Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were four men well qualified to write about the life and times of Jesus Christ. Matthew and John were eyewitnesses to the life of Jesus. They were with him from the beginning of his ministry. They heard his words, marveled at his miracles and witnessed his death, burial and resurrection. In John's own words, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched--this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete. This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: ...” (1 John 1:1-5 NIV)
Mark, though not an eyewitness, was a close friend and student of the apostle Peter. Much of what Mark wrote is based upon the preaching of Peter, who was an eyewitness and one of Jesus’ closest friends.
And what of Luke? He was a very educated Greek physician. He investigated the things he had heard about Jesus. He spoke with eyewitnesses and dug deep to learn the truth. Luke wrote, “Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.” (Luke 1:1-4 NIV)
These men put their lives on the line to tell the truth about Jesus Christ. Some people today say it's all a lie, but you have to wonder. Would they have died for something that they knew was a lie?
RELIABILITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT from Bible Studies by Phil Sanders
The Credible Christ from Look at the Man by Tim Woodroof and Glen Gray
Return to Past Issues of The Good News
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Copyright © 1996 by Gerry Sturgeon
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.