The main events and time periods of Jesus Christs life on earth. A synopsis of all four Gospels into one overview.
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were not historians by training. If history needed to be written, they had Josephus to keep track of the facts in Israel. With the coming of the crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ and the powerful effect of what happened at Pentecost, each felt compelled to write down the events as he saw them. The material in each Gospel is arranged differently and the emphasis is changed in each one. Remarkably, three of the Gospels relate the story of Jesus in a similar way and are called the synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke.
Jesus walked the earth for 33 years. There is almost nothing known about Jesus childhood and early life. Only Matthew and Luke record His birth and each tells his own story. There is no conflict between the two, only different events are reported. Jesus was born in 6BC. John is the only Gospel writer that mentions Jesus' pre-existence in heaven with God the Father. Only Luke records that when Jesus was twelve years old, he went to the temple and stayed there for a few days while Joseph and Mary searched for their boy.
When Jesus decides that the time is right for Him to enter the world stage, he prepares for ministry. Two important events occur before Jesus starts teaching, preaching and healing. First, John baptizes him and the Trinity is revealed with the approving sound of the Father's voice and the appearance of the Holy Spirit as a dove. Next, Jesus goes into the wilderness for forty days of fasting and a season of temptation by Satan.
The ministry of Jesus begins in Judea. We don't know how much time transpired between the temptation in the desert and Jesus first works. Only John mentions this important time in the Lord's ministry. John, Andrew, Peter, Nathanael and Philip were already Disciples as this period starts. In Judea was the Wedding at Cana, where Jesus turned the water into wine, His meeting with the Samaritan woman, the clearing of the temple and his encounter with Nicodemus.
Jesus then spent two years in Galilee; a period covered by all four Gospel authors. Matthew, Mark and Luke cover the same events although not always in the same way or the same order. That's because each was writing to a different audience and their emphasis was slightly different. The feeding of the five thousand and the Transfiguration happened in Galilee. The Parables and the many healings were bringing the attention of the religious authorities on him now. At the end of this time Jesus sets his face towards Jerusalem and he begins to return there.
He spent about one month in Judea and four in Perea towards the end of his ministry. There was a lot of controversy as the religious leaders looked for a way to arrest Jesus. Lazarus was raised from the dead.
Jesus' last week on earth is described in great detail in all four Gospels. The week starts with the anointing at Bethany where Lazarus, Mary and Martha entertain him at their home and Mary anoints his body with expensive perfume. Jesus later washes the disciple's feet before the Last Supper where he predicts Judas' betrayal. This is a time of intense teaching for the Disciples and some of the most beautiful messages of Jesus are saved for these intimate encounters with the twelve. After the Last Supper, Jesus agonizes alone in the garden over his fate. After his prayers, Judas shows up with a mob and the Lord is arrested. He is tried, crucified, dies on a cross and rises from the dead on the third day.
After the Resurrection, Jesus appears to many. He appeared to Mary Magdalene, other women and to different disciples individually and as a group. As a last act Jesus ascends into heaven while the disciples watch him go. "I passed on to you what I received, which is of the greatest importance: that Christ died for our sins, as written in the Scriptures; that he was buried and that he was raised to life three days later, as written in the Scriptures; that he appeared to Peter and then to all twelve apostles. Then he appeared to more than five hundred of his followers at once, most of whom are still alive, although some have died. Then he appeared to James, and afterward to all the apostles. Last of all he appeared also to me." (1Cor. 15: 3-8)
Scripture Quotations from The Good News Bible, Canadian Bible Society, 1992
