Lúc khởi đầu đã có Ngôi Lời. Ngôi Lời vẫn hướng về Thiên Chúa, và Ngôi Lời là Thiên Chúa. Lúc khởi đầu, Người vẫn hướng về Thiên Chúa. Nhờ Ngôi Lời, vạn vật được tạo thành, và không có Người, thì chẳng có gì được tạo thành. Ðiều đã được tạo thành ở nơi Người là sự sống, và sự sống là ánh sáng cho nhân loại. Ánh sáng chiếu soi trong bóng tối,
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
Do you ever wonder who wrote the Bible? The Bible is God's Word, and so God is the author. Physically, the Bible was written by over forty different people and over hundreds of years. In the New Testament we can read about Jesus Christ in the four Gospels, Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John.
How can the Gospels be written by people, yet be the Word of God? The Apostle Peter gave us the answer. "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." (2 Peter 1:20-21)
This means that the Holy Spirit (God) carried these men along as they wrote. Like how we use pencils to write, God used the men to write down His Word for us. God has made His Word last forever, so that today we can read and understand God and Jesus Christ.
During Jesus’ time, not many people could read so stories were told by mouth and remembered. But as the people who knew Jesus began to die, a few people decided to write it down to make sure Jesus’ message would last forever.
The Gospel of Mark was probably written between the late 60s or early 70s. Matthew’s Gospel came next in the 70s. The Gospel of Luke was probably written in the 80s or after. And last but not least, the Gospel of John was written sometime between 90-110AD.
Why do we have four Gospels instead of just one to tell the story of Jesus? If you asked your family to describe how Christmas was like last year, you’d each have a different story to tell. Each member of our family would tell a similar story, but each person would focus on what he or she thought was important. Each of the Gospel looks at a different aspect of Jesus, but when you put them altogether, the four Gospels give you a complete picture of what Jesus and His life was like.
Many things are happening all over the world every single day. For example, American soldiers are in Iraq trying to help the people become free. There are hundreds of newspapers and magazines that describe what’s happening in Iraq everyday. And each one will tell their story in a different way and talk about different parts, but if you could read all of them, it would give you a very complete picture of what is going on in Iraq.
When you and a friend get into a fight, both of you would have different sides of the story to tell. If someone were to ask both of you to describe why you are fighting, both would say that he or she is right and the other person is wrong. But if you both listen to each other’s side of the story, then you’d understand why the other person is mad and would be able to find a solution to your fight.
So the next time you want to read about Jesus’ life, don’t just read one Gospel, try looking at the different ways each Gospel describes Jesus. In many Bibles, at the beginning of each passage, there will be a note of where the same passage is in another Gospel. For example, in Mark 14.32, when Jesus is in Gethsemane, you can see this same story is also in Matthew 26.36 and John 18.1. Each one will tell the story a little differently, but the same story is in all 3 Gospels.
To fully understand Jesus, you cannot read only one Gospel, you need to read all four. During Mass, the readings are selected from all four Gospels to show all the sides of Jesus and his life. Some Gospels are used more often than others, but all are used. Listen carefully during Mass at the way the reading is written.
You need to remember that just because the Gospels are different, it does not mean that one is wrong and another is right. Sometimes they will describe an event differently to show the different qualities of Jesus; His kindness, His mercy, or even His humanness.
In our life, we will always hear or read different versions to stories and events. We must try to understand all these versions as well as make sure to know which versions are good and bad. Sometimes bad versions will be written to make the good ones look bad, we must decide which ones are good, if you don’t know ask a parent, a Truong or a Priest to help you see what is the truth.
It is important for us to try to understand what Jesus’ was like, how He lived His life, and what His message is telling us to do. He loves us so much that He gave us the Gospels to make sure we’d know Him as well as those that lived during His time.
Dear Jesus, I place my faith in you. I pray that I can understand the Word so that I can understand you. Let me read your message so that I can lead a good life like you did. Help me to understand the Gospels and believe in you. Amen.