Who's on First

1 Corinthians 15:3–4 (NLT) — 3 I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. 4 He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said.

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I can't believe in the Bible because it contradicts itself. Even the gospel narratives don't line up! How can you believe in this Jesus guy if even your own "holy book" is full of errors?!

Let's talk about it...

It is true that not all gospel accounts record the exact same story. But what do they differ on? 

The details....

When Jesus is sending out his disciples to preach the gospel, heal the sick, and cast out demons Luke records

Luke 9:3 (NLT) — 3 “Take nothing for your journey,” he instructed them. “Don’t take a walking stick, a traveler’s bag, food, money, or even a change of clothes.

Mark says...

Mark 6:8 (NLT) — 8 He told them to take nothing for their journey except a walking stick—no food, no traveler’s bag, no money.

Here's another one...

Mark 16:5 (NLT) — 5 When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a white robe sitting on the right side. The women were shocked,

then in Luke

Luke 24:3–4 (NLT) — 3 So they went in, but they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 As they stood there puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes.

So what are we to believe?! Is it all false?

Think about your own experiences. When people witness an event, do they all recount the event exactly the same? If 2 people witnessed a car accident, would they be able to line up all of the details exactly the same? Probably not, but they would get the main and plain things right. 

In our accounts above, in the first story Jesus is sending out the disciples and the point is that they are not to rely on what they can pack, but rather they are to rely on God to provide. 

In the second story the point is that angels were there and one of the angels ended up speaking to the women who discovered the empty tomb.

If all of the gospel accounts have exactly the same information, that would actually damage their credibility. It would appear that they had all met up and corroborated their stories before writing them down, like you would have to do if you were making up lies. 

Because the gospel accounts don't line up on every detail but still say the same things about the main and plain it actually lends to their credibility!

So what do the gospel accounts all have in common then? What is the main and plain of the gospels?

All four gospels agree that:

Jesus of Nazareth was crucified in Jerusalem by Roman authority during the Passover Feast, having been arrested and convicted on charges of blasphemy by the Jewish Sanhedrin and then slandered before the governor Pilate on charges of treason. He died within several hours and was buried Friday afternoon by Joseph of Arimathea in a tomb, which was shut with a stone. Certain female followers of Jesus, including Mary Magdelene, having observed his interment, visited his tomb early on Sunday morning, only to find it empty. Thereafter, Jesus appeared alive from the dead to the disciples, including Peter, who then became proclaimers of the message of His resurrection.

Minor discrepancies don't affect our case. Historians expect to find inconsistencies even in the most reliable resources. No historian simply throws out a source because it has inconsistencies. Otherwise we'd have to be skeptical about all secular historical narratives that also contain such inconsistencies, which is wholly unreasonable.

There are a lot of people that do not want the Bible to be true, but the fact remains, we have good reason to believe that Jesus of Nazareth walked this earth and really did rise from the grave.

The historian, Kenneth Scott Latourette, says, “As the centuries pass, the evidence is accumulating that measured by his affect on history Jesus is the most influential life ever lived on the planet.” 

The non Christian, Historian, H.G. Wells, says, “I’m a historian. I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all of history.”

Even Fidel Castro, the great Communist Dictator and Revolutionary in Cuba, who does not love and worship Jesus Christ as we do, says this, “I have always considered Christ to be one of the greatest revolutionaries in the history of the world.”

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the great Reformed Baptist Preacher, says this, “Christ is the central fact of the world’s history. To him everything looks forward or backward. All the lines of history converge upon him. All the great purposes of God culminate in him. The greatest and most momentous fact which the history of the world records in the fact of his birth...”

Matthew 1:21 (ESV) — 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

John 3:17 (ESV) — 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Acts 2:21 (NLT) — 21 But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

Acts 4:12 (NLT) — 12 There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”

2 Timothy 1:9 (NLT) — 9 For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus.

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Craig, W. L., (2010). On Guard. Defending Your Faith with Reason and Precision. Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook.