The Gospel: Mark, Matthew, Luke, & John in One

By Jongwoo Han

This book merges and harmonizes the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John into one. This unified version, which I call The Gospel, is based on the faith that the four different gospels exist in order to form together the complete story of Jesus life and ministry. I consolidated these sources by identifying common denominators among them as well as parts that are unique to each, and then interweaving it all into a single narrative, using only original texts. This integrated version may offer greater incentive to our youth, laymen, and non-believers as well as professionals to read and learn more about what Jesus did and taught. (Acts 1:1).

In the past, there have been many attempts to make the four Gospels easier for readers, often displaying similar episodes in parallel columns, in an effort to resolve the Gospels narrative complexity by harmonizing them in one way or another; however, in regard to the text itself, previous books do not rise to the level of precision and completeness that is achieved here.

Answering this need for a clear chronological telling of The Story of Jesus, this book unifies every account of the four Gospels into a single story, without omitting or compromising any part. On a given topic in Jesus ministry, this book uses as its base whichever gospel is the greatest common denominator, consolidates identical or similar parts from other Gospels, and integrates the unique and different elements of each book into a single story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jul 15, 2016
• ISBN: 9781512743883

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Copyright © 2016 Jongwoo Han.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

Scripture taken from the American Standard Version of the Bible.

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ISBN: 978-1-5127-4389-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-4390-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-4388-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016908638

WestBow Press rev. date: 7/14/2016

Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Phase 1: The Incarnation of Jesus

Phase 2: Jesus’ Youth

Phase 3: John the Baptist

Phase 4: Jesus Beginning His Ministry

Phase 5: Jews’ Oppositions and the Heyday of Jesus’ Ministry

Phase 6: Jesus’ Last Trip to Jerusalem

Phase 7: Jesus’ Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem to Fulfill the Incredible Work of God (Sunday)

Phase 8: Clearing the Temple and the Plot to Kill Jesus (First Day, Monday in Jerusalem)

Phase 9: Numerous Teachings, including the Trinity and the Great Commandments, Rebukes, and Prediction of His Death (Second Day, Tuesday in Jerusalem)

Phase 10: Mary Anointing Jesus with an Alabaster Jar of Perfume, Satan Entering Judas, the Plot to Kill (Third Day, Wednesday in Jerusalem)

Phase 11: Jesus Washing Disciples’ Feet, the Lord’s Supper, Judas’ Betrayal Revealed, Jesus’ Intercessory Prayer, and Jesus Arrested (Fourth Day, Thursday in Jerusalem)

Phase 12: Crucifixion (Fifth Day, Friday in Jerusalem)

Phase 13: Jesus’ Resurrection, Rebirth of Disciples, Great Commission, and Jesus’ Ascension (Jesus’ Last Days in Jerusalem)

Appendix I. The Golden Rules of Morals in Matthew (Chapters 5, 6, 7 and Luke Chapter 6)

Appendix II. Comparison of Jesus’ Resurrection and His Encounters with Disciples (Matthew 12:1-8 + Mark 2:23-28 + Luke 6:1-5)

References

Index

About the Author

Acknowledgements

First of all, this work could not have been possible without the American Standard Version, which is open to public use of its texts. I want to recognize the great merit of the use of the American Standard Version. During the summer break of 2010, I had the chance to lead a Bible study youth group at the River of Joy Baptist Korean Church in Syracuse, New York. We used a chronological Bible as our textbook. My students’ immediate response to this new kind of Bible, arranged as events occurred chronologically across each book of the Gospels, was quite simply one of awe. Is it alright to read this kind of Bible? they asked. I reassured them, and as they got used to it, they soon found that a chronological reading of the four Gospels yields a deeper understanding of Jesus’ life and ministry. In addition, they enjoyed how its juxtaposition of similar events in the synoptic Gospels allows for convenient comparisons. This was when I got the idea for this book— to consolidate the parts of the synoptic Gospels and John that agree while also compiling the facts, observations, and perspectives that are unique to each one. In this sense, my church and our youth are the main contributors to the birth of this book. I am so blessed to serve in this church under Pastor Youngmoon Lee and his wife Soonsook Lee, whose genuine love for God is deeply moving.

I also want to thank my good friend Pastor Brian Coombs, the pastor of the Messiah’s Church of Reformed Presbyterian in Syracuse, New York, for his recognition of my idea and efforts to bring "The Gospel" into this world. He has continuously encouraged me that this work is valuable and benefits not only lay Christians but also professional Christians like himself. Some parts of the manuscript have been edited by my good friend Eric Berlin, who has reviewed my words and embellished them to convey my intended meaning more clearly.

My companion and wife, Kyunghee Lee, and I have been blessed with two daughters, Hyemin and Jeongyoon, who have been an integral part of this consolidation work from proofreading to cheering me up when I often faced the daunting task of compilation. I am thrilled to know that Hyemin and Jeongyoon will have this book within their reach throughout their lives, as a reliable link to their father. My mother, Sung-ja Cho, has ceaselessly prayed for my work and has arduously supported this project. I am so grateful for the opportunity to make her proud through this work, which makes me proud as well. Most of all, I could never have become what I am today without her love. I am sure my father, who is in heaven, is delighted about his son’s work on the story of Jesus, because he is with Jesus, our Savior.

I have pursued an academic career and have engaged in some exceptional projects; however, I derive the greatest joy and pride from this chance to work on a unified gospel of my savior, Jesus Christ. I thank God for this opportunity and hope this will be one of my small works to glorify my Lord. I am thrilled to know that this consolidated gospel will give more people a chance to know of our Lord Jesus Christ and God’s grace. Lastly, I am aware that this first edition will need further improvement and streamlining of its integration and consolidation, as well as its format, which I hope to perform along with any readers interested in working together to achieve the goal of making Jesus’ gospel as perfect as all of His works.

May the Love of His Cross and the Power of His Resurrection be forever with all of us until Jesus Second Coming!

In Syracuse, where I am still searching for answers to the question Why Syracuse?

October 10, 2015

Jongwoo Han

Introduction

The Gospel

This book merges and harmonizes the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John into one. This unified version, which I call The Gospel, is based on the faith that the four different Gospels exist in order to form together the complete story of Jesus’ life and ministry. I consolidated these sources by identifying common denominators among them as well as parts that are unique to each, and then interweaving it all into a single narrative, using only original biblical texts. As long as this effort does not leave out the major messages of these four books, this integrated version may offer greater incentive to our youth, laymen, and non-believers as well as professionals to read and learn more about why Jesus’ coming is good news. In this context, this book The Gospel is completely Biblical, aside from the author’s choices on how to integrate its parts.

The four books portray Jesus from the perspectives of various authors: First, Mark and Luke were not among the twelve disciples, whereas the books of Matthew and John are believed to have been written by the two disciples. Mark was a travelling companion of Apostle Paul on his mission trips (Acts 12:25), a cousin of Barnabas (Colossians 4:10), and a spiritual son of Peter (I Peter 5:13). He was never with Jesus at any point of Jesus’ ministry and thus was not a direct witness of what Jesus did. Rather, it is believed that everything he wrote about Jesus was based on what he heard originally from the direct acquaintances of Jesus. Luke was in the same position as Mark in that he was a dear friend of Paul, one of his co-workers, as briefly mentioned in Colossians (4:14) and Philemon (1:24). These two authors of the Synoptic Gospels were not directly in contact with Jesus. Rather, they seemed to rely upon scattered oral accounts that were handed down. In addition, different Gospels often present major biblical events in a different order, way, or context. The gospel authors’ different backgrounds and unique observations and perspectives together provide a more complete depiction of Jesus’ ministry, which enables us to comprehend the fullness of His Gospel. We can put some of the different observations and facts into perspective without distorting their original meanings.

Basis for Consolidation

Research based on a comparison of texts in the four Gospels by the Zondervan NIV Study Bible shows that 91% of Mark’s gospel is contained in Matthew, while only 53% is found in Luke. More detailed study reveals that Mark shares 93% of its text with the other three, while Matthew shares 58%, Luke 41%, and John 8%— a discrepancy which may create some confusion about the origins of the Synoptic Gospels (i.e., Mark, Matthew, Luke) and John in general. Due to the existence of such overlapping and unique details among the Gospels, we often feel confused and cumbersome when studying a particular episode, flipping back and forth from Matthew to Mark, Luke, and sometimes John to compare who, what, when, why, where, and how.

For example, the story of Jesus being sentenced to death by Pilate, the chief priests, Sanhedrin, and the crowd can be reconstructed from the four Gospels by consolidating the main discourses among these actors and integrating the different facts into a single version. Each gospel documented this conspiracy to kill Jesus, from John 18:39-19:16, Luke 23:13-25, and Matthew 27:15-26, to Mark 15:6-15. The issue is that each gospel has unique observations and facts that the other Gospels lack. Specifically, on the sentencing of Jesus to crucifixion, Matthew 27:19 mentions the role played by Pilate’s wife in the process, whereas Mark, Luke, and John do not. In addition, John elaborates on the conversations between Pilate and Jesus in Pilate’s office from verses 8 to 11, a detail completely absent from the other Gospels. Bible experts can put the unique observations of different authors into perspective; however, such nuanced understanding may be exceedingly difficult for novices who read the Gospels independently of each other.

Such examples abound throughout the four Gospels. Matthew 27:33-56, John 19:17-37, Luke 23:33-49, and Mark 15:22-41 describe the crucifixion of Jesus. John provides more details about Jesus’ garments and the argument between Pilate and the chief priests about the notice of the sentencing. Luke introduces the details of the conversation between the two criminals who were crucified with Jesus, while Matthew specifically mentions the earthquake. Mark’s observation of darkness when Jesus was crucified can be better understood if we include Luke’s explanation of why the darkness came: the Sun stopped shining (Luke 23:45). In the end, John concludes the scene of Jesus’ crucifixion with the fulfillment of the Scripture by introducing the prophecy that Not one of his bones will be broken (John 19:36). By comparing each gospel, we can form a more complete picture of these events. Experts and professionals in Christianity often relate these four different Gospels and provide laymen with a more comprehensive understanding of Jesus’ footsteps, which may be difficult for laymen to comprehend.

In short, this book may have a very positive and transformative impact on how we understand the Gospels. It will also provide a variety of opportunities for us to develop secondary literature and materials, including commentaries, academic books on Jesus, QT materials, and Bible study aids for pastors, reverends, scholars, missionaries and Bible teachers as well as laypeople.

Existing Literature

In the past, there have been many attempts to make the four Gospels easier for readers, often displaying similar episodes in parallel columns, in an effort to resolve the Gospels’ narrative complexity by harmonizing them in one way or another; however, in regard to the text itself, previous books do not rise to the level of precision and completeness that is achieved here. The most popular method has been to present the four Gospels in side-by-side columns and seamless chronological order, allowing readers to compare similarities and differences across the page. Examples are numerous: Contemporary Comparative Side-by-side Bible (Zondervan, 2011), The Hendrickson Parallel Bible, A Harmony of The Gospels (A.T. Robertson, HarperCollins Publishing, 1932), The NIV Harmony of the Gospels (Robert L. Thomas and Stanley N. Gundry, Harperone, 1988), A Harmony of the Gospels, NASB (Robert L. Thomas and Stanley N. Gundry, Harperone, 1986), A Harmony of the Four Gospels (The New International Version, Orville Daniel, Baker, 1996). Even though these books might make study easier for readers, however, such parallel readings of the Gospels still will not provide easy understanding or a complete picture of Jesus’ life and ministry.

For this reason, some have attempted to weave the four Gospels into a single story. For example, Holman Christian Standard Bible Simplified Harmony of the Gospels (George W. Knight, B&H, 2001) weaves events from all four Gospels into one seamless narrative, beginning with John’s prologue and ending with Jesus’ ascension as described in Mark and Luke, capturing the subtle nuances that give each gospel its unique character. The Seamless Bible (compiled by Charles Roller and Carol Mersch, 2005, Destiny Image) is another of this kind. Yet another is The Life of Christ in Stereo: The Four Gospels Speak in Harmony (Johnston M. Cheney and Stanley A. Ellisen (ed.), The Doubleday Religious Publishing Group, 1984), which shows how the different accounts flow together once one realizes that the writers simply saw things from different angles, so to speak— an approach which Cheney calls supplementation. Lastly, One Perfect Life: The Complete Story of the Lord Jesus (John MacArthur, HarperCollins Christian Publishing, 2013) blends the Gospels and other biblical material about Jesus into a single continuous story using Matthew as its base text.

In all of these attempts, though, there seems to be a critical flaw— namely, the integrity of the Gospels is compromised because these books are based on only partial selections from the gospel texts overlooking and omitting much of the unique features of each gospel. Answering this need for a clear chronological telling of The Story of Jesus, this book unifies ‘every’ account of the four Gospels into a single story, without omitting or compromising any part.

Consolidation

In order for people to understand each gospel’s unique observations on many of the same events and topics, readers must carefully compare the different accounts. Thus, even after many years of reading the Gospels, it is often difficult to achieve a holistic understanding of all the episodes, events, and topics in Jesus’ ministry. Unless we identify the points of agreement and disagreement, our efforts to form a clear chronological and holistic understanding of Jesus’ ministry will remain impossible. This book relieves such difficulty.

For example, Jesus used many parables. One of the most famous is that of the sower of the seed, which is covered in three Gospels (Matthew 13:1-23, Mark 4:1-20, and Luke 8:4-18). After Jesus gave this parable to the disciples, he explained its hidden meaning— the secret of the kingdom of God (Matthew 13:18-23, Mark 4:13-20, Luke 8:11-15). For this passage, Matthew, underlined, serves as the base text and the following is the unified version of Jesus’ explanation:

[Then, Jesus said to them, Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable (Mark 4:13)]. ¹⁸ Listen then to what the parable of the sower means that [The seed is the word of God. (Luke 8:11)]: [The farmer sows the word (Mark 4:14) of God]. [Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. (Mark 4:15)]. ¹⁹ [As soon as (Mark 4:15)] anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one [or Satan (Mark 4:15)] comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart, [so that they may not believe and be saved (Luke 8:12)]. This is the seed sown along the path. ²⁰ The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. ²¹ But since they have no root, they last only a short time. [They believe for a while (Luke 8:13)], but when trouble or persecution [or but in the time of testing (Luke 8:13)] comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. ²² The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word [but as they go on the way (Luke 8:14)], but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth [and pleasures (Luke 8:14) and the desires for other things come in (Mark 4: 19)] and choke the word, making it unfruitful [and they do not mature (Luke 8:14)]. ²³ But the seed falling on good soil refers to [or stands for (Luke 8:15)] someone who hears the word [with a noble and good heart (Luke 8:15)], [accepts it (Mark 4:20), retains it (Luke 8:15)], and understands it. He produces a crop [by persevering (Luke 8:15)], yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times [thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times (Mark 4:20)] what was sown.

As illustrated in the above examples, this unified version of the parable merges three Gospels into one without losing any part of each.

After the descriptions of Jesus’ resurrection, each gospel makes its own unique observations: Matthew (28:11-15) on the Jewish leaders’ bribery of the guards who witnessed the resurrection, Luke (24:13-35) on the conversations between Jesus and the two disciples on their way to Emmaus as well as His appearance to other disciples, John (20:24-31) on Jesus’ appearance to Thomas and others in Galilee, Matthew (28:16-20) on Jesus’ command to give a great commission to His disciples, Luke (24:44-53) on Jesus’ teaching on His resurrection, and Mark (16:9-20) on Jesus’ ascension. Such diachronically unified narration of Jesus’ ministry becomes possible as a result of reading the Bible chronologically. Again, such understanding is hard to obtain when reading the four Gospels independently of each other, especially for laymen and young children.

On a given topic in Jesus’ ministry, this book uses as its base whichever gospel is the greatest common denominator (underlined), consolidates identical or similar parts from other Gospels, and integrates the unique and different elements of each book into a single story. This book adds no extra unbiblical text but merely compiles the original words, phrases, and sentences of the Gospels, as demonstrated above.

Principles of Consolidation and Integration

The chronological Bible facilitates the comparative study of Jesus’ ministry because it juxtaposes synoptic anecdotes across Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John while leaving each anecdote intact. Each gospel begins with different elements: Jesus’ lineage (Matthew), Isaiah’s prophecy on the coming of Jesus Christ (Mark), an introductory account of the things accomplished for us by Jesus Christ (Luke), and the beginning of the creation by the Word (John). Again, these four different elements can be integrated without harming the originality or integrity of the original four Gospels, and this book places John’s 1:1-5 and 1:9-14 as the beginning of a new, consolidated and integrated gospel for two reasons. First, the first part is about the existence of Jesus, the Word, and God and His creation as paralleled with Genesis’ 1:1-3, which the beginning of the Gospels describe who Jesus is and what Jesus did. These verses from Genesis and John serve as kairos in all the books of the Bible. Second, these verses talk about the first thing that happened in time (chronos). After we have established this as the beginning of the new version of The Gospel, other facts and events can be reorganized according to chronological order. Because this book attempts to assemble the complete story of Jesus by bringing together Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, a fitting title is The Gospel, with a capital G and in the singular.

Such consolidation and integration were accomplished according to several principles:

1. This book is not composed as a new edition of the Bible.

2. This book minimizes editing in its consolidation and integration in order to maintain the integrity of the current versions of the original Biblical texts (American Standard Version).

3. Whenever this book does rewrite passages in order to integrate various versions of the same events in the Synoptic Gospel, it applies the following principles based on two sources of Bible: New Testament (ISBN 978-1494714307, American Standard Version by Bible Domain Publishing 2013) and the BibleGateway (www.biblegateway.com)

1) Jesus as a Cornerstone in Consolidation: The ultimate goal of consolidation and integration is to assemble all the similarities and differences of the four Gospels into a single perspective on who Jesus is, why he came down to Earth as a person and God, and what he was trying to convince us and the Jews and Gentiles about (e.g., Pharisees, high priests, kings, Sadducees, teachers, religious council, tax collectors, prostitutes, the possessed, the sick, the blind, the dead, and those who believed [Nicodemos], widow, children, disciples).

2) Preserving the Originality of the Bible Verses as Much as Possible

3) Chronological Order: This book will reorganize the stories in the four books according to chronological order. For example, the New Testament of The One-year Chronological Bible NIV starts with Luke’s explanation of the historical background of Jesus’ birth with Matthew’s description of the birth of Jesus, whereas Mark opens with Isaiah’s prophecy of the coming of Jesus. This book will begin, however, with John 1:1-18 based on the belief that John’s description is faithful when he describes the creation of the Universe by the Word as the beginning of Jesus’s work in this world.

4) Most Common Denominator: After explaining the background of Jesus’ birth, this book describes Isaiah’s prophecy of Jesus’ coming (the three Gospels, Mark, Matthew, Luke) and John’s conversations with the Pharisees and Sadducees (in all Gospels). In the former case, this book consolidates Isaiah’s prophecy based on Luke (3:1-6), which is underlined (i.e., Luke 3:1-6), because Luke’s writing contains the largest common denominator on this topic.

5) Comprehensiveness: By integrating the similarities and differences of the different Gospels, this book provides a comprehensive view of each topic. For example, this book’s attempt to integrate the story about the widow’s offering in Mark (12:41-44) and Luke (21:1-4) provides us with a more comprehensive understanding of this topic. Examples abound, and readers will quickly appreciate how this consolidated version provides a fuller understanding than a regular Bible.

6) Notation:

■ Author’s insertions, including newly consolidated compositions, are italicized.

■ Insertions from other Gospels are marked [~~].

■ Footnote numbers are italicized in order to differentiate them from verse numbers.

Additional notes:

1. Any gospel in the singular form besides the title was put in lower case; any gospels in the plural form was capitalized. Exceptions include when Gospel in the singular form was capitalized when speaking about the title of the book itself, (The Gospel) or in reference to God’s Gospel. In addition, the four Gospels were not capitalized, but the Synoptic Gospels were.

2. The right of author’s preference was employed for the capitalization of pronouns referring to God, such as He or His or Him.

3. The possessive form of Jesus was written as Jesus’ as opposed to Jesus’s.

4. In footnotes, when describing decisions or distinctions made by the author, the third person the author was used, but when the audience as a whole (including the author) was referenced, the first person we was used.

Intended readers

First, this book aims to attract a general audience because it frees them from having to flip back and forth between four different accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry. Second, this book aims to serve as a convenient ministry resource and reference for pastors, Bible teachers, and ministry professionals preparing sermons, presentations, and lectures. Third, for mission work, this unified story of Jesus, if translated, can serve as very effective teaching material as this one story will be much easier for non-believers to learn and, consequentially, for missionaries to teach. Most of all, this unified version of the Gospels will help all who are interested in gaining new insights into Jesus’ life, ministry, and times.

In addition, this book offers an Index of Jesus’ life and ministry, providing a holistic picture of His birth, growth, and baptism, as well as His ministry, the Jews’ opposition, His death on the cross, His resurrection, and the disciples’ faith. This index provides a panoramic overview of The Gospel with keywords and phrases of Jesus’s ministry listed in chronological order. Relevant verses from each gospel on each topic are quoted in this index so that readers can return to original versions for verification.

Phase One

The Incarnation of Jesus

The Beginning: The Word, Jesus, Son of God, and the Word became flesh (John 1:1-5, 9-14)

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² The same was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through him; and without him was not anything made that has¹ [hath] been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that the life was the light of men. ⁵ And the light shines [shineth] in the darkness; and the darkness apprehended it not or [understand] it.² ⁹ There was the true light, even the light that lights every man, coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world knew him not. ¹¹ He came unto his own, and they that were his own received him not. ¹² But as many as received him, to them gave he the right to become children of God, even to them