone deny or question any summary information, the detailed proof is available to answer all such concerns.

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Summary of Matthew

Book Theme: Jesus Fulfilled God's Law and Proved that He was / is God's Christ.

Chapter Themes:

Jesus fulfilled the law and proved that he is is God's Christ.
The first true worship of Jesus.
The ministry of John the Baptist.
The start of the ministry of Jesus.
The start of the 'Sermon of the Mount / Beatitudes': basic concepts for the kingdom of God.
The middle of the 'Sermon of the Mount / Beatitudes': basic actions for the kingdom of God.
The end of the 'Sermon of the Mount / Beatitudes': basic interactions for the kingdom of God.
Jesus acts like a King.
The scribes and Pharisees start their doctrinal fight with Jesus.
The start of the spiritual life of the church.
Two different reactions to evidence provided by God.
Judgment according to religious rules versus judgment according to spiritual truth.
What the kingdom of heaven is like.
Jesus deals with personal tragedy.
True believers versus religious people.
Starting the Show-Down.
Lessons in Spiritual Maturity.
Additional Lessons on Spiritual Maturity: Forgiveness.
The Testimony of the Righteous versus the Religious.
The Basis of Everlasting Rewards.
The Start of the Final Religious Conflict.
The Religious Leaders try to Match Wits with Jesus.
Wrong Religious Judgment Versus Righteous Judgment.
Prophecy of Future Events.
What the Kingdom of Heaven is Like.
The Last Supper.
The Trial and Crucifixion.
The Resurrection

Please see the Book Study on Matthew for a summary of each chapter.

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Overview of Matthew's Gospel:

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Summary of Mark

Book Theme: Jesus is our Example Servant.

Chapter Themes:

The Start of the Ministry of Jesus.
The religious leaders start their doctrinal fights with Jesus.
Religious traditions versus truth from the Son of God.
Produce a profit for your Lord.
Belief determines our level of blessings.
Keep doing the ministry in spite of discouragement.
Searching for rest while in the ministry.
Starting the show-down.
Lessons in spiritual maturity.
Eternal spiritual rewards versus temporary physical rewards.
A fruitful religion versus a show religion.
Correction of popular doctrinal error.
Prophecy of future events.
The 'Last Supper' and Betrayal by the Jews.
The trial and crucifixion.
The resurrection and return to heaven.

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Overview of Mark's Gospel:

There are devil motivated liars claiming that there are conflicts between this Gospel account and the accounts by other Gospel writers. However, the reader needs to realize that such claims are lies and the detailed Studies presented on this web site prove that fact. The claimed errors and conflicts are all due to the claimant using the wrong way to interpret the word of God. We need to acknowledge that God does not produce errors. Yes, there are errors in the perverted documents written by men which claim to be a bible, but they are not the true the word of God. And God will not use those perversions to judge us. God will use the true word of God. Therefore, that is what we need to truly study. And, what this Study, and this entire Web Site, deal with is the true word of God.

Now think. If someone takes half of a sentence out of the context of any document, and then claimed that what they took out of context proved that the original document was a lie, the truth is not that the original document was wrong but their wrong handling of the document produced the error. And, this truth applies to any written document in any language. Likewise, someone using such methods to deliberately pervert the word of God does not show that the word of God has errors. The general rules for reading written documents also apply to the word of God. However, there are devil motivated people who deliberately tell lies and pervert the message of the word of God. Therefore, starting with the first chapter of this Gospel, I will note many places where liars try to pervert the truth. And, as part of that effort, this Study presents the context of every part of this Gospel, it also provides references and comparisons where similar accounts are presented in other Gospel accounts and those similarities and differences are explained. In addition, links are provided to allow the reader to access other places in the word of God where the doctrines of this Gospel are also presented in other places.

The different Gospel accounts give us different details with the differences being due to various writers having different purposes for writing their particular Gospel. This is not a conflict just like any case where more than one person attends an event and each tell different things about the event. In addition, some people claim that there are conflicts due the time sequences being different in different Gospel accounts. For example, some people claim that there is a conflict over a question of if Jesus called His disciples before or after he preached in the synagogue and astonished the people with His doctrine. However, there is no reason to insist that this happened only once. It is quite reasonable to believe that He did this more than once, especially because many lessons need to be repeated before people accept them. Therefore, there is no real conflict even if it might appear to be so to people who are looking to criticize God and His word.

Below is a quick summary of each chapter in this Gospel account. This gives the readers high-level view of this Gospel and shows how each chapter supports the message from the author. Following that summary is a summary of each chapter with the first section containing references to where other Gospel accounts report the same incidents as Mark reports. This allows the reader to compare the various reports. And, in general, the notes for Matthew's Gospel explain the differences between the various Gospels with most of the differences due to the different perspectives that each Gospel author presents.

For example, Matthew was a government employee. While most claim that Matthew's Gospel presents Jesus as God's King, Matthew actually tells us how Jesus fulfilled the requirements of the Mosaic law. As a government employee, Matthew would be concerned with matters of the law. However, Mark was a preacher's servant and Mark presents Jesus as the example perfect servant. Servants are, usually, not concerned with matters of law but are concerned with making their masters happy. Thus, Mark ignores most matters of law while Matthew is more concerned with the perspective of a master and less with the perspective of a servant. At the same time, Luke is the beloved physician (Colossians 4:14). Luke presents Jesus as a literal physical man and gives us the doctrine of His humanity. As a typical man, there are times that Jesus would be concerned with matters of the law but most of the time those concerns would not affect most men. At the same time, most men are concerned with the concerns of other men and how those concerns affect their life. Thus, while most men have similar concerns as a servant, the way that they viewed those concerns would often be different from the view of a servant.

The notes for the Gospel of Matthew most often have the comparison of the different reports of the same incident and explain the differences due to different perspectives being presented. In addition to the different perspectives, there are times when the same thing was done more than once such as each of us eating every day. Therefore, there can be differences in the details, without causing conflicts, due to different authors reporting similar, but different, incidents.

As already written, I present these references and, according to the research by others, I present a more accurate and complete cross-reference than what can be found anywhere else. In addition, between the general considerations just presented, and the notes given in the Detail Studies, I explain all so-called conflicts and so-called errors. There are no errors not are there any conflicts in the word of God. All such conflicts and errors are due to people using the wrong methods to interpret the word of God or their using the wrong methods to compare different reports found in the word of God. Often, their errors are due to their refusal to consider the differences in perspective by the authors and by their refusal to consider contextual considerations. That is, they use methods which would be completely rejected if applied to any other document, especially if applied to any other book of the law. (We are told that the word of God is a book of the law Nineteen (19) times.)

Following the cross-reference section, in each Chapter Summary, is a summary of every sentence, and of most phrases, which are in the chapter. Also included are some links to relevant reference documents but most of the links to related Bible references are left for the notes given in the Detail Studies. And, in general, there are more references to help the student understand this Gospel than they will find anywhere else.

John Mark was a youth during the ministry of Jesus. He was in the garden when Jesus was arrested but escaped when the guards tried to seize him (Mark 14:51-52). While he was a disciple, he did not end up as an apostle nor even as a preacher but was the servant of pastors and missionaries. God using him to write one of the Gospels shows us that no saved person is so unimportant that they can get away with not serving God. And, as a servant, Mark understands the lessons which he presents here because he personally learned and lived them.

Mark went on the first missionary trip with Paul and Barnabas but left when things became rough. Paul and Barnabas split when the second missionary trip was scheduled because Barnabas wanted to take Mark but Paul refused because spiritual immaturity caused Mark to leave the first trip and Paul did not believe that Mark was mature enough for the job. However, later in life, Mark matured to the point that Paul wrote: Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry. (2Timothy 4:11). Thus, we see that a certain level of spiritual maturity is required in order to do certain jobs. And, even if someone messes up, they can still be useful after they mature further.

Mark is only mentioned here and in Acts 12:12; Acts 12:25; Acts 15:37; Acts 15:39. However, he also wrote the Gospel of Mark.

A already mentioned, the theme of this Gospel is: 'Jesus is the example servant'. As will be explained in more detail, later in this Overview, Mark's Gospel concentrates on what Jesus did before His death and resurrection. That was when He was acting as a literal physical man. He had set aside His own power as Lord God before His conception and did not take it back until after His death. After His resurrection, He was using His role of Lord Jesus, with all of His power and authority as Lord God. Therefore, we see Him acting differently after His resurrection than He did before His death. That is why the Study called Jesus used the Power of the Holy Ghost is relevant to most of this Gospel. In addition, things found in the Studies called Significant Gospel Events and What Did Jesus Do are strongly related to most of this Gospel. Please review those Studies and be aware of what they say, as well as using the links found in them to see other Biblical references which relate to the accounts presented in this Gospel. For further references, the Study called Table of Miracles in the Gospels lists every miracle reported by Mark, in his Gospel, along with references where the same, or a similar, miracle is reported in the other Gospels.

Please be sure to look in every sentence outline for links (words that are underlined and in red or blue). When links are found, please be sure to use the links to get further support in understanding the detail doctrine of that sentence. When following such links, please be sure to go to the start of such Studies to get general information, definitions, applications and links to other places within the Bible which have the same application as the original sentence.

As already mentioned, the many occurrences of the word and, within this Gospel, show us how important it is to consider context when trying to understand this Gospel. The fact is that God is a God of order. (1Corinthians 14:40 says: Let all things be done decently and in order..) God does what he commands us to do. Therefore, the doctrine presented within the Gospel is presented in the order that God commanded. With that acknowledged, we should consider the order of this Gospel. The simplest way to do that is to look at the themes of each chapter in the order in which they occur

Most people agree that Mark's Gospel shows us how Jesus is the example servant. As shown in the other Gospels, especially to Gospel of John; Jesus acted as God's messenger and servant from the start of His ministry through His crucifixion and death. He set aside His personal power and authority as Lord God before His conception and did not take it back until after Satan had taken Him to Hell. God is always righteous and did not force Himself into Satan's domain. However, after Satan took Him into his domain, Jesus took back His own personal power and authority as Lord God, defeated Satan and all of the devils together, led captivity captive (Judges 5:12; Psalms 68:18; Ephesians 4:8). and rose as Lord Jesus (Luke 24:3). After that He never acted like a servant again.

When we read Mark 16; we see the smallest account of the actions of Jesus, after His resurrection, among all of the Gospel accounts. After the resurrection, Jesus never let anyone treat Him as anything less than Lord God. Since the message of Mark's Gospel is 'Jesus is the example servant', all of Mark's message comes from before the resurrection. Therefore, his chapter on things which happened after the resurrection only finishes accounts of things which happened earlier. In that chapter, Mark gives us hardly anything that is not found in other gospel accounts and even what he does report has far less details than what we receive from the other authors. This supports the theme and the fact that all of the relevant examples were from when Jesus was acting as 'just a human man' and before He took back His power and authority as Lord God.

Another consideration is that the name of Jesus is used 97 times in 93 verses of this Gospel. That is far more usage than any of the other names / titles for the Son of God within Mark's Gospel. Doctrinally, the name of Jesus is used to teach us 'The Doctrine of the Humanity of the Son of God'. This, obviously, supports out theme for this Gospel. The next most often name / title used is Son. This word is used 41 times in 38 verses. Doctrinally, the name of son is used to teach us that 'a son receives the character of his father'. As the Son of God, He teaches us the character of God. As the Son of God, He teaches us the way that a man is supposed to act, which supports the theme of this Gospel. In addition, all uses of the word son support the definition and the main doctrinal application of this word is that, as sons of God, we are to receive the character of God. The use of the word son, within this Gospel, teaches us how to apply this truth to our personal life.

While I could go on with other examples, I hope that the reader gets the point that there are many details within this Gospel which can be examined and the analysis will, repeatedly, support the theme of this Gospel.

Alright, once we understand the overall theme, we need to see how the various chapters support this theme and how the order found in this Gospel is important.

Chapter 1 tells us about the start of His ministry including God sending John the Baptist to prepare the way and God giving Him disciples who would later become His apostles. Any type of ministry for God needs to start with God's preparation, approval and help. Thus, we see the first chapter giving us the example of starting our own service to God.

Chapter 2 tells us about Jesus ministering in His home region and the Bible tells us to start our service to God at home where we can get help and instruction. Jesus did not need instruction from anyone but God the Father, and He constantly prayed for that. However, He did get help as our second chapter tells us.

In Chapter 3 we see the conflict starting with religious people and with neighbours and with family who regarded Jesus as 'just a human man'. This is when Jesus emphasizes that His main identity is with His ministry and service to God The Father. He makes it clear that His relationship to family and home is secondary to His ministry. Then we see Him moving farther from home in order to do the ministry that God has given to Him. This also is a phase that all of God's servants will go through as they mature past the need for physical support from home.

In Chapter 4 we see a theme of 'Produce a prophet for your Lord'. The prior chapter showed us conflicts that Jesus had in His home region because those people heard the messages of tradition. Because of that, they rejected truth from God's Word (Jesus). They became unprofitable servants. As a result, Jesus has moved on to people who are willing to listen to truth and is warning them to not make the same doctrinal error that the people in His home region made. Likewise, the servant of God will have people tell them that their duty is at home and that they need to keep serving there even while the people at home reject the message from God that comes through the servant. Serving the wrong master will cause us to became unprofitable servants.

While this does not happen to everyone, it does happen to many of God's servants. Unfortunately, many of them compromise with tradition in order to stay in the comfort of home. I'm not saying that everyone will have the same problem as Jesus had, but many of God's servants will. When that happens, they need to move to where God can use them and where the people are willing to listen to the man of God. This is what we see happening starting in the Fourth Chapter and we see warnings from Jesus related to the error which He left in the prior chapter.

Related to our general theme of Jesus being our example servant, we see that those chapters taught that the true servant of God must put his master (God) before all other considerations. Of course, this ultimately led to Jesus going to the cross in obedience to God the Father. As many places in the Bible teach us, Jesus was willing to suffer and die in this physical world in order to receive a greater reward in eternity. This is the example and motivation that he provides for all true servants of God.

In Chapter 5 we see Jesus serving the people that God sent Him to by healing them and casting out devils and teaching them. While the people mainly sought Him out for the healing and casting out of devils, Jesus always included teaching because that was His main ministry. He did the rest in order to draw people to His teaching. God's servants will also have to do similar things and people will complain that the people only come for the 'freebies'. Yes, that will be true and most will politely listen to the preaching and teaching while privately ignoring what is said. However, some will be listening and whether we realize who they are, or not, the true servant of God keeps on serving God regardless of visible results. That is what we see in the Sixth Chapter where even Jesus was dragged down by disappointment. However, as His example shows us, we must keep on in spite of disappointment.

As the summary of Chapter 6 tells us, Jesus went through a time of discouragement in order to show us how to deal with these times in our own life. Please see the summary, at least, of that chapter for more details.

Chapter 7 tells us about Jesus looking for a rest. God's people need to take a rest from time to time or they can 'burn out'. This is especially true after a big spiritual battle, or other causes, lead to experiences of many disappointments like Jesus had in the prior chapter. However, the people would not let Him have a rest and even chased Him around the lake of Gennesaret, twice, when He took a boat across the lake to try and have a time alone with His disciples. In this chapter Jesus shows us how to deal with demanding people in the ministry when He responded with compassion. This type of response definitely requires the help of God, especially when we are in the worst of circumstances.

Starting in Chapter 8 we see Jesus preparing for the big religious battle which will lead to His crucifixion. Please notice that He did not hide nor complain nor do any of the things which we are prone to do. Even though He knew the end result, He did all that He could to prepare. He also did what He could to help His disciples prepare. He also made sure that He always did what was right and acted openly. He did preach and teach using parables and explain the parables to His disciples while not explaining them to His enemies. However, if any of His enemies had been willing to become a true disciple, He would have been willing to explain the parables to them also.

In Chapter 8 we saw Jesus openly declaring the basic difference between following Him, through a personal relationship with Him, and trusting in religion. Once He has clearly shown that difference, he does not pick any religious fight, but He also does not walk away from a fight started by others. When they start it, He finishes it by showing them their error. He does not follow that by deliberately showing their further error until much closer to the crucifixion. Then, He only does it after the religious leaders make it clear that they will never truly repent and be saved. Even then, He only does it for the benefit of others who are listening and he only does it to discourage others from following a doctrinal error which will lead them to be permanently damned in the lake of fire (Romans 1:3-LJC).

After we understand the changes in how Jesus dealt with people, in chapter 8, we can then understand how He concentrated more on teaching His own disciples while He still had time before the crucifixion. After the resurrection, He was Lord Jesus, and no longer providing an example of how to live in this flesh using the power of the Holy Ghost. Therefore, He is concentrating on doing that now, for His disciples, and not dealing with the lost religious crowd unless they start an attack. Thus, Chapter 9 starts the special doctrinal lessons for the special disciples. With this example, we see that Godly leaders are supposed to train their own replacement in the ministry. Moses trained Joshua but he did not train his replacement and the Bible reports the difference in the results after each of their deaths. Therefore, it is important for Godly leaders to understand the example which starts in this chapter.

Chapter 9 starts with the 'Mount of Transfiguration', which only the inner-most three disciples were allowed to attend. Thus, we see Jesus starting to create leaders even among His special disciples. Then we see Jesus cast out a devil which His disciples couldn't, which taught them that they still had more spiritual maturing to do. Likewise, we all have more spiritual maturing to do so long as we are still physically alive. After this Jesus asks questions which lead to Peter declaring Thou art the Christ. After this declaration we see Jesus giving them much more of meat doctrine. By this, and the lesson from 1Corinthians; we see that we must make sure that people can handle meat doctrine before we give it to them.

One thing that is easy to forget is that God promised blessings in this physical world to the Jewish nation. Now, in Chapter 10; Jesus is telling His disciples to suffer in the physical world in order to receive eternal spiritual rewards. There is a foolish argument about when the church started and it is tied into God allowing abortion to exist in this physical world. Both abortion, and that argument, deny the difference between conception and birth. Life starts at conception and birth doe not happen until later. This is true for all forms of life. At birth, life is brought out into this world. By applying that truth to this chapter, and by seeing Jesus urging His disciples to strive for the promises made to the church, we can conclude that he has already caused the church to have spiritual life, even though the birth of the church will not happen until Pentecost.

The chapter summary for Chapter 10 provides more details on these lessons which definitely are to be applied to the 'Church Age'. There Jesus taught His disciples to seek 'Eternal spiritual rewards' instead of 'temporary physical rewards'. This is very definitely a 'Church Age' teaching which is quite different from the traditional Jewish religious teaching. For example, it does not depend upon physical sacrifices made at the Temple.

Moving on to Chapter 11 we see the lessons turn to 'A fruitful religion versus a show religion'. Of course, the fruit is spiritual in nature. The summary of Chapter 11 s extensive and should be read for the four examples which Mark provides and how those examples show us how to have true spiritual fruit in our own personal heavenly account. Even today, there is too much emphasis on worldly religious activity and too little explanation of how to have true spiritual fruit.

When we get to Chapter 12 we see Jesus shut the mouth of every religious group. After this they know that they will never win a doctrinal argument with Him and turn to plotting His death instead of arguing. This is also where we see Jesus prophesy the condemnation of the religious leaders. One of the main lessons of this chapter is that it is easy for God's people to stop doing their own part to maintain an ongoing personal relationship with God and, instead, only do the outward religious forms. Such a change in attitude is what brings God's condemnation on His own people.

Many people claim that 'God is the God of the second chance, third chance, etcetera to the unlimited number of chances'. Our chapter shows that God gives His people many chances but not 'an unlimited number of chances'.

In addition to answering, and correcting, the doctrinal errors presented by various religious leaders, Chapter 12 also presents the account about 'The Widow's Two Mites'. This account corrects doctrinal error believed in regards to our religious giving. However, in spite of the lesson, many of God's people still believe the doctrinal error, even today.

Now, when we come to Chapter 13; we have prophecy about future events. Prophecy always excites the lost and carnal because they hope that they can plan how to avoid an unavoidable fate while they refuse to obey God. The main message of this chapter, to the saved, is to expect o be hated, betrayed, persecuted and even killed by the lost and carnal. However, also expect great reward in heaven when these things happen. In addition, the message that the saved need to listen to is: And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet. There are too many people who claim to be saved and are looking for the 'Rapture' (the end) .because of wars and rumours of wars. And, instead of serving their God and working for His kingdom, and expect to reap the 'Rapture', instead of punishment, for their carnal sinful lives. This prophecy was given to help the saved to warn the lost about their future if they don't get saved. It was not given to provide the saved an excuse for refusing to serve God the way that the prior chapters emphasized that God expects.

Moving on to Chapter 14; we read about 'The 'Last Supper' and Betrayal by the Jews'. One of the main lessons that we find there was that Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus because a religious doctrine, which he believed all of his life, was proven to be wrong. Rather than letting the Word of God correct his religious beliefs, he ended up condemning himself. Then we see the others fail to do as they bragged they would do, which warns us against personal pride. Yet, in spite of all of this, Jesus gives us the sacrament of Communion. The main purpose of it is to remind us of what he did to save us and to remind us that we will face Him in judgment for how well we obeyed Him or disobeyed Him. This sacrament should always put our focus on the eternal and remove it from this temporary physical world.

In Chapter 15 we have 'The trial and crucifixion of Jesus'. There are many lessons on how to deal with being wrongly accused, persecuted and even killed. The Chapter Summary provides many links to where matching accounts can be found in the other Gospels. The reader is urged to read all of those accounts for the many applications to our own experiencing similar mistreatments.

As explained in the Summary for Chapter 16; Mark is only finishing up ongoing accounts and this chapter does no have any real examples from Jesus on how to live in this flesh using the Power of the Holy Ghost. Nor does it have lessons on how to be a servant. As of the Resurrection, Jesus has takes back all of His power and authority as Lord and, therefore, is no longer operating in the role that He had for all prior chapters. The only real application, which I see here, is that if we spend our life serving God, as Jesus did, then we can expect a great reward after our own resurrection from the dead.

Hopefully, this high-level summary of the various chapters show the reader how the details of this Gospel support the theme of this Gospel. Hopefully, this review also encourages the reader to read and study deeper in order to find the help that this Gospel offers to the truly saved as they live their life in this sinful world.

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Summary of Luke

Book Theme: Jesus was / is a literal physical man.

In Chapter 1, we read 'The introduction of Luke's Gospel'. Luke starts with the birth and ministry of John the Baptist, who was sent by God to prepare the way for Jesus. Luke also tells about the conception of Jesus as a separate event from His birth because, as a literal physical man, the two events are separate. Luke presents the physical genealogy, which comes through Mary, as opposed to the legal genealogy which comes through Joseph and is presented by Matthew. In addition, we see regular people giving prophecy, which shows us that God can use any person and the power is not dependent upon the person but is dependent upon God. We also see in this Gospel that God has angels giving messages to people. Thus, sometimes God works through His Holy Spirit working in people and sometimes God uses angels to deliver the exact message that God wants received.

In Chapter 2, we read all about 'The Birth of Jesus' and of the many different evidences, and fulfillments of prophecy, that God provided to prove the literal physical birth of Jesus. Many people and religions try to deny this truth but God makes sure that there is enough evidence to prove all denials to be obvious lies.

In Chapter 3, Luke tells us about 'The Ministry of John the Baptist and lineage of Jesus'. John the Baptist was prophesied to be the fore-runner of Jesus and Jesus was prophesied to be born of a virgin. Thus, this chapter presents the evidence of the fulfillment of prophecy. John the Baptist was the spiritual Herald of God's King. And, people always check the lineage of a king. Therefore, out chapter is telling us that the literal physical man named Jesus had the basic requirements to be a king. However, as re read later in the Gospel, God's people were not willing to let Him be a true king and tried to force Him to be a puppet king. That is when the offer of the 1,000 years kingdom was removed and we see God working with the church instead.

In Chapter 4, Luke tells us about 'The Start of the Ministry of Jesus'. His ministry started with His temptation by Satan because God always has His people pass a test before God uses them. Then we see that Jesus started His ministry near His home and expanded out from there. While the people wanted the miracles, they refused to accept His doctrine because 'familiarity breeds contempt', or as Jesus said: No prophet is accepted in his own country. His own physical brothers and sisters (other children of Mary) were not saved until after His resurrection.

In Chapter 5, Luke tells us about 'The Response And Rejection of Faith'. Jesus calls His first four (4) disciples, who respond in true Biblical faith. We also read about the religious leaders rejecting faith because it goes against their religious traditions. After this we see Jesus calling the publican, named Levi (Matthew), and His throwing a party to introduce Jesus to all of his friends. At the same time, the religious leaders criticize Jesus for associating with publicans and sinners. Where religious traditions excludes anyone who is different, true Biblical faith invites all to hear the message from God. Thus, Luke shows us the basic difference between religion and a personal relationship with God that is based upon true Biblical faith.

In Chapter 6, Luke gives us the message from Jesus that: 'The Son of Man is Lord'. As the Son of Man, Jesus showed that He was a literal physical human being with all of the characteristic of men except the sin nature. As Lord, Jesus proved that He, a literal physical man, was also 'just a man' with all of the power and authority of the Lord God. This truth, of course, is difficult, if not impossible, for men to understand and must be accepted by faith. Since religion rejects true Biblical faith, the religious leaders rejected this truth in spite of the evidence, provided by Jesus, which they could not refute.

In Chapter 7, Luke tells us about how 'Jesus Acts Like a King'. He came to offer the kingdom to the Jews. They wanted the kingdom but wanted a puppet king whereby they truly ran the world and Jesus was only a figurehead. Jesus was not willing to be that type of a king. a true king puts his character on his kingdom and requires his subjects to display his character. In this chapter, we see the character of the kingdom which Jesus offered to the Jews. He gave the request of a centurion who honored Him as a King. He provided for the widow, the sick and the needy. The religious leaders criticized Him for this because He was not showing a big difference between the leaders and the people that they considered to be lower than them. Thus, they had another reason to hate and despise Jesus.

In Chapter 8, Luke tells us about how 'Jesus Deals with People who Accept Him as King'. Our chapter tells us how Jesus blesses people who treat Him in His true roles as Lord and King. However, He refuses to bless, and even sometimes curses, those people who refuse to acknowledge these true roles of His. The religious leaders treated Him as 'just a man' and even treated Him like He was less that they were. In this chapter we read that Jesus said to His disciples: Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. This chapter also has the parable and the four (4) types of ground. Thus, a main message of this chapter is the difference in what people receive from God, and receive in God's kingdom, based upon the type of heart they have.

Something that should be obvious to the reader, by this point, is that Luke is not only telling us about Jesus and His ministry, but he is also showing the increased animosity between Jesus and the religious leaders. This is because they insist upon treating Him as 'just a man' when He is, in truth, 'God in human flesh'. Yes, Luke shows us that He was a literal physical human being, but His Spirit was God and not a sinful human spirit. Just like the religious leaders of His day, people of today who refuse to accept this truth will be cursed to spend eternity in the lake of fire.

In Chapter 9, Luke tells us that 'The Twelve Receive Spiritual Maturity'. Many of the disciples were first disciples of John the Baptist. They were saved when they believed John's message, which was: Behold the Lamb of God! John 1:36. Then, they were made disciples when they obeyed the command from Jesus to Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men (Matthew 4:19). Now, Jesus is sending them out as missionaries so that they each received personal experience in the ministry. Some things are only learned through experience. These experiences would require a certain level of spiritual maturity but they would also increase the level of spiritual maturity that the twelve would have. Here we see Jesus preparing them to be His apostles and leaders in His kingdom. At this point, it is obvious that the Jews, as a nation, will reject Him as their King. Therefore, Jesus gave His disciples a test, which they passed when Peter declared that Jesus was The Christ of God. At this point Jesus starts to tell them that He will die and rise again, which is the basic gospel of the church. Thus, here we have the church being already spiritually alive and the members responding to spiritual truth just as a baby is alive and responding to stimuli even while still in the womb. (The birth isn't until Pentecost in Acts 2.)

In Chapter 10, Luke tells us that Jesus teaches 'Right Attitudes and Wrong Attitudes'. Our chapter starts out telling us that Jesus appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come. The 'Right Attitude' is that all saved are supposed to spiritually mature, following the pattern we see in the twelve, so that Jesus can send all saved out as missionaries. In this chapter we see Jesus cause the growth of what is His church. Here He teaches His disciples the right attitude to have. We also see Him let the rich young ruler leave lost because he refused to accept the right attitude.

In Chapter 11, Luke tells us how to 'Have the True Evidence of Belonging to God'. In this chapter we see the religious people who claim to represent God, but are truly lost, accuse Jesus of doing miracles by the power of Beelzebub, the chief of the devils. We also see people claiming blessings based upon being the physical family of Jesus However, Jesus says: Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it. In this chapter we see strong disagreement between Jesus and the religious rulers over authority and doctrine. Here, we also see that Jesus says that people who reject His doctrine are of the devil while the truly saved will accept His doctrine and display a spirit which has been changed to be like God.

In Chapter 12, Luke tells us that Jesus taught His disciples to: 'Concentrate on Serving God and Let God Take Care of Your Physical Needs'. This chapter is mainly doctrinal teaching. Therefore, the chapter summary is in an outline format. Receiving the doctrine of this chapter requires spiritual maturity beyond what we have at our initial salvation. Thus, we see Jesus continuing the spiritual maturity of His church.

In Chapter 13, Luke tells us about 'The Error of Trusting Religious Works'. Even today, we have religions, which claim to be Christian, but preach a 'Works Salvation'. A true Biblical Christian is a 'follower of Christ who displays the doctrine of Christ in their life'. This chapter teaches us that Jesus Christ was completely against 'Works Salvation'. Therefore, any religion which preaches such is not truly Christian and, therefore, is preaching a lie. That makes it a religion from Satan, who is the father of lies (John 8:44).

In this chapter we have the 'Parable of the Fig Tree' and the lesson about religious people being destroyed and the Jews claiming that their destruction proved that they were sinners. These, and many other accounts in this chapter, teach us the error of measuring spirituality by religious works.

In Chapter 14, Luke tells us many 'Lessons on Pride'. Here we read several parables directed against the religious leaders and their pride in their religious works. This and the prior chapter are given to warn true Biblical Christians against following popular religious doctrinal errors.

In Chapter 15, Luke continues with the doctrine taught by Jesus and teaches us about 'The Self-Righteous Lost versus The Repentant Saved'. Once more, we find many parables in this chapter.

In Chapter 16, Luke tells us that Jesus teaches His disciples about 'The Rewards and Future of the Religious Lost'. Many people misunderstand the main parable of this chapter. In it we read about 'The Wise Steward', but he is only wise according to the wisdom of this world. What we read in this chapter is: that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God (Luke 16:15). Jesus told the religious leaders, indirectly, that they would be in everlasting habitations with the lost.

In Chapter 17, Luke tells us about the evidence seen in 'Those Who Have the Kingdom of God'. The Jews misunderstood this phrase and many people misunderstand it today. The Jews confused it with a physical kingdom and, while the 1,000 years reign of Christ will be a physical manifestation of the Kingdom of God, it is not all that there is to it. In addition, many people of today confuse it with the Kingdom of heaven, but they are two different things. Like our chapter tells us, and as is explained in the detail notes, the Kingdom of God is in us and is 'God's character in us'. Thus, we see the continuation of what has been the theme of the last several chapter with instructions on what God expects to see in spiritually mature saved people. In this chapter we see the religious leaders demanding to know about the Kingdom of God, because they felt that they had earned it. Jesus gave 'The Parable of the Unprofitable Servant' because that is the true attitude that God expects from His truly saved.

In Chapter 18, we see more lessons like the prior chapters. The theme of this chapter is: 'The Attitudes of People Who Have the Kingdom of God'. Our chapter starts with instruction from Jesus on what to do right now in order to have the power, protection and provision of God in this life. Those instructions are followed by a parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others. Obviously, this is the wrong attitude for 'People Who Have the Kingdom of God'. Thus, this chapter is telling us the difference in actions between those who have the kingdom of God and those who do not.

In Chapter 19, Luke tells us about 'A fruitful religion versus a show religion'. Many people say that the truly saved don't have a religion but have an ongoing personal relationship with God. However, the truth is that the truly saved do have a religion which is based upon an ongoing personal relationship with God. A religion is: 'a physical manifestation that is repeatedly and consistently displayed and is based upon a true belief in obeying a superior being such as the true God or false gods'. James 1:26-27 says: If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. The true religion of a true believer includes starting each day with prayer and Bible study to get directions for that day, and for their life, from their God. That time also includes personal worship to build true faith in God based upon what He has done and what He promised to do. That is followed by doing things like James tells us as they go through their day. And, it includes ending the day with a review of how God has helped them and thanking God for His help. The truly saved aren't relying upon the promises from a false religion but are obeying God's commandments in the Bible to have an ongoing personal relationship with God. However, anything that we do on a regular and consistent basis, such as bathe, is done religiously. Our chapter tells us to do the things which God commands in the Bible, and that God promises will produce true spiritual rewards, and to do them on a regular and consistent basis. These are things like true prayer, obedience to God, true personal worship. Our chapter also instructs us to avoid religious mandates which God does not approve of and which will not produce true spiritual fruit.

In Chapter 20, Luke tells us that 'The Religious Leaders Challenge Jesus'. They felt that He was getting too large a following and that they would lose their own personal position and power. They, obviously, were more concerned about personal privilege that they were about truth, God and the eternal spiritual destiny of God's people. As a result, Jesus told them 'The Parable of the Hirelings Killing the Heir'. They understood that it was spoken against them but did not dare attack Him physically, so they sent various groups to challenge Him doctrinally. He put them all to shame and, eventually, they durst not ask him any question at all. That's when Jesus asked them a doctrinal question which they could not answer and which proved their doctrinal error. After this, Jesus warned His disciples to Beware of the scribes They were supposed to be the religious experts but He had proved that they taught doctrinal error. Please see the Gospel Time Sequences Study for links to matching events in the other Gospel accounts and for the time sequences of the last days of Jesus.

In Chapter 21, we have 'Prophecy of Future Events'. This started with people bragging about the beauty of the Temple and Jesus prophesying its destruction. It was destroyed because God's saved people, in the church, went back to insisting that the saved keep religious traditions. Many people, even today, preach a salvation based upon religious works and a sanctification based upon religious works. However, true salvation is based upon our accepting a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as our personal Lord. True Biblical sanctification is the result of letting Jesus Christ work through our life to do His work. Yes, the saved do work, but that work is to stop sinning and to make themselves available to Jesus Christ for Him to work through their life. All true spiritual work is done by God. Yes, we take the Gospel to people but it is God who changes their life. And, returning to the theme of this chapter, the prophesied future events are because God's people keep turning from their relationship with God to trusting false religion. And, we have lots of false interpretations of these prophecies taught because people listen to false prophets instead of letting God's Holy Spirit teach them the true interpretation of true prophecy. Please see the Prophecies and Prophecy Fulfilled Sections, of the Significant Gospel Events Study, for more links to true Bible prophecies. Please also see the Gospel Time Sequences Study for links to matching events in the other Gospel accounts and for the time sequences of the last days of Jesus.

In Chapter 22, we have 'The Betrayal of Jesus'. This, and future chapters, need to be carefully compared with reports in the other Gospels in order to get all of what happened. The detail notes have many links to related sections in other places of the Bible. Please also see the Gospel Time Sequences Study for links to matching events in the other Gospel accounts and for the time sequences of the last days of Jesus.

In Chapter 23, we have 'The Trial by Pilate and the Crucifixion of Jesus'. As with the chapter above, This chapter need to be carefully compared with reports in the other Gospels in order to get all of what happened. The detail notes have many links to related sections in other places of the Bible sequences. Please also see the Gospel Time Sequences Study for links to matching events in the other Gospel accounts and for the time sequences of the last days of Jesus.

In Chapter 24, we have 'The Resurrection and Ascension'. As with the two chapters above, This chapter need to be carefully compared with reports in the other Gospels in order to get all of what happened. The detail notes have many links to related sections in other places of the Bible. Please also see the Gospel Time Sequences Study for links to matching events in the other Gospel accounts and for the time sequences of the last days of Jesus.

If the reader pays attention to the short summaries of each chapter, which were just given, they should see a couple of patterns which Luke uses. In the beginning of this Gospel account we see God fulfilling Old Testament prophecies and promises made to His people the Jews. We see Jesus offering the kingdom to the Jews but they were not willing to accept it with God in charge. The leaders wanted a figurehead king with them running the kingdom their selfish sinful way. Thus, they rejected Jesus as their true King. The people wanted their familiar comfortable religion, even if it was wrong. Most of the people were not willing to think for themselves nor were they willing to have the responsibility of an ongoing personal relationship with God. Therefore, they also rejected Jesus as their true King and chose the comfort of a familiar religion which they did not have to think about. And, while many people condemn the Jews, the fact is that most people, who claim to be saved, react the exact same way even today.

Thus, while this gospel does tell us that Jesus was / is a literal physical man Who is also 'God in human flesh', and it also tell us many doctrinal truths, we can see a message wove throughout this Gospel. If we act the same unthinking way that the Jews did, then we should expect to receive the same condemnation that they received. And, in fact, we should expect to receive a greater condemnation because we have the clear lessons of this Gospel, and of all of the New Testament, as well as having access to God's indwelling Holy Spirit. Therefore, since we have been given more, we should also expect a greater condemnation for rejecting God's truth. Therefore the message is to turn on your brain and think for yourself instead of blindly following some lost and blind self-proclaimed religious leader.

Luke gives his reason for writing this Gospel in Luke 1:1-4.

Chapter Themes:

The introduction of Luke's Gospel.
The Birth and Early Childhood of Jesus.
The Start of the Ministry of Jesus.
The Response And Rejection of Faith.
The Son of Man is Lord.
Jesus Acts Like a King.
Jesus Deals with People who Accept Him as King.
The Twelve Receive Spiritual Maturity.
Right Attitudes and Wrong Attitudes.
Spiritual Evidence of Belonging to God.
Concentrate on Serving God and Let God Take Care of Your Physical Needs.
The Error of Trusting Religious Works.
Lessons on Pride.
The Self-Righteous Lost versus The Repentant Saved.
The Rewards and Future of the Religious Lost.
Those Who Have the Kingdom of God.
The Attitudes of People Who Have the Kingdom of God.
A fruitful religion versus a show religion.
The Religious Leaders Challenge Jesus.
Prophecy of Future Events.
The Betrayal of Jesus.
The Trial by Pilate and the Crucifixion of Jesus.
The Resurrection and Ascension.

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Overview of Luke's Gospel:

Please see the Book Study on Luke for a summary of each chapter.

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Summary of John

Book Theme: Jesus is the Son of God

Chapter Themes:

Introduction of Jesus as God's Main Messenger.
Start of the Public Ministry of Jesus.
True Salvation is Spiritual in Nature.
True Biblical Salvation Results in a Changed Life.
True Salvation is More Important than Anything in this Life.
True Salvation Requires our Participation.
The Difference Between Spirit Led Religion and Fleshly Religion.
The Conflict Between Spirit Led Religion and Fleshly Religion.
True Salvation Requires Being Willing to Suffer.
The Good Shepherd.
The Raising of Lazarus.
Jesus is Glorified Before His Death.
Last Supper: The Betrayal by Judas.
Last Supper: Jesus Gives Conditional Promises.
Last Supper: Jesus Explains Abiding Love.
Last Supper: Jesus Explains our need for the Holy Spirit.
Last Supper: The Lord's prayer for His disciples.
The Betrayal of Jesus.
This chapter has the betrayal of Jesus by Judas Iscariot, the denial by Peter and the rejection by the Jewish people.
The Crucifixion.
The Resurrection and Meeting Disciples.
The Restoration of Backslidden.

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Overview of John's Gospel:

John gives us the purpose of His writing this Gospel in John 21:31 which says: these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name. Many people think that this Gospel is written to the lost, and it is. However, as shown in the quick chapter summaries below, it is also written to the saved. In fact, as measured several ways, we can say that it is more written to the saved. For one thing, the majority of the chapters have lessons after John is finished dealing with getting lost people saved. In addition, most of the lessons in this Gospel must be spiritually discerned, and that is only possible after people have the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the saved should read this Gospel with prayer for God's Holy Spirit to teach them the spiritual lessons which are contained within this Gospel.

What we see in Chapter 1 was a general, and abstract, introduction of John's message and of God's messenger and accounts of people who rejected God's message and of people who accepted God's message. Then, in Chapter 2, we saw John provides the outer limits of what he will cover within the rest of his Gospel. Then, in Chapter 3, we read the account of two religious men interacting with Jesus: Nicodemus and John the Baptist. There we saw the difference between the reactions of a lost religious person and a saved religious person. Then, in Chapter 4, we read About the salvation of the Samaritans because they were willing to let truth correct their religious traditions. We also saw Jesus introduce the coming 'Church Age'. Then, in Chapter 5, we read about Jesus healing a man on the sabbath and getting in an argument with the religious Jews because they challenged His power and authority. He provided several legal proofs, which will be used in God's court when people are judged, which proved that He had true power and authority while religion had neither and led into doctrinal error which will condemn the religious person. Next, in Chapter 6, we read about Jesus dealing with people who want to claim salvation for the blessings but are too lazy to work in God's kingdom. These people are the early representatives of people who cry 'It's all grace with no work' and believe the lie which is called the 'Health and Welfare Gospel'. This chapter teaches that the truly saved will have a changed physical life and that the change is due to the influence of Jesus.

In Chapter 7 we see the family of Jesus being disrespectful to Him and we see Jesus dealing with lost religious people who think they are saved and whom He hopes to lead to true Biblical salvation. Then in Chapter 8 we see the conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees, with other Jewish religious leaders, become an open conflict. The Pharisees, with other Jewish religious leaders, keep looking at things from a physical religious perspective and refusing to understand things from a spiritual perspective. This is the basic attitude of lost religious leaders and we see how Jesus dealt with them. Continuing into Chapter 9, we read about Jesus healing a man who was born blind to prove that He had the power of God. This is the true evidence we are to look for when someone claims to be a man of God. Of course, lost religious people claim positions and recognitions from men give the ultimate authority. In this chapter we see how Jesus dealt with this argument over authority. Moving onto Chapter 10 we learn what 'A true relationship with Jesus Christ' is like and how to separate the true professors from false ones. In Chapter 11 we see Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead and teach that He is the resurrection. In Chapter 12 we see Jesus glorified and this was part of what God used to condemn those people who refused to believe on Jesus.

In Chapters 13 through 17 we have the 'Last Supper' and the special teaching for the disciples. In Chapter 19 we have the crucifixion and in Chapters 20 and 21 we have the resurrection and restoration of fellowship. Thus, these paragraphs have given a theme for each chapter of this Gospel.

Please notice our progression through these chapters. After John's abstract general outline, he deals with different claimed methods of salvation. After that, and starting in Chapter 6, Jesus deals with several popular doctrinal errors which are believed by people how claim to be saved. Then starting in Chapter 11, Jesus is dealing with people who are truly saved and love Him, but wh still need some spiritual maturity because they still believe some things which are not right. Even when we are saved and trying to serve God, we still need further lessons to grow our faith and cause us to mature spiritually. Then starting in Chapter 13, we read about the 'Last Supper' and the lessons which Jesus gave to His most intimate friends and disciples. Then starting in Chapter 18, we read about the betrayal and crucifixion of Jesus. Here we are taught that physical suffering and even death are possible for the child of God, but that should be acceptable because of the eternal spiritual rewards which result. Finally, in Chapters 20 and 21, we learn that no matter what happens in this life, we are to get right with God and return to doing what God gave us to do.

If the reader has been thinking about this short summary of each chapter, they should see a progression from initial salvation through different phases and circumstances of salvation and ending with a spiritually mature saved person who is willing to accept any circumstances in this physical life in order to serve God and receive permanent spiritual rewards. In particular, people should follow reading this Gospel with reading the epistles by Peter and John and realize the changes that must have come into their lives. They were changed from men who returned to worldly occupations, at the end of this Gospel, and into the spiritual leaders who were capable of writing those epistles and Revelation.

Please keep in mind the many fights that Jesus had with religious men which are reported in all of the Gospels but especially the fights reported in this Gospel. In pretty much every case it was because lost religious men were trying to understand spiritual lessons with their physical ability and the wisdom of this world / man. Please learn this basic lesson and be sure to use the wisdom of God, which only comes from the Holy Spirit, when reading and studying the spiritual lessons which are in this Gospel.

We need to recognize that five (5) times John tells us that something is interpreted as something else. We need to pay attention when God's word gives us an exact interpretation. These interpretations are:

John 1:38 which says: Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,).
John 1:41 which says: Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.
John 1:42 which says: Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.
John 9:7 which says: Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.

Forms of the word disciple are found in this Gospel 81 times in 74 verses. Many people believe doctrinal error about the various names given to saved people within the Bible, including this word. Please see the Messages called Called to be Saints and What is Your Level of Spiritual Maturity? to get the correct Biblical definitions of these roles which saved people are supposed to fulfill.

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Homework

Read the Book summary and all of the chapter Summaries of the Gospel of Matthew. Write a paper based upon the Chapter Themes of the Gospel of Matthew. Show how the chapters are related to each other and how they support the theme of the Gospel.
Read the Book summary and all of the chapter Summaries of the Gospel of Mark. Write a paper based upon the Chapter Themes of the Gospel of Mark. Show how the chapters are related to each other and how they support the theme of the Gospel.
Read the Book summary and all of the chapter Summaries of the Gospel of Luke. Write a paper based upon the Chapter Themes of the Gospel of Luke. Show how the chapters are related to each other and how they support the theme of the Gospel.
Read the Book summary and all of the chapter Summaries of the Gospel of John. Write a paper based upon the Chapter Themes of the Gospel of John. Show how the chapters are related to each other and how they support the theme of the Gospel.
Find a Significant Gospel Event that is in three or four of the Gospel accounts but where the account is in significantly different locations in different Gospel accounts. (For example, being in Chapter 4 in one account and Chapter 12 in another Gospel account.) Write a paper explaining how the reported event supported the theme of each chapter where it is found and how that disproves the claim thet there are errors because all Gospel accounts do not follow the time sequence.
Look at the write-up of the miracle where Jesus turned water into wine. Consider the explanation of how it fits within the context, especially with the results. Consider how it fits within the other related doctrines such as marriage. Then, pick another miracle that is reported in three of the Gospel accounts and write a paper explaining how the miracle is a physical example of the doctrine that it is in context with. Do this explanation for all three Gospel accounts.
Do the same for a parable found in three Gospel accounts.
Do the same for a prophecy found in three Gospel accounts.
Do the same for a promise found in three Gospel accounts.
Find at least seven (7) prophecies which were fulfilled within the Gospels. Explain how they could not have been done using what was available in this physical earth. For example, Jesus, while still in the womb of Mary, could not have forced Mary and Joseph to go to Bethlehem for His birth. In addition, All of the descendants from king David had left the city even though prophecy said that God’s Christ would be a descendant of king David and would come from Bethlehem. And, Joseph and Mary lived a long way, to travel on foot, from Bethlehem until just before the birth. Therefore, only the power of God could cause the fulfillment of those related prophecies.
Pick one or more examples in the Study called “What Did Jesus Do”? Write at least three printed pages on how Jesus is our example for dealing with problems in this world.
Write a paper explaining the differences between “The Kingdom of God“, “The Kingdom of Heaven“, and “The Kingdom of Christ“.
Pick the report about “Blind Bartimaeus”, or “The Ten Lepers Healed” or another account where more than one person received a miracle and where one of the people was spiritually saved and the account does not support a claim that others were spiritually saved. Explain the difference in attitude displayed by the various people and how this difference affected if they were spiritually saved or not.
Pick one chapter in one of the Gospel accounts. Explain how the incidents reported in the chapter fit together to support the theme of the chapter.
Explain how Jesus dealt with devils in the Gospel Accounts.
Explain how Jesus said that the Ten Commandments apply to us today and how that differs from what various religions claims. For example, the Jews claimed it was a major sin to violate their rules about the Sabbath. Many religions of today claim the same thing including Baptists who claim that Sunday is the new Sabbath. Yet, Jesus claimed to be “Lord of Sabbath” and eliminated the requirement to keep Sabbath during the ‘Church Age’.

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Life of Jesus in the Gospels:

A High-Level view of the Gospel Accounts

General Considerations

Summary of Matthew

Book Theme: Jesus Fulfilled God's Law and Proved that He was / is God's Christ.

Chapter Themes:

Overview of Matthew's Gospel:

Summary of Mark

Book Theme: Jesus is our Example Servant.

Chapter Themes:

Overview of Mark's Gospel:

Summary of Luke

Book Theme: Jesus was / is a literal physical man.

Chapter Themes:

Overview of Luke's Gospel:

Summary of John

Book Theme: Jesus is the Son of God

Chapter Themes:

Overview of John's Gospel:

Homework

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