It should be pointed out that no one is sure who actually wrote the Gospels. We know who's name is attached to the first four books, but considering that the Gospels were written one or probably two or three generations after the death of Jesus, the actual authors remain a mystery to most scholars, although there are some that are sure the authors of the books are the ones who's names they carry. Even if that is true, how could any of them have known the details related in the Gospels. Even if they were there at the time of the sermons contained in the four books, they didn't have any way to record them, so what they write about is at least twenty or thirty years after the event and all from memory. Of course Mark and Luke were not there, in fact they never even met Jesus. Even further, Luke never even met a person who actually knew Jesus.
Anyone who has actually read the Bible is aware of the discrepancies among the authors about certain details of the life of Jesus. I will leave that to the reader to reconcile.
It seems, by people who really study these things, that Matthew was the earliest of the Gospels. They base that on factors such as the style of writing, the language used and other factors of which I have no expertize. But, if you read the Gospels, you probably conclude that the scholars are right, Matthew is the first of the Gospels. However, some scholars believe that Mark was the first.
After you read Matthew, you really don't need to read any of the others. The message that Jesus brought is completely covered in that book and is only repeated, sometimes verbatim, in the other three books. However, each book has a different slant on some of the events, sometimes a significant difference. If you believe in any of the books as being authentic, then Matthew is the most credible.
I will not attempt to relate the message that Jesus was preaching, just the basic history of his life as related in the Gospels. For anyone who feels they need to know that information should go to the source and actually read one of the more modern translations. The early translations has been found to have translation errors, and the new ones will be much easier to read. (That will be disputed by the fundamentalists). That is, if you can plow your way through one of the most boring books ever written.
However you might not like what you read if you consider yourself a modern Christian. Jesus's admonitions to his followers about all kinds of subjects such as what is expected of you to get to heaven, marriage, divorce, charity, gentiles and the pursuit of worldly goods among other things, show just how UN-Christian the vast majority of us are. We, in fact, are the Pharisees of the story. The modern man or woman, cleric or priest would probably be right in the crowd cheering the executioner on.
It is easy to see, however, how the poor and downtrodden of the world would embrace the message in the book. For most of history the poor had no hope of ever escaping their lot in life. But, Jesus came along and promised them, that if they followed him, they would be rewarded in heaven. Not sure why the rich would like the message Jesus was teaching, and they certainly don't, in reality, no matter how much they go to church. One of the most famous quotes from the Bible is "It is be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven". But, the "in" crowd certainly used that message to convince the poor and disenfranchised to be happy with their position in life, because they would be rewarded after death. A message embraced by the church with vigor as they crowned Kings and let them exploit the masses.
First let's look at the story as told in the Book of Matthew. My first intention was to include all 4 books in a single blog, but after getting started I realized that that might be a little much. So, I decided to break into parts. I hope it entertains. perhaps informs and doesn't get too many peoples drawers in a knot.
But, who was Matthew:
Matthew was a publican, or tax collector, before he was called as one of the Lord’s Apostles. Because of that profession, we can guess that he was well educated and knew how to read and write, probably in several languages, including Greek. He also knew arithmetic. He saw and heard many things while with Jesus, and it is likely he wrote down some of the sayings as notes or in a journal. Later, these notes would have helped him or one of his own followers to write the book carrying his name.
In his book, Matthew often stresses
that Jesus Christ is the Messiah and came to fulfill the Old Testament
prophecies. Matthew wrote specifically to the Jews, who were familiar
with those prophecies.
Matthew was a man who could have
moved comfortably in political circles, and his book mentions things
that someone in his position would know.
Now, at that time there was a young girl named Mary who was betrothed to Joseph. Remember that betrothal in those days was through arraignment between the parents, and nothing to do with love as we know it today. He may or may not, have known her before the betrothal. Nothing else is really said about Joseph. We don't know where he lives or what he does at this point in the book. It would be assumed that these events would have taken place in Bethlehem, as there is no indication of any movement. (Luke introduced that notion). Joseph and Mary were married and then Mary had to reveal something to Joseph.
Matthew now says:
( Matthew 1:18) "before they came together (i.e. slept together in our language) she was found with child of the Holy Spirit" Now it says (Matthew 1:19) "And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily" (that likely means hiding her away, but it's a strange word, but does seem to indicate something about privacy). You can imagine, Joseph must have been livid, he had just married a woman already pregnant. However:
( Matthew 1:20) "But when he thought on those things, behold, and Angel of the lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit". You notice that every one in Israel spoke 16th century English at that time. Very advanced of them.
Jesus was born in the city of Bethlehem. Apparently unnoticed, except for three Wise-men in the east. The Wise-men or Magi, are likely Astrologers, sometimes they are portrayed as Kings.
The three Wise-men from the east came to Jerusalem asking for the new born King of the Jews, for they saw his star in the east and had come to worship him. (It is likely that what they really saw was a reading of the stars, as astrologers do. There is no way that a star could be seen to hang over a particular place on earth. But, the people of time didn't understand that the earth rotates, how enormous the universe is, the true nature of stars and how far away from the earth they are).
Herod, the King heard of this and was troubled. He gathered his Priests and Scribes and asked where this new King of the Jews would be born. They answered that it had to be in the City of David, (Bethlehem) because that was the prophecy.
Herod than summoned the Wise-men and asked them the time of the birth and when they found the child, to come back and tell him so that he could worship him.
The Wise-men found the young child, he was likely very close to 2 at the time, and fell down and worshiped him. They brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
The Wise-men were warned of Herod's motives and didn't return to tell him of the location. This really pissed Herod off, so he ordered every child of 2 or less in the city of Bethlehem and it's surrounding area killed.
Joseph and Mary were warned of the danger by an Angel and fled to Egypt where they stayed until Herod's death. Then they returned to Israel and settled in the city of Nazareth. Thus Jesus became known as a Nazarene.
This is last we hear of Joseph and Mary in the book of Matthew except for a brief mention in chapter 13 (Matthew 13:54 and 13:55) "And coming into his own country he taught them in their synagogue insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?". And (Matthew 13:56) "And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?". This could lead one to believe that Jesus had brothers and sisters, but it is not conclusive. It is likely he did. It also should be pointed out that naming Joseph as a carpenter is disputed by many scholars. The actual translation probably should have been builder. But, because the first English translation was done where a builder would have been a carpenter, Joseph was tagged with that occupation. Considering that a builder in Israel would have actually been a mason, that might be the more likely occupation.
Nothing else was heard of Jesus in this book until he reached adulthood when he shows up to John the Baptist to be Baptized.
Jesus then started traveling around Israel preaching, healing the sick, driving out demons, raising the dead, feeding the multitudes (4 to 5 thousand) with 7 loaves of bread and 2 fishes and performing other miracles. Most of the parables that you have heard, came from the book of Matthew. As does the Lords Prayer. For details of his preaching see the source.
During his travels he started to collect followers including a lot of women, he apparently was a rock star. Most notable were the followers that will become his twelve disciples or Apostles.
Jesus was walking by the sea of Galilee and he saw two brothers, Simon Peter and his brother Andrew. He told them to come with him and they did. They were the first of the Apostles. Later he came upon two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother and they followed him also. Later he added Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananaian and Judas Iscariot. What is strange to a lot of people, is that Mark and Luke are not part of this group. These are the twelve disciples that follow Jesus, off and on, through his life and are given special powers. So, contrary to the common belief that the books of the Gospels were written by, or at least inspired by, members of the elite twelve close to Jesus, Mark and Luke weren't part of that group. More on those two later.
At one point Jesus brought his group together, (Matthew 10:1) "And he called unto him his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of disease and all manner of sickness." Then he sent them out to spread the word and to heal the sick, cast out demons with a lot of admonitions. An interesting byplay of his order to go out and do his good works is, that the disciples aren't around for a lot of what is reported in the story. It is all hearsay. Who was around? The women, of course.
They, let's call them the main stream Jews, led by the priests, elders and Pharisees, were really mad at Jesus. One of their big gripes was that he healed people on the Sabbath. Which apparently was a no-no at the time. It, along with his statement that he was the Son of God was considered blasphemy. He was a rabble rouser, a radical, a revolutionary, a dangerous man. He was encroaching on their territory and he was threatening the very foundations of their beliefs. He was, in a sense, the Martin Luther of his day. He was challenging their beliefs, and just as the Catholic Church reacted to Martin Luther, so the high priests and Pharisees reacted to Jesus. In addition he was gathering a following that measured in the thousands. This man could not be allowed to live. He was under constant threat from the established order most of his time as a Rabbi (teacher). I think that the general picture of Jesus being the serene man walking around doing good things is not quite accurate. I think he was more like a Pentecostal preacher at his best, spouting fire and brimstone. He showed on a number of occasions that he could get really mad, peeved or petulant and take physical actions.
At Passover he came to Jerusalem knowing he was entering the mouth of the lion. He told his followers that his time was short and what they were to do.
Then he had another of his rather famous episodes. Mathew 21:12-13) "And Jesus entered into the temple of God and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers, and the seats of them that sold the doves; and he saith unto them, It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer: but ye make it a den of robbers".
Jesus could really be a bad ass when he wanted. Of course that didn't sit well with the high priests; he was into their money.
He had a supper at the last Passover of his life, usually called the Last Supper, where he gathered his Apostles about him and started the custom of the eating of bread and drinking of wine after blessing them and pronouncing that they were his body and his blood.
At this get together he said the one of them will betray him, which they all denied. He also said to Peter that he would denounce him three times before the cock crowed. Both, of course came true.
His enemies knew where he was and had arranged for Judas to betray him for 30 pieces of silver. Judas said he would identify Jesus by kissing him. And that is what he did. (An interesting side light is the alternate version told in the Gospel according to Judas, interesting).
After Jesus was arrested, his disciples fled and hid, afraid for their lives. Remember Peter and the three denials. The events of the trial and execution of Jesus could not have been known to any of them. No telling how Matthew, or subsequently his own followers, got knowledge of any of these events is a mystery. I suppose rumors and gossip floating around was the source. Or more likely, it was the women, who apparently stayed by Jesus's side through out.
The Jews were not allowed to execute anyone, so they took Jesus to the Roman Governor, Pilate. He found no wrong in him and famously washed his hands of the whole thing. However after a lot of wailing and teeth gnashing by the chief priests and the elders that were screaming for his blood, with Pilate saying he didn't want Jesus's blood on his hands, (Matthew 27:25) "And all the people answered and said, His blood be on us, and on our children". I have a hard time believing that was actually said in anger. I think it was an invention of a later generation; for one of several possible reasons. It could be to deflect blame from the Romans, who ruled Israel with an iron fist, a view expressed one expert I read, or it could have been just vindictiveness from some Christians who wished to damn the Jews for killing Jesus or it actually could have been just a lament of some in the crowd, recognizing what the execution of a leading figure like Jesus would bring down on their people. It depends on how you read it. In any event, according to the story, Pilate finally gave in and Jesus was sentenced to be crucified. Of course this passage helped set the Jews on a course of persecution from the Christians for centuries for they took it as a cry for the execution of their savior.
Judas, in the mean time, recognizing what he had done and feeling guilty tried to return the money. The priests didn't want it because it was blood money, so they buried it in the graveyard of the poor and nameless. Judas subsequently hanged himself.
The soldiers took Jesus stripped him, put him in a scarlet robe . Then they put a crown of thorns on his head and mocked him by saying "Hail, King of the Jews".(Matthew 27:29) "They spat on him and took the reed and smote him on the head."
He was forced to carry his cross on the way to the place of crucifixion. But, in spite of the common idea of that event, he probably had only to carry the cross beam of the cross. That was the common procedure for the condemned man. Carrying the whole massive cross would have been nearly impossible for one man. In general, the post used for crucifixion would be left standing to be used over and over again. Sometimes the Romans just used a tree for the post of the cross and just nailed the cross beam to it.The Romans had this down to a fine art.
However, he had been beaten and crowned with thorns, so one of the Roman soldiers compelled a man of Cyrene, Simon by name, to carry the cross for him. Jesus was just too weak.
When they crucified him they parted his garments among them, casting lots. They set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
He was crucified with two robbers, one on the left and one on the right.
As he hung on the cross he was constantly jeered and made fun of. He had saved others, why not save himself if he really is the son of God.
This is also where the now famous quote of Jesus saying "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthami? that is, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
(Matthew 27:48-50) "And straightway one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it in a reed, and gave him a drink. And the rest said, Let be; let us see whether Elijah cometh to save him. And Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and yeilded up his spirit."
(Matthew 27:51)"And behold, the veil of the temple was rent in two and the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake; and the rocks were rent; (Matthew27:52) and the tombs were opened; and the many bodies of the saints that had fallen asleep were raised".
Many women were there, principal among them were two Mary's, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joses and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. Not sure how that works, but that is what the book says. I supposed the other Mary married twice and had step children. It is clear, from later passages that we are only talking about two Mary's. What may be noteworthy is that Mary, the mother of Jesus wasn't there.
He died on the third day. (That is kind of strange, because a crucifixion usually took longer to cause death. It was designed to be a slow tortuous death).
Now the story gets even more interesting. A rich man from Arimathaea named Joseph, who was a disciple of Jesus, asked Pilate for the body. Pilate said Okay. So he took the body down, wrapped it in clean linen cloth and placed in his own tomb, which was hewn out of a rock. and he rolled a great stone to the door, and departed.
The two Mary's were there sitting over against the sepulchre (the tomb).
Being a suspicious bunch, the chief priests and the elders came to Pilate the next morning and reminded him that Jesus said he would arise on the third day, so Pilate should put a guard on the tomb until the third day because his disciples may steal him away and proclaim to the people that he has arisen. So Pilate did that very thing. They made sure the sepulchre was secure, sealing the stone and placing a guard.
Here is were the great miracle happens. (Mathew 28:1-6) "Now late on the sabbath day, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. And, behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled away the stone, and sat upon it. His appearance was as lightning, and his raiment white as snow: and for fear of him the watchers did quake, and became as dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, who hath been crucified. He is not here; for he is risen, even as he said, Come, see the place where the Lord lay". See, even the angels speak 16th century English.
The angel told the women to go quickly and tell his disciples. That he has risen from the dead and he will go before you into Galilee and there you will see him.
So the Mary's took off to bring the disciples word. At that point Jesus met them saying (Matthew 28:9) "All hail. And they came and took hold of his feet, and worshiped him". He further said to fear not and told the women that he would meet his disciples in Galilee. Mary then carried the message back to the doubting disciples.
At that point the guards went back into the city and told the chief priests what had happened. After a bit of conferences with elders, they decided to bribe the guards to say that the disciples had come by night and stole him while they were asleep.
They, being smart soldiers that they were, and underpaid, took the bribe and repeated the story to the governor and anybody else who would listen. This bit of the story is only related in Matthew.
The eleven disciples went on to Galilee and to the mountain that Jesus had named
Even though they saw Jesus and worshiped him, some doubted.
Never the less, he sent them off to spread the word to all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
What Jesus does after that is not covered by Matthew.
And, thus ends the tale of the life of Jesus as written in the book of Matthew.
Tune in to Part 2 for Mark.
