Hello everybody, it's minister tall23 back with another video. In this video and in a
few of the following videos I want to discuss the proper chronology of the
Gospels in the New Testament and especially focus on three parts of the
Gospels the early ministry of Christ which is what I'm talking about today
and then also later the crucifixion and the resurrection of Christ and the
reason why I'm here today discussing this matter is because of the fact that
there are varying accounts of the ministry of Jesus there's the four
Gospels Matthew Mark Luke and John and they all focus on different details they
all have different emphasis and everything how the unbelievers falsely
claim that the four accounts contradict themselves because they're spiritually
blind and they're unable to read it to the finer details and see that there is
a unifying chronology in the text if you actually read it carefully instead of
just buzzing through it so this video is to answer the claims of unbelievers
and skeptics who claim that there are contradictions in the New Testament but
also to help the believer somebody who's actually a Christian who's watching this
video who understand the text better and see what's going on in what order to see
the chronology so this is kind of a Bible study of not really focusing on a
particular subject but just kind of piecing things together and looking at
the individual details within the text to see what the order of events was in
Jesus's early early ministry so what was the first event in Jesus's ministry what
happened next what's the deal with the 40 days in the wilderness and the
entering into Galilee where does all that line up with like the book of John
which it talks about a little bit different things that it does in Matthew
Mark and Luke and let's see what the Bible says so the first event in the
timeline of Jesus's ministry was the baptism of John initially we see in the
scriptures the ministry of John the Baptist it talks about how he was
preaching in Bethabara beyond Jordan according to John chapter 1 verse 28 and
then it also talks about him in Matthew 3 Mark 1 and Luke 3 and also John 1 as
well it gives us stories of John's interactions with the Pharisees and
other Jews now after these interactions and the ministry of John the Bible says
in Matthew chapter 3 verses 13 to 17 then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan
unto John to be baptized of him but John forbade him saying I have need to be
baptized of thee and comest thou to me and Jesus answering said unto him suffer
it be so suffer it to be so now for thus it becometh us to fulfill all
righteousness and he suffered him and Jesus when he was baptized went up
straight way out of the water and lo the heavens were opened unto him and he saw
the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lying upon him and lo a voice from
heaven saying this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased so here we see
that Jesus comes to John the Baptist to be baptized and when he is baptized the
Spirit of God descends upon him now this is important for understanding
where the account in John chapter 1 fits in because some have problems with the
book of John because it's not considered part of the synoptic Gospels which would
be the other three and therefore the chronology and the story and John seems
to be out of place with Matthew Mark and Luke now John does not focus on the
timeline of Jesus's ministry he does not go through all the events or all the
main events like it does in Matthew Mark and Luke but rather he focuses on
specific events and sermons in Jesus's ministry and therefore he often jumps
around and skips many months or many days or many weeks at a time okay
between chapters but looking closely at the following passage in John 1 verses
29 to 43 we can figure out what took place so it says the next day John
seeth Jesus coming unto him and sayeth behold the Lamb of God which taketh away
the sin of the world this is he of whom I said after me cometh a man which is
preferred before me for he was before me and I knew him not but that he should be
made manifest to Israel therefore am I come baptizing with water and John bear
record saying I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and
it abode upon him and I knew him not but he that sent me to baptize with water
the same said unto me upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and
remaining on him the same as he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost and I saw
and bear record that this is the Son of God again the next day after John stood
and two of his disciples and looking upon Jesus as he walked he saith behold
the Lamb of God and the two disciples heard him speak and they followed Jesus
then Jesus turned and saw them following and saith unto them what seek ye they
said unto him rabbi which is to say being interpreted master where dwellest
thou he saith unto them come and see they came and saw where he dwelt and
abode with him that day for it was about the tenth hour one of the two which heard
John speak and followed him was Andrew Simon Peters brother he first findeth
his own brother Simon and saith unto him we have found the Messiah's which is
being interpreted the Christ and he brought him to Jesus and when Jesus
beheld him he said thou art Simon the son of Jonah thou shalt be called Cephas
which is by interpretation a stone the day following Jesus would go forth into
Galilee and findeth Philip and saith unto him follow me so the first thing to
note is that when Jesus comes unto John John mentions in verse 32 that the
Spirit descended upon him from heaven like a dove although the baptism of
Jesus is not specifically mentioned in John chapter 1 we can't compare with the
other three Gospels to see that this first day when Jesus appears and John
says behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world is when he got
baptized according to Matthew 3 13 the very reason why Jesus came unto John
the Baptist in the first place was so that he could be baptized of him then as
we see in the account of his baptism in Matthew 3 the Spirit descended upon him
as a dove this is where John declares him to be the son of God now here's
where things get a little tricky if you don't pay attention in verse 35 it says
again the next day after John stood and two of his disciples on this next day
Jesus is followed by Andrew who gets his brother Simon Peter to meet Jesus I
would like to point out that this story in the book of John is not the same as
when John calls these disciples to follow him later there's no record of
the Apostles beginning to follow Jesus at this time but as indicated here one
of them Andrew was at least already disciple of John the Baptist now later
when Jesus's temptation in the wilderness is ended and he goes up into
Galilee in Matthew chapter 4 that's when he finds these two brothers again
as well as several other people and he calls them to be his disciples okay so
when Jesus comes in Matthew chapter 40 says follow me and I'll make you fishers
of men he already knew Peter and Andrew okay there's not they were just complete
strangers that just didn't know him at any point okay he had met them before in
John chapter 1 just the day after he got baptized now the reason why I said this
passage could be could be said to be a little bit tricky is because in the book
of Mark it says Mark chapter 1 verses 9 to 12 it came to pass in those days that
Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized of John and Jordan and
straightway coming up out of the water he saw the heavens open and the spirit
like a dove descending upon him and there came a voice from heaven saying
thou are my beloved son in whom I am very and whom I am well pleased verse
12 and immediately the spirit driveth him into the wilderness now verse 12
seems to indicate that as soon as Jesus met with John it was baptized at the
Jordan River then he went to the wilderness and that there were no
events in between however in John chapter 1 in verse 35 it talks about
other things taking place the day after and then the day after that according to
verse 43 Jesus went into Galilee and found Philip then beginning at John
chapter 2 it says in John 2 1 and the third day there was a marriage in Cana
of Galilee and the mother of Jesus was there now since it says the third day we
can assume that this is the third day after Jesus's baptism the first being
when Peter and Andrew meet him then the second being when he met Philip and
Nathaniel in Galilee and the third being where Jesus when Jesus goes to this
marriage in Cana of Galilee since he was already in Galilee okay and we see
later in John chapter 21 it mentions that Nathaniel is from Cana so that's
probably where he met Nathaniel he was going into Cana at the end of that
second day later down in verse 11 of John 2 it makes it clear that Jesus
turning the water into wine in Cana was the beginning of his miracles so there
was no other miracle done until that time that was his first miracle that he
had done so it is really truly early in his ministry as the book of John shows
us it's only the third day after his baptism so what about Mark 1 12 well I
don't believe that this means that Jesus without delay after his baptism was
tempted in the wilderness but rather when the Spirit drove him in the
wilderness it was something that took place quickly first of all that's the
only interpretation I could think of for these events to work together but we
also see this in the book of Luke it says in Luke 4 1 and Jesus being full of
the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the
wilderness so it says Jesus returned from Jordan now the fact that he uses
the word returned indicates that he went back to where he came from
according to Matthew 3 13 Jesus came from Galilee where his home was to go to
Jordan so what happened was when Jesus was baptized by John he returns to
Galilee two days after according to John 1 where he meets Philip and Nathaniel
who was of Cana and Jesus goes to Cana for this wedding described in John 2
then he goes to another place according to John 2 12 it says after this he went
out to Capernaum he and his mother and his brethren and his disciples and they
continued there not many days so I believe that it is after this that Jesus
is driven by the Spirit into the wilderness for 40 days and when the
Bible says immediately it means that there was no delay when the Spirit drove
him there okay like it wasn't something he prepared for or packed up for
something like that it was just he was there and he just went straight into the
wilderness it wasn't like there was any warning or anything like that that's
what I believe Mark 1 12 means so he goes from Cana and Galilee to Capernaum
and then to the Judean desert the wilderness and he's tempted by the devil
for 40 days in that wilderness now the next important detail concerns the last
temptation that the devil gives against Christ in the wilderness it says in the
book of Luke chapter 4 verses 9 to 13 and he brought him to Jerusalem and set
him on a pinnacle of the temple and said unto him if thou be the Son of God cast
thyself down from hence for it is written he shall give his angels charge
over thee to keep thee and in their hand in their hands they shall bear thee up
lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone and Jesus answering said
unto him it is said thou shall not tempt the Lord thy God and when the devil had
ended all the temptation he departed from him for a season now in Matthew it
says he is brought into the holy city which would be Jerusalem and then it
tells us of how he was brought into an exceeding high mountain afterwards now
since Luke ends the story with Jesus being in Jerusalem I believe that this
mountain that he's brought into is somewhere in the whereabouts of
Jerusalem and that Jesus is wandering in the wilderness for 40 days ends with him
being in Jerusalem the reason why this detail is important is because the next
event in the book of John is about Jesus in Jerusalem okay so we go from verse 12
where it talks about how he's in Capernaum not many days then in verse 13
there's a little bit of a time skip where it says in John 2 13 and the Jews
Passover was at hand and Jesus went up to Jerusalem so Jesus arrives at
Jerusalem after being administered to by the angels after this 40-day temptation
and it's at the time of the Passover and this is when he drives out the money
changers from the temple in John chapter 2 and then in John chapter 3 that's when
he speaks to Nicodemus who comes unto him by night now after speaking to
Nicodemus immediately after it says in John 3 verse 22 to 25 after these things
so after he speaks to Nicodemus came Jesus and his disciples into the land of
Judea and there he tarried with them and baptized and John also was baptizing in
Enon near to Salim because there was much water there and they came and were
baptized for John was not yet cast into prison then there arose a question
between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying now the important
detail to note is that in verse 24 it states that John was not yet cast into
prison now by the time the temptation in the wilderness ends John's ministry was
still going on Jesus after his shortstop in Jerusalem around the Passover goes
through the land of Judea and baptizes with his disciples then the Jews come to
John asking him questions and we see that in the latter half of John chapter
3 where the message of John the Baptist is to these Jews and this is important
for understanding the following scripture as well mark chapter 1 verses
13 to 15 it says and he was there in the wilderness 40 days tempted of Satan and
was with the wild beast and the angels ministered unto him now after that John
was put in prison Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of the
kingdom of God and saying the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at
hand repent ye and believe the gospel now in between verse 13 and 14 there is
a gap in time verse 14 starts off with the words now after that John was put in
prison Jesus came into Galilee now this phrase after that is not referring to
after his temptation in the wilderness but after John was put into prison the
grammar in this verse is similar to that which is said in Ephesians 1 13 in whom
you also trusted after that you heard the word of truth the gospel of your
salvation so it's not saying that you hear the word after you trust Christ but
after that you heard the word the gospel of your salvation you trusted Christ
okay now based on John 3 we know that Jesus did not immediately go into
Galilee okay when his 40-day temptation ended he was in Jerusalem at the time of
the Passover okay and he was there then he went to the land of Judea and
preached for a period of time mark 1 14 as well as the account in Matthew and
Luke skip to the next highlight in Jesus's ministry when he finally does go
into Galilee but this only happens after John is put into prison and according to
John 3 24 he was not yet put into prison at this time so first after
Jesus's temptation he remains in Jerusalem he then baptizes in Judea
before John is put into prison at an unrevealed amount of time later so after
John is put into prison Jesus came into Galilee as recorded in
Matthew Mark and Luke however on the way from Judea to Galilee he stopped in
Samaria as it says in John 4 verses 3 to 5 he left Judea and departed again
into Galilee so I believe this is the same departing into Galilee as talked
about in Mark 1 and and Luke 4 and Matthew 4 so it says in verse 4 and he
must needs go through Samaria then cometh he to a city of Samaria which is
called Sychar near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph
now if you know the geography of this region Samaria is in between Judea and
Galilee okay and therefore Christ passed through it on the way and he stopped at
the city of Sychar by Jacob's well and that's where in John 4 it tells the
story of Jesus's encounter with the Samaritan woman at that well then two
days after he departed in Galilee as told to us by John 4 43 it says in the
book of Luke Luke 4 verse 14 to 16 and Jesus returned in the power of the
spirit into Galilee and there went out a fame of him through all the region round
about and he taught in their synagogues being glorified of all and he came to
Nazareth where he had been brought up and as his custom was he went into the
synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up for to read now in John it talks
about Jesus going into Cana of Galilee it's possible that he could have gone
there first since here it mentions in Luke in verse 15 that he taught in
synagogues before coming to Nazareth but the first named place where it records
him teaching is in Nazareth where he reads from the scroll of Isaiah and I'm
gonna read the whole passage for sake of time but he declares the scripture as
being fulfilled at this time he then is cast out of Nazareth and as it says in
the book of Matthew chapter 4 verses 12 to 13 now when Jesus had heard that John
was cast into prison he departed into Galilee and leaving Nazareth he came and
dwelt in Capernaum which is upon the seacoast in the borders of Zebulun and
Nephthalim it doesn't mention in Matthew's account why he was in Nazareth
but of course if we compare with Luke chapter 4 we know why he was there and
we know what he did in Nazareth so Jesus first goes to Cana as he passes through
Samaria he gets into Galilee first goes to Cana and a few other named towns then
to Nazareth and when he leaves Nazareth he goes to Capernaum where according to
Luke chapter 4 verses 31 to 36 it's where he cast out a devil from a man in
the synagogues he then goes around to other cities of Galilee preaching the
gospel of the kingdom and performing various miracles and the last event I
want to touch on today in Jesus's early ministry was the calling of his
disciples in Matthew 4 verses 18 20 and Jesus walking by the Sea of Galilee saw
two brethren Simon called Peter and Andrew his brother casting a net into
the sea for they were fishers and he saith unto them follow me and I will
make you fishers of men and they straightway left their nets and followed
him a much more detailed account is found in Luke chapter 5 however this
briefly shows us the calling of Jesus's disciples to follow him if you recall he
had met these two men before the day after he got baptized at this point it's
a few months later showing us that Peter and Andrew had returned to fishing and
did not follow Jesus through his temptation and his short ministry in
Judea at this time Jesus finally meets with Andrew and Peter again and calls
them to follow him as two of the twelve apostles to be his permanent disciples
and therefore we have these first two apostles who have now come to follow
Jesus the same chapter and also Luke 5 it talks about the sons of Zebedee as
well and several other apostles in the next few chapters so as a recap for the
early ministry of Jesus from the preaching of John the Baptist to the
calling of Peter and Andrew at the Sea of Galilee Jesus came from Galilee to
the Jordan River where John was baptizing at Bethabara to be baptized
of it the next day Andrew who was a disciple of John the Baptist as well as
another disciple of John followed Jesus and abode with him Andrew got his
brother Peter to introduce him to Christ and the next day Jesus returned into
Galilee where he had come from he returned to his home where he first came
to Philip of Bethsaida then to Cana in Galilee where he met Nathaniel the third
day after his baptism there is a wedding in Cana where Jesus did his
first miracle he turned water into wine he then goes down to Capernaum for a
brief time with his disciples and his mother and his brethren and then is
driven into the wilderness by the Spirit where he is tempted 40 days by the devil
the devil brings him up to a pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem where his
temptation ends and he is ministered to by the angels in Jerusalem at that time
is the Feast of Passover and he casts out the merchants from the temples he
overthrows the tables of the money changers and he does several miracles
in Jerusalem Nicodemus comes up to him by night and Jesus preaches unto him
then shortly after that Jesus leaves Jerusalem into the rest of Judea where
he begins to make more disciples and baptized in the land of Judea and at
this point John the Baptist hears about Christ's growing ministry John the
Baptist is cast into prison and at that point when Jesus hears about it Jesus
goes back to Galilee passing through Samaria on the way preaches in Samaria
particularly the the city of Zechar to a woman and several others of that town
then he departs in the Galilee where he goes to Cana and he heals first the son
of a nobleman he goes to the synagogue in Nazareth reads from Isaiah 61 and
declares himself to fulfill the scripture but he's cast out goes to
Capernaum where he casts out a devil out of a man in the synagogue as he goes
throughout Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom and performing various
miracles he eventually comes to the Sea of Galilee where he sees Peter and Andrew
again and calls them to follow him to be his disciples so that I believe is the
correct chronology of the early portion of the Gospels and it's based on the
details that's given in the scriptures so I hope this has been very
informational and I hope that it's helped you to have a better picture of
what Jesus's ministry was like and what happened in what order you know speak
sometimes it could be confusing at first if we don't pay attention if we just
kind of just glance over it or just read it and don't look at the finer details
especially since there are different records that highlight different events
so I hope this has helped you believers out there but also I would like to say
for those people who think that the Bible has contradictions oftentimes
they'll point out contradictions or so-called contradictions within the
Gospels because they'll say well you know there are four counts which are
supposed to be telling the same story and it seems like they're telling
different stories and they're saying different things happen at different
times and and you know everything doesn't really line up but it does line
up if you actually do the study instead of just being lazy and you know reading
it superficially so yes the Gospels do line up and the other point that that
the the unbelievers and the skeptics will point out they'll also talk about
the crucifixion and the resurrection they'll say that these stories in those
chapters towards the end of the Gospels contradict and that different events
seem to be out of place in different books but I'll show you in the next
video which will probably be next week and then I'll try to do both the
crucifixion and the resurrection next week to show that no there's no
contradiction in those stories as well and to show you what the actual
chronology is and what actually happened by looking at the finer details so thank
you ready for watching God bless you and goodbye