Chapter I: Preface

It is now just thirty years since one day his young assistant suggested to Dr. John A. Broadus that he prepare a harmony of the Gospels that should depart from the old plan of following the feasts as the turning points in the life of Jesus. He acted on the hint and led the way that all modern harmonies have followed. The book has gone through a dozen large editions and has become the standard harmony for many thousands of students all over the world. Broadus was concerned to bring out "the inner movements of the history, towards that long-delayed, but foreseen and inevitable collision, in which, beyond all other instances, the wrath of man was made to praise God." This he succeeded in doing with marvelous power.

A generation has passed by and it is meet that the work of Broadus should be reviewed in the light of modern synoptic criticism and research into every phase of the life of Christ. So I have made a new analysis that preserves Broadus's real purpose, but with new sections and new notes. The notes at the end of the old volume, written by me for the first edition, have been thoroughly revised and brought up to date. The Old Testament passages referred to in the Gospels are given in the text. The Gospel of Mark appears in the first column, then Matthew, Luke, and John. It is now known that Matthew and Luke made use of Mark for the framework of their Gospels. This change simplifies amazingly the unfolding of the narrative.

There is still dispute concerning the historical worth of the Gospel of John, but the Johannine authorship is not disproved. It still holds the field in my opinion. Dr. C. F. Burney's theory of an Aramaic original is already giving a new turn to Johannine criticism.

A harmony of the Gospels cannot meet every phase of modern criticism. The data are given, as free from bias as circumstances allow, so that all students can use the book and interpret the facts according to their various theories. Numerous historical items call for notes of various kinds that throw light on the passage in question. No effort is made to reconcile all the divergent statements of various details in the different Gospels. The differences challenge the student's interest as much as the correspondences and are natural marks of individual work. The notes and appendices at the end of the volume are meant for students who wish help for historical study of the life of Christ. A harmony cannot give all the aid that one needs, but it is the one essential book for the serious study of the life of Jesus. Students in colleges, theological seminaries, Young Men's Christian Association and Young Women's Christian Association classes, Sunday School teachers and pupils, preachers, all who read the Gospels intelligently must have a modern harmony of the Gospels. One who has never read a harmony will be amazed at the flood of light that flashes from the parallel and progressive records of the life of Jesus Christ.

Broadus began teaching the life of Jesus in 1859 and kept it up till his death in 1895. I began like work in 1888 and have kept on without a break till now. I count it one of the crowning mercies of my life that I have led so many successive classes of young ministers and young women (some five thousand in all) through the study of Christ's life. If only one can pass on to others in all their freshness and power the teachings of Jesus, he cannot fail. There was a time when men hung in wonder upon the words of Jesus, listening with awe and rapture as he spoke. The Figure of Christ fills the world today as never before. Back to Christ the world has come, the Christ of Faith and of Experience, the Jesus of History, the Man of Galilee, the Hope of Today, the Jesus Christ of the Four Gospels, in the full blaze of modern critical and historical study.

A. T. ROBERTSON.

_Louisville, Kentucky_.

CONTENTS

PAGE
PREFACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii

CHIEF DIVISIONS OF THE HARMONY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi

ANALYTICAL OUTLINE OF THE HARMONY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii

TABLE FOR FINDING ANY PASSAGE IN THE HARMONY . . . . . . . . . xxxiii

THE HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

EXPLANATORY NOTES ON POINTS OF SPECIAL DIFFICULTY IN THE HARMONY 253
1. About Harmonies of the Gospels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
2. Synoptic Criticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
3. The Authorship of the Fourth Gospel . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
4. The Jesus of History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
5. The Two Genealogies of Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
6. The Probable Time of the Saviour's Birth . . . . . . . . . 262
7. The Feast of John 5:1, and the Duration of Our Lord's
Ministry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
8. The Four Lists of the Twelve Apostles . . . . . . . . . . . 271
9. The Sermon on the Mount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
10. The Combination of Luke and John . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
11. Did Christ Eat the Passover? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
12. The Hour of the Crucifixion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
13. The Time of the Resurrection of Christ . . . . . . . . . . 287
14. The Length of Our Lord's Stay in the Tomb . . . . . . . . . 289

A LIST OF THE PARABLES OF JESUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

A LIST OF THE MIRACLES OF JESUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294

LIST OF OLD TESTAMENT QUOTATIONS IN THE GOSPELS . . . . . . . . . 295

A LIST OF SOME UNCANONICAL SAYINGS OF JESUS . . . . . . . . . . . 302

SIMILAR INCIDENTS AND CHIEF REPEATED SAYINGS . . . . . . . . . . 304

CHIEF DIVISIONS OF THE HARMONY

PART I: THE SOURCES OF THE GOSPELS
Sect. 1

PART II: THE PRE-EXISTENT STATE OF CHRIST AND HIS INCARNATION
Sect. 2

PART III: THE TWO GENEALOGIES IN MATTHEW AND LUKE
Sect. 3

PART IV: THE BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD OF THE BAPTIST AND OF JESUS
Sects. 4-19. (Probably B.C. 7 to A.D. 7)

PART V: THE BEGINNING OF THE BAPTIST'S MINISTRY
Sects. 20-23. (Probably A.D. 25)

PART VI: THE BEGINNING OF CHRIST'S PUBLIC MINISTRY
Sects. 24-36. (In all parts of Palestine. Probably A.D. 26 and
27)

PART VII: THE GREAT GALLILEAN MINISTRY
Sects. 37-71. (Probably A.D. 27 to 29)

PART VIII: THE SPECIAL TRAINING OF THE TWELVE IN DISTRICTS AROUND
GALILEE
Sects. 72-95. (Probably Passover in A.D. 29 to Tabernacles in
A.D. 29)

PART IX: THE LATER JUDEAN MINISTRY
Sects. 96-111. (Probably Tabernacles to Dedication in A.D. 29)

PART X: THE LATER PEREAN MINISTRY
Sects. 112-127. (Probably Dedication in A.D. 29 to Last Journey
in A.D. 30)

PART XI: THE LAST PUBLIC MINISTRY IN JERUSALEM
Sects. 128a-138. (Friday before the Passover to Tuesday of
Passion Week, A.D. 30 or 29)

PART XII: IN THE SHADOW WITH JESUS
Sects. 139-152. (Tuesday afternoon to Thursday night of Passion
Week, A.D. 30 or 29)

PART XIII: THE ARREST, TRIAL, CRUCIFIXION, AND BURIAL OF JESUS
Sects. 153-168. (Early Friday morning to Saturday of Passion
Week, A.D. 30 or 29)

PART XIV: THE RESURRECTION, APPEARANCES, AND ASCENSION OF CHRIST
Sects. 169-184. (Forty days from Sunday of Passion Week, A.D. 30
or 29)

ANALYTICAL OUTLINE OF THE HARMONY

PART I: THE SOURCES OF THE GOSPELS
Sect. 1: IN THE DEDICATION LUKE EXPLAINS HIS METHOD OF RESEARCH
Luke 1:1-4.

PART II: THE PRE-EXISTENT STATE OF CHRIST AND HIS INCARNATION
Sect. 2: IN HIS INTRODUCTION JOHN PICTURES CHRIST AS THE WORD
(LOGOS)
John 1:1-18.

PART III: THE TWO GENEALOGIES IN MATTHEW AND LUKE
Sect. 3: APPARENTLY JOSEPH'S GENEALOGY IN MATTHEW AND MARY'S IN LUKE
Matt. 1:1-17; Luke 3:23-38.