Guide to the study of the Scriptures of the New Testament Four Gospel
The Bible is the main Book of humanity. It was written in ancient times, BC. The authors of this Great Book were people of different classes from the tillers of the land to the Tsars. But for a believer, there is no doubt that God led every author's hand.
What the Bible includes
This Eternal Book consists of the Old and New Testaments.
The Old Testament tells:
- about the creation of the world;
- describes the history of the Jewish people;
- contains many prophecies and predictions;
- tells of the past and future life of mankind.
Over the long two millennia, Bible books have been written in completely different languages.
The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, part of it was written in ancient Aramaic. His texts were collected from 1513 to 443 BC.
It took almost two thousand years to write the Eternal Book.
The New Testament is the second part of the Bible; it carries the light of Christmas.
It includes:
- Gospel texts.
- Messages of the Holy Apostles.
- Acts of the Apostles.
- Apocalypse or Revelation of John the Divine.
Four texts were written by Matthew, Luke, Mark, John.
Gospel means the gospel, It tells about the life of Jesus Christ. On the coming into the world of the Savior of the human race. On the birth of the Son of God on earth, His deeds, prophecies, sufferings for the sins of the world and the Resurrection from the dead.
This part of the Book is written much later. The authors of the texts were evangelicals who lived at the time of Christ. They wrote on the basis of real events, conveying the memories of the Apostles and eyewitness accounts.
In Ancient Greek, the New Testament is written. The good news was written in Greek. The period of its writing - from 41 to 98 n. e.
The main differences between the Bible and the Gospel
The Bible includes several books, including the Gospel. Good news is only part of this collection.
The Bible tells about the creation of the world, about the Jewish people. The gospel is a description of the life of Jesus Christ, a story about His teaching, about the Resurrection of the dead.
The Bible was written much earlier, this process stretched over 1600 years. It is written in a variety of languages, the story in the Gospel is fully conducted in the ancient Greek language.
The Bible is written by ordinary people inspired by God. The gospel was written by evangelists.
The biblical predictions have repeatedly said about the coming of the Savior. About delivering people from death for sins.
The gospel tells of accomplished predictions. On the birth of Jesus Christ, who became the Savior of all mankind. About His simple life, good works, healings, teaching and how to conquer death over - the Resurrection.
When reading the new part of the most fully revealed the meaning of the Old Testament. It is recommended to start a Bible study from reading the Gospel of Mark, the most accessible and understandable to everyone.
The gospel carries in itself Light, Truth, Hope for eternal life to all mankind.
The Bible differs from the Gospel, together they constitute one Book, the reading of which gives wisdom and reveals the truth.
The Bible is one of the oldest monuments of the wisdom of mankind. For Christians, this book is the revelation of the Lord, Holy Scripture and the main guide in life. The study of this book is an indispensable condition for the spiritual development of both a believer and an unbeliever. Today, the Bible is the most popular book in the world: more than 6 million copies have been published.
In addition to Christians, the sacred and inspired by certain biblical texts recognize the adherents of a number of other religions: Jews, Muslims, Bahá’ís.
The structure of the Bible. Old and New Testament
As is known, the Bible is not a homogeneous book, but a collection of a number of narratives. They reflect the history of the Jewish (God's chosen) people, the work of Jesus Christ, moral teachings and prophecies about the future of mankind.
When we talk about the structure of the Bible, there are two main parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament.
- A common scripture for Judaism and Christianity. Books of the Old Testament were created in the interval between the XIII and I centuries BC. The text of these books has reached us in the form of lists in a number of ancient languages: Aramaic, Hebrew, Greek, Latin.
The concept of "canon" is present in Christian doctrine. The canonical names are those scriptures that the church recognized as inspired by God. Depending on the denomination, different amounts of Old Testament texts are considered canonical. For example, Orthodox recognize 50 writings as canonical, Catholics - 45, and Protestants –39.
In addition to the Christian, there is also a Jewish canon. Jews recognize the canonical Torah (the Pentateuch of Moses), Neviim (the Prophets) and the Ktuvim (Scriptures). It is believed that the Torah was first recorded directly by Moses. All three books form the Tanakh - the “Jewish Bible” and are the basis of the Old Testament.
This section of the Holy Letter describes the early days of mankind, the global flood and the subsequent history of the Jewish people. The narrative “brings” the reader to the last days before the birth of the Messiah - Jesus Christ.
Among theologians, discussions have been sharpening for a very long time whether Christians need to abide by the Law of Moses (that is, the prescriptions given by the Old Testament). Most theologians still hold the view that the sacrifice of Jesus made it unnecessary for us to comply with the requirements of the Pentateuch. A certain part of the researchers have come to the opposite. For example, Seventh-day Adventists keep the Sabbath and do not eat pork.
The New Testament occupies a much more important role in the life of Christians.
- the second part of the Bible. It consists of four canonical Gospels. The first manuscripts are dated by the beginning of the 1st century AD, the most recent ones - by the 4th century.
In addition to the four canonical Gospels (from Mark, Luke, Matthew, John), there are a number of apocrypha. They affect previously unknown facets of the life of Christ. For example, some of these books describe the youth of Jesus (canonical - only childhood and maturity).
Actually, the New Testament describes the life and deeds of Jesus Christ - the Son of God and Savior. Evangelicals describe the miracles performed by the Messiah, his preaching, as well as the finale - the martyrdom on the cross, atonement for the sins of mankind.
In addition to the Gospels, the New Testament contains the book of the Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles and the Revelation of John the Divine (Apocalypse).
Acts talk about the birth and development of the church after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In fact, this book is a historical chronicle (real personalities are often mentioned) and a geography textbook: territories from Palestine to Western Europe are described. Its author is the apostle Luke.
The second part of the Acts of the Apostles tells of Paul’s missionary activities and ends with his arrival in Rome. The book also answers a number of theoretical questions, such as circumcision with Christians or observance of the Law of Moses.
Apocalypse - these are the visions recorded by John, which the Lord has bestowed upon him. This book tells about the end of the world and the Last Judgment - the final point of the existence of this world. Jesus himself will judge humanity. The righteous, resurrected in the flesh, will receive eternal heavenly life with the Lord, and sinners will go into eternal fire.
The revelation of John the Divine is the most mystical part of the new covenant. The text is filled with occult symbols: Wife clothed with the sun, number 666, horsemen of the Apocalypse. For a certain time, it was precisely because of this church that they were afraid to bring the book into the canon.
What is the gospel?
As already known, the Gospel is a description of the life path of Christ.
Why did part of the Gospels become canonical, and part - not? The fact is that these four Gospels have practically no contradictions, but describe just slightly different events. If the apostle does not question the writing of a certain book, then the church does not forbid familiarization with the apocrypha. But such a gospel cannot become a moral reference point for a Christian either.
Argued that all the canonical Gospels were written by the disciples of Christ (the apostles). In fact, this is not the case: for example, Mark was a disciple of the Apostle Paul and is one of the seventy equals of the apostles. Many religious dissidents and supporters of the "conspiracy theories" believe that the clergy specifically hid from people the true teachings of Jesus Christ.
In response to such statements, representatives of traditional Christian churches (Catholic, Orthodox, some Protestant) respond that you first need to figure out what text can be considered the Gospel. It was to facilitate the spiritual search for the Christian that the canon was created, which protects the soul from heresies and falsifications.
So what's the difference
Given the above, it is easy to determine what is the difference between the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Gospel. The Old Testament describes the events before the birth of Jesus Christ: the creation of man, the Flood, and Moses' receiving the law. The New Testament contains a description of the coming of the Messiah and the future of mankind. The Gospel is the basic structural unit of the New Testament, directly telling about the life course of the savior of mankind - Jesus Christ. It is because of the sacrifice of Jesus that Christians now may not adhere to the laws of the Old Testament: this duty has been redeemed.
Christian doctrine is built on the Bible, but many do not know who the author is or when it was published. Scientists have conducted a large amount of research to get answers to these questions. The spread of Holy Scripture in our century has reached an enormous scale, it is known that one book is printed in the world every second.
What is the bible?
Christians are the collection of books that make up Holy Scripture, called the Bible. He is considered the word of the Lord, which was given to people. Over the years, a lot of research has been done in order to understand who wrote the Bible and when, it is considered that the revelation was given to different people and records were made over many centuries. The church recognizes a collection of books inspired.
The Orthodox Bible in one volume contains 77 books with two or more pages. It is considered a kind of library of ancient religious, philosophical, historical and literary monuments. The Bible consists of two parts: the Old (50 books) and the New (27 books) Testament. There is also a conditional division of the Old Testament books into legislative, historical and teaching.
Why was the Bible called the Bible?
There is one basic theory proposed by biblical scholars that gives an answer to this question. The main reason for the appearance of the name "Bible" is associated with the port city of Byblos, which was located on the Mediterranean coast. Through it in Egypt supplied the Egyptian papyrus. After some time, this name in Greek began to mean a book. As a result, the book of the Bible appeared and this name is used only for Holy Scripture, therefore, the name is written with a capital letter.
The Bible and the Gospel - what is the difference?
Many believers do not have an exact idea regarding the main Holy Book for Christians.
- The gospel is part of the Bible, which is part of the New Testament.
- The Bible is an early scripture, but the text of the Gospel was written much later.
- The text of the Gospel tells only about life on earth and the ascension of Jesus Christ to heaven. The Bible provides a lot of other information.
- There are differences in the one who wrote the Bible and the Gospel, so the authors of the main Holy Book are unknown, but at the expense of the second work there is an assumption that its text was written by four evangelists: Matthew, John, Luke and Mark.
- It is worth noting that the Gospel is written only in ancient Greek, and the Bible texts are presented in different languages.
Who is the author of the Bible?
For believers, the Lord is the author of the Holy Book, but experts can challenge this opinion, since it contains the Wisdom of Solomon, the book of Job, and more. In this case, answering the question - who wrote the Bible, we can assume that there were many authors, and each made their own contribution to this work. There is an assumption that it was written by ordinary people who received inspiration, that is, they were only a tool, holding a pencil over the book, and the Lord took their hands. When figuring out where the Bible came from, it’s worth pointing out that the names of the people who wrote the text are unknown.
When is the Bible written?
For a long time there has been controversy over when the most popular book in the world was written. Among the well-known statements that many researchers agree with are the following:
- Many historians, in answering a question concerning when the Bible appeared, point to VIII-VI century BC. e.
- A huge number of biblical scholars are confident that the book was finally formed in V-II century BC. e.
- Another common version of how old the Bible is, indicates that the book was compiled and presented to believers around II-I century BC. e.
Many events are described in the Bible, which makes it possible to conclude that the first books were written during the life of Moses and Joshua. Then came other editions and additions that formed the Bible as it is known now. There are critics who dispute the chronology of the writing of the book, believing that it is impossible to trust the submitted text, since it claims to be of divine origin.
What language is the Bible written in?
The majestic book of all time was written in ancient times and today it has been translated into more than 2.5 thousand languages. The number of editions of the Bible exceeded 5 million copies. It is worth noting that the current editions are later translations from the original languages. The history of the Bible indicates that it has been written for more than a dozen years; therefore, texts in different languages are combined in it. The Old Testament is more represented in Hebrew, but there are texts in Aramaic too. The New Testament is almost entirely represented in ancient Greek.
Considering the popularity of the Holy Scripture, no one will be surprised that research was conducted and this made it possible to discover a lot of interesting information:
- In the Bible, Jesus is mentioned more often than others, and David is in second place. Among the women of the laurels gets the wife of Abraham Sarah.
- The smallest copy of the book was printed at the end of the 19th century and the photomechanical reduction method was used for this. The size was 1.9 x1.6 cm and the thickness was 1 cm. In order to read the text, a magnifying glass was inserted into the cover.
- Facts about the Bible indicate that it contains approximately 3.5 million letters.
- In order to read the Old Testament, you need to spend 38 hours, and the New will take 11 hours.
- Many will be surprised by the fact, but according to statistics, the Bible is stolen more often than other books.
- Most copies of the Scriptures are made for export to China. At the same time, reading this book in North Korea is punishable by death.
- The Christian Bible is the most persecuted book. In the entire history, no other work is known, against which laws would be issued, for the violation of which a death penalty was appointed.
The Bible is a great book that forms the basis of several world religions - Christianity, Judaism, Islam. Interestingly, the term "Bible" in the texts of the book does not occur even once. It was originally called the Word of God, the Scriptures, or simply the Scriptures.
Instruction
In its structure, the Bible is a collection of religious, philosophical and historical texts written by different people at different times and in different languages for 1600 years. It is believed that the most ancient texts date back to 1513 BC. A total of 77 books are included in the Bible, but their number in different editions may be different, since not all of them are recognized as canonical, i.e. sacred and inspired. 11 books recognized as apocryphal, some religious denominations reject and do not include the Bible in their editions.
The Bible is divided into 2 parts - the Old Testament and the New Testament. The first part - the Old Testament, also called the Holy History of the pre-Christian era, includes 50 books, 38 of which are recognized as canonical. It is believed that the texts of the Old Testament were written from 1513 to 443 BC. by the people upon whom God's Grace has descended. The Old Testament books are about the creation of the world, about the beliefs of the Jews, about God's participation in their lives, about the laws passed to people through the prophet Moses on Mount Sinai, etc. The sacred texts of this part of the Bible are written in different languages and are conventionally divided into legislative, historical, teacher and prophetic.
The New Testament is also called the sacred history of early Christianity. It includes 27 books, which is about a quarter of the total volume of the Bible. All the books of the New Testament are written in the ancient Greek language, and narrate about the life, martyrdom and resurrection of Christ, his teachings, the disciples, and their deeds after the ascension of the Son of God. It is believed that the New Testament, which became the basis of Christianity, was written during the 1st century AD.
The New Testament includes 4 canonical Gospels. Translated from the Greek "Gospel" means "good news", "good news." Until recently, the evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were considered the authors of these books. The first three texts are similar in content. Fourth, the Gospel differs greatly from John. It is assumed that John, who wrote it later than the others, sought to tell about events that had not been mentioned before. There are several dozens of apocryphal gospels, each of which interprets the events of life and the preaching of Jesus Christ in its own way. Such a discrepancy and an abundance of interpretations led to the forced reduction of canonical texts to a minimum. They did not enter the Bible.
To date, the authorship of the Gospels is not proven. Matthew and John are the disciples of Christ, and Mark and Luke are the disciples of the apostles. Evangelicals could not have been witnesses of the events described, since they lived in the first century AD, and the earliest manuscripts of these texts date back to the second and third centuries. It is possible that the Gospel is a recording of the oral creativity of unknown people. In any case, now some priests prefer to tell parishioners that the authors of these books are unknown.
Thus: 1. The Gospel is part of the Bible, one of the books included in it.
2. The Bible was written over more than one and a half thousand years, starting from the 15th century BC. The Gospel dates back to the 1st century AD.
3. The Bible describes many aspects of human life, starting with the creation of the world.
The gospel speaks of the birth, the earthly life of Jesus Christ, his resurrection and ascension, the Commandments and Laws brought to them by people, observing that a person will achieve spiritual purity, happiness of union with God and salvation.
4. The Gospel is written in ancient Greek, Bible texts in different languages.
5. The books of the Bible are written by people according to God's special inspiration. The authorship of the Gospel is attributed to Matthew and John - the disciples of Christ, and Mark and Luke - the disciples of the apostles, although today it is considered not proven.
FOREWORD
The present work, called by us: “A GUIDE TO STUDYING THE HOLY SCRIPTURES OF A NEW TESTAMENT” and consisting of parts: 1) FOUR-EVANGELISM and 2) APOSTOL, does not claim originality. It represents only a collection of data extracted from a number of pre-revolutionary works and textbooks on the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament, published in Russia, which served both for self-education and training in our spiritual and educational institutions. In its present form, our Guide is a concisely laid out course of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament, as it was presented by us for three years (1951–1953) in Holy Trinity Theological Seminary, opened in 1948 by the Most Reverend Archbishop Vitaly in St. Trinity Monastery near the village of Jordanville in New York.In compiling this guide, the following works and tutorials were used:
1) Bishop Michael. - PERSONAL GOSP in three books;
2) Bishop Michael. - EXCLUSIVE APOSTL: Acts and Congregational Epistles;
3) Bishop Theophan. - Gospel Story of God the Son;
4) Bishop Theophan. - The interpretation of the messages of St. The Apostle Paul;
5) M. Barsov - Collection of articles on the interpretive and instructive reading of the Four Gospels in two volumes;
6) M. Barsov. - Collection of articles on the interpretive and instructive reading of the Acts of the Holy Apostles;
7) M. Barsov. - Collection of articles on the interpretive and edifying reading of the Apocalypse;
8) Prot. Pavel Matveevsky. - The Gospel Story of God the Word of the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, who incarnated and incarnated our people for the sake of salvation;
9) B.I. Smooth. - The interpretation of the Gospel;
10) Holy T. Butkevich. - Our Lord Jesus Christ. The experience of the historical and critical presentation of the Gospel Stories;
11) F.F. Farrar. - The life of Jesus Christ in the translation of A. P. Lopukhin;
12) S.V. Kohomsky. - Explanation of the most important places of the Four Gospels;
13) Prot. M. Herskov. - Interpretive Review priest. books of the New Testament;
14) A.V. Ivanov. - Guide to the study of the sacred books of the New Testament;
15) Prot. N. Alexandrov. - A guide to the study of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament;
16) Prof. Dr. N.N. Glubokovsky. - the gospel of their gospel of Christ the Savior and the atoning work;
17) Prof. Dr. N.N. Glubokovsky. - The Evangelism of Christian Freedom in the Epistle of St. Apostle Paul to the Galatians;
18) Bishop Cassian. - Christ and the first Christian generation.
It goes without saying that all the interpretive works of the Holy Fathers, especially St. Chrysostom and "The Evangelist" blazh. Theophylactus, Archbishop. Bulgarian, as well as compiled on the basis of the Holy Fathers interpretation of the Gospel in the "Trinity leaflets", published before the revolution in Russia, and "Patristic interpretation of the Gospel of Matthew," published by the magazine "Eternal" edited by Bishop Methodius in these recent years in Paris, in three books. Without pursuing special scientific goals, the author meant to give to the readers and students of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament a manual that provides the key to its correct, consistent with the teachings of St.. The Orthodox Church, understanding and interpretation, is a manual that is here abroad, given the extreme scarcity of books and publications of this kind, could at least partially replace all former Russian pre-revolutionary textbooks and manuals. How far this goal is achieved by him is not for him to judge. The author asks to be indulgent to his work, since he did not have the opportunity to fully surrender to him, as the high importance of the subject would require, and worked on it only in fits and starts. But even for this opportunity, he thanks God, believing that his work will not remain useless, and asks all those who will use this Guide to pray for the author.
INTRODUCTION
CONCEPT OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
The New Testament Scripture is the collection of those holy books that are part of the Bible, which appeared after the birth of Christ. These books are written, according to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, by the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ or the holy Apostles.THE PURPOSE OF THE WRITING OF THE HOLY BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT AND THEIR CONTENT
The holy books of the New Testament are written by Sts. Apostles to depict the salvation of people, the perfect incarnate Son of God - our Lord Jesus Christ. In accordance with this lofty goal, they tell us about the greatest event of the incarnation of the Son of God, about His earthly life, about the teaching that He preached, about the miracles He did, about His redemptive sufferings and death on the Cross, about the glorious resurrection from the dead and ascension to heaven, about the initial period of the spread of the faith of Christ through The apostles explain to us the doctrine of Christ in its diverse application to life and warn about the last fates of the world and humanity.NUMBERS, NAMES AND ORDER OF THE HOLY BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
The total number of all the holy books of the New Testament is twenty-seven. Their names and the usual order of the following:1) Matthew's holy Gospel (or: gospel),
2) From Mark the holy Gospel (or: the gospel),
3) Luke's Holy Gospel (or: gospel),
4) The holy Gospel (or: gospel) of John,
5) Acts of the Holy Apostles,
6) Cathedral message of sv. The apostle of jacob
7) First Catholic Epistle of St. Apostle Peter,
8) The Second Council Epistle of St. Apostle Peter,
9) First Catholic Epistle of St. Apostle John the Divine,
10) The Second Council Epistle of St. Apostle John the Divine,
11) The Third Council Epistle of St. Apostle John the Divine,
12) Cathedral message of sv. Apostle Jude,
13) The Epistle to the Romans Apostle Paul,
14) First Corinthians St. Apostle Paul,
15) The Second Epistle to the Corinthians of St. Apostle Paul,
16) Epistle to the Galatians of St. Apostle Paul,
17) Epistle to St. Apostle Paul,
18) Epistle to the Philippians of sv. Apostle Paul,
19) Epistle to the Colossians of St. Apostle Paul,
20) The first epistle to Thessalonians (or: Thessalonians) of sv. Apostle Paul,
21) The second epistle to the Sununs (or: Thessalonians) of sv. Apostle Paul,
22) The first epistle to St. Timothy. Apostle Paul,
23) The second epistle to St. Timothy. Apostle Paul,
24) The Epistle to Titus of St. Apostle Paul,
25) The Epistle to St. Philemon Apostle Paul,
26) The Epistle to the Hebrews Apostle Paul,
27) Apocalypse, or Revelation of St. John the Divine.
CONTENTS OF VARIOUS NAMES OF THE HOLY BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
The collection of all the sacred books of the New Testament is usually referred to simply as the “New Testament,” as if in opposition to the Old Testament, for these sacred books set forth new commandments and new promises of God to people — set forth the new “covenant” or “union” of God with man, founded on the Blood which came to the earth and suffered for us the only Advocate of God and men - Jesus Christ (see Tim. 2: 5;).New Testament holy books are divided into "Gospel" and "Apostle". The first four books are called "FOUR-EVANGELIUM" or simply "EVANGELIUM" because they contain "good news" (the word "EVANGELIUM" in Greek means "good" or "good news", which is why the word "evangelism" is translated into Russian ") About the coming into the world of the promised by God to the forefathers of the Divine Redeemer and about His great deed of salvation for mankind.
All the other books of the New Testament are often combined under the name "APOSTOL", because they contain a narration about the acts of St.. Apostles and the presentation of their instructions to the first Christians.
SEPARATION OF NEWLY CELEBRATED SACRED BOOKS BY THEIR CONTENT
According to their content, the New Testament holy books are usually divided into the following four sections:1) BOOKLAND books, which include the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, as components of the very essence of God's New Testament law to people, for they set forth the events of the life-saving life of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Divine teaching for us;
2) the book HISTORICAL, which is the book of acts of St.. Apostles, as setting forth to us the history of the affirmation and initial spread of the Church of Christ on earth through the preaching of St. Apostles;
3) books TEACHING, which include 7 cathedral messages: one of sv. Apostle James, two of sv. Apostle Peter, three of sv. Apostle John the Divine and one of sv. Apostle Jude, as well as 14 epistles of Sts. Apostle Paul (listed above), as containing the teaching of sv. Apostles, or rather, the interpretation of Christ’s teaching of St. Apostles in relation to different cases of life;
4) the book PROPHETIC, which is the Apocalypse, or Revelation of sv. St. John the Divine, as containing in the mysterious visions and images of the prophecy about the future destinies of the Church of Christ, the world and humanity.
HISTORY OF CANON OF THE HOLY BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
The New Testament holy books are all canonical. The canonical dignity of these books was acquired immediately after its appearance, because everyone knew the authoritative names of their authors. Remarkably in this respect, the testimony of St. Ap. Peter in his 2nd sob. Epistle (3:16), where he speaks, as already known to him, "all the epistles" of St.. Apostle Paul. Writing a message for Colossian, sv. The Apostle Paul orders that it be read in the Laodicean church (). We have ample evidence that the Church has always and from the very beginning recognized the canonical dignity of the New Testament holy books known to us at the present time. If there were doubts about some of the books, to which the so-called likes to refer. “Negative criticism”, these doubts belonged to private individuals and were not shared by all.Already in the writings of the "husbands of the apostles," we find isolated sayings from all the New Testament books that are almost known to us, and in several separate books, the apostolic men give direct and clear testimony as books that are undoubtedly of apostolic origin. For example, some of the places in the New Testament books are found in St. VARNAVA, the satellite and the employee of sv. The Apostle Paul, in his epistle, in St. THE CLIMENT OF ROMAN in his Corinthians, by the martyr IGNATIA OF THE GOD THE BOTTOM, the Bishop of Antioch, who was a disciple of St. The Apostle John the Theologian, in his 7 epistles, from which it is clearly seen that he was well aware of all four Gospels; from the priest-martyr POLIKARPA, the Bishop of Smyrna, also a disciple of Sts. John the Theologian, in his letter to the Philippians, and from PAPIUS, the Bishop of Hierapolis, also a disciple of St.. John the Theologian, in his books, excerpts from which are given by Eusebius in his Church History.
All these men of the apostles lived in the second half of the first and early second centuries.
We find a number of references to the New Testament holy books and extracts from them in several later church writers, apologists who lived in the second century. So, for example, of sv. the martyr IUSTIN-PHILOSOPHR in his apology "Conversation with Trypho-Judea" and other writings leads to 127 evangelical texts; the martyr IRINI, the Bishop of Lyons, in his essay "Five Books Against Heresies" testifies to the authenticity of all four of our Gospels and gives a huge number of literal extracts from them; TATIAN in his book Speech Against the Hellenes, exposing the madness of paganism, proves the divinity of the Holy Scripture, citing texts from the Gospel; He also owns the first attempt to compile a set of all four Gospels, known as “DIETES-SARONA”. The famous teacher and head of the Alexandrian School of CLIMENT ALEXANDRIYSKY in all his writings that have come down to us, such as, for example, “Teacher”, “Blend or Stromat”, and others, gives numerous passages from the New Testament sacred books, such as those whose authenticity is not subject no doubt. The pagan philosopher AFINAGOR, who began reading the Holy Scripture with the intention to write against Christianity, but instead became a brilliant apologist for the Christian faith, in his apology cites a number of authentic sayings of the Gospel, while explaining that "THUS SAYS THE SCRIPTURE." St. Theophilus, the Bishop of Antioch, in the Three Books to Autolycus that have come down to us, makes many verbatim references to the Gospel, and, according to the testimony of Blessed Jerome, he compiled a compilation of all four Gospels and wrote a Commentary on the Gospel.
From the most learned ecclesiastical writer ORIGEN, who lived at the end of the second and beginning of the third century, a number of writings reached us, in which he cites an enormous amount of texts from the New Testament sacred books and gives us evidence that undoubtedly apostolic and divine writings throughout the Heavenly Church confessed, as the four Gospels, as well as the books of the Acts of the Apostles, the Apocalypse, and the 14 Epistles of Saint. Apostle Paul.
Evidence from the "external" - heretics and pagans is also extremely valuable. In the writings of the heretics VASILIDA, CARPOCRAT, VALENTINA, POTOLOMEYA, HERACLION and MARKION we find many places, from which it is clearly seen that they were well known to our New Testament holy books. They all lived in the second century.
Particularly important was the composition of the pagan philosopher CELS, entitled TRUE WORD, full of hatred for Christ in half of the same second century, in which all the material for attacks on was borrowed from all four of our Gospels, and even literal extracts from them are often found.
True, not all the ancient lists of the sacred books of the New Testament that have come down to us always list all 27 books accepted by the Church. In the so-called. The “Muratorian canon”, which is believed to be related to the second half of the second century and found by Professor Murator in the last century, lists only 4 Gospels in Latin, Acts of St.. Apostles, 13 epistles of sv. Apostle Paul (without Hebrews), the Epistle of St. Apostle Jude, Epistles and Apocalypse of sv. John the Divine. There is, however, no reason to regard this “canon” as an official church document.
In the same second century, the translation of the sacred books of the New Testament into the Siric language, called PESHITO, appeared. It contains the Hebrew Epistles and the Epistle of Sts. Apostle James, but there is no message of St.. Apostle Jude, 2 nd ep. Ap. Peter, 2nd and 3rd Epistles of Sts. Apostle John and the Apocalypse.
For all of these omissions, there could be reasons of a private nature, just as the doubts of individuals who expressed themselves regarding the authenticity of this or that book are not of serious importance, for they also have a private character, sometimes with obvious tendentiousness.
It is known, for example, that the founder of Protestantism, Martin Luther, tried to suspect the authenticity of the message of St. Ap. Jacob because in him resolutely emphasizes the insufficiency for the salvation of one faith without good deeds (2– “faith is idle is dead”; see also 2:14, 17, 20, etc.), while the basic dogma declared by him Protestant dogma asserts just the opposite, that "man is justified by faith alone, without good works." Of course, all other similar attempts to defame our New Testament canon are equally biased.
As for the Church as a whole, from the very beginning it always accepted all the New Testament holy books recognized by us today, which was witnessed in 360 at the local LADIKIYSKY cathedral, which issued a definition that lists by name all 27 of our New Testament holy books (60 rights.). This definition was then solemnly confirmed and thus gained a universal character at the VI Ecumenical Council.
LANGUAGE OF NEWLY CELEBRATED SACRED BOOKS AND THE HISTORY OF THEIR TEXT
All the New Testament holy books are written in Greek, but not in classical Greek, but in the popular Alexandrian dialect of the Greek language, the so-called “KINI”, which was spoken or which, in any case, was understood by all the cultural inhabitants of not only Eastern, but also The western half of the then Roman Empire. It was the language of all educated people of that time. Therefore, the apostles wrote in this language in order to make the New Testament holy books accessible for reading and understanding of all educated citizens.They were written by the authors or with their own hands (), or by the scribes whom the authors dictated (), on papyrus prepared from Egyptian cane with a cane and ink (). Comparatively less used for this purpose was parchment made from animal skin and valued very expensively.
It is characteristic that only large letters of the Greek alphabet were used for writing, without punctuation and even without separating one word from another. Small letters began to be used only from the 9th century, as was the word separation. Punctuation marks were introduced only by the invention of typography - by Aldus Manucius in the 16th century. The current division into chapters was made in the west by Cardinal GUG in the XIII century, and the division into verses by the Paris typographer ROBERT STEFAN in the XVI century.
In the person of its learned bishops and presbyters, the Church has always taken care to preserve the text of the sacred books from any distortion that is always possible, especially before the invention of printing, when books were copied by hand. There is information that such scholars of Christian antiquity as ORIGEN, ISHIHIY, Bishop of EGYPTIAN and LUKIAN, Presbyter ANTIOKHIYSKY worked a lot on correcting the text in the defective lists. With the invention of printing began to ensure that the New Testament holy books were printed only on the best ancient manuscripts. In the first quarter of the 16th century, two printed editions of the New Testament Greek text appeared almost simultaneously: the so-called. COMPLETENE POLYGLOTT in Spain and the edition of ROTTERDAM'S ERASM in Basel. In the past century, it should be noted, as exemplary, the works of TYCHENDORF - a publication that appeared as a result of a comparison of up to 900 manuscripts of the New Testament.
As these conscientious critical works, especially, of course, vigilant observation of the Church, in which the Holy Spirit lives and which is led, serves us as a sufficient guarantee for the fact that we now have a clean, intact Greek text of the New Testament holy books.
In the second half of the 9th century, the New Testament sacred books were translated by the enlighteners of the Slavs, the equal brothers of the Apostles Kirill and Metopheus into the Slovene language, which is somewhat common and more or less comprehensible to all Slavic tribes, which is believed to be the BULGARO-MACEDA dialect spoken in the vicinity SOLUNI, homeland of sv. brothers. The oldest monument of this Slavic translation has been preserved here in Russia under the name “OSTROMIROV EVANGELIA”, so called because it was written for Novgorod mayor of Ostromir by deacon Gregory in 1056–57. This Gospel is “APRAKOSNO” (which means: “weekly”), i.e. the material in it is located not by chapters, but by so-called. “BEGINNINGS”, starting from the 1st conception of the Gospel of John (“Be your word”), which we read at the liturgy at the liturgy on the first day of Easter, and then follows the order of liturgical use, week by week. In the liturgical usage of our Orthodox Church, it is generally accepted that the division of the New Testament sacred text is not into chapters, but at the beginning. individual passages that contain a more or less complete narrative or complete thought. In each Gospel there is a SPECIAL account conceived, in APOSTLES, including the book of Acts and all the messages, one GENERAL account. The apocalypse, like a book unreadable in worship, is not divided into conception. The division of the Gospel and the Apostle into conception does not coincide with the division into chapters and, in comparison with it, is more fractional.
In the course of time, the original Slavic text was subjected here to some, insignificant, however, Russification - convergence with the spoken Russian language. The modern Russian translation, made in the first half of the XIX century into Russian literary language, is in many respects unsatisfactory, why the Slavic translation should be preferred to it.
TIME FOR WRITING NEWSLIGHTED SACRED BOOKS
The time of writing each of the sacred books of the New Testament cannot be determined with unconditional accuracy, but it is absolutely certain that all of them were written in the second half of the first century. This is clearly evident from the fact that a number of second-century writers, like Sts. the martyr IUSTIN-PHILOSOF in his apology, written about 150, the pagan writer CELS in his work, also written in the middle of the second century, and especially the holy martyr IGNATIUS-THE BOGOSET in his messages from the 107th year, are already doing a lot references to the New Testament holy books and lead from them verbatim excerpts.The first New Testament books were, according to the time of their appearance, undoubtedly MESSAGES of Sts. Apostles, caused by the need to establish in the faith of the newly founded Christian communities; but soon, of course, there was a need for a systematic presentation of the earthly life of the Lord Jesus Christ and His teachings. No matter how trying so called. “Negative criticism” to undermine faith in the historical authenticity and authenticity of our Gospels and other New Testament holy books, attributing their appearance to a much later time (eg, Baur and his school) recent discoveries in the field of patristic literature convincingly show that they are all written in the first century.
At the beginning of the liturgical Gospel, in particular the introduction to each of the four Evangelists stated on the basis of evidence of the church historian Eusebius, who should and famous interpreter of the gospel Blessed Theophylact, Archbishop of Bulgaria, that the Gospel of Matthew written in the eighth year of the Ascension of the Lord, the Gospel of Mark - in the tenth, the Gospel of Luke - in the fifteenth, the Gospel of John - in the thirty-second. In any case, for a variety of considerations, it can be concluded that the Gospel of Matthew was undoubtedly written before everyone else and no later than the years 50–60. by R.Hr. The Gospels of Mark and Luke were written a little later, but in any case before the destruction of Jerusalem, i.e. up to 70 R.H., and sv. John the Theologian wrote his Gospel later than all, at the end of the first century, being already in very old age, as some assume, about 96 years. Somewhat earlier he wrote the Apocalypse. The book of the Acts of the Apostles was written shortly after the third Gospel, for, as can be seen from the preface to it, it serves as its continuation.
VALUE OF QUARTER NUMBER OF GOSPELS
All four Gospels according to tell the story of the life and teachings of Christ the Savior, His miracles, the suffering of the cross, death and burial, His glorious resurrection from the dead and ascension to heaven. Mutually complementing and clarifying each other, they constitute a single whole book that does not have any contradictions and disagreements in the most important and basic - in the teaching about SALVATION, which is accomplished by the incarnate Son of God - the perfect God and perfect man. The ancient Christian writers compared the Four Gospels with the river, which, coming out of Eden to irrigate the paradise planted by God, was divided into four rivers flowing through countries rich in all kinds of jewels. An even more common symbol for the four Gospels was the mysterious chariot that the prophet Ezekiel saw at the Khovar River (1: 1–28) and which consisted of four creatures that resembled a person — a man, a lion, a calf, and an eagle. These creatures, taken separately, became emblems for the evangelists. Christian art, dating back to the 5th century, depicts St. Matthew with a man or an angel, sv. Mark with a lion, sv. Luka with a calf, St. John with an eagle. The Holy Evangelist Matthew began to assimilate the symbol of a man because in his Gospel he especially emphasizes the human origin of the Lord Jesus Christ from David and Abraham; St. To Mark, the lion, for he deduces in particular the royal omnipotence of the Lord; St. Luke is a calf (calf, as a sacrificial animal), for he speaks primarily of Christ as the great High Priest who sacrificed Himself for the sins of the world; St. John is an eagle, as he is particularly high in the sky "above the clouds of human frailty", according to the expression of blessed Augustine, because of the special elevation of his thoughts and even the grandeur of his syllable, like an eagleIn addition to our four Gospels, in the first centuries there were many (up to 50) other writings that called themselves “Gospels” and attributed their apostolic origin to themselves. The church, however, soon rejected them, putting them among the so-called. "Apocrypha". Already priestlyuch. IRINEY, Bishop of Lyons, a former disciple of St.. Polycarp of Smyrna, who in turn was a disciple of St.. John the Theologian, in his book Against Heresies (III, 2, 8) testifies that EVANGELS ARE ONLY FOUR, and that there should be neither more nor less, because "four countries of the world", "four winds in the universe."
Remarkably thinks the great father of the Church of St.. John Chrysostom, answering the question why the Church accepted the four Gospels, and not limited to only one:
“Could not the Evangelist alone write everything? Of course he could, but when four people wrote, they did not write at the same time, not in the same place, without interfering with or speaking with each other, but, however, they wrote as if everything was said by their mouths alone, serves as the greatest proof of truth. "
He also answers perfectly well to the objection that the Evangelists do not fully agree with each other, that in some particulars there even appear to be contradictions:
“If they were to exactly agree on everything - regarding time, and about the place, and the words themselves, then none of the enemies would have believed that they had written the Gospel without agreeing among themselves and not by usual agreement, and that such consent was the result of their sincerity. Now the disagreement presented in trifles frees them from any suspicion and brilliantly speaks in favor of the writers. ”
Likewise, the other interpreter of the Gospel, Bl. Theophylact, Archbishop of Bulgaria: “Do not tell me that they disagree in everything, but look at what they disagree with. Did one of them say that Christ was born, and the other that not, or one - that Christ was resurrected, and the other - not? Yes, it will not be! In the more necessary and more important they agree. So, if in the more important they do not disagree, then why are you surprised if it seems that they will disagree in the unimportant? Their truth most of all affects the fact that they do not fully agree. Otherwise, they would have been thought about what they wrote, seeing each other and consulting. Now that one has lowered, the other has written, therefore it seems that they sometimes contradict. ”
From the above considerations, it is clear that some small differences in the narrations of the 4 Evangelists not only do not speak against the authenticity of the Gospels, but on the contrary clearly testify to it.
MEANING OF EXPRESSIONS: “THE GOSPEL FROM MATTHEW”, “FROM MARK”, etc.
The word "Gospel", as we have already seen, translated into Russian, means: "good news", "preaching", which name is usually used in the headings of each individual gospel: "Holy Gospel" from Matthew, "Holy Gospel from Mark ”, Etc. It is necessary to know, however, that these expressions are only relative. All the Four Gospels are actually the BLESSING OF THE LORD OUR JESUS CHRIST - He Himself proclaims to us, through the medium of the Evangelists, the joyful or good news of our salvation. Evangelicals are only intermediaries in the transmission of this gospel. That is why the headings that are accepted in the translations of the Gospels into other languages are more accurate and accurate: “St. the gospel according to Matthew, "or:" St. the preaching of Matthew, ”“ according to Mark, ”“ according to Luke, ”“ according to John. ”MUTUAL RELATION OF THE FOUR GOSPELS BY THEIR CONTENT
Of the four Gospels, the content of the first three — Matthew, Mark, and Luke — coincides in many respects, closely to each other, both in the narrative material itself and in the presentation form; the fourth Gospel of John in this respect stands apart, significantly different from the first three, both in the material stated in it and in the very style, form of presentation.In this regard, the first three Gospels are called "SYNOPTIC" from the Greek. the words "synopsis", which means: "statement in one common image" (the same as Latin: "conspectus"). But although the first three Gospels are very close to each other, both according to plan and content, which can easily be located in the corresponding parallel tables, each of them has its own characteristics, however. So, if the entire content of the individual Gospels is determined by the number 100, then in Matthew it turns out 58% is similar to the other content and 42% is different from the others; % similar and 7% excellent; % similar and 59% excellent; John has 8% of the similar and 92% excellent. Similarities are seen, mainly, in the transmission of the sayings of Christ the Savior, the differences - in the narrative part. When Matthew and Luke literally come together in their Gospels, Mark always agrees with them; the similarity between Luke and Mark is much closer than between Luke and Matthew; when Mark has additional features, they usually occur in Luke, which is not the case for features found only in Matthew, and finally, in those cases where Mark doesn’t say anything, Luke the Evangelist often differs from Matthew.
The synoptic Gospels speak almost exclusively of the activities of the Lord Jesus Christ in Galilee, of sv. John is in Judea. Weather forecasters say ch. ar., about miracles, parables and external events in the life of the Lord, of sv. John leads a discourse on its deepest sense, cites the Lord’s discourses on the most sublime objects of faith.
With all the differences between the Gospels, they are alien to internal contradictions; Careful reading makes it easy to find clear signs of agreement between weather forecasters and St. John. So, sv. John does not tell much about the Lord’s Galilean ministry, but he undoubtedly knows of His repeated prolonged presence in Galilee; Weather forecasters do not convey anything about the early activities of the Lord in Judea and Jerusalem itself, but hints of this activity are often found among them. So, according to their testimony, the Lord had friends, disciples, and supporters in Jerusalem, as for example the owner of the upper room, where the Last Supper took place, and Joseph of Arimathea. Especially important in this regard are the words cited by weather forecasters: “Jerusalem! Jerusalem! How often I wanted to gather your children ... ”- an expression that clearly implies the Lord’s multiple residence in Jerusalem. Forecasters do not convey, however, about the miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus, but Luke well knows his sisters in Bethany, and the character of each of them, so vividly outlined by him in a few words, quite coincides with their characteristics, which John gives.
The main difference between weather forecasters and St. John in the conversations of the Lord that they convey. For weather forecasters, these conversations are very simple, easy to understand, popular; in John, they are deep, mysterious, often difficult to understand, as if they are intended not for a crowd, but for some closer circle of listeners. But this is the case: weather forecasters cite the Lord’s words to the Galileans, simple and ignorant people; John transmits mainly the Lord’s speeches addressed to the Jews, the scribes and the Pharisees, people tempted in the knowledge of the Mosaic law, more or less high on the steps of the then erudition. In addition, John, as we will see, has a special purpose — to perhaps more fully and deeply uncover the doctrine of Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and this topic is, of course, much more difficult to understand than so clear, easily understood parables. weather forecasters. But even here there is no great discrepancy between the weather forecasters and John. If weather forecasters expose a more human side in Christ, and John, mostly divine, then this does not mean that the weather forecasters have no divine side at all or John has a human side. The Son of Man in the synoptics has also the Son of God, to whom all authority is given in heaven and on earth. Equally, the Son of God John also has a true man who accepts an invitation to the marriage feast, talks friendly with Martha and Mary and cries over the coffin of His friend Lazarus.
Not at all contradicting each other, weather forecasters and sv. John mutually complement each other and only in their totality they give the most beautiful, most perfect image of Christ, in which He is perceived and preached by St. By the church.
CHARACTER AND FEATURES OF EACH OF THE FOUR GOSPELS
The Orthodox teaching on the inspiration of the books of Holy Scripture always held that view that inspiring the sacred writers, giving them both thought and word, the Holy Spirit did not constrain their own mind and character. The flow of the Holy Spirit did not overwhelm the human spirit, but only purified and elevated above its ordinary boundaries. Therefore, being a single entity in the presentation of Divine truth, all four Gospels differ among themselves, depending on the personal characteristics of the character of each of the Evangelists, differ in the construction of speech, syllable, some special expressions; they differ from each other and because of the circumstances and conditions under which they were written and depending on the goal that each of the four Evangelists set themselves.Therefore, for a better interpretation and understanding of the Gospel, we need to get closer acquainted with the personality, character and life of each of the four Evangelists and with the circumstances under which each of the 4 Gospels was written.
1. Gospel of Matthew
The writer of the first Gospel was St.. Matthew, who also bore the name of Levi, the son of Alpheus, is one of the 12 Apostles of Christ. Prior to calling his apostolic ministry, he was a publican, i.e. as a tax collector, and as such, of course, was disliked by his fellow compatriots, who scorned and hated tax collectors for serving innocent enslavers of their people and oppressing their people by collecting taxes, and in their pursuit of profit, they often took much more what follows.About his calling Matthew tells himself in ch. 9. 9 tbsp. his Gospel, calling himself the name of "Matthew," while the Evangelists Mark and Luke, telling the same thing, call him Levi. It was customary for the Jews to have several names, and therefore there is no reason to think that this is about different people, especially since the invitation of the Lord and His disciples that followed in the house of Matthew all three Evangelists describe in exactly the same way, and in the list Twelve disciples of the Lord and Mark and Luke are also called already called "Matthew" (compare Mark. 3i).
Touched to the depths of his soul by the grace of the Lord, who did not hate him, despite the general contempt for him of the Jews and especially the spiritual leaders of the Jewish people of the scribes and Pharisees, Matthew wholeheartedly accepted the teachings of Christ and especially deeply enlightened his superiority over the traditions and views of the Pharisees, bearing the seal of external righteousness , arrogance and contempt for sinners. That is why he alone leads the Lord in such a strong diatribe against the scribes and Pharisees - hypocrites, which we find in chapter 23 of his Gospel. It must be assumed that, for the same reason, he especially took to heart the work of saving HIM his own native Jewish people, so saturated by that time with false, destructive pharisaic concepts and views, and therefore HIS GOSPEL is written mainly for JEWS. As there is reason to assume, it was originally written in Hebrew and only a little later was unknown by whom, perhaps by Matthew himself, translated into Greek. This is evidenced by St. Papias of Hierapolis: “Matthew in Hebrew spoke the Lord’s conversations, and each translated them as best he could” (Church. East. Eusebius III, 39). It is possible that Matthew himself later translated his Gospel into Greek, in order to make it accessible to the understanding of a wider circle of readers. In any case, the Church accepted into the canon only the Greek text of the Gospel of Matthew, because the Hebrew was soon maliciously distorted by the heretics "Judaizers."
Writing your gospel for the Jews, sv. Matthew sets as his main goal to prove to the Jews that this is the MESSIAH of which the Old Testament prophets predicted that He is “the fulfillment of the law and the prophets”, that the Old Testament revelation darkened by the scribes and Pharisees only in Christianity clarifies and perceives its most perfect meaning. That is why he begins his gospel by the JESUS CHRIST PARENTALITY, wishing to show the Jews His origin from DAVID and ABRAHAM, and makes a huge number of LINKS TO THE OLD TESTAMENT to prove the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies on Him. All such references to St. Matthew are at least 66, and in 43 cases a literal statement is made. The purpose of the first Gospel for the Jews is evident from the fact that of sv. Matthew, referring to the Jewish customs, does not consider it necessary to explain their meaning and significance, as other Evangelists do; likewise leaves without explanation some of the Aramaic words used in Palestine (cf., for example, 15: 1–3 and y and y).
The time of writing the Gospel of Matthew Church. historian Eusebius (III, 24) refers to the year 8 of the Ascension of the Lord, but of sv. Irenaeus of Lyons believes that of sv. Matthew wrote his Gospel when “when Peter and Paul preached the gospel in Rome,” i.e. in the sixties of the first century.
Writing his Gospel for fellow Jews, of sv. Matthew for a long time and preached to them in Palestine, but then retired to preach to other countries and ended his martyred life in Ethiopia.
The Gospel of Matthew contains 28 chapters, or 116 church conceptions. It begins with the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ from Abraham and ends with the Lord's farewell instructions to the disciples before His ascension. Since sv. Matthew speaks mainly about the origin of Jesus Christ in His humanity, then the emblem of man is assimilated to him.
The content of the Gospel of Matthew in chapters is:
Chapter 1: The Genealogy of Jesus Christ. Nativity.
Chapter 2: Adoration of the Magi. Flight of sv. family to Egypt. Massacre of the innocents. Return of sv. families from Egypt and his settlement in Nazareth.
Chapter 3: The Sermon of John the Baptist. The baptism from him of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Chapter 4: The Temptation of the Lord Jesus Christ from the Devil. The beginning of His sermon in Galilee. The calling of the first apostles. The preaching of Christ and the healing of the sick.
Chapter 5: The Sermon on the Mount: the Doctrine of Bliss; the apostles are the salt of the earth and the light of the world; “I came not to violate the law, but to fulfill”; a new understanding of the commandments: “Thou shalt not kill,” “do not prejudice do,” the doctrine of divorce, oath, and love of enemies.
Chapter 6: The Continuation of the Sermon on the Mount: The Doctrine of Alms, of Prayer ""; about the post; about collecting treasures in heaven, not on earth; the impossibility of serving God and mammon; about the deposition of cares for the body and its needs, the search for the kingdom of God and its truth.
Chapter 7: The Continuation of the Sermon on the Mount: About Not Condemning Your Neighbors; about not giving holy things to dogs; about constancy in prayer; close and wide gates; about false prophets; about the necessity of doing good; A parable about a house built on stone and sand.
Chapter 8: The Healing of the Leper. Healing of the servant of the Capernaum centurion. Healing mother-in-law Petrova and many possessed and sick. "The Son of Man does not have where the heads are to be declined." "Leave the dead to bury their dead." Taming the storm at sea. Healing of two possessed persons in the country of Gergesin and the death of a herd of pigs.
Chapter 9: Healing the Paralytic The calling of the tax collector Matthew. "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." On the fast of the disciples of Christ. Resurrection of a certain superior's daughter and healing of a bleeding woman. Healing of two blind and dumb demoniac. "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few."
Chapter 10: Election of the 12 Apostles and sending them to the sermon. Predicting their persecution from people. The value of confessing Christ before people and the destructiveness of renouncing Him. About the need for complete love for the Lord more than for relatives and for oneself.
Chapter 11: The Embassy of John the Baptist to Jesus Christ and the testimony of Christ about John. Woe Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. The calling to Himself by the Lord of all who labor and are burdened.
Chapter 12: The Dissection of Ears by the disciples of the Lord on the Sabbath. Healing Sukhorukov. The fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah about Christ. Healing the demoniac and accusing the Lord of the Pharisees for casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub. Jesus denounces the Pharisees for the unpardonable sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Seekings of the Pharisees for signs from Jesus. The parable of the unclean spirit that came out of man and returned again. "Who is my mother and who is my brother?"
Chapter 13: The Parable of the Sower Why did Christ the Savior speak in parables? An explanation of the parable of the sower. The parable of the wheat and the tares. Parable about mustard seed, about leaven; explanation of the parable of the wheat and the tares. Parable of the treasure hidden in the field, the precious pearl, the seine, cast into the sea. "There is no prophet without honor" ...
Chapter 14: The Beheading of John the Baptist. Saturation of 5,000 people. Walking on the waters. Healing the sick through one touch to the edge of Jesus' clothes.
Chapter 15: The exposure of the Pharisees by the Lord, that they prefer the traditions of the elders to the Word of God. About an unclean heart, as a source of evil that defiles a person. Healing of the possessed daughter of the Canaanite women. Healing of many ailments and saturation of 4000 people.
Chapter 16: The Sign of Jonah the Prophet Caution from the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. The Apostle Peter confesses Jesus on behalf of all the Apostles as the Son of the Living God. The prediction of Jesus about the suffering to come to him and the preconceptions of Peter. The doctrine of self-denial, the taking of the cross and the pursuit of Christ.
Chapter 17: The Transfiguration of the Lord. Healing of a possessed teenager. Wonderful payment of taxes on the temple.
Chapter 18: On the Necessity of Being Like Children for the Succession of the Kingdom of Heaven About temptations. Parable about the lost sheep. On the denunciation of the sinning brother and the highest authority of the Church. About the forgiveness of insults. The parable of the unmerciful debtor.
Chapter 19: A Teaching on the Prejudice of Divorce and Virginity. Blessing children. About the rich youth and wealth, as an obstacle to the inheritance of eternal life.
Chapter 20: The Parable of the Workers Hired in the Vineyard. Jesus predicts His death and resurrection. The request of the mother of the sons of Zebedee and the admonition of the Lord to the disciples about humility. Healing of two Jericho blind men.
Chapter 21: The entrance of the Lord into Jerusalem and the expulsion of those who sell from the temple. Withered fig tree and the power of faith. The question of the high priests about the power of Jesus. Parable about two sons. About the stone that became the head of the corner.
Chapter 22: The Parable of the Marriage Feast of a Tsar's Son, About Tribute to Caesar. Conversation with the Sadducees about the resurrection of the dead. About the two most important commandments - the love of God and the love of neighbor and the Divine Institution of Christ.
Chapter 23: The Lord's Accusatory Speech to the Scribes and Pharisees. The prediction of God's punishment to Jerusalem.
Chapter 24: God's Prediction of the Destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, Wars, Persecution of His Followers, Death of the World, and His Second Coming.
Chapter 25: The Parable of the Ten Virgins Parable about talents. Last Judgment.
Chapter 26: A meeting of the high priests with the scribes about the Lord’s passing death. The anointing of the Lord to the world in Bethany. The betrayal of Judas. The Last Supper Prediction of the renunciation of Petrov. Prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. The taking of the Lord by the servants of the high priest. Court at Caiaphas. Peter's denial.
Chapter 27: The Court of Pilate. The repentance of Judah and his doom. The asking of the people of Barabbas instead of Christ. Warrior abuse. Crucifixion Taunt the Crucified. Darkness over the whole earth. Death of the lord The burial of Him and the sealing of the tomb.
Chapter 28: The Arrival of Myrrh-Bearing Women to the Sepulcher The great earthquake and the descent of the angel, who rolled off a stone from the tomb. The angel's good news to the myrrh-bearing women about the resurrection of Christ The appearance of the Myrrh bearers of the Risen Lord Himself. Bribing the guards for slandering the resurrection of Christ. The appearance of the Lord to the 11 disciples in Galilee and the last instructions to them about the preaching of the gospel teaching to all nations.
2. Mark's Gospel
The Second Gospel is written by St. Mark, who bore the name of John, was a Jew by birth, but he was not among the 12 Apostles of the Lord. Therefore, he could not be such a constant companion and hearer of the Lord, as St. Matthew. He wrote his gospel according to the words and under the guidance of St. Apostle Peter. He himself, in all likelihood, was an eyewitness only of the last days of the earthly life of the Lord. Only in one Gospel of Mark tells of a certain young man who, when the Lord was taken into custody in the Garden of Gethsemane, followed Him, “wrapping himself in a naked body in a veil, and the soldiers seized him, but leaving the veil, the naked escaped from them "(). In this young man, the ancient tradition sees the author of the second Gospel himself - St. Mark. His mother, Mary, is mentioned in the book of Acts (12:12), as one of the wives most devoted to the faith of Christ: believers gathered in her house in Jerusalem for prayer. Mark subsequently participates in the first journey of St. Apostle Paul, along with his other companion Barnabas, to whom he was a maternal nephew ().As the book of Acts relates, upon their arrival in the city of Perga, Mark separated and returned to Jerusalem (13:13). Therefore, in his second journey of St. The Apostle Paul did not want to take Mark with him, and since Barnabas did not want Mark to part, he “was upset” between them, “so that they were separated from each other”; “Barnabas took Mark, sailed to Cyprus,” and Paul continued his journey with Silas (). This cooling of relations, apparently, did not last long, since we then find Mark along with Paul in Rome, from where the letter to the Colossians was written and of which St. Paul welcomes, by the way, both on behalf of Mark and whom he warns about the possibility of his coming (4:10). Further, as can be seen, of sv. Mark became a companion and employee of sv. The Apostle Peter, which especially emphasizes the Tradition and what is confirmed by the words of the Apostle Peter himself in his first Catholic Epistle, where he writes: “The chosen church in Babylon AND MARK, SON MY (), greets you. Before his departure () he again calls upon himself St. Ap. Paul, who writes to Timothy: “Take Mark with you, for I need him for service” (). According to the legend of sv. Apostle Peter set over. Mark the first bishop of the Church of Alexandria, and of sv. Mark ended his life in Alexandria by martyrdom.
According to the testimony of St. Papia, Bishop of Hierapol, and also sv. Justin-philosopher and of sv. Irineus of Lyons, St. Mark wrote his Gospel according to the words of St. Apostle Peter. St. Justin even calls him "Peter's memorable records." Clement of Alexandria argues that the Gospel of Mark is essentially a recording of the oral sermon of St.. Apostle Peter, which of sv. Mark did ON THE REQUEST OF CHRISTIANS LIVING IN ROME. This is verified by many other Church writers, and the very content of Mark’s Gospel clearly indicates that it is intended FOR CHRISTIANS FROM THE LANGUAGES. It says very little about the attitude of the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ to the Old Testament and very few references to the Old Testament holy books. At the same time, we meet in it Latin words, such as, for example, “speculator” (6:27), “centurio” (15:44, 45), and “mite” is explained as codrant (from Latin “quadrns” - quarter Assa, 1242). Even the Sermon on the Mount, as explaining the superiority of the New Testament law to the Old Testament, is omitted.
But the main attention of St.. Mark draws on a strong, vivid account of the miracles of Christ in his Gospel, emphasizing the royal greatness and the omnipotence of the Lord. In his Gospel, Jesus is not the "son of David," as in Matthew, but the SON of GOD, the Lord and Lord, the King of the universe (compare the first lines of the one and the other Gospel: Matt. 1i). Therefore, the emblem of Mark is the lion - the royal animal, a symbol of power and strength.
Basically, the content of the Gospel of Mark is very close to the content of the Gospel of Matthew, but differs, in comparison with him, with greater conciseness and brevity. It has only 16 chapters or 71 church conception. It begins with the appearance of John the Baptist, and ends with the departure of St. Apostles on the sermon after the Ascension of the Lord.
The time of writing the Gospel of Mark churches. historian Eusebius refers to the 10 year of the Ascension of the Lord. In any case, it is undoubtedly written before the destruction of Jerusalem, i.e. before 70 AD
The contents of the Gospel of Mark by chapter is as follows:
Chapter 1: The Sermon of John the Baptist. Epiphany. The temptation in the desert. The beginning of the sermon in Galilee. The calling of the first apostles. Sermon and miracles of healing in Capernaum. Healing Lepers.
Chapter 2: Healing a relaxed, lowered on his bed through the roof of the house. Vocation of levi On the fast of the disciples of Christ. Tearing ears on Saturday.
Chapter 3: The Healing of the Dry-Handed on Saturday. Pharisees meeting about the destruction of Jesus. Lots of people following the Lord and miracles of healing. The supply of 12 apostles. The charge of the Lord is that He casts out demons by the power of Beelzebub: an unpardonable blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. "Who is my mother and my brother?"
Chapter 4: The Parable of the Sower Parable about growing seed, about mustard seed. Taming the storm at sea.
Chapter 5: The expulsion of a legion of demons from the demon-possessed in the country of Gadara and the death of a herd of pigs. Resurrection of the daughter of Jairus and the healing of a bleeding woman.
Chapter 6: "There is no prophet without honor ..." The departure of the 12 Apostles to the sermon. Beheading of John the Baptist. A wonderful saturation of 5.000 people. Walking on the waters. Wonderful healings by touching the edge of Jesus clothes.
Chapter 7: Pharisees accused the disciples of the Lord of violating the traditions of the elders. Wrong to eliminate the word of God by tradition. Not that which enters a man defiles him, but that which proceeds from his unclean heart. Healing a possessed daughter of a Syrophenician woman. Healing the deaf and dumb.
Chapter 8 Wonderful saturation of 4000 people. Seekings of the Pharisees for signs from Jesus. Caution from the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod. Healing of the blind in Bethsaida. The confession of Jesus by Christ on the part of Peter on behalf of all the Apostles. The Lord predicts His death and resurrection, and the precept of Peter. The doctrine of self-sacrifice, the taking of his cross and the pursuit of Christ.
Chapter 9: The Transfiguration of the Lord. Healing of the obsessed dumb spirit. The Lord’s new prediction of His death and resurrection. The controversy of the Apostles about the primacy and the admonition of the Lord about humility. About a man casting out demons by the Name of Christ. About temptations. About salt and mutual peace.
Chapter 10: On the Inadmissibility of Divorce in Marriage. Blessing children. About the difficulties of having riches to enter the kingdom of God. About the reward who left everything for the sake of the Lord. The new prediction of the Lord about the coming sufferings, death and resurrection. The request of the sons of Zebedee for primacy and the admonition of the Lord to the disciples about the need for humility. Healing the blind Vartimieus.
Chapter 11: The Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem. Curse of the barren fig tree. The question of the high priests about the power of Jesus.
Chapter 12: The Parable of the Evil Winegrowers About the permissibility to give file to Caesar. The answer to the Sadducees is about the resurrection of the dead. About the two most important commandments - the love of God and the love of neighbor and the Divine Institution of Christ. Caution from the scribes. Two widow mites.
Chapter 13: Prediction about the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem, about the end times, about the end of the world, and about the second coming of Christ.
Chapter 14: The Anointing of Jesus with the World in Bethany. The betrayal of Judas. The Last Supper Prediction of Peter’s denial. The Lord’s Prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane and the taking of High Priests by His servants. The flight of students. About a young man in a bedspread following the Lord. The court of the high priest. Peter's denial.
Chapter 15: The Court of Pilate. The release of Barabbas and the judgment of the Lord. The flogging of the Lord and the mockery of the soldiers upon Him. Crucifixion, death on the cross and burial.
Chapter 16: The Arrival of Myrrh-Bearing Women to the Tomb and the Gospel of the Young Man in White Clothes on the Resurrection of Christ. The appearance of the resurrected Lord Mary Magdalene, to the two disciples on the way and to the eleven disciples at the supper. Instructing them about the preaching of the gospel of all creature. The ascension of the Lord to heaven and the departure of the disciples to the sermon.
3. Luke's Gospel
Who was, in his origin, the writer of the third Gospel of St.. Luke is unknown. Eusebius of Caesarea says that he came from Antioch, and therefore it is considered to be that of sv. Luke was, by origin, a heathen or so-called “proselyte”, i.e. pagan who accepted Judaism. By the nature of his studies, he was a doctor, as can be seen from the message of St. Apostle Paul to the Colossians (4:14); ecclesiastical tradition adds to this and the fact that he was also a painter. From the fact that his Gospel contains the instructions of the Lord to only 70 disciples, with all the details set forth, they conclude that he belonged to the 70 disciples of Christ. The extraordinary vividness of his account of the appearance of the resurrected Lord to two disciples on the way to Emmaus, and only one of them is named after Cleopas, as well as an ancient legend, testify that he was one of these two disciples who were honored with the apparition of the Lord (). Then from the book of the Acts of the Apostles one can see that, starting from the second journey of St. Apostle Paul, Luke is made his permanent employee and almost inseparable companion. He was at Ap. Pavle, both during his first bonds, of which the epistle to the Colossians and Philippians was written, and during his second bond, when the second epistle to Timothy was written, and which ended in his martyrdom. There is evidence that after the death of An. St. Paul Luke preached and died a martyr's death in Achaia. His holy relics under the Emperor Constance were transferred from there to Constantinople, together with the relics of St. Apostle Andrew.As can be seen from the very preface of the third Gospel, St. Luke wrote it at the request of a certain noble husband, a “sovereign”, or, as in Russian translation, “the Honorable” Theophilus, who lived in Antioch, for which he later wrote the book of the Acts of the Apostles, serving as a continuation of the gospel narrative (See also Acts 1: 1–2). At the same time, he used not only the eyewitness accounts of the Lord’s ministry, but also some of the written records about the life and teachings of the Lord that already existed at that time. In his own words, this narration and written records were subjected to the most careful research by him, and therefore his Gospel is distinguished by particular accuracy in determining the time and place of events and a strict chronological sequence.
The “sovereign Theophilus,” for whom the third Gospel was written, was undoubtedly not a citizen of Palestine and had not been to Jerusalem: otherwise it would have been unnecessary. Luke should make him different geographic explanations, such as, for example, the fact that Eleon is located near Jerusalem in the distance of the Sabbath route, etc. (see: 24i). On the other hand, he apparently knew Syracuse, Rigiy and Puteol in Italy, Appian's Square and the Three Hotels in Rome, mentioning which in the book. Acts, of sv. Luke makes no explanation. However, according to Clement of Alexandria, Theophilus was not a Roman, as one might think, but an Antioch, was rich and noble, professed the faith of Christ, and his house served as a temple for the Antioch Christians.
The gospel of Luke clearly affected the influence of the Holy Apostle Paul, whom St.. Luka was a companion and employee. As the "Apostle of Languages" of sv. Paul tried most of all to reveal the great truth that the Messiah - Christ came to earth not only for the Jews, but for the Gentiles, and is the SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE WORLD, ALL PEOPLE. In connection with this basic thought, which the Third Gospel obviously holds throughout his entire narrative, the genealogy of Jesus Christ is brought in him to the forefather of all mankind and to God Himself, in order to emphasize His value FOR THE WHOLE HUMAN (). Places such as the embassy of the prophet Elijah to the widow in Sarepta of Sidon, the healing of leprosy by the prophet Elisha Neeman the Syrian (4: 26–27), the parables of the prodigal son (15: 11–32), the publican and the Pharisee (18: 10– 14) are in close internal connection with the thoroughly developed teaching of St. Apostle Paul about RESCUE not only Jews, but also Gentiles, and about justifying a person before God, not by the works of the law, but by the grace of God, bestowed tuna, solely because of unlimited mercy and the love of God. No one so vividly portrayed the love of God for repentant sinners, as St. Luke, who brought in his Gospel a number of parables and actual events on this subject. Suffice it to recall, in addition to the already mentioned parables about the prodigal son and the publican and the Pharisee, another parable about the lost sheep, the lost dram, the merciful Samaritan, the story of repentance by the chief of publicans Zacchaeus and other places, as well as his significant words about that “joy is before God for the one sinner who repent”, and this joy is more joyful than “about the ninety and nine righteous, and others do not require repentance” (Luke 15 and 15: 7).
Seeing from all this the undoubted influence of St. Apostle Paul to the author of the third Gospel can be considered credible statement of Origen, that "the Gospel of Luke was approved by Paul."
The time and place of the writing of the Gospel of Luke can be determined, guided by the consideration that it is written EARLIER of the Book of Acts of the Apostles, constituting as it were its continuation (see). The book of Acts ends with a description of a two-year stay of St.. Apostle Paul in Rome (28:30). These were 62 and 63 years R.H. Consequently, the Gospel of Luke could not have been written LATER this time and, I suppose, in Rome, although the historian Eusebius believes that it appeared in the light much earlier, already in the 15th year after the Ascension of the Lord.
In view of the fact that of sv. Luke speaks about the Lord Jesus Christ mainly as the Great High Priest, who sacrificed Himself for the sins of ALL of humanity, his emblem is the calf, which is a sacrificial animal commonly used in sacrifices.
The gospel of Luke contains 24 chapters or 114 church conceptions. It begins with a narration about the appearance of an angel to the priest Zechariah, the father of St. John the Baptist, and ends with a narration about the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ to heaven.
The content of the Gospel of Luke in chapters is as follows:
Chapter 1: Introduction to Theophilus. The appearance of an angel who predicted to the priest Zechariah the birth of his son John. Annunciation of the angel to the Blessed Virgin Mary. A visit by the Blessed Virgin Mary to Elisabeth. Christmas of sv. John the Baptist.
Chapter 2: The Nativity of Christ, the appearance of an angel to the Bethlehem shepherds and the worship of their Born God-child. Circumcision of the Lord. The Presentation of the Lord. The boy Jesus in the temple of Jerusalem in a conversation among teachers.
Chapter 3: The Sermon of St. John the Baptist. Epiphany. The genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Chapter 4: The Temptation of the Devil Sermon of the Lord in Galilee, in the Nazareth synagogue. Healing a possessed person in the Capernaum synagogue. Healing mother-in-law Simonova and many other sick and possessed with demon. Sermon in the synagogues of Galilee.
Chapter 5: The Wonderful Fishing of the Lake of Gennesaret and the Calling of the Apostles. Healing a leper. Healing of the relaxed, brought on the bed and lowered through the roof of the house. The vocation of the tax collector Levi. On the fast of the disciples of the Lord: the parable of the old clothes and the young wine.
Chapter 6: Taking the ears of corn on the Sabbath. Healing of the dry-handed on Saturday. The election of the 12 Apostles. Sermon of the Lord on who is "blessed" and to whom is "woe." About love to enemies. About non-condemnation. On the need to do good deeds.
Chapter 7: Healing of the servant of the Capernaum centurion. The resurrection of the son of Nain's widow. The embassy of John the Baptist to Jesus Christ and the testimony of the Lord about John. The anointing of the world to the Lord is a sinful wife.
Chapter 8: Preaching the Lord Jesus Christ through cities and villages accompanied by 12 and women who served Him from their estates. Parable about the sower. The lamp on sveshnitsa. “Who is my mother, and who is my brother?” Taming the storm in the sea. The expulsion of the legion of demons from the possessed and the death of a herd of pigs. The resurrection of the daughter of Jairus and the healing of a bleeding wife.
Chapter 9: The Embassy of the Twelve Apostles to Preach Herod's perplexity about the person of Jesus Christ. A wonderful saturation of 5,000 people. Peter confesses Jesus Christ. The prediction of the Lord about his death and resurrection. The doctrine of self-sacrifice and the taking of his cross. Transfiguration. Healing of a possessed teenager. The thoughts of the Apostles about the primacy and the admonition of the Lord about humility. About the casting out demons of Jesus. On the rejection of the Lord in the Samaritan village. About following Christ.
Chapter 10: The Embassy of 70 Disciples to Preach Return them with joy that the demons obey them. Admonition of the Lord: "Rejoice that your names are written in heaven." Jesus glorifies the Heavenly Father for “hiding this from the wise and prudent and revealing to the babies.” Parable of the Good Samaritan. The Lord is with Martha and Mary.
Chapter 11: "Our Father" and the doctrine of constancy in prayer. The slander of the Jews against the Lord, as if He was casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub. The parable of the unclean spirit and swept and cleaned the house. "Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it!" Sign of Jonah the Prophet. The lamp of the body is an eye. Exposing the Pharisees.
Chapter 12: Caution from the Pharisees' Ferment. On the confession of Jesus Christ before people and the fear of torment. About the unforgivability of the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Caution against covetousness and the parable of the rich and rich harvest. About not burdening yourself with cares and about seeking the Kingdom of God. About charity. About always staying awake and ready for the second coming of Christ: the parable of the faithful housekeeper, separation in the world because of Christ the Savior and about preparing yourself for the judgment of God.
Chapter 13: "If you do not repent, all will also perish." Parable of the barren fig tree. Healing of the crouched woman on Saturday. Parables about mustard seed and sourdough. “Are there any who save? - “it is fitting to enter by the narrow gate”. The answer of Lord Herod. Rebuke the Lord to Jerusalem.
Chapter 14: Healing on the Sabbath. Censure seeking superiority. On the invitation to the feast of the poor. Parable about the party at the evening. The doctrine of self-sacrifice, the taking of his cross and the pursuit of Christ.
Chapter 15: Parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Drachma. The parable of the prodigal son.
Chapter 16: The Parable of the Unrighteous Ruler. About the reprehensibility of divorce. The parable of the rich and Lazarus.
Chapter 17: About temptations, forgiveness to a brother, about the power of faith, about the execution of everything commanded. Healing 10 lepers. "The kingdom of God is within you." On the second coming of Christ. Chapter 18: The Parable of the Unjust Judge The parable of the publican and the Pharisee. Blessing children. O difficulties for the wealthy to enter into the kingdom of God. About reward for those who left everything for Christ. The prediction of the Lord about the coming sufferings, death and resurrection. Healing of Jericho Blind.
Chapter 19: Repentance of the Chief of the Publicans of Zacchaeus Parable about the mines. The entrance of the Lord to Jerusalem. Expulsion of merchants from the temple.
Chapter 20: The question of the high priests and elders about the power of Jesus. The parable of the evil wine-growers. About tribute to Caesar. The answer to the Sadducees is about the resurrection of the dead. About the Blessing of Christ. Caution from the scribes.
Chapter 21: Two widow's mites. A prediction about the destruction of Jerusalem, about the end of the world and about the second coming of Christ. Call for wakefulness.
Chapter 22: The Betrayal of Judah Last Supper Prediction of Peter’s denial. About two swords. Lord's Prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. Taking the Lord into custody. Peter's denial. Court before the Sanhedrin.
Chapter 23: The Court of Pilate. The Lord is with Herod. Pilate's attempt to free Jesus. The demand of the people of his conviction. The release of Barabbas and the judgment of the Lord. Simon of Cyrene Crying women and the words of the Lord to them. Crucifixion of the Lord. Repentance prudent robber. The death of the Lord and the burial. Preparing incense for women who came from Galilee.
Chapter 24: The Appearance of Angels to Myrrh-Bearing Wives Peter at the tomb. The appearance of the risen Lord to the two disciples on the way to Emmaus. The manifestation of the Lord to the 11 disciples and His instruction to them. Ascension of the Lord.
). His mother Salome is mentioned among the wives who served the Lord from their estates: she accompanied the Lord in Galilee, followed Him to Jerusalem at the last Easter, and participated in the purchase of aromas to anoint His body along with other myrrh-bearing women (). Tradition considers her the daughter of Joseph the betrothed.
John was first a disciple of St. John the Baptist. Hearing his testimony of Christ as the Lamb of God taking up the sins of the world, he immediately followed Christ with Andrew (). He became a regular disciple of the Lord, however, a little later, after a wonderful catch of fish on Lake Gennesaret, when the Lord himself called him together with his brother Jacob (). Together with Peter and his brother Jacob, he was honored with special closeness to the Lord, being with Him in the most important and solemn moments of His earthly life. So, he was honored to be present at the resurrection of the daughter of Jairus (), to see the Transfiguration of the Lord on a mountain (), to hear the conversation about the signs of His second coming (), to be a witness to His Gethsemane prayer (). And at the Last Supper, he was so close to the Lord that, in his own words, he seemed to “recline with Him on the persech” (), whence came the name of the “breastplate”, which later became a common noun for a person, especially close. By humility, without naming himself by name, he nevertheless, speaking of himself in his Gospel, calls himself a disciple, “he is loved by Jesus” (13:23). This love of the Lord to him was also manifested in the fact that the Lord, hanging on the cross, entrusted to him His Most Pure Mother, saying to him: “Fuck you” ().
Ardently loving the Lord, John was full of indignation against those who are hostile to the Lord or were alien to Him. Therefore, he rebuked the man who did not walk with Christ to cast out demons in the Name of Christ () and asked the Lord for permission to lower the fire on the inhabitants of a Samaritan village because they did not receive Him when He traveled to Jerusalem through Samaria (). For this, he and his brother Jacob received from the Lord the nickname "VOANERGES", which means: "the sons of the Thunder." Feeling the love of Christ to himself, but not yet enlightened by the grace of the Holy Spirit, he dares to ask himself and his brother James the next place to the Lord in His coming Kingdom, in response to which he receives a prediction about the suffering that awaits both of them ().
After the Ascension of the Lord, we often see St. John together with of sv. Apostle Peter (). Along with him, he is considered a pillar of the Church and has his stay in Jerusalem (). Since the destruction of Jerusalem, the place of the life and activity of St. John has been the city of Ephesus in Asia Minor. In the reign of Emperor Domitian (and according to some legends, Nero or Traian, which is unlikely), he was sent to link to the island of Patmos, where the Apocalypse was written to them (1: 9–19). Returned to Ephesus from this exile, he wrote his Gospel there, and died by his death (the only one of the Apostles), according to a legend, very mysterious, in extreme old age, according to one information 105, according to another 120 years, in the reign of Emperor Trajan.
As the legend goes, the fourth Gospel was written by John at the request of the Christians of Ephesus or even the bishops of Asia Minor. They brought him the first three Gospels and asked him to supplement them with the speeches of the Lord, which they had heard from him. St. John confirmed the truth of everything written in these three Gospels, but he found that much needs to be added to their narration, and, in particular, to present a more extensive and brighter teaching on THE DIVINITY of the Lord Jesus Christ, so that people would not think about Him over time. just as about the "Son of man." This was all the more necessary because by that time heresies had begun to appear, rejecting the Deity of Christ — the Evionites, the heresy of Kerinf and the Gnostics. According to the testimony of the martyr Irenaeus of Lyons, as well as other ancient fathers and church writers, St. John wrote his Gospel, prompted to this by the requests of the bishops of Asia Minor, concerned about the appearance of these heresies.
From all that has been said, it is clear that the purpose of writing the fourth Gospel was the desire to COMPLETE the narration of the first three Evangelists. That this is so, the very content of the Gospel of John testifies to this. At the same time, as the first three Evangelists often narrate ONE AND THOSE EVENTS and cite ONE AND THE SAME WORD OF THE LORD, why their Gospels were called “SYNOPTICAL”, the Gospel of John is greatly DIFFERENT from them with its content, encompassing stories about events and giving the words of the Lord, of which there is often not even any mention in the first three Gospels.
The characteristic feature of the Gospel of John is clearly expressed in the name given to him in antiquity. Unlike the first three Gospels, it was primarily called the "Gospel SPIRITUAL (in Greek:" PNEUMATIC ")". This is because while the synoptic Gospels narrate mainly about the events of the life of the Lord, the Gospel of John begins with a presentation of the teachings of His Divinity, and further contains a number of the most exalted speeches of the Lord, in which His Divine dignity is revealed and the deepest sacraments of faith, such as, for example, talking with Nicodemus about being born again with water and spirit and about the sacrament of redemption, talking with a Samaritan woman about living water and worshiping God with spirit and truth, talking about bread that came down from heaven and about the sacrament of communion, b A talk about the good shepherd, and especially remarkable in its content, a farewell conversation with the disciples at the Last Supper with the final marvelous, so-called. The "high priestly prayer" of the Lord. Here we also find a whole series of the Lord’s own testimonies of Himself, as of the Son of God. For the teaching about God the Word and for the revelation of all these deepest and most sublime truths and secrets of our faith, St. John and received the honorary title of "Theologian."
A pure-hearted virgin, wholeheartedly betraying himself to the Lord and beloved by Him for this special love, St. John penetrated deeply into the sublime mystery of Christian love and no one, as he did not reveal so fully, deeply and convincingly, as in his Gospel, so especially in three of his congregational epistles, the Christian doctrine of the two basic commandments of the Law of God — on the love of God and on the love of one’s neighbor — why it is also called the “APOSTLE OF LOVE”.
An important feature of the John Gospel is that while the first three Evangelists narrate mainly about the preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ in Galilee, St. John sets out the events and speeches that took place in Judea. Through this, we can calculate how long the Lord’s public ministry was and at the same time His earthly life. Preaching mostly in Galilee, the Lord traveled to Jerusalem, i.e. in Judea, for all major holidays. It is from these journeys of St. John takes, mainly, the events he narrates and the words of the Lord set forth by him. Such trips to Jerusalem on the feast of Passover, as seen from the Gospel of John, were ALL THREE, and BEFORE THE FOURTH EASTER OF His public ministry, the Lord HAS RECEIVED THE DEATH. From this it follows that the public service of the Lord continued for about three years in half, and he lived on the earth for about thirty three years in half (for he went out to public service, as evidenced by St. Luke at 3:23, 30 years old) .
The Gospel of John contains 21 chapters and 67 church conceptions. It begins with the doctrine of the “Word”, which “was in the beginning,” and ends with the appearance of the Risen Lord to the disciples at the sea of Gennesaret, the restoration of An. Peter in his apostolic dignity and the author’s statement that “his testimony is true” and that, if he had written about everything that Jesus had done, “the world itself cannot contain written books”.
The content of the Gospel of John in chapters is as follows:
Chapter 1: The Doctrine of God the Word. The testimony of John the Baptist about Jesus Christ. The two followers of John follow the Lord Jesus. The coming of the first disciples to the Lord: Andrew, Simon, Peter, Philemon, and Nathanael. Conversation of the Lord with Nathanael.
Chapter 2: The first miracle in Cana of Galilee. Expulsion of merchants from the temple. The prediction of the Lord about the destruction of the temple of His body and about His resurrection from the dead on the third day. Miracles done by the Lord in Jerusalem and believed in Him.
Chapter 3: Conversation of the Lord Jesus Christ with the head of the Jewish Nicodemus. The new testimony of John the Baptist about Jesus Christ.
Chapter 4: The Conversation of the Lord Jesus Christ with a Samaritan Woman at the Well of Jacob. Vera Samaritan. Return of the Lord to Galilee. Healing the son of a courtier in Capernaum.
Chapter 5: Healing on the Sabbath of the Sabbath by the Sheep. The testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ about Himself, as the Son of God, having the power to raise the dead, and His relationship with God the Father.
Chapter 6: The Miraculous Saturation of 5,000 People. Walking on the waters. Talk about bread coming down from heaven and giving life to the world. On the necessity of communion of the Body and Blood of Christ for the inheritance of eternal life. Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God. The prediction of the Lord about His traitor.
Chapter 7: Jesus Christ rejects the offer of the brothers. Jesus Christ teaches the Jews in the temple for the feast. His teaching is about the Holy Spirit as about living water. Dissension about Him among the Jews.
Chapter 8: Forgiveness by the Lord of a sinner taken in adultery. Conversation of the Lord with the Jews about Himself, as the Light of the world, and as from the beginning Existing. The exposure of the Jews who did not believe in Him, as those who want to fulfill the lusts of their father, is a devil, a murderer from ancient times.
Chapter 9: Healing the Blind from Birth
Chapter 10: Conversation of the Lord about Himself as the "good shepherd." Jesus Christ in the Jerusalem temple on the feast of renewal. His conversation about His oneness with the Father. An attempt by the Jews to stone him.
Chapter 11: The Resurrection of Lazarus. The decision of the high priests and Pharisees to bring the Lord to death.
Chapter 12: The Anointing of the Lord by the World of Mary in Bethany. The entrance of the Lord to Jerusalem. The Greeks want to see Jesus. Jesus prayer to God the Father for His glorification. Admonition of the Lord to walk in the light while there is light. Unbelief of the Jews according to the prophecy of Isaiah.
Chapter 13: The Last Supper Foot washing. The prediction of the Lord about the betrayal of Judas. Beginning of the farewell conversation of the Lord with the disciples: instruction about mutual love. Prediction of Peter's denial.
Chapter 14: Continuing the farewell conversation about the many dwellings in the Father's house. Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. About the power of faith. The promise with the Holy Spirit.
Chapter 15: Continuing the Farewell Conversation: The Lord’s Teaching about Himself as a Vine. An admonition for mutual love. Prediction of persecution.
Chapter 16: Continuing the Farewell Talk: A New Promise of the Revelation of the Spirit Comforter.
Chapter 17: The High Priest of the Lord is about His disciples and about all believers.
Chapter 18: The Taking of the Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane. The court of Anna. Peter's denial. At Caiaphas. At trial by Pilate.
Chapter 19: The Flogging of the Lord The interrogation of Pilate. Crucifixion The casting of lots by the soldiers on the clothing of Jesus. Jesus entrusts His Mother to John. The death and burial of the Lord.
Chapter 20: Mary Magdalene at the tomb with a rolled off stone. Peter and another student find the coffin empty with the swaddling clothes in it. Appearance of the Risen Lord Mary Magdalene. The appearance of the risen Lord to all the disciples together. Unbelief of Thomas and the secondary manifestation of the Lord to all the disciples with Fomo together. The purpose of writing the Gospel.
Chapter 21: The appearance of the Lord to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, the triple question from the Lord to Peter: “Do you love Me?” And the commission to feed His sheep. The prediction of Peter martyrdom. Peter's question about John. The statement about the truth written in the Gospel.
SEQUENTIAL REVIEW OF THE CONTENT OF ALL QUARTER UAN GEL WITH EXPLANATION OF IMPORTANT DESTINATIONS
Introduction
As we have said, not all Evangelicals narrate the life of the Lord Jesus Christ with the same details: some have something that others do not have; some speak in more detail and in detail about what others mention only in a few words, as if in passing; Yes, and in the very transmission of events and the speeches of the Lord, sometimes there are differences, in some cases, even if there seems to be disagreements and contradictions, which especially likes to find and emphasize so-called "Negative criticism."That is why, from the very beginning of Christianity, attempts began to be made to bring the content of all four Gospels together, that is, a set of all the material contained in the four Gospels, in one common coherent sequence, to establish a more likely chronological order of the events of the Gospel, as if the Gospel were one.
The first attempt of this kind known to us was made by the apologist Tatsian, the student of sv. Justin the philosopher who made up in the middle of the second century R.H. such a compilation of all four Gospels, widely known as "diathessarona". The second work of the same kind belonged, according to the testimony of Blazh. Jerome, Theophilus, the Bishop of Antioch, who lived in the second half of the same second century, who wrote the Commentary on the Gospel, i.e. experience of writing his interpretation.
Such attempts to bring the narrations of the 4 Gospels together continued even further, right up to our very time. In our time, known, for example., Labor B.I. Gladkov, who compiled the “Interpretation of the Gospel”. The work of Bishop Theophanes (Vyshensky Recluse) entitled “The Gospel story of God the Son, incarnated for the sake of salvation, in the sequential order of the words of the Holy Evangelists” is recognized as the best summary of all 4 Gospels.
The significance of such works is that they give us a complete, coherent, complete picture of the whole course of the earthly life of our Lord and Savior.
We will conduct a consistent review of the entire Gospel narration, according to the leadership of these works, establishing, as far as possible, the chronological sequence of events, dwelling on the differences in the presentation of each of the 4 Evangelists and explaining the most important places in accordance with authoritative interpretations of the Holy Fathers of the Church.
The whole Gospel story naturally falls into three main sections:
I. Coming into the world of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Ii. The public ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Iii. The last days of the earthly life of the Lord Jesus Christ.
