Four Gospels. Why is it important to read the Holy Gospel at home and how to do it correctly? What is the gospel

P Orthodox Christianity knows four canonical Gospels: Matthew, Luke, Mark and John. But why didn’t someone write the Gospel alone? And why do we need four Gospels if they all talk about the same thing?

The fact is that, inspiring the sacred writers, communicating to them both thought and word, the Holy Spirit did not constrain their own mind and character. The influx of the Holy Spirit did not suppress the human spirit, but only purified and elevated it. Therefore, representing a single whole in the presentation of Divine truth, the Gospels differ from each other depending on the personal characteristics of each of the evangelists. They differ both due to the circumstances and conditions under which they were written, and depending on the goal that each of the four evangelists set for themselves.

Gospel of Matthew

E Vangelist Matthew, one of the twelve apostles of Christ, before being called to apostolic service, was a tax collector, that is, a tax collector. Therefore, he was unloved by his compatriots: the Jews despised and hated the tax collectors because they served the enslavers of their people and oppressed the people by collecting taxes, and in the pursuit of profit they often took much more than they should have. The spiritual leaders of the Jewish people - the scribes and Pharisees - especially did not like Matthew.

Touched to the depths of his soul by the mercy of the Lord, who did not disdain him, Matthew accepted the teachings of Christ with all his heart. And he especially deeply understood and felt its superiority over the teaching of the Pharisees, permeated with the ideas of external righteousness and contempt for sinners. That's why Matthew took the salvation of his native Jewish people so close to his heart., who by that time had been imbued with false Pharisaic concepts and views. And he wrote his Gospel mainly for Jews. There is reason to believe that it was originally written in Hebrew and only a little later translated into Greek, perhaps by Matthew himself.

In the Gospel, Matthew pursues the goal of proving to the Jews that Jesus Christ is exactly the Messiah about whom the Old Testament prophets spoke, and that the Old Testament revelation, obscured by the scribes and Pharisees, only in Christianity becomes clear and acquires perfect meaning. Therefore, Matthew begins his Gospel with the genealogy of Jesus Christ, wanting to show the Jews His descent from David and Abraham, and makes a huge number of references to the Old Testament in order to prove the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies in Christ. Saint Matthew in the Gospel does not explain the meaning of Jewish customs and does not explain some Aramaic words, believing that the Jews for whom he writes know all this. He alone emphasizes the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, as we can read in chapter 23:

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you close the Kingdom of Heaven to men, for you yourself do not enter and you do not allow those who want to enter.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour the houses of widows and hypocritically pray for a long time: for this you will receive even greater condemnation.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you go around sea and land to convert even one; and when this happens, you make him a son of Gehenna, twice as bad as you.

(Matt. 23:13-15)

The apostle and evangelist Matthew preached in Palestine for a long time. Then he retired to preach in other countries and ended his life as a martyr in Ethiopia.

Gospel of Mark

E the evangelist Mark was also a Jew by origin, but was not one of the twelve apostles. Therefore, he could not be a constant companion and listener of the Lord, as the Evangelist Matthew was.

Mark wrote his Gospel from the words and under the guidance of the holy Apostle Peter. He himself, in all likelihood, was an eyewitness only to the last days of the Lord’s earthly life. Only Mark talks about a young man who, when the Lord was taken into custody in the Garden of Gethsemane, followed Him, wrapped in a veil over his naked body, and the soldiers grabbed him, but he, leaving the veil, ran away from them naked. (Mark 14:51-52). In this young man, ancient tradition sees the very author of the second Gospel - Saint Mark.

Clement of Alexandria claims that the Gospel of Mark is essentially a recording of the oral sermon of the Holy Apostle Peter, which Mark made at the request of Christians, lived in Rome. The very content of the Gospel of Mark indicates that it is intended for pagan Christians. It says very little about the relationship of the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ to the Old Testament and provides very few references to the Old Testament sacred books. At the same time, we find Latin words in it. Even the Sermon on the Mount, as explaining the superiority of the New Testament law over the Old Testament, is skipped.

But the main attention of the holy evangelist Mark is to give in his Gospel a strong, vivid narrative about the miracles of Christ, emphasizing with this The royal majesty and omnipotence of the Lord. In his Gospel, Jesus is not the “son of David”, as in Matthew, but the Son of God, Lord and Ruler, King of the universe.

Gospel of Luke

WITH Saint Luke came from Antioch, and therefore it is generally accepted that he was by origin a pagan or “proselyte,” that is, a pagan who converted to Judaism. By occupation he was a doctor and a painter. Researchers of the Gospel believe that Saint Luke was one of the seventy disciples of Christ: in such detail he describes the instructions given by the Lord to the seventy apostles.

From the book of the Acts of the Holy Apostles we see that, starting from the second journey of the Holy Apostle Paul, Luke becomes his constant collaborator and almost inseparable companion. After the death of the Apostle Paul, Saint Luke preached and died a martyr's death in Achaia.

Luke wrote his Gospel at the request of one noble man, the “venerable” Theophilus, who lived in Antioch. For him, he also wrote the book of the Acts of the Apostles. At the same time, the evangelist used not only the stories of eyewitnesses of the Lord’s ministry, but also records about His life and teaching. According to the Evangelist Luke, these records were subjected to the most careful study, and therefore his Gospel is particularly accurate in determining the time and place of events and strict chronological sequence.

The Gospel of Luke is clearly influenced by the Holy Apostle Paul. As the “apostle of the Gentiles,” Paul tried to reveal as fully as possible the great truth that the Messiah - Christ - came to earth not only for the sake of the Jews, but also for the sake of the pagans, and He is the Savior of the whole world, of all people.

In connection with this basic idea, the genealogy of Jesus Christ is brought in the Gospel of Luke to the ancestor of all mankind, Adam, and to God Himself, in order to emphasize His significance for the entire human race(Luke 3:23-38). No one has depicted God’s love for repentant sinners as vividly as Saint Luke did. It is enough to recall the parable of the lost sheep, the lost coin, the good Samaritan, the story of the repentance of the chief tax collector Zacchaeus, as well as the significant words that “There is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10).

Gospel of John

E Vangelist John the Theologian was a beloved disciple of Christ. He was the son of the Galilean fisherman Zebedee and Solomiah. Zavedei was a wealthy and not insignificant member of Jewish society. Solomiya is mentioned among the wives who served the Lord with their property: she accompanied the Lord in Galilee, followed Him to Jerusalem for the last Passover and participated in the acquisition of aromas for anointing His body along with other myrrh-bearing wives. Tradition considers her the daughter of Joseph the betrothed.

John was first a disciple of Saint John the Baptist. Hearing his testimony of Christ as the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world, he immediately followed Christ (John 1:37-40). He became a constant disciple of the Lord a little later, after a miraculous catch of fish on Lake Gennesaret (Galilee). Together with Peter and his brother James, John was honored with special closeness to the Lord, being with Him in the most important and solemn moments of His earthly life. Thus, he was honored to be present at the resurrection of Jairus’s daughter, to see the transfiguration of the Lord on the mountain, and also witnessed His Gethsemane prayer. The Lord’s love for John was also reflected in the fact that the Lord, while hanging on the cross, entrusted His Most Pure Mother to him (John 19:27).

Fieryly loving the Lord, John was filled with indignation against those who were hostile to the Lord or alienated from Him. John wrote the Gospel at the request of the Ephesian Christians. They brought him the first three Gospels and asked him to supplement them with the speeches of the Lord that he had heard. Saint John confirmed the truth of everything written in these three Gospels, but found that much needed to be added to their narrative and, in particular, to set out more extensively and clearly the teaching about the Divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ, so that people over time would not begin to think of Him only as "Son of Man". This was necessary, because by the time the fourth Gospel was written, heresies had already begun to appear that denied the Divinity of Christ.

Thus, the purpose of writing the fourth Gospel was desire to complement the narrative of the three evangelists. A distinctive feature of the Gospel of John is clearly expressed in the name that was given to it in ancient times. Unlike the first three Gospels, it was called " spiritual gospel».

Pure in heart, devoted to the Lord with all his soul, Saint John penetrated deeply into the sublime mystery of Christian love. No one revealed as fully, deeply and convincingly as John in his Gospel and three conciliar epistles, the Christian teaching about the two main commandments of the Law of God - about love for God and about love for neighbor. That's why John is also called " apostle of love".

Evangelist symbols

AND Canopists depict the evangelist Matthew as a man, Mark as a lion, Luke as a calf, and John as an eagle. After all, the Apostle Matthew sought to show that Jesus Christ is a Man from the line of David, the Messiah whom everyone was waiting for; Evangelist Mark said that Jesus Christ is the King of the world; Saint Luke emphasized the sacrificial service of the Lord; and John the Theologian wanted to draw attention to the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is the true God.

Instead of an epilogue

To the Jews I became like a Jew, that I might win the Jews; to those under the law he was as one under the law, in order to gain those under the law;

for those who are strangers to the law - as one who is strangers to the law - not being alien to the law before God, but under the law of Christ - in order to win those who are strangers to the law;

He was like one who is weak to the weak, so that he might gain the weak. I became everything to everyone, in order to save at least some.

(1 Cor.9:20-22)

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Photo: open Internet sources

The general name for the first four books of the New Testament part of the Bible [Here we mean only the canonical Gospels; about the apocryphal gospels]. The word "gospel" comes from the Greek ευ"αγγέλιον - good news, gospel, and is attached to these books because they set forth the "good news" about the life and teaching of Christ, who appeared for the salvation of mankind. In their totality, they are in accordance with their number are called the Four Gospels. Of the four Gospels, the first three are usually called synoptic (E. from Matthew, Mark and Luke) - from the Greek word synopsis, corresponding to the Latin conspectus. This name is given to them because they are very close to each other in plan and content, which can easily be located in the appropriate tables. This term is not older than the 16th century (first encountered by George Sigelius in his “Sinopsis historiae Jes. Christi”, 1585). Each of the Synoptic Gospels, however, has its own peculiarities; exegesis even developed a numerical formula that determines their similarities and differences.If, using this formula, the entire content of the individual gospels (including the fourth) is determined by the number 100, then the following figures are obtained: in Matthew, 58% of the content is similar to the others and 42 is different from the others; Mark has 93% similarity. and 7 distinct, in Luke - 41 and 59, in John - 8 and 92. It is also calculated that the total number of verses common to all weather forecasters rises to 350; then, Matthew has 350 verses exclusively characteristic of him, Mark - 68, Luke - 541. Similarities are mainly noticeable in the rendering of the sayings of Christ, differences - in the narrative part. In Matthew the narrative takes up about 1/4 of the entire E., in Mark 1/2, in Luke 1/3. When Matthew and Luke literally agree with each other 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 also appear in Luke, which cannot be said about the features found only in Matthew, and, finally, in those cases where Mark does not report anything, Hev. Luke often differs from Matthew.

The time of origin of the Gospels cannot be determined with absolute accuracy, but must be placed in the second half of the first century. The first New Testament books were undoubtedly the epistles of the apostles, caused by the need to teach the newly founded Christian communities; but soon there was a need for books that would detail the history of the earthly life of Jesus Christ. Negative criticism of Baur's school attempted to attribute the origins of E. to the end of the 2nd century in order to undermine their historical authenticity; but already Baur’s students (Zeller, Volkmar, Hilgenfeld) admit the great antiquity of E. The latest discoveries in the field of ancient patristic literature speak in its favor. It can be assumed that Matthew wrote his E. around 50-60. according to R. X., Mark and Luke - several years later and in any case earlier than the destruction of Jerusalem, i.e. before 70, and John - at the end of the 1st century, in old age. The language in which E. is written is Greek, not classical, but the so-called Alexandrian (see Ancient Greek language), the most widespread at that time. Books written on it could be freely read by the most diverse peoples - from the shores of Atlas. ocean to the Euphrates and beyond; knowledge of it was considered a necessary accessory to education among all the peoples that were part of the Roman Empire. Of the authors, E. Matthew and John were apostles and eyewitnesses of the ministry of Christ; the other two were what Blazh. Jerome called "men of the apostles." St. Mark, in all likelihood, was even an eyewitness to the ministry of Christ in the last period of His life; In the church from ancient times, a tradition has been preserved that his E. bears traces of direct influence from the apostle. Petra. Luke directly states that he was not an eyewitness to the ministry of Christ (although according to tradition he was one of the 70 disciples); but he took advantage of those records that already existed before him regarding the life and teachings of Christ. In addition, he, as the closest follower of the ap. Paul clearly depicted in his E. the views of this greatest of the apostles. Thus, E. essentially descends from the four great apostles: Matthew, Peter, Paul and John. To what extent did the authors of E. depend on previously existing records about the life and work of Christ? This difficult question has given rise to many theories, often contradictory. That such records existed is directly evidenced by Luke in the introduction to his E. (“How many have already begun to compile narratives,” etc. ). It is very likely that already in the first days of the Christian church a whole circle of authoritative oral traditions circulated among Christians, which, under the leadership of the apostles as eyewitnesses of the events themselves, sought to obtain a firmly established form. The orally transmitted legends were therefore soon recorded by some of the students in writing; such records could naturally serve as primary materials and sources for those “many who began to compile narratives,” and the most reliable information from them could then be included in E. That the evangelists were not absolutely dependent on the records and narratives that preceded them, about this The great difference that exists between synoptic E. and E. John clearly demonstrates. The weather forecasters talk almost exclusively about the activities of Christ in Galilee, John - about His activities in Judea. The weather forecasters mainly talk about miracles, parables and external events in His life, but John discusses its deepest meaning. In general, E. John is distinguished by greater spirituality and, so to speak, idealism, which gave rise to critics to assume that it does not give history, but allegories of the life of Christ. Despite all the differences between E., they are alien to contradictions; upon careful examination, one can find clear signs of agreement between the weather forecasters and John, even in the presentation of the facts of the external life of Christ. John talks little about the Galilean ministry of Jesus Christ, but he undoubtedly knows about His repeated long stay in Galilee; weather forecasters do not say anything about the early activities of Jesus Christ in Judea and Jerusalem, but hints of this activity are often found among them. So, according to their testimony, Christ had friends, disciples and followers there, for example. the owner of the upper room where the Last Supper took place, and Joseph of Arimathea. Of particular importance in this regard are the well-known words: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem! How often have I wanted to gather your children, as a hen gathers her chicks,” an expression that obviously presupposes the repeated or long stay of Christ in Jerusalem. Forecasters, however, do not talk about such a great miracle as the resurrection of Lazarus, but Luke is well acquainted with his sisters in Bethany; and in a few features the character of these sisters depicted by him is consistent with what John tells about their course of action on the occasion of the death of their brother. Many sayings given by John clearly resemble the conversations of Christ given by the weather forecasters. Thus, the famous saying cited by Matthew: “All things have been delivered to Me by My Father” (XI, 27) is very close to those with which E. John is filled. True, the conversations of Christ among the weather forecasters are generally of a different nature than those of John: there they are popular, clear and consist of visual parables and explanatory examples, but in John they are deep, mysterious, often difficult to understand, as if they were not spoken for the crowd , but for a closer circle of listeners. But one is not excluded by the other; different modes of speech could be caused by different conditions and circumstances. Both in the weather forecasters and in John, Christ is depicted surrounded by crowds of people; It would be difficult to understand how He could captivate the crowd with His words if He spoke only as it is depicted in John. On the other hand, the entire fullness of knowledge about Christ as the God-man, which has appeared in the Christian church since ancient times, would have been incomprehensible if Christ had not spoken sublimely mysterious conversations, such as those set forth in John. If the weather forecasters put forward a more human side in Christ, depicting Him as the Son of Man, the son of David, and John, on the contrary, puts forward the divine side and presents Him as the Son of God, this does not mean that the weather forecasters lack the divine side or that John lacks the human side . The Son of Man is also considered by the weather forecasters to be the Son of God, to whom was given all authority in heaven and on earth. John also has the Son of God as a true man, who goes to the wedding feast, talks friendly with Martha and Mary, and weeps at the tomb of his friend Lazarus. The Synoptics and John, thus, complement each other and only in their totality give the most perfect image of Christ, as He is perceived and preached by the Church. Ancient Christian writers compared the Four Gospels to a river, which, leaving Eden to irrigate the paradise planted by God, divided into four rivers flowing through countries abounding in all kinds of precious stones and metals. An even more common symbol for the four E. was the mysterious chariot that the prophet Ezekiel saw during the river. Khobar (I, 5-26) and which consists of four four-faced creatures, resembling a man, a lion, a calf and an eagle. These creatures, taken individually, became emblems for the evangelists: Christian art, starting from the 5th century, depicts Matthew with a man or angel, Mark with a lion, Luke with a calf, John with an eagle. The reason for this combination was the consideration that Matvey in his E. especially highlights the human and messianic character of Christ, Mark depicts His omnipotence and royalty, Luke speaks of His high priesthood (with which the sacrifice of calves was associated), and John, according to Blessed. Augustine, “as an eagle soars above the clouds of human weakness.”

The earliest of E. is recognized as E. from Matthew. Its author, ap. Matthew was a tax collector and, therefore, had to be able to read and write. According to legend, he wrote his E. in Hebrew, since he intended it as a lesson to his fellow tribesmen, especially the scribes. The Hebrew original was soon translated into Greek, and this translation has reached us. In accordance with the purpose of E., it proves to the converted Jews that Jesus is the Messiah for whom they were waiting. Following the events of Christ's earthly life, Matthew notes at every occasion how one or another of them is in close correlation with Old Testament prophecies. Hence the constant repetitions: “this has happened, that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, who says” such and such, might be fulfilled (I, 22; II, 16, 23, etc.). Matthew has at least 65 references to the Old Testament: in 43 cases a literal extract is made, and in the rest - only an indication of the general meaning. E. from Matthew consists of 28 chapters, begins with a statement of the genealogy of Christ from Abraham and ends with the Savior’s farewell conversation with the apostles before the Ascension, when He commanded them to go preaching Christianity to all nations, promising to remain with them “always until the end of the age.” .

The second E. is written by St. Mark, who in his youth bore a double name - John Mark, and the latter name, as quite common among the Romans, subsequently replaced the first. Listeners up. They wanted a written statement of Peter's teachings. In response to this request, Mark outlined everything he had heard from the apostle. Peter about the earthly life of I. Christ, in an extremely visual and picturesque form. E. Mark, apparently, intended his for the pagans. It rarely makes reference to the Old Testament, but often explains various Jewish customs, such as eating unleavened bread on Passover and washing hands and vessels. E. written by Mark either in Rome or in Alexandria. It primarily depicts the time of the solemn ministry of the Messiah, when He victoriously opposed the sin and malice of this world. E. Mark consists of 16 chapters, begins with the appearance of John the Baptist and ends with a message about how, after the ascension of Christ, the apostles went to preach the teachings of Christ. It alone, by the way, tells an episode about an unknown young man who, on the night of the capture of Christ by soldiers, ran out into the street in only a blanket, and when one of the soldiers grabbed him by the blanket, then, breaking out of the warrior’s hands, he left the blanket in his hands , and ran away completely naked (XV, 51, 52). According to legend, this young man himself was born. Mark.

The third E. is written ev. Luke (Luke is a short form of Lucan or Lucilius), a colleague of the Apostle Paul during his mission. travel. During these travels he learned to understand the apostle's teaching as a profound reproduction and interpretation of the teaching of Christ in its various applications. This prompted him to write E., which he in particular intended for a certain “Venerable Theophilus,” who apparently enjoyed great respect in the church and wanted to “learn the solid basis of this teaching in which he was instructed.” Before this time, the first two E. were already in circulation, as well as other fragmentary records “about completely well-known events”; but ev. Luke wanted “after a thorough examination of everything, first, in order, to describe” to the Venerable Theophilus the earthly life of Christ, as far as he knew about it from “eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word” (I, 1-4). Since Theophilus, by assumption, was from the pagans, then all of E. Luke was written for Christians from the pagans. Therefore, the genealogy of Christ in it is not only from Abraham, as in E. Matthew, but from Adam as the ancestor of all people. He presents the life of Christ primarily from a historical perspective. sides, and the story is thorough, especially in the first chapters, which describe the events that preceded the birth of Christ and those that accompanied it. E. consists of 24 chapters and ends with the story of Christ’s ascension to heaven.

The fourth E. was written in Ephesus by the “beloved disciple” of I. Christ, John, who, due to the height of his teaching about God the Word, received the honorary title of Theologian. After the destruction of Jerusalem, Ephesus became the center of the Christian Church in the East, at the same time it was generally the center of the intellectual life of the East, since representatives of both Greek and Eastern thought collided here. The first heresiarch, Cerinthus, also taught there, who distorted Christianity by introducing into it Greco-Eastern elements, which he borrowed from Alexandria. Under such circumstances, it was especially necessary for the church to have guidance in faith, ensuring against error. Having in the person of the Apostle John one of the closest witnesses and eyewitnesses of the “ministry of the Word,” the Christians of Ephesus began to ask him to describe to them the earthly life of Christ the Savior. When they brought John the books of the first three evangelists, he praised them for the truth and veracity of the narrative, but found that they omitted a lot of very important things. When talking about Christ who came in the flesh, it is necessary to talk about His Divinity, since otherwise, over time, people will begin to judge and think about Christ only by how He appeared in earthly life. E. John therefore begins not with a presentation of the human side in the life of Christ, but precisely the divine side - with an indication that the incarnate Christ is the primordial Word, the same one who “in the beginning was with God and was God himself,” that Logos, through which everything that exists came into being. Such an indication of the Divinity and eternal existence of Christ was also necessary in view of the false teachings spread by Cerinthos regarding Jesus, whom he considered only a simple man who assumed the deity only temporarily, during the period from baptism to suffering, and also in view of the Alexandrian speculation about reason and word (Logos ) in their application to the relationship between God and His original Word. Complementing the weather forecasters, Ev. John describes mainly the activities of Christ in Judea, telling in detail about Christ's visit to Jerusalem on major holidays along with other pilgrims. E. from John consists of 21 chapters and ends with the testimony of the author himself that “his testimony is true.”

The literature on the subject is extremely extensive; here it is enough to indicate only the most outstanding works, especially those that served as turning points in the development of the question of the origin of E. This question received a scientific formulation in the 18th century, when researchers, not content with the traditional view, first treated it critically. Instead of the accepted view, according to which E. Matthew was the first to be recognized as E., there appeared researchers who recognized E. Luke as such (Walch, Garenbert, McKnight, etc.). But this theory was so inconsistent with the obvious data that soon seniority was transferred to E. Mark (Storr, “Ueber den Zweck der evang. Gesch. des Joh.”, Tubing., 1786, as well as “De font. evang. Matth. et Luc." 1794), and all interest then focused on the question: whether E. is considered a source or an extraction in relation to the first two. Griesbach (in his "Comm. qua Marci evang., etc." Jena, 1789) gave precedence to the latter view. This question was put aside for a while by the new theory of Eichhorn (in his “Einleit. in. N. T.” 1804), who recognized a special short work in Aramaic as the source for all synoptic E. Although this theory has no historical foundations and is a matter of pure speculation, it found ardent advocates in the person of Grau ("Neuer Versuch etc." 1812), Ziegler and others. In its decisive form, Eichhorn's theory, however, did not last long, and criticism again took up the question of the seniority of one of the available E.; again, many researchers settled on Mark as the most ancient evangelist (Knobel, “De evang. Marci origine”, Bresl ., 1831; Reuss, "Gesch. d. H. Schrift", 1843 and etc.). Then the Tübingen school came forward with its sharply defined theory about the late origin of E. (Baur, “Krit. Untersuch, über die kanon Ev.”, Tub., 1847), and this theory occupied the minds of researchers for a long time, until the consciousness of its inconsistency put forward again the same questions about the original source came to the scene, which continued to be seen in E. Mark, although more sophisticated criticism found it possible to distinguish the present Mark from the special Urmarcus, which served as the source for Mark himself (Weiss, Holtzman, Schenkel, etc.). In the end, criticism almost begins to lean again towards the traditional view from which it tried to free itself. Cm . I. F. Bleek, "Einleitung in die H. Schrift" ( Part II, ed. . 4, 1886); B. Weiss, "Lehrbuch der Einleitung in d. N. T." (2 ed. 1889) and others. In Russian literature: architect. Mikhail, “Introduction to New Books” (translation of works by Guericke, M., 1864); his, “On E. and Gospel History” (2nd ed., M., 1870), etc. For the best summary of the contents of the four E. into one coherent narrative, see Rev. Feofan, in his work: “The Gospel story about God the Son, etc.” (M., 1885).

The famous Serbian canon law researcher Bishop Nikodim (Milash) wrote the following in his interpretation of the 19th canon of the VI Ecumenical Council: “St. Scripture is the word of God, revealing to people the will of God...” And Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) said:

“...Read the Gospel with extreme reverence and attention. Do not consider anything in it unimportant or unworthy of consideration. Every iota of it emits a ray of life. Neglect of life is death.”

One author wrote about the Small Entrance at the Liturgy: “The Gospel is here a symbol of Christ. The Lord appeared into the world physically, in person. He comes out to preach, to His earthly ministry and is here among us. A terrible and majestic action is taking place - among us, visibly and palpably - God. The holy angels of heaven freeze in awe at this sight. And you, man, taste this great mystery and bow your head before it.”

Based on all of the above, you need to understand that the Holy Gospel is the main book of humanity, which contains life for people. It contains Divine truths that lead us to salvation. And it itself is the source of life - a word truly filled with the power and wisdom of the Lord.

The Gospel is the voice of Christ himself. In a symbolic and spiritual sense, when reading the Gospel, the Savior speaks to us. It is as if we are transported in time to the flowering plains of Galilee and become eyewitnesses of the incarnate God of the Word. And He speaks not only universally and timelessly, in general, but also specifically to each of us. The Gospel is not just a book. This is life for us, it is a spring of living water and a source of life. It is both the Law of God, given to humanity for salvation, and the Mystery of this salvation being accomplished. When reading the Gospel, the human soul unites with God and is resurrected in Him.

It is no coincidence that the word “evangelos” is translated from Greek as “good news.” This means that by the grace of the Holy Spirit, a new message of truth was revealed in the world: God came to Earth to save humanity, and “God became Man so that man could become God,” as St. Athanasius of Alexandria said in the 4th century. The Lord reconciled with the man, He healed him again and opened the way for him to the Kingdom of Heaven.

And by reading or listening to the Gospel, we stand on this heavenly vertical road and follow it to heaven. That's what the Gospel is.

Therefore, it is very important to read the New Testament every day. On the advice of the Holy Fathers, we need to include the reading of the Holy Gospel and the “Apostle” (the Acts of the Holy Apostles, the Council Epistles of the Apostles and the fourteen Epistles of the Holy Supreme Apostle Paul) in our cell (home) prayer rule. The following sequence is usually recommended: two chapters of the Apostle (some read one chapter) and one chapter of the Gospel per day.

In my opinion, based on personal experience, I would like to say that it is more convenient to read the Holy Scriptures in order, that is, from the first chapters to the last, and then return. Then a person will form a holistic picture of the Gospel narrative, a feeling and understanding of its continuity and cause-and-effect relationships.

It is also necessary that reading the Gospel should not be like reading fictional literature of the “leg by leg, sitting comfortably in a chair” type. Still, this should be a prayerful home liturgical act.

Archpriest Seraphim Slobodskoy in his book “The Law of God” recommends reading the Holy Scriptures while standing, crossing oneself once before reading and three times after.

There are special prayers said before and after reading the New Testament.

“Shine in our hearts, O Lord who loves mankind, the imperishable light of Your knowledge of God, and open our mental eyes, our understanding in Your gospel sermons, put fear in us and in Your blessed commandments, so that all carnal lusts may be trampled, we will pass through spiritual life, even to please Yours in both wisdom and action. For You are the enlightenment of our souls and bodies, O Christ God, and we send up glory to You, with Your Originless Father and Your All-Holy, Good, and Life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen". It is read secretly by the priest during the Divine Liturgy before the reading of the Holy Gospel. It is also placed after the 11th kathisma of the Psalter.

Prayer of St. John Chrysostom: “Lord Jesus Christ, open the ears of my heart to hear Your word, and to understand and do Your will, as I am a stranger on earth: do not hide Your commandments from me, but open my eyes, that I may understand the wonders of Your law; tell me the unknown and secret wisdom of Yours. I trust in You, my God, may you enlighten my mind and meaning with the light of Your mind, not only to honor what is written, but also to create, so that I may not read the lives and words of the saints as a sin, but for renewal, and enlightenment, and for holiness, and for salvation of the soul, and an inheritance of eternal life. For You are the One who enlightens those who lie in darkness, and from You comes every good gift and every perfect gift. Amen".

The prayer of St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov), read before and after reading the Holy Scriptures: “Save, O Lord, and have mercy on Thy servants (names) in the words of the Divine Gospel, which are about the salvation of Thy servant. The thorns of all their sins have fallen, Lord, and may Thy grace dwell in them, scorching, cleansing, sanctifying the whole person in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen".

Regarding the latter, I will add from myself that it is also read with the addition of a chapter from the Holy Gospel in some kind of sorrow or trouble. I have learned from my own experience that it helps a lot. And the merciful Lord delivers from all kinds of situations and troubles. Some fathers recommend reading this prayer with the Gospel chapter every day.

This is “Conversations on the Gospel of Matthew” by St. John Chrysostom; interpretation of the Gospel of Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria; “Interpretation of the Gospel” by B.I. Gladkov, highly appreciated by the holy righteous John of Kronstadt; works of Archbishop Averky (Taushev), Metropolitan Veniamin (Pushkar), Explanatory Bible of the Old and New Testaments by Alexander Lopukhin, other works.
Let us fall, brothers and sisters, with our hearts “hungering and thirsting for righteousness,” to the pure, life-giving spring of the Holy Scriptures. Without it, the soul is doomed to wither and spiritual death. With him she blossoms, like a flower of paradise, filled with verbal life-giving moisture, worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Gospel(Mark I, 1, etc.) is a Greek word meaning: gospel, i.e. good, joyful news. The Gospels consist of 4 books of the evangelists: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. They preach about the Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, about His coming to earth, about His life on earth, about His wonderful deeds and saving teachings, and finally, about His death on the cross, glorious resurrection and ascension into heaven. These books are called the Gospel because for a person there cannot be better and more joyful news than the news of the Divine Savior and eternal salvation. That is why the reading of the Gospel in church is each time accompanied by a joyful exclamation: Glory to Thee, Lord, glory to Thee! Among the 27 New Testament books, the Gospels are considered law-positive, since they primarily form the basis of the New Testament. Their origin from the apostles and their authenticity are evidenced by: a) the continuous tradition about them since the time of the apostles; b) passages cited from these Gospels by the apostolic men who directly dealt with the apostles, such as: Barnabas, Clement of Rome, etc.; c) direct evidence about them from ancient writers, starting from the 2nd century, for example. Justin the Philosopher, Irenaeus of Lyons and others; d) evidence of even the enemies of the church, heretics of the 2nd century. - Marcian and Valentine and the pagan Celsus, who did not reject their authenticity, but did not accept them due to their heretical views, or gave them their own special interpretation, or mocked the teaching contained in them, as, for example, Celsus;e) in the 2nd century. translations of sacred books were already known, such as, for example, Syriac (Peshito), ancient Italian, which was in use by the Roman Church even before Jerome, in which only 4 Gospels are placed, as sacred and undoubtedly authentic; e) finally, the fathers and teachers of the church III and subsequent centuries unanimously and unanimously argued that there are only 4 genuine Gospels written by the apostles, and all others (such as those from the Egyptians, from the 12 apostles, from Peter, from Thomas, Nicodemus, Jews, etc.) are rejected by the church, as spurious, apocryphal, not canonical. For the content of each of the Gospels, see under the name: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.

Definitions, meanings of words in other dictionaries:

Large dictionary of esoteric terms - edited by Doctor of Medical Sciences Stepanov A.M.

(Greek: good news), the story of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ is currently known in four canonical (recognized by the church) and several dozen apocryphal Gospels. For about two centuries the Gospels existed in the form of oral histories and fragmentary records (so-called...

20. Expulsion of the legion of demons in the country of the Gadarenes 21. Healing of the bleeding woman and resurrection of Jairus' daughter 22. Healing of two blind men and a demon-possessed mute 23. Second visit to Nazareth 24. Walking of the Lord Jesus Christ through Galilee with the disciples and some women. - his grief over the lack of laborers in the harvest 25. Christ sends twelve apostles to preach 26. Beheading of John the Baptist 27. The miraculous feeding of five thousand people with five loaves 28. The Lord walking on the waters and healing many sick 29. Conversation about the bread of heaven - about the Sacrament of Communion Third Passover of the public ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ 1. Refutation of the Pharisees' traditions 2. Healing of the Canaanite daughter 3. Healing of the deaf, tongue-tied and many sick people 4. The miraculous feeding of four thousand people 5. Reproof of the Pharisees who asked for signs and warnings against the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees 6. Healing of the blind man in Bethsaida 7. The Apostle Peter confesses on behalf of all the apostles Jesus Christ as the Son of God 8. The Lord predicts his death and resurrection and teaches about bearing the cross 9. Transfiguration of the Lord 10. Healing a demon-possessed youth: the importance of faith, prayer and fasting 11. Miraculous payment of church taxes 12. Conversation about who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven - the Lord sets the child as an example to the disciples 13. In the name of Christ, miracles were performed by those who did not walk with Him 14. Teaching on the fight against temptations 15. The parable of the lost sheep, about admonishing the erring and the meaning of the court of the church 16. About the forgiveness of insults and the parable of the unmerciful debtor 17. Christ refuses to go to the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem with the brethren 18. Christ goes to Jerusalem with his disciples: the Samaritan village refuses to accept him 19. Christ sends seventy disciples to preach 20. The Lord is in Jerusalem at the Feast of Tabernacles 21. The judgment of Christ over the sinner brought to him by the Pharisees 22. Conversation of the Lord Jesus Christ with the Jews in the temple 23. Healing a man born blind 24. Conversation about the Good Shepherd 25. Conversation on the holiday of renewal 26. Return of the Seventy Disciples 27. Parable of the Good Samaritan 28. Lord Jesus Christ in the house of Martha and Mary 29. Parable of a persistent request 30. Reproof of the Scribes and Pharisees 31. Parable of the Foolish Rich Man 32. Parables about waiting for the second coming of Christ: about servants waiting for the return of their Master and about a faithful and prudent steward 33. The Lord predicts division among people 34. A call to repentance in connection with the death of the Galileans and the fall of the Tower of Siloam 35. Parable of the barren fig tree 36. Healing a crumpled woman 37. About the narrow path to the Kingdom of God 38. Christ responds to Herod’s threats and laments the destruction of Jerusalem 39. Healing a person suffering from dropsy 40. Parable of those who love to excel 41. Parable of those invited to supper 42. Teaching about the true followers of Christ 43. Parable of the Prodigal Son 44. Parable of the Unfaithful Steward 45. Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus 46. ​​The doctrine of the sanctity of marriage and virginity 47. Conversation about the power of faith and the obligation to fulfill the commandments 48. Healing of ten lepers 49. Conversation about the coming of the Kingdom of God and the second coming of Christ 50. Parable of the unjust judge 51. Parable of the Publican and the Pharisee 52. Blessing of children 53. About the Rich Young Man 54. The apostles who left everything for Christ will inherit eternal life 55. Parable of the workers in the vineyard who received equal pay 56. The Lord repeats the prediction about his upcoming suffering and resurrection and gives an answer to the sons of Zebedee about primacy in his kingdom 57. Healing of the two blind men of Jericho 58. The Lord Jesus Christ visits Zacchaeus 59. Parable of ten minas or talents 60. Raising Lazarus 61. The decision of the Sanhedrin to kill the Lord Jesus Christ 62. Supper in Bethany in the house of Lazarus Part three. The last days of the earthly life of the Lord Jesus Christ 1. Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem 2. Expulsion of traders from the temple Maundy Monday 3. The Curse of the Barren Fig Tree 4. The desire of the Hellenes to see Jesus Christ and the Lord’s conversation on this matter Maundy Tuesday 5. A withered fig tree and a lesson about the power of faith 6. Conversation in the temple: the Lord’s answer to the elders who gave him such power 7. The Parable of the Two Sons 8. The parable of the evil vinedressers 9. Parable of those invited to the wedding feast of the king's Son 10. The Lord's answer about tribute to Caesar 11. Shaming of the Sadducees on the issue of resurrection 12. Discussion about the greatest commandment in the law and about the Divine dignity of the Messiah 13. A diatribe against the scribes and Pharisees 14. Widow's Mite 15. The Lord’s conversation with his disciples on the Mount of Olives about his second coming and the end of the world 16. Parable of the Ten Virgins 17. About the Last Judgment Great Wednesday 18. Conference of the high priests and elders about the killing of Christ. The anointing of the Lord by a sinful wife in the house of Simon the leper and the betrayal of Judas Maundy Four 19. Last Supper Washing your feet The Lord announces His traitor Establishment of the Sacrament of the Eucharist Dispute between students about seniority Farewell conversation of the Lord with the disciples Continuation of the farewell conversation High Priestly Prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ 20. Gethsemane feat: prayer for the cup 21. Tradition of Jesus Christ: his taking into custody, the sword of Peter and the flight of the disciples 22. The trial of the Lord by the high priests Annas and Caiaphas 23. Denial of Peter Good Friday 24. Sanhedrin verdict 25. The death of Judas the traitor 26. The Lord Jesus Christ at the trial of Pilate 27. Way of the Cross of the Lord - procession to Calvary 28. Crucifixion 29. Repentance of a prudent thief 30. Our Lady of the Cross 31. Death of Christ 32. Burial of the Lord Jesus Christ Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ 33. The arrival of the myrrh-bearing women to the tomb and the appearance of an angel to them 34. Appearance of the risen Lord to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary 35. Lies of the Jews and bribery of the guards of the Holy Sepulcher by the high priests 36. The appearance of the risen Lord to the disciples on the way to Emmaus 37. The appearance of the risen Lord to ten disciples on the day of resurrection 38. The appearance of the risen Lord to the eleven disciples on the eighth day after the resurrection and the dispersion of Thomas’ unbelief 39. The appearance of the risen Lord to the disciples at the Sea of ​​Tiberias 40. Restoration of the Apostle Peter to his apostolic dignity and prediction of martyrdom for him 41. The appearance of the risen Lord to the disciples on a mountain in Galilee 42. Ascension of the Lord

12) S.V. Kokhomsky. – Explanation of the most important passages of the Four Gospels;

13) Prot. M. Herskov. – Interpretive review of the 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. – Their gospel is the gospel of Christ the Savior and the redemptive work;

17) Prof. Dr. N.N. Glubokovsky. – The gospel of Christian freedom in the letter of St. Apostle Paul to the Galatians;

18) Bishop Cassian. – Christ and the first Christian generation.

It goes without saying that, first of all, all the interpretative works of the Holy Fathers were widely used - especially St. Chrysostom and the "Blagovestnik" Blessed. Theophylact, Archbishop. Bulgarian, as well as the interpretation of the Gospel compiled on the basis of the Holy Fathers in the “Trinity Leaves”, published before the revolution in Russia, and the “Patristic interpretation of the Gospel of Matthew”, published by the magazine “Eternal” under the editorship of Bishop Methodius in these last years in Paris, in three books. Without pursuing special scientific goals, the author had in mind to give into the hands of those who read and study the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament a manual that gives the key to its correctness, in accordance with the teachings of St. Orthodox Church, understanding and interpretation - a manual that here abroad, given the extreme scarcity of books and publications of this kind, could at least partially replace all the previous Russian pre-revolutionary textbooks and manuals. To what extent he achieved this goal is not for him to judge. The author asks to be lenient with his work, since he did not have the opportunity to devote himself entirely to it, as the high importance of the subject would require, but worked on it only in fits and starts. But he thanks God for this opportunity, believing that his work will not remain useless, and asks everyone who will use this “Manual” to pray for the author.

INTRODUCTION

THE CONCEPT OF THE SACRED SCRIPTURES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT

The Holy Scriptures of the New Testament are called the collection of those sacred books that are part of the Bible, which came to light after the Nativity of Christ. These books were written, by inspiration from the Holy Spirit, by the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ or the holy Apostles.

THE PURPOSE OF WRITING THE SACRED BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT AND THEIR CONTENTS

The sacred books of the New Testament were written by St. The apostles with the aim of depicting the salvation of people accomplished by the 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 teachings that He preached, about the miracles that He performed, about His atoning suffering 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 Christian faith through St. Apostles, explain to us the teachings of Christ in its diverse application to life and warn about the final destinies of the world and humanity.

NUMBER, NAMES AND ORDER OF THE SACRED BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT

The total number of all holy books of the New Testament is twenty-seven. Their names and the usual order of arrangement are as follows:

1) Matthew's Holy Gospel (or: gospel),

2) According to Mark, the Holy Gospel (or: gospel),

3) Luke's Holy Gospel (or: gospel),

4) From John the Holy Gospel (or: gospel),

5) Acts of the Holy Apostles,

6) Cathedral Epistle of St. Apostle James,

7) The first conciliar letter of St. Apostle Peter,

8) Second Council Epistle of St. Apostle Peter,

9) The first conciliar letter of St. Apostle John the Theologian,

10) Second Council Epistle of St. Apostle John the Theologian,

11) Third Council Epistle of St. Apostle John the Theologian,

12) Cathedral Epistle of St. Apostle Jude,

13) Epistle to the Romans by St. Apostle Paul,

14) First Epistle to the Corinthians by St. Apostle Paul,

15) Second Epistle to the Corinthians by St. Apostle Paul,

16) Epistle to the Galatians by St. Apostle Paul,

17) Epistle to the Ephesians by St. Apostle Paul,

18) Epistle to the Philippians by St. Apostle Paul,

19) Epistle to the Colossians by St. Apostle Paul,

20) First Epistle to Thessalonians (or: Thessalonians) by St. Apostle Paul,

21) Second Epistle to Thessalonians (or: Thessalonians) of St. Apostle Paul,

22) First Epistle to Timothy St. Apostle Paul,

23) Second Epistle to St. Timothy. Apostle Paul,

24) Epistle to Titus St. Apostle Paul,

25) Epistle to Philemon St. Apostle Paul,

26) Epistle to the Hebrews by St. Apostle Paul,

27) Apocalypse, or Revelation of St. John the Theologian.

CONTENTS OF VARIOUS NAMES OF THE SACRED BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT

The collection of all the sacred books of the New Testament is usually called simply the “NEW TESTAMENT”, as if in contrast to the Old Testament, for in these sacred books new commandments and new promises of God are set out to people - a new “covenant” or “union” of God with man, founded on the Blood of the only Intercessor of God and men who came to earth and suffered for us - Jesus Christ (see Tim. 2:5;).

The New Testament holy books are divided into “Gospel” and “Apostle”. The first four books are called “FOUR GOSPEL” or simply “GOSPEL” because they contain “good news” (the word “GOSPEL” in Greek means “good news” or “good news”, which is why it is translated into Russian as “good news” ") about the coming into the world of the Divine Redeemer promised by God to the ancestors and about the great work of salvation of humanity accomplished by Him.

All other books of the New Testament are often united under the name "APOSTLE", because they contain a narrative about the acts of St. The Apostles and the presentation of their instructions to the first Christians.

DIVISION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT SACRED BOOKS ACCORDING TO THEIR CONTENT

1) LEGAL books, which include the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, as constituting the very essence of the New Testament of God's law to people, for they set forth the events of the saving earthly life of the Lord Jesus Christ for us and His Divine teaching;

2) a HISTORICAL book, which is the book of the acts of St. Apostles, as telling us the history of the establishment and initial spread of the Church of Christ on earth through the preaching of St. Apostles;

3) TEACHING books, which include 7 conciliar messages: one St. Apostle James, two St. Apostle Peter, three St. Apostle John the Theologian and one St. Apostle Jude, as well as 14 epistles of St. Apostle Paul (listed above), as containing the teachings of St. The Apostles, or rather, the interpretation of Christ’s teaching by St. The Apostles in relation to different cases of life;

4) a PROPHETIC book, which is the Apocalypse, or the Revelation of St. John the Theologian, as containing in mysterious visions and images prophecies about the future destinies of the Church of Christ, the world and humanity.

HISTORY OF THE CANON OF THE SACRED BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT

The New Testament holy books are all canonical. These books acquired canonical dignity immediately after their publication, because everyone knew the highly authoritative names of their authors. Remarkable in this regard is the testimony of St. Ap. Peter in his 2nd publication. epistle (3:16), where he speaks, as already known to him, of “all the epistles” of St. Apostle Paul. Having written a letter for the Colossians, St. The Apostle Paul gives orders that it should also be read in the Laodicean church (). We have abundant evidence that the Church has always and from the very beginning recognized the canonical dignity of the New Testament holy books currently known to us. If there were doubts about some of the books, which the so-called likes to refer to. “negative criticism”, then these doubts belonged to private individuals and were not shared by everyone.

Already in the writings of the “apostolic men” we find individual sayings from all the New Testament books almost known to us, and in several separate books the apostolic men give direct and clear testimony as to books that undoubtedly have an apostolic origin. For example, certain passages from the New Testament books are found in St. BARNABAS, companion and collaborator of St. The Apostle Paul, in his letter to St. CLEMENT OF ROMAN in his epistles to the Corinthians, from the Hieromartyr IGNATIUS THE GOD-BEARER, Bishop of Antioch, who was a disciple of St. Apostle John the Theologian, in his 7 epistles, from which it is clear that he knew all four Gospels well; with the Hieromartyr POLYCARP, Bishop of Smyrna, also a student of St. John the Theologian, in his letter to the Philippians, and in PAPIA, Bishop of Hierapolis, also a disciple of St. John the Evangelist, in his books, excerpts from which are given by Eusebius in his History of the Church.

All these apostolic men lived in the second half of the first and early second centuries.

We also find many references to the New Testament holy books and extracts from them in somewhat later church writers - apologists who lived in the second century. So, for example, St. Martyr JUSTIN - PHILOSOPHER in his apology “Conversation with Tryphon the Jew” and other writings cites up to 127 Gospel texts; Hieromartyr IRENEUS, Bishop of Lyons, in his essay “Five Books against Heresies” testifies to the reliability of all four of our Gospels and provides a huge number of verbatim extracts from them; TATIAN in his book “Speech against the Hellenes,” denouncing the madness of paganism, proves the divinity of Holy Scripture, citing texts from the Gospel; He also made the first attempt to compile a set of all four Gospels, known as “DIATES-SARONA”. The famous teacher and head of the Alexandrian School in all his works that have come down to us, such as, for example, “Pedagogue”, “Mixture or Stromata”, etc., cites numerous passages from the New Testament sacred books, as from those whose authenticity is beyond any doubt . The pagan philosopher ATHENAGORS, ​​who began reading the Holy Scriptures with the intention of writing against Christianity, but who instead became a brilliant apologist for the Christian faith, in his apology cites a number of authentic sayings of the Gospel, explaining that “THUS SAYS THE SCRIPTURE.” St. THEOPHILUS, Bishop of Antioch, in the “Three Books of Autolycus” that have come down to us, makes many literal references to the Gospel, and, according to the testimony of Blessed Jerome, he compiled a set of all four Gospels and wrote a “Commentary on the Gospel.”

From the most learned church writer ORIGEN, who lived at the end of the second and beginning of the third century, a whole series of works has come down to us, in which he cites a huge number of texts from the New Testament sacred books and gives us evidence that undoubtedly the apostolic and divine writings were recognized throughout the entire celestial Church, both the four Gospels and the books of the Acts of the Apostles, the Apocalypse and the 14 Epistles of St. Apostle Paul.

Testimonies from “outsiders” – heretics and pagans – are also extremely valuable. In the writings of the heretics BASILIDES, CARPOCRATES, VALENTINE, PTOLEMY, HERACLION and MARCION we find many passages from which it is clear that they were well aware of our New Testament sacred books. They all lived in the second century.

Particularly important is the work of the pagan philosopher CELUS, which appeared in the middle of the same second century, full of hatred for Christ, entitled “THE TRUE WORD”, in which all the material for attacks on God is borrowed from all four of our Gospels, and even verbatim extracts from them are often found.

True, not all ancient lists of the sacred books of the New Testament that have come down to us always list all the accepted 27 books in full. In the so-called The "Muratorial Canon", believed to date back to the second half of the second century and found in the last century by Professor Muratorius, lists in Latin only the 4 Gospels, the book of Acts of St. Apostles, 13 Epistles of St. Apostle Paul (without the Epistle to the Hebrews), Epistle of St. Apostle Jude, Epistles and Apocalypse of St. John the Theologian. There is, however, no reason to consider this “canon” an official church document.

In the same second century, a translation of the holy books of the New Testament into the Syriac language appeared, called “PESHITO”. It contains the Epistle to the Hebrews and the Epistle of St., not listed in the Muratorium. Apostle James, but the message of St. Apostle Jude, 2nd Epistle of St. Ap. Peter, 2nd and 3rd Epistles of St. Apostle John and the Apocalypse.

For all these omissions there could be reasons of a private nature, just as the doubts of certain private individuals expressed regarding the authenticity of this or that book do not have serious significance, because they also have a private nature, sometimes with obvious bias.

It is known, for example, that the founder of Protestantism, Martin Luther, tried to suspect the authenticity of the letter of St. Ap. James because it strongly emphasizes the insufficiency of faith alone for salvation without good works (2- “faith without works is dead”; see also 2:14, 17, 20, etc.), while the main dogma he proclaimed Protestant doctrine states just the opposite, that “a person is justified by faith alone without good works.” Equally tendentious, of course, are all other similar attempts to discredit our New Testament canon.

As for the entire Church as a whole, from the very beginning it has always accepted all the New Testament holy books currently recognized by us, which was attested in 360 at the local LAODICEAN Cathedral, which issued a definition that lists by name all 27 of our New Testament sacred books. books (60 rights). This definition was later solemnly confirmed and thus received an ecumenical character at the VI Ecumenical Council.

THE LANGUAGE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT SACRED BOOKS AND THE HISTORY OF THEIR TEXT

All New Testament sacred books were 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 cultural inhabitants of not only the East, but also Western half of the then Roman Empire. It was the language of all educated people of that time. The apostles therefore wrote in this language in order to make the New Testament holy books accessible to reading and understanding of all educated citizens.

They were written by the authors either in their own hands (), or by scribes to whom the authors dictated (), on papyrus made from Egyptian reed, with a cane and ink (). Parchment, made from animal skin and highly valued, was also used comparatively less frequently for this purpose.

It is characteristic that only capital letters of the Greek alphabet were used for writing, without punctuation marks and even without separating one word from another. Small letters began to be used only from the 9th century, as well as word divisions. Punctuation marks were introduced only after the invention of printing - by Aldus Manutius in the 16th century. The current division into chapters was made in the West by Cardinal HUGE in the 13th century, and the division into verses by the Parisian typographer ROBERT STEPHAN in the 16th century.

In the person of her learned bishops and presbyters, she always took care of protecting the text of the sacred books from any distortions, which were always possible, especially before the invention of printing, when books were copied by hand. There is information that such learned men of Christian antiquity as ORIGEN, HESYCHUS, BISHOP OF EGYPT and LUCIAN, Presbyter of ANTIOCH worked hard to correct the text in faulty copies. With the invention of printing, they began to ensure that the New Testament holy books were printed only from 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. COMPLUTENIAN POLYGLOTTE in Spain and the edition of ERASMUS OF ROTTERDAM in Basel. In the last century, it is necessary to note as exemplary the works of TISHENDORF - a publication that was the result of a comparison of up to 900 manuscripts of the New Testament.

Both these conscientious critical works, and especially, of course, the vigilant observance of the Church, in which the Holy Spirit lives and guides, serve us as a completely sufficient guarantee for the fact that we currently possess the pure, intact Greek text of the New Testament sacred books.

In the second half of the 9th century, the New Testament sacred books were translated by the enlighteners of the Slavs, the Equal-to-the-Apostles brothers CIRILL and METHODIUS, into the “Slovenian language”, to some extent common and more or less understandable for all Slavic tribes, believed to be the BULGARO-MACEDONIAN dialect, which was spoken in the surrounding area Thessaloniki, homeland of St. brothers. The oldest monument of this Slavic translation has been preserved in Russia under the name “OSTROMIR GOSPEL”, ​​so called because it was written for the Novgorod mayor Ostromir by Deacon Gregory in 1056–57. This is the Gospel “APRAKOS” (which means: “weekly”), i.e. The material in it is arranged not according to chapters, but according to the so-called. “TO THE CONCEPTIONS,” starting from the 1st conception of the Gospel of John (“From the beginning of the word”), which is read during our liturgy on the first day of Easter, and then follows the order of liturgical use, week by week. In the liturgical use of our Orthodox Church, it is generally accepted to divide the New Testament sacred text not into chapters, but into CONCEPT, i.e. separate passages containing a more or less complete narrative or complete thought. In each Gospel there is a SPECIAL account conceived, but in the APOSTLE, which includes the book of Acts and all the epistles, there is one GENERAL account. The Apocalypse, like a book that is not read during worship, is not divided into parts. The division of the Gospel and the Apostle into beginnings does not coincide with the division into chapters and, in comparison with it, is more fractional.

Over time, the original Slavic text in our country underwent some, however insignificant, Russification - rapprochement with the spoken Russian language. The modern Russian translation, made in the first half of the 19th century into the Russian literary language, is in many respects unsatisfactory, which is why the Slavic translation should be preferred to it.

THE TIME OF WRITING THE NEW TESTAMENT SACRED BOOKS

The time of writing of each of the holy books of the New Testament cannot be determined with absolute certainty, but it is absolutely certain that they were all written in the second half of the first century. This is clearly evident from the fact that a number of writers of the second century, like St. the martyr JUSTIN THE PHILOSOPHER in his apology, written around 150, the pagan writer CELUS in his work, also written in the middle of the second century, and especially the holy martyr IGNATIUS THE GOD-BEARER in his epistles dating back to the year 107 - all are already doing a lot references to the New Testament holy books and provide verbatim excerpts from them.

The first New Testament books were, according to the time of their appearance, undoubtedly the EPISTLES OF ST. Apostles, caused by the need to strengthen the newly founded Christian communities in the faith; but soon, of course, the need arose for a systematic presentation of the earthly life of the Lord Jesus Christ and His teachings. No matter how hard I tried, the so-called. “negative criticism” undermines faith in the historical reliability and authenticity of our Gospels and other New Testament holy books, attributing their appearance to a much later time (for example, Baur and his school) the latest discoveries in the field of patristic literature convincingly indicate that they were all written in the first century.

At the beginning of our liturgical Gospel, in a special preface to each of the four Evangelists, it is indicated, on the basis of the testimony of the church historian Eusebius, which is followed by the famous interpreter of the Gospel, Blessed THEOPHYLACTUS, Archbishop of Bulgaria, that the Gospel of Matthew was written in the eighth year after 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 number of reasons we can conclude that the Gospel of Matthew was undoubtedly written earlier than anyone else and no later than 50-60. according to R.Ch. The Gospels of Mark and Luke were written somewhat later, but in any case before the destruction of Jerusalem, i.e. until 70 A.D., and St. John the Theologian wrote his Gospel later than everyone else, at the end of the first century, already at a very old age, as some suggest, around the year 96. 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 a continuation of it.

THE MEANING OF THE FOUR-FOUR NUMBER OF THE GOSPELS

All four Gospels tell the same story about the life and teaching of Christ the Savior, about His miracles, suffering on the cross, death and burial, His glorious resurrection from the dead and ascension into heaven. Mutually complementing and explaining each other, they represent a single whole book that does not have any contradictions and disagreements in the most important and fundamental thing - in the teaching of SALVATION, which was accomplished by the incarnate Son of God - a perfect God and a perfect man. Ancient Christian writers compared the Four Gospels to a river, which, leaving Eden to irrigate the paradise planted by God, divided into four rivers flowing through countries abounding in all kinds of treasures. An even more common symbol for the four Gospels was the mysterious chariot that the prophet Ezekiel saw at the river Chebar (1:1-28) and which consisted of four creatures with faces resembling a man, a lion, a calf and an eagle. These beings, taken individually, became emblems for the evangelists. Christian art since the 5th century depicts St. Matthew with a man or angel, St. Mark with a lion, St. Luke with the calf, St. John with an eagle. St. Evangelist Matthew began to adopt the symbol of man because in his Gospel he especially emphasizes the human origin of the Lord Jesus Christ from David and Abraham; St. Mark - a lion, for he brings out in particular the royal omnipotence of the Lord; St. Luke - a calf (a calf as a sacrificial animal), for he primarily speaks of Christ as the great High Priest who offered Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the world; St. To John - an eagle, since with the special loftiness of his thoughts and even the very majesty of his style, like an eagle, he soars high in the sky “above the clouds of human weakness,” in the words of Blessed Augustine.

In addition to our four Gospels, in the first centuries there were known many (up to 50) other writings that also called themselves “gospels” and ascribed apostolic origin to themselves. The Church, however, soon rejected them, classifying them among the so-called. "Apocrypha". Already a holy martyr. IRENAEUS, Bishop of Lyons, former student 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 there are ONLY FOUR GOSPELs and that there should be no more or less of them, because there are “four countries of the world”, “four winds in the universe”.

The great father of the Church, St. John Chrysostom, answering the question why the Church accepted four Gospels, and did not limit itself to just one:

“Couldn’t one Evangelist have written everything? Of course he could, but when four people wrote, they wrote not at the same time, not in the same place, without communicating or agreeing with each other, and, however, they wrote as if everything was uttered by one mouth, then this serves as the greatest proof of the truth."

He also responds perfectly to the objection that the Evangelists do not completely agree with each other on everything, that in some particulars there are even seemingly contradictions:

“If they had exactly agreed in everything - both regarding the time, and regarding the place, and the words themselves, then none of the enemies would have believed that they wrote the Gospel without agreeing with each other and not according to the usual agreement, and what agreement is was a consequence of their sincerity. Now, the disagreement that appears in small things frees them from all suspicion and speaks brilliantly in favor of those who wrote.”

Another interpreter of the Gospel, Blessed One, argues similarly. Theophylact, Archbishop of Bulgaria: “Don’t tell me that they disagree on everything, but look at what they disagree on. Did one of them say that Christ was born and the other that he was not, or did one say that Christ was resurrected and the other not? It won't happen! They agree on what is more necessary and more important. So, if they do not disagree on the most important things, then why are you surprised if they seem to disagree on the unimportant? Their truth is reflected most of all in the fact that they do not agree on everything. Otherwise they would have been thought to have written while seeing each other and consulting. Now what one omitted was written by another, which is why it seems that they sometimes contradict.”

From the above considerations it is clear that some small differences in the narratives 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 THE EXPRESSIONS: “GOSPEL OF MATTHEW”, “FROM MARK”, etc.

The word “Gospel”, as we have already seen, when translated into Russian, means: “good news”, “good news”, which name is usually used in the headings of each individual Gospel: “From Matthew the holy gospel”, “From Mark the holy gospel ", etc. You need to know, however, that these expressions are only relative. The entire Four Gospels are actually the GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS ​​CHRIST - He Himself preaches to us, through the mediation of the Evangelists, the joyful or good news of our salvation. Evangelists are only intermediaries in the transmission of this gospel. That is why the headings that are adopted in translations of the Gospels into other languages ​​are more correct and accurate: “St. the gospel according to Matthew" or: "St. the gospel according to Matthew”, – “according to Mark”, – “according to Luke”, – “according to John”.

RELATIONSHIP OF THE FOUR GOSPELS ACCORDING TO THEIR CONTENT

Of the four Gospels, the content of the first three - Matthew, Mark and Luke - largely coincides, close to each other, both in the narrative material itself and in the form of presentation; The fourth Gospel of John in this regard stands apart, differing significantly from the first three, both in the material presented in it, and in the style and form of presentation.

In this regard, the first three Gospels are usually called “SYNOPTIC” from the Greek. the words “synopsis”, which means: “presentation in one general image” (the same as the Latin: “conspectus”). But although the first three Gospels are very close to each other both in plan and in content, which can easily be located in the corresponding parallel tables, each of them, however, also has its own characteristics. Thus, if the entire content of the individual Gospels is determined by the number 100, then in Matthew it turns out that 58% of the content is similar to the others and 42% is different from the others; % similar and 7% different; % similar and 59% different; in John it is 8% similar and as much as 92% different. Similarities are noticed mainly in the rendering of the sayings of Christ the Savior, while differences are seen in the narrative part. When Matthew and Luke literally agree with each other 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 are usually found in Luke, which cannot be said about features found only in Matthew, and, finally, in those cases where Mark does not report anything, the Evangelist Luke often differs from Matthew.

The Synoptic Gospels tell almost exclusively about the activities of the Lord Jesus Christ in Galilee, St. John is in Judea. Forecasters tell, ch. arr., about miracles, parables and external events in the life of the Lord, St. John discusses its deepest meaning and cites the Lord’s speeches about the most sublime objects of faith.

For all the differences between the Gospels, they are free from internal contradictions; upon careful reading, it is easy to find clear signs of agreement between the weather forecasters and St. John. Yes, St. John talks little about the Galilean ministry of the Lord, but he undoubtedly knows about His repeated long stay in Galilee; weather forecasters do not convey anything about the early activities of the Lord in Judea and Jerusalem itself, but they often find hints of this activity. So, according to their testimony, the Lord had friends, disciples and followers in Jerusalem, such as, for example, the owner of the upper room where the Last Supper took place, and Joseph of Arimathea. Particularly important in this regard are the words quoted by weather forecasters: “Jerusalem! Jerusalem! How often have I wanted to gather your children...,” an expression that clearly implies the Lord’s repeated stay in Jerusalem. The weather forecasters, however, do not report the miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus, but Luke knows his sisters in Bethany well, and the character of each of them, so clearly outlined by him in a few words, completely coincides with the characterization of them given by John.

The main difference between the weather forecasters and St. John in the conversations of the Lord they conveyed. Among weather forecasters, these conversations are very simple, easily understandable, and popular; in John - they are deep, mysterious, often difficult to understand, as if they were intended not for the crowd, but for some closer circle of listeners. But this is so: the weather forecasters cite the speeches of the Lord addressed to the Galileans, simple and ignorant people; John conveys mainly the speeches of the Lord addressed to the Jews, scribes and Pharisees, people experienced in the knowledge of the Law of Moses, who stood more or less high on the levels of education of that time. In addition, John, as we will see later, has a special goal - to reveal as fully and deeply as possible the teaching about Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and this topic, of course, is much more difficult to understand than the parables that are so understandable and easily understandable to everyone. weather forecasters. But even here there is no big discrepancy between the weather forecasters and John. If the weather forecasters show a more human side in Christ, and John, predominantly a divine one, this does not mean that the weather forecasters completely lack a divine side or that John has a human side. According to the weather forecasters, the Son of Man is also the Son of God, to whom was given all authority in heaven and on earth. Likewise, the Son of God in John is also a true man who accepts the invitation to the wedding feast, talks friendly with Martha and Mary and weeps over the tomb of His friend Lazarus.

Without contradicting each other at all, the weather forecasters and St. John complement each other and only in their totality give the most beautiful, perfect image of Christ, as He is perceived and preached by St. .

CHARACTER AND FEATURES OF EACH OF THE FOUR GOSPELS

The Orthodox teaching about the inspiration of the books of Holy Scripture has always held the view that, inspiring sacred writers, imparting to them both thought and word, the Holy Spirit did not constrain their own mind and character. The influx of the Holy Spirit did not suppress the human spirit, but only purified and elevated it above. within its normal boundaries. Therefore, representing a single whole in the presentation of Divine truth, all four Gospels differ from each other, depending on the personal characteristics of each of the Evangelists, differ in the structure of speech, style, and some special expressions; They differ from each other due to the circumstances and conditions under which they were written and depending on the goal that each of the four Evangelists set for themselves.

Therefore, to better interpret and understand the Gospel, we need to become more familiar with the personality, character and life of each of the four Evangelists and 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 Levi, son of Alpheus, is one of the 12 Apostles of Christ. Before his call to apostolic service, he was a publican, i.e. tax collector, and, as such, of course, was unloved by his Jewish compatriots, who despised and hated tax collectors because they served the heterodox enslavers of their people and oppressed their people by collecting taxes, and in their desire for profit, they often took much more, than it should.

About his calling St. Matthew himself tells it in chapter 9. 9 tbsp. of his Gospel, calling himself the name “Matthew,” while the Evangelists Mark and Luke, narrating the same thing, call him “Levi.” It was the custom of the Jews to have several names, and therefore there is no reason to think that we are talking about different persons here, especially since the subsequent invitation of the Lord and His disciples to the house of Matthew is described by all three Evangelists in exactly the same way, and in the list The 12 disciples of the Lord and Mark and Luke also call the one called “Matthew” (compare Mark 3i).

Touched to the depths of his soul by the mercy of the Lord, who did not disdain him, despite the general contempt of the Jews and especially the spiritual leaders of the Jewish people, the scribes and Pharisees, Matthew wholeheartedly accepted the teaching of Christ and especially deeply understood its superiority over the traditions and views of the Pharisees, which bore the stamp of external righteousness , conceit and contempt for sinners. That is why he alone cites in such detail the powerful accusatory speech of the Lord against the scribes and Pharisees - hypocrites, which we find in the 23rd chapter of his Gospel. It must be assumed that, for the same reason, he took especially close to his heart the matter of saving HIS native Jewish people, who by that time were so saturated with false, destructive concepts and Pharisaic views, and therefore HIS GOSPEL WAS WRITTEN PRIMARILY FOR THE JEWS. As there is reason to believe, it was originally written in Hebrew and only a little later, unknown by whom, perhaps by Matthew himself, was translated into Greek. St. testifies to this. Papias of Hierapolis: “Matthew set out the Lord’s conversations in Hebrew, and everyone 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 understandable to 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 “Judaizing” heretics.

Having written his Gospel for the Jews, St. Matthew sets as his main goal to prove to the Jews that he is exactly the MESSIAH about whom the Old Testament prophets predicted, that He is “the fulfillment of the law and the prophets,” that the Old Testament revelation, obscured by the scribes and Pharisees, only in Christianity understands and perceives its most perfect meaning. Therefore, he begins his Gospel with the GENEALOGY OF JESUS ​​CHRIST, wanting to show the Jews His origins FROM DAVID and ABRAHAM, and makes a huge number of REFERENCES TO THE OLD TESTAMENT in order to prove the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies on Him. All such references to the Old Testament in St. Matthew are no less than 66, and in 43 cases a literal extract is made. The purpose of the first Gospel for the Jews is clear from the fact that St. Matthew, mentioning Jewish customs, does not consider it necessary to explain their meaning and significance, as other Evangelists do; it also leaves without explanation some Aramaic words used in Palestine (compare, for example, 15:1–3 and y and y).

Time of writing of the Gospel of Matthew Church. historian Eusebius (III, 24) refers to the 8th year after the Ascension of the Lord, but St. Irenaeus of Lyon believes that St. Matthew wrote his Gospel “while Peter and Paul were preaching the gospel in Rome,” i.e. in the sixties of the first century.

Having written his Gospel for his Jewish compatriots, St. Matthew preached for them in Palestine for a long time, but then he retired to preach in other countries and ended his life as a martyr in Ethiopia.

The Gospel of Matthew contains 28 chapters or 116 church principles. 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 St. Matthew speaks mainly about the origin of Jesus Christ according to His humanity, then the emblem of man is assigned to him.

Chapter 1: Genealogy of Jesus Christ. Nativity.

Chapter 2: Adoration of the Magi. Flight of St. families to Egypt. Massacre of the innocents. Return of St. family from Egypt and his settlement in Nazareth.

Chapter 3: The Sermon of John the Baptist. Baptism from him of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Chapter 4: The temptation of the Lord Jesus Christ from the devil. The beginning of His preaching in Galilee. The Calling of the First Apostles. Preaching Christ and healing the sick.

As the book of Acts narrates, upon their arrival in the city of Perga, Mark separated and returned to Jerusalem (13:13). Therefore, on his second journey, St. The Apostle Paul did not want to take Mark with him, and since Barnabas did not want to be separated from Mark, “grief arose” between them, “so that they were separated from each other”; “Barnabas, taking 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 together with Paul in Rome, from where the letter to the Colossians was written and which St. Paul greets, by the way, both on behalf of Mark and warns about the possibility of his coming (4:10). Further, as can be seen, St. Mark became a companion and collaborator of St. Apostle Peter, which is especially emphasized by Tradition and which is confirmed by the words of the Apostle Peter himself in his first conciliar letter, where he writes: “The church chosen, like you, in Babylon AND MARK MY SON () greets you. Before his departure (), he is again called to himself by St. Ap. Paul, who writes to Timothy: “Take Mark with you, for I need him for ministry” (). According to the legend of St. The Apostle Peter installed St. Mark as the first bishop of the Alexandrian Church, and St. Mark ended his life in Alexandria with a martyr's death.

According to the testimony of St. Papias, Bishop of Hierapolis, as well as St. Justin the Philosopher and St. Irenaeus of Lyons, St. Mark wrote his Gospel from the words of St. Apostle Peter. St. Justin even directly calls it “the memorial notes of Peter.” Clement of Alexandria claims that the Gospel of Mark is essentially a recording of the oral sermon of St. Apostle Peter, which St. Mark did it AT THE REQUEST OF THE CHRISTIANS LIVING IN ROME. This is confirmed by many other church writers, and the very contents of the Gospel of Mark clearly indicate that it is intended for Pagan CHRISTIANS. It says very little about the relationship of the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ to the Old Testament and provides very few references to the Old Testament sacred books. At the same time, we find Latin words in it, such as “speculator” (6:27), “centurio” (15:44, 45), “mite” is explained as codrant (from the Latin “quadrns” - quarter assa, 1242). Even the Sermon on the Mount, as explaining the superiority of the New Testament law over the Old Testament, is omitted.

But the main attention of St. Mark focuses on giving in his Gospel a strong, vivid narrative of the miracles of Christ, thereby emphasizing the ROYAL GREATNESS and OMNIPOTENCE of the Lord. In his Gospel, Jesus is not the “son of David”, as in Matthew, but the SON OF GOD, Lord and Ruler, King of the universe (compare the first lines of one and the other Gospel: Matt. 1i). Therefore, Mark’s emblem is a lion - a 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 it, in greater brevity and conciseness. It contains only 16 chapters or 71 church chapters. It begins with the appearance of John the Baptist, and ends with the departure of St. Apostles to preach after the Ascension of the Lord.

The time of writing the Gospel of Mark Church. historian Eusebius dates it to the 10th year after the Ascension of the Lord. In any case, it was undoubtedly written before the destruction of Jerusalem, i.e. before 70 AD.

Chapter 1: The Sermon of John the Baptist. Epiphany. Temptation in the desert. Beginning of preaching in Galilee. The Calling of the First Apostles. Sermon and miracles of healing in Capernaum. Healing lepers.

Chapter 2: Healing of the paralytic, lowered on his bed through the roof of the house. Levi's calling. About the fast of Christ's disciples. Harvesting ears on Saturday.

Chapter 3: Healing a withered arm on Saturday. Meeting of the Pharisees about the destruction of Jesus. Many people following the Lord and miracles of healing. Ordination of the 12 Apostles. Accusing the Lord that He casts out demons by the power of Beelzebub: unforgivable blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. “Who are My mother and My brothers?”

Chapter 4: Parable of the Sower. The parable of the growing seed, the mustard seed. Taming the storm at sea.

Chapter 5: The expulsion of a legion of demons from a demoniac in the country of the Gadarenes and the death of a herd of pigs. The resurrection of Jairus' daughter and the healing of the bleeding woman.

Chapter 6: “There is no prophet without honor...” Sending the 12 Apostles to preach. The beheading of John the Baptist. Miraculous feeding of 5,000 people. Walking on the waters. Miraculous healings through touching the hem of Jesus' robe.

Chapter 7: The Pharisees accuse the disciples of the Lord of violating the traditions of the elders. It is wrong to eliminate the Word of God by tradition. It is not what enters a person that defiles him, but what comes from his unclean heart. Healing of the demon-possessed daughter of a Syrophoenician woman. Healing the deaf and dumb.

Chapter 8. Miraculous feeding of 4000 people. The Pharisees Seeking a Sign from Jesus. Warning against the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod. Healing of a blind man in Bethsaida. Confession of Jesus Christ by Peter on behalf of all the Apostles. The Lord's prediction of His death and resurrection and Peter's reproach. The teaching of self-sacrifice, taking up one's cross and following Christ.

Chapter 9: Transfiguration of the Lord. Healing someone possessed by a mute spirit. A new prediction of the Lord about His death and resurrection. The Apostles' disputes about primacy and the Lord's instruction about humility. About a man casting out demons in the Name of Christ. About temptations. About salt and mutual peace.

Chapter 10: On the inadmissibility of divorce in marriage. Blessing of children. About the difficulty for those who have wealth to enter the Kingdom of God. About the reward of those who left everything for the sake of the Lord. A new prediction of the Lord about His upcoming suffering, death and resurrection. The request of the sons of Zebedee for primacy and the Lord’s instruction to the disciples about the need for humility. Healing of blind Bartimaeus.

Chapter 11: The Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem. The curse of the barren fig tree. The question of the high priests about the authority of Jesus.

Chapter 12: The parable of the evil vinedressers. About the permissibility of giving tribute to Caesar. Answer to the Sadducees about the resurrection of the dead. About the two most important commandments - love for God and love for neighbors and the Sonship of God. A warning from scribes. Two widow's mites.

Chapter 13: Prediction about the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem, about the last times, about the end of the world and about the second coming of Christ.

Chapter 14: The Anointing of Jesus with Chrism in Bethany. Betrayal of Judas. Last Supper. Prediction of Peter's denial. The Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane and His capture by the servants of the high priests. Flight of the students. About a young man in a veil who followed the Lord. Trial before the high priest. Peter's denial.

Chapter 15: Trial before Pilate. The release of Barabbas and the condemnation of the Lord. The scourging of the Lord and the mockery of the soldiers over Him. Crucifixion, on the cross and burial.

Chapter 16: The arrival of the myrrh-bearing women to the tomb and the gospel of the young man in white clothes about the resurrection of Christ. The appearance of the risen Lord to Mary Magdalene, two disciples on the way and eleven disciples at the supper. Instruction for them to preach the Gospel to every creature. The Ascension of the Lord into heaven and the sending of the disciples to preach.

3. Gospel of Luke

Who was, by origin, the writer of the third Gospel of St. Luke, we don’t know exactly. Eusebius of Caesarea says that he came from Antioch, and therefore it is generally accepted that St. Luke was, by origin, a pagan or a so-called “proselyte,” i.e. a pagan who converted to Judaism. By occupation he was a doctor, as can be seen from the message of St. Apostle Paul to the Colossians (4:14); Church tradition adds to this that he was also a painter. From the fact that his Gospel contains the Lord’s instructions to only 70 disciples, set out in great detail, they conclude that he belonged to the 70 disciples of Christ. The extraordinary vividness of his narrative about the appearance of the risen Lord to two disciples on the way to Emmaus, and only one of them is called Cleopas by name, as well as the ancient tradition, testify that he was one of these two disciples who were honored with the appearance of the Lord (). Then from the book of the Acts of the Apostles it is clear that, starting from the second journey of St. Apostle Paul, Luke becomes his constant collaborator and almost inseparable companion. He was with Ap. Paul, both during his first bonds, from which the letter to the Colossians and Philippians was written, and during his second bonds, when the 2nd letter to Timothy was written and which ended with his martyrdom. There is information that after the death of Ap. Paul St. Luke preached and died a martyr's death in Achaia. His holy relics under Emperor Constantius were transferred from there to Constantinople along 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 man, “sovereign,” or, as translated in Russian, “venerable” Theophilus, who lived in Antioch, for whom he then wrote the book of the Acts of the Apostles, serving as a continuation of the Gospel narrative (See and Acts 1:1–2). At the same time, he used not only the narrations of eyewitnesses of the Lord’s ministry, but also some written records that already existed then about the life and teaching of the Lord. In his own words, this narrative and written records were subjected to the most careful study, and therefore his Gospel is distinguished by its particular accuracy in determining the time and place of events and its strict chronological sequence.

“Sovereign Theophilus,” for whom the third Gospel was written, undoubtedly was not a resident of Palestine and did not visit Jerusalem: otherwise St. Luke to give him various geographical explanations, such as, for example, that Olivet is located near Jerusalem at the distance of the Sabbath journey, etc. (see: 24i). On the other hand, he apparently knew Syracuse, Rigia and Puteoli in Italy, Appian Square and the Three Hotels in Rome, mentioning which in the book. Acts, St. Luke makes no explanation. However, according to Clement of Alexandria, Theophilus was not a Roman, as one might think, but an Antiochian, he was rich and noble, professed the faith of Christ, and his house served as a temple for Antiochian Christians.

The Gospel of Luke was clearly influenced by St. Apostle Paul, whom St. Luke was a companion and collaborator. Like the “Apostle of Tongues” St. Paul tried most of all to reveal the great truth that the Messiah - Christ came to earth not only for the Jews, but also for the pagans, and is the SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE WORLD, OF ALL PEOPLE. In connection with this main idea, which the third Gospel clearly pursues throughout its entire narrative, the genealogy of Jesus Christ is brought to the ancestor of all humanity and to God Himself in order to emphasize His significance FOR THE WHOLE HUMAN KIND (). Places such as the embassy of the prophet Elijah to the widow in Zarephath of Sidon, the healing of leprosy by the prophet Elisha of Naaman the Syrian (4:26–27), the parable of the prodigal son (15:11–32), the tax collector and the Pharisee (18:10– 14) are in close internal connection with the thoroughly developed teaching of St. The Apostle Paul about the SALVATION not only of Jews, but also of pagans, and about the justification of man before God not by the works of the law, but by the grace of God, bestowed upon him, solely by the infinite mercy and love of God. No one has depicted God’s love for repentant sinners as vividly as St. Luke, who cited in his Gospel a number of parables and actual events on this topic. It is enough to recall, in addition to the already mentioned parables about the prodigal son and the publican and the Pharisee, also the parable about the lost sheep, about the lost drachma, about the merciful Samaritan, the story of the repentance of the chief tax collector Zacchaeus () and other places, as well as his significant words about that , that “there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents,” and this joy is greater than the joy “over ninety and nine righteous people who do not demand repentance” (Luke 15 and 15:7).

Seeing from all this the undoubted influence of St. Apostle Paul on the author of the third Gospel, Origen's statement that "the Gospel of Luke was approved by Paul" can be considered reliable.

The time and place of writing of the Gospel of Luke can be determined based on the consideration that it was written EARLIER than the book of the Acts of the Apostles, which constitutes, as it were, its continuation (see). The Book of Acts ends with a description of the two-year stay of St. Apostle Paul in Rome (28:30). These were 62 and 63 AD. Consequently, the Gospel of Luke could not have been written LATER than this time and, presumably, in Rome, although the historian Eusebius believes that it appeared in the world much earlier, already in the 15th year after the Ascension of the Lord.

Due to the fact that St. Luke speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ primarily as the Great High Priest, who offered Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of ALL humanity, his emblem is a calf, as a sacrificial animal usually used in sacrifices.

The Gospel of Luke contains 24 chapters or 114 church principles. It begins with the story of the appearance of an angel to the priest Zechariah, the father of St. John the Baptist, and ends with the story of the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ into heaven.

Chapter 1: Introduction addressed to Theophilus. The appearance of an angel who predicted to the priest Zechariah the birth of his son John. Annunciation of an angel to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Visit of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Elizabeth. Christmas of St. John the Baptist.

Chapter 2: The Nativity of Christ, the appearance of an angel to the Bethlehem shepherds and their worship of the Born Child of God. Circumcision of the Lord. Meeting of the Lord. The youth Jesus in the Jerusalem temple in conversation among the teachers.

Chapter 3: Sermon of St. John the Baptist. Epiphany. Genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Chapter 4: Temptation from the devil. Preaching of the Lord in Galilee, in the Nazareth synagogue. Healing of a demoniac in the Capernaum synagogue. Healing of Simonova's mother-in-law and many other sick and possessed people. Sermon in the synagogues of Galilee.

Chapter 5: The miraculous fishing on Lake Gennesaret and the calling of the Apostles. Healing a leper. Healing of the paralytic, brought on his bed and lowered through the roof of the house. The Calling of the Publican Levi. About the fasting of the Lord's disciples: the parable of old clothes and new wine.

Chapter 6: Harvesting ears on Saturday. Healing a withered arm on Saturday. Election of the 12 Apostles. The Lord's sermon about who is “blessed” and who is “woe.” About love for enemies. About non-judgment. About the need to do good deeds.

Chapter 7: Healing of the servant of the Capernaum centurion. Resurrection of the son of the Nain widow. The embassy of John the Baptist to Jesus Christ and the testimony of the Lord about John. Anointing of the Lord with the world of a sinner wife.

Chapter 8: Preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ throughout the cities and villages, accompanied by 12 wives who served Him from their estates. Parable of the Sower. Lamp on the candlestick. “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” Taming the storm at sea. The expulsion of a legion of demons from a possessed man and the death of a herd of pigs. The resurrection of Jairus' daughter and the healing of the bleeding wife.

Chapter 9: Embassy of the 12 Apostles to preach. Herod's confusion about the identity of Jesus Christ. Miraculous feeding of 5000 people. Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ. The Lord's prediction about his death and resurrection. The teaching of self-sacrifice and taking up one's cross. Transfiguration. Healing a demon-possessed youth. The Apostles' thoughts on primacy and the Lord's instruction on humility. About casting out demons in the name of Jesus. About the Lord's rejection in the Samaritan village. About following Christ.

Chapter 10: Embassy of 70 disciples to preach. Their return with joy that the demons obey them. The Lord's Instruction: "Rejoice that your names are written in heaven." Jesus glorifies the Heavenly Father because He “hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes.” Parable of the Good Samaritan. The Lord is with Martha and Mary.

Chapter 11: “Our Father” and the teaching of constancy in prayer. The Jews slander the Lord, as if He casts out demons by the power of Beelzebub. The parable of the unclean spirit and the swept and tidied house. “Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it!” The sign of Jonah the prophet. The lamp of the body is the eye. Denunciation of the Pharisees.

Chapter 12: Warning against the leaven of the Pharisees. About confessing Jesus Christ before people and not fearing torment. About the unforgivability of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. A warning against covetousness and a parable about the rich man and the bountiful harvest. About not burdening yourself with worries and about seeking the Kingdom of God. About alms. About always being awake and ready for the second coming of Christ: the parable of the faithful steward, division in the world because of Christ the Savior and about preparing oneself for the judgment of God.

Chapter 13: “Unless you repent, you will all also perish.” Parable of the barren fig tree. Healing a crumpled woman on Saturday. The parables of the mustard seed and the leaven. “Are there not enough people being saved? - “It is fitting to enter through a narrow gate.” The Lord's answer to Herod. The Lord's rebuke to Jerusalem.

Chapter 14: Healing on Saturday. Reprimand for those who seek primacy. About inviting beggars to a feast. The parable of those invited to supper. The teaching of self-sacrifice, taking up one's cross and following Christ.

Chapter 15: Parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Drachma. Parable of the Prodigal Son.

Chapter 16: The parable of the unrighteous steward. About the reprehensibility of divorce. Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus.

Chapter 17: About temptations, about forgiveness to a brother, about the power of faith, about fulfilling everything commanded. Healing of 10 lepers. “The kingdom of God is within you.” About the second coming of Christ. Chapter 18: The Parable of the Unjust Judge. Parable of the Publican and the Pharisee. Blessing of children. About the difficulty for those who have wealth to enter the Kingdom of God. About the reward for those who left everything for Christ. The Lord's prediction about His upcoming suffering, death and resurrection. Healing of the Jericho blind man.

Chapter 19: Repentance of the chief tax collector Zacchaeus. The parable of mines. Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem. Expulsion of traders from the temple.

Chapter 20: Question of the high priests and elders about the authority of Jesus. The parable of the evil vinedressers. About tribute to Caesar. Answer to the Sadducees about the resurrection of the dead. About the Sonship of Christ. A warning from scribes.

Chapter 21: Two mites for a widow. A prediction about the destruction of Jerusalem, the end of the world and the second coming of Christ. A call to wakefulness.

Chapter 22: The Betrayal of Judas. Last Supper. Prediction of Peter's denial. About two swords. Gentlemen in the Garden of Gethsemane. Taking the Lord into custody. Peter's denial. Trial before the Sanhedrin.

Chapter 23: Trial before Pilate. Herod's Lord. Pilate's attempt to free Jesus. The people's demand for His condemnation. The release of Barabbas and the condemnation of the Lord. Simon of Cyrene. The cry of women and the words of the Lord to them. Crucifixion of the Lord. Repentance of a prudent thief. Death of the Lord and burial. Preparation of incense by women who came from Galilee.

Chapter 24: The appearance of angels to the myrrh-bearing women. Peter at the tomb. The appearance of the risen Lord to two disciples on the way to Emmaus. The appearance of the Lord to the 11 disciples and His instructions to them. Ascension of the Lord.

4. Gospel of John

The Fourth Gospel was written by Christ’s beloved disciple, St. John the Theologian. St. John was the son of the Galilean fisherman Zebedee () and Salome (Matt. 27i). Zebedee was apparently a wealthy man, for he had workers (), and was apparently also not an insignificant member of Jewish society, for his son John had an acquaintance with the high priest (). 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 for the last Easter and participated in the acquisition of aromas for anointing His body along with other myrrh-bearing wives (). Tradition considers her the daughter of Joseph the betrothed.

John was first a disciple of St. John the Baptist. Having heard his testimony about Christ as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, he immediately, together with Andrei, followed Christ (). He became a constant disciple of the Lord, however, a little later, after a miraculous fishing on Lake Gennesaret, when the Lord Himself called him along 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. Thus, he was honored to be present at the resurrection of Jairus’s daughter (), to see the Transfiguration of the Lord on the mountain (), to hear a 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, it was as if he “was reclining on His forehead” (), which is where his name “confidant” came from, which later became a common noun to designate a person, especially to someone close. Out of humility, without calling himself by name, he nevertheless, speaking about himself in his Gospel, calls himself a disciple, “whom Jesus loved” (13:23). This love of the Lord for him was also reflected in the fact that the Lord, hanging on the cross, entrusted His Most Pure Mother to him, saying to him: “Behold your mother” ().

Fieryly loving the Lord, John was filled with indignation against those who were hostile to the Lord or alienated from Him. Therefore, he forbade a person who did not walk with Christ to cast out demons in the Name of Christ () and asked the Lord for permission to bring down fire on the inhabitants of one Samaritan village because they did not accept Him when He traveled to Jerusalem through Samaria (). For this, he and his brother Jacob received from the Lord the nickname “BOANERGES,” which means “sons of Thunder.” Feeling Christ’s love for himself, but not yet enlightened by the grace of the Holy Spirit, he dares to ask himself, together with his brother Jacob, for the closest place to the Lord in His coming Kingdom, in response to which he receives a prediction about the cup of suffering awaiting them both ().

After the Ascension of the Lord we often see St. John together with St. Apostle Peter (). Along with him, he is considered a pillar of the Church and has his residence in Jerusalem (). Since the destruction of Jerusalem, the city of Ephesus in Asia Minor has become the place of life and activity of St. John. During the reign of Emperor Domitian (and according to some legends, Nero or Trajan, which is unlikely), he was sent into exile on the island of Patmos, where he wrote the Apocalypse (1:9-19). Returned from this exile to Ephesus, he wrote his Gospel there, and died in his own way (the only one of the Apostles), according to a very mysterious legend, at a very old age, according to some sources 105, according to others 120 years, during the reign of Emperor Trajan.

As legend says, the fourth Gospel was written by John at the request of the Ephesian Christians 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 that they had heard from him. St. John confirmed the truth of everything written in these three Gospels, but found that much needed to be added to their narrative, and, in particular, to set forth more extensively and clearly the teaching ABOUT THE DIVINE of the Lord Jesus Christ, so that people, over time, would not begin to think about Him, only as about the “Son of Man.” This was all the more necessary because by this time heresies had already begun to appear that denied the Divinity of Christ - the Ebionites, the heresy of Cerinthos and the Gnostics. According to the testimony of the Hieromartyr Irenaeus of Lyons, as well as other ancient church fathers and writers, St. John wrote his Gospel, prompted to do so precisely by the requests of the Asia Minor bishops, who were concerned about the emergence 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 narrative of the first three Evangelists. That this is so is evidenced by the very content of John’s Gospel. At the same time, the first three Evangelists often narrate ABOUT THE SAME EVENTS and cite the SAME WORDS OF THE LORD, which is why their Gospels were called “SYNOPTICAL”, John’s Gospel DIFFERS greatly from them in its content, containing narrations of events and citing the speeches of the Lord, which are often not even mentioned in the first three Gospels.

A characteristic distinctive feature of the Gospel of John is clearly expressed in the name that was given to it in ancient times. Unlike the first three Gospels, it was primarily called the “GOSPEL SPIRITUAL (in Greek: “PNEUMATICS”).” This is because while the synoptic Gospels narrate mainly about the events of the earthly life of the Lord, the Gospel of John begins with an exposition of the doctrine of His Divinity, and then contains a whole series of the most sublime speeches of the Lord, in which His Divine dignity is revealed and the deepest mysteries of faith, such as, for example, a conversation with Nicodemus about being born again by water and spirit and about the sacrament of redemption, a conversation with a Samaritan woman about living water and about worshiping God in spirit and truth, a conversation about the bread that came down from heaven and about the sacrament of communion, a conversation about the good shepherd and, especially remarkable in its content, a farewell conversation with the disciples at the Last Supper with the final miracle, the so-called. "high priestly prayer" of the Lord. Here we find a whole series of the Lord’s own testimonies about Himself, as 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, who completely devoted himself to the Lord with all his soul and was loved by Him with special love, St. John deeply penetrated into the sublime mystery of Christian love and no one, as he, revealed it so completely, deeply and convincingly, both in his Gospel, so especially in his three conciliar epistles, Christian teaching about the two main commandments of the Law of God - about love for God and about love for neighbor - why he is also called the “APOSTLE OF LOVE”.

An important feature of John’s 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. Thanks to this, we can calculate what was the duration of the Lord’s public ministry and at the same time the duration of His earthly life. Preaching mostly in Galilee, the Lord traveled to Jerusalem, i.e. to Judea, on all the main holidays. It was from these travels that St. John takes mainly the events he narrates and the speeches of the Lord he recounts. As can be seen from the Gospel of John, there were ONLY THREE such journeys to Jerusalem for the holiday of Easter, and BEFORE THE FOURTH EASTER of His public ministry, the Lord ACCEPTED DEATH ON THE CROSS. From this it follows that the public ministry of the Lord lasted ABOUT THREE AND A HALF YEARS, and He lived on earth for about THIRTY-THREE AND A HALF YEARS (for he entered public ministry, as St. Luke testifies in 3:23, at the age of 30) .

The Gospel of John contains 21 chapters and 67 church principles. It begins with the teaching 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 St. Peter in his apostolic dignity and the author’s statement that “his testimony is true” and that if everything that Jesus did was written in detail, then “the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.”

Chapter 1: The Doctrine of God the Word. Testimony of John the Baptist about Jesus Christ. The following of John's two disciples after the Lord Jesus. The coming to the Lord of the first disciples: Andrew, Simon, Peter, Philemon and Nathanael. The Lord's conversation with Nathanael.

Chapter 2: The first miracle in Cana of Galilee. Expulsion of traders from the temple. The Lord's prediction about the destruction of the temple of His body and His resurrection from the dead on the third day. Miracles performed by the Lord in Jerusalem and those who believed in Him.

Chapter 3: Conversation of the Lord Jesus Christ with the leader of the Jews, Nicodemus. New testimony of John the Baptist about Jesus Christ.

Chapter 4: Conversation of the Lord Jesus Christ with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well. Faith of the Samaritans. Return of the Lord to Galilee. Healing of the son of a courtier in Capernaum.

Chapter 5: Healing on Saturday the paralytic at the Sheep's Font. The testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ about Himself as the Son of God, having the power to raise the dead, and about His relationship with God the Father.

Chapter 6: The miraculous feeding of 5000 people. Walking on the waters. A conversation about the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. About 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 Lord's prediction about His traitor.

Chapter 7: rejects the brothers' offer. Jesus Christ teaches the Jews in the temple for the holiday. His teaching about the Holy Spirit is like living water. Dispute about Him among the Jews.

Chapter 8: Forgiveness by the Lord of a sinner caught in adultery. The Lord's conversation with the Jews about Himself, as the Light of the world and as Existing from the beginning. The denunciation of the Jews who did not believe in Him, as wanting to fulfill the lusts of their father - the devil, a murderer from time immemorial.

Chapter 9: Healing a man blind from birth.

Chapter 10: The Lord’s conversation about Himself as the “good shepherd.” in the Jerusalem Temple on the Feast of Renewal. His conversation about His unity with the Father. An attempt by the Jews to stone Him.

Chapter 11: The Raising of Lazarus. The decision of the chief priests and Pharisees to put the Lord to death.

Chapter 12: Anointing of the Lord with myrrh by Mary in Bethany. Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem. The Greeks want to see Jesus. Jesus' prayer to God the Father for His glorification. The Lord's exhortation to walk in the light while there is light. Unbelief of the Jews according to the prophecy of Isaiah.

Chapter 13: The Last Supper. Washing the feet. The Lord's prophecy about the betrayal of Judas. The beginning of the Lord's farewell conversation with his disciples: instructions on mutual love. Prediction of Peter's denial.

Chapter 14: Continuation of the farewell conversation about the many mansions in the Father’s house. Christ is the way, the truth and the life. About the power of faith. The promise with the sending of the Holy Spirit.

Chapter 15: Continuation of the farewell conversation: the Lord’s teaching about Himself as a vine. Advice on mutual love. Prediction of persecution.

Chapter 16: Continuation of the farewell conversation: a new promise about the sending of the Comforter Spirit.

Chapter 17: The High Priesthood of the Lord about His disciples and about all believers.

Chapter 18: The Taking of the Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane. Anna's trial. Peter's denial. At Caiaphas. At Pilate's trial.

Chapter 19: The Scourging of the Lord. Interrogation of Pilate. Crucifixion. The casting of lots by the soldiers for the clothing of Jesus. Jesus entrusts His Mother to Joan. Death and burial of the Lord.

Chapter 20: Mary Magdalene at the tomb with the stone rolled away. Peter and the other disciple find the tomb empty with linens lying in it. Appearance of the risen Lord to Mary Magdalene. The appearance of the risen Lord to all the disciples together. Thomas's unbelief and the Lord's second appearance to all the disciples with Thomas together. The purpose of writing the Gospel.

Chapter 21: The Lord’s appearance to the disciples at the Sea of ​​Tiberias, the Lord asking Peter three times: “Do you love Me,” and the commission to feed His sheep. Prediction of martyrdom for Peter. Peter's question about John. A statement about the truth of what is written in the Gospel.

A CONSISTENT REVIEW OF THE CONTENTS OF THE WHOLE FOUR GOSPELS WITH AN EXPLANATION OF THE IMPORTANT PLACES

Introduction

As we have already said, not all Evangelists tell the same thing about 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; and in the very transmission of events and speeches of the Lord, sometimes there are differences, in some cases even seemingly disagreements and contradictions, which the so-called especially likes to find and emphasize. "negative criticism"

That is why, from the very first times of Christianity, attempts were made to bring the content of all four Gospels together, i.e. a compilation of all the material contained in the four Gospels in one general coherent sequence, to establish a more probable chronological order of the Gospel events, as if there were one Gospel.

The first attempt of this kind known to us was made by the apologist Tatian, a disciple of St. Justin the philosopher, who compiled in the middle of the second century A.D. such a collection of all four Gospels, widely used under the name “diatessarona”. The second work of the same kind belonged, according to the testimony of Blessed. Jerome, Theophilus, Bishop of Antioch, who lived in the second half of the same second century, who also wrote the “Commentary on the Gospel”, i.e. experience of its written interpretation.

Such attempts to bring the narratives of the 4 Gospels together continued further, right up to our time. In our time, for example, the work of B.I. is known. Gladkov, who also compiled the Interpretation of the Gospel. The best compilation of all 4 Gospels is recognized as the work of Bishop Theophan (Vyshensky Recluse) entitled: “The Gospel story about God the Son, who became incarnate for the sake of our salvation, set forth in sequential order in the words of the Holy Evangelists.”

The significance of such works is that they give us a complete, coherent, integral picture of the entire course of the earthly life of our Lord and Savior.

We will conduct a consistent review of the entire Gospel narrative, following the guidance 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 passages in accordance with the authoritative interpretations of the Holy Fathers of the Church.

The entire Gospel story naturally falls into three main sections:

I. The coming of the Lord Jesus Christ into the world.

II. Public ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ.

III. The last days of the earthly life of the Lord Jesus Christ.