The gospels are considered to be
biographies of Jesus, they tell his life story, document his teachings,
and tell us of his death. There are the Big Four in the New Testament,
Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John, all supposedly written by the people whose
names grace their titles. These are the only writings believed to have
been penned by those who knew Jesus. Yet they seemingly disagree about
some aspects of his life.
Points of View Shown in the
Gospels
Being that they are from four
different authors their will be different viewpoints.
The Gospel According to Mark begins
at the baptism of Jesus, so we cannot be sure if Mark thought Jesus was
divine from birth.
The Gospel According to Matthew
begins with Jesus being born, Matthew says that the angels visited Joseph
and made him aware of Jesus being a child of the Holy Spirit. This gives
the impression that Jesus was divine since conception.
The Gospel According to Luke agrees
with Matthew in the sense that Jesus was born of Holy Spirit and then
would be considered divine from the conception.
The Gospel According to John is the
only Gospel that even eludes to Jesus being divine from before
conception. He believed that Jesus had been with God since creation, and
was sent down from heaven. But does not mention his birth nor childhood.
Conflicts on the Birth of Jesus
Luke chapter 1 says
that the Holy Spirit came to Mary and told her, before conception, that
she would have a son and she was to call him Jesus.
Matthew chapter 1 says
that Joseph is told about Mary's son being called Jesus, and that it was
conceived in divine nature after she had been pregnant.
The problem here is that the
prophecy that the birth of Jesus was to fulfill was in Isaiah 7:14.
It reads as follows: "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign;
Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name
Immanuel." Or so it says in the King James Version. One problem here is
that Isaiah said he would be named Immanuel, which Jesus is never referred
to as. Second, if you look at the Hebrew text it says that a "young
woman" (Almah) will give birth, not a virgin (bethulah).
Other Conflicts in the Life of
Jesus
Matthew 2:14 says that
Joseph, Mary, and Jesus left for Egypt after Jesus was born, but on the
other hand Luke 2:39 said they went straight to Nazareth.
In Matthew 3:17 a
voice from heaven tells all of those people who witnessed Jesus being
baptized "This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased". Meanwhile
in Luke 3:22 it says that the voice from heaven spoke to
Jesus and said "Thou art my beloved son, in thee I am well pleased".
Luke 3:22 and Mark 1:11 agree on this subject.
It is in Matthew though that everyone that witnessed the baptism heard
from God that Jesus was his beloved son. Later on in Matthew the man who
did the baptism is having doubts about Jesus in Matthew 11:2-3.
How strange is that?
In Matthew 8:5, Jesus
enters the Capernaum and is approached by a centurion. But when this
story is told in Luke 7:3 it is the elders of the Jews that
approach Jesus.
In Matthew 8:28 Jesus
met two men who were possessed by devils. But in Mark 5:2
and in Luke 8:27, there was only one man who Jesus came
across in this story.
In Matthew 9:18 Jesus
is asked to help a ruler's dead daughter, but in Mark 5:23
and Luke 8:42 she was still alive.
All four gospels Agree that there
were 12 apostles, but can you name them? There are 13 apostles included
in the 12. Take a look at the apostles listed.
The apostles according to
Matthew and Mark
1. Simon aka Peter
2. Andrew
3. James (son of Zebedee)
4. John
5. Philip
6. Bartholomew
7. Thomas
8. Matthew
9. James (son of Alphaeus)
10. Lebbaeus Thaddaeus
11. Simon the Canaanite
12. Judas Iscariot
The apostles according to Luke
and the Acts
1. Simon aka Peter
2. James
3. John
4. Andrew
5. Philip
6. Bartholomew
7. Matthew
8. Thomas
9. James (son of Alphaeus)
10. Simon aka Zelotes
11. Judas (brother of James)
12. Judas Iscariot
In Matthew 17:1 it
says that the transfiguration happened after six days, but according to
Luke 9:27-28 said it happened after eight days.
In Matthew 20:18-19
Jesus tells the apostles of his upcoming death and resurrection, but in
John 20:8-9 the apostles were not aware of this.
Matthew 20:30 says
that Jesus healed two blind men, but it says that he only healed one in
both Mark 10:46 and Luke 18:35.
In Matthew 21:19-20
Jesus causes a fig tree to die immediately, but in Mark 11:14, 20-21
it doesn't die until the day after Jesus curses it.
In Matthew 27:12-14
Jesus remained silent throughout his trial, but in John 18:19-38
Jesus spoke quite a bit with fairly long speeches.
Conflicts in the Death and
Resurrection of Jesus Christ
According to Matthew 27:28
Jesus was wearing a scarlet robe to his crucifixion, yet Mark 15:17
and John 19:2 both say it was a purple robe he was wearing.
In Matthew 27:32 it
says a man named Simon carried the cross, but in John 19:17
Jesus carried the cross.
Matthew 27:34 Jesus
was given vinegar with gall, but in Mark 15:23 Jesus was
given wine and myrrh.
Not a single Gospel can agree on the
sign that was placed over Jesus on the cross.
Matthew 27:37 says:
THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS
Mark 15:26 says: THE
KING OF THE JEWS
Luke 23:38 says: THIS
IS THE KING OF THE JEWS
John 19:19 says:
JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS
The last words that Jesus spoke on
the cross differ between Gospels also.
Matthew 27:46 says:
"Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani"
Luke 23:46 says:
"Father, into thy hands I command my spirit"
John 19:30 says: "It
is finished"
In Matthew 27:55 it
says that the women who followed Jesus watched the crucifixion from a
distance, but in John 19:25 it says they stood by the cross.
Matthew 28:1 says that
there were two women who went to the sepulchre, in Mark 16:1
three women went, Luke 24:10 said there was one, and
John 20:1 says five or more. Every single Gospel differs.
According to Matthew 28:1
it was at dawn that the women went to the Sepulchre, but in John
20:1 they went before dawn, when it was still dark.
Again, we encounter another subject
on which none of the Gospels agree. Who was at the tomb when the women
got there? Matthew 28:2 says there was an angel, Mark
16:5 says a young man, Luke 24:4 says there were two
men, and finally John 20:12 says there were two angels.
And just how did these people get
into the tomb? Matthew 28:2 says that the angel rolled the
stone from the entrance, but Luke 24:4 says the stone was
already moved.
The Gospels don't agree on where the
angel(s) and/or men were. Matthew 28:2 says that he was
outside to open the tomb... but the other Gospels they are found inside
the tomb.
In Matthew 28:8 the
women run to tell the disciples about what they found at the tomb. But
Mark 16:8 says they were too scared to tell anyone.
Mary Magdaline saw Jesus and knew it
was him in Matthew 28:9, but she didn't know it was him in
John 20:14, and never saw him, but was told by angels that
he was alive in Luke 24:23.
Matthew 28:10 says
Jesus told the disciples to go to Galilee, but in Luke 24:29
he tells them to be in Jerusalem to be empowered "with power from on
high".
Other Gospels
There were also a number of Gospels
that were left out of the Bible for various reasons, such as they were
written at undistinguishable times or simply because they didn't match up
with the Gospels that the compilers of the Bible wanted the gospels to
say. Some of the "missing" gospels are quite interesting, here is a
little information of some of the other Gospels.
The Gospel of Thomas
This is one of my favorite of the
forbidden gospels. It deals quite a bit about the fact that women
cannot get into Heaven. Is it any surprise why this Gospel was left
out? Here's a great line from it:
Thomas 114: Simon Peter
said to them, "Make Mary leave us, for females don't deserve life."
Jesus said, "Look, I will guide her to make her male, so that she too
may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every
female who makes herself male will enter the domain of Heaven."
Isn't that great? Women have
to make themselves men! That would explain the overly masculine
lesbians one sees, they're not attracting a woman, but getting closer to
Heaven!!!
The Infancy Gospel of Thomas
This is a gospel written by a
childhood friend of Jesus. It shows the missing years of Jesus'
life. Where he grew up a bossy kid and was quite a bit of grief for
Joseph and Mary. This is the gospel that wasn't good enough to put
in the Bible, but was good enough to pass a story from. The first
thing in this gospel is the story of a young Jesus making birds out of
mud, and then bringing them to life. Here are some stories that they
left out for some odd reason.
3 The son of Annas the
scholar, standing there with Jesus, took a willow branch and drained the
water Jesus had collected. Jesus, however, saw what had happened and
became angry, saying to him, "Damn you, you irreverent fool! What
harm did the ponds of water do to you? From this moment you, too,
will dry up like a tree, and you'll never produce any leaves or root or
bear fruit."
In an instant, the boy had
completely withered away, Then Jesus departed and left for the house
of Joseph. The parents of the boy who had withered away picked him
up and were carrying him out, sad because he was so young. And came
to Joseph and accused him: "It's your fault - your boy did this."
4 Later he was going
through the village again when a boy ran by and bumped him on the
shoulder. Jesus got angry and said to him , "You won't continue your
journey." And all of a sudden he fell down and died.
Some people saw what had happened
and said "Where has this boy come from? Everything he says happens
instantly!"
The parents of the dead boy came to
Joseph and blamed him, saying, "Because you have such a boy, you cannot
live with us in the village, or else teach him to bless and not curse.
He's killing our children!"
Who would have thought the beloved
Jesus would have murdered two children as a child... and why wasn't this
included in the Bible?
Other "Missing" Gospels
The Sayings Gospel Q - A
collection of wisdom from Jesus, never speaks of his death or resurrection
though. Could this have been part of the reason it was left out?
The Secret Book of James -
About a private revelation made to Peter and James by Jesus 550 days after
his resurrection, it's in the form of a letter.
The Dialogue of the Savior -
This one is fairly self explanatory.
The Gospel of Mary - Fairly
similar to the Gospels in the Bible, except in this one after Jesus tells
the disciples to go and preach his word, he leave... and nobody knew what
Jesus meant, that is except for Mary Magdalene and Levi. When Mary
tries to explain and comfort them... well, Peter and Andrew go bugshit and
turn on her and wacky hijinks ensue!!!
The Infancy Gospel of James -
This one ends at the birth of Jesus, this is the book that explains how
Jesus could be sinless if he was born of woman. Sin is passed
through the woman. This explains it, as it describes the miraculous
conception of Mary. WOO HOO!
There are even more Gospels where
only fragments were found. If you are interested in finding out
more, or reading these gospels, I reccommend the book The Complete
Gospels edited by Robert J. Miller.
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