Introduction: The Man Who Changed the World
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More books have been written about Jesus of Nazareth than about any other person in history. He wrote none himself. He never held office, led an army, or travelled far beyond a small corner of the Roman Empire. He died in his early thirties as an executed criminal. Yet two thousand years later, about a third of the world's people call themselves his followers, and the calendar by which much of the world counts its years is built around his birth.
Four short biographies, the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, tell his story. Luke explains his method: "It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed" (Luke 1:3-4). John states his purpose: "But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name" (John 20:31). John also admits how much is left out: "And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written" (John 21:25).
How This Book Is Arranged
The book moves in three parts.
| Part | Chapters | Subject |
| The Life and Times | 2 to 5 and 11 to 12 | The world he entered, his birth, ministry, death, and resurrection |
| The Sermons and Teaching | 6 to 10 | The Sermon on the Mount, the parables, the miracles, and his great themes |
| The Proof of His Deity | 13 to 14 | The evidence that Jesus is God, and the challenges to it |
A Note on Sources
The four Gospels are the main sources, and Christians hold them to be inspired. Historians, including many who are not believers, treat them as ancient biographies written within the lifetimes of eyewitnesses, most dating them between roughly AD 60 and 95 [1]. This book follows them, supplementing with the rest of the New Testament and the historical background known from other ancient writers.
CHAPTER 2