In our last article we finished the brief summaries of the Old Testament books, and therefore now continue with the books of the New Testament, which are 27 in number. They can be classified as historical books, doctrinal books, and one prophetical book.

The first four books are the Gospels, written by the evangelists. They speak of the life, office, suffering, death, resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus. The word "gospel" means "good tidings", and these four books are the good tidings which are preached throughout the world that sinners can be saved by the merits of the Saviour.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW is the first of these four books, and was written by Matthew, the apostle and evangelist. He is probably the same person who is called Levi in Mark 2:14 and Luke 5:27-28. Before being called as an apostle, he was a publican – a collector of taxes for the Romans. The publicans were hated by the Jews, and were considered to be traitors of their country. After his calling, he followed the Lord with glad­ness, and became an eye witness of the miracles of the Saviour.

After the Lord Jesus ascended, we know very little about Mat­thew's life. There have been many stories about the life, work and death of the apostles, evan­gelists and their direct successors, but these stories cannot be proved. We will make some remarks about their later life, but there is no certainty that it is completely true. About Matthew it is said that he remained about eight years in Judea after the Lord's ascension and then went to the heathens (some think into Ethiopia and Persia). It was probably in the year 62 A.D. that he was killed, having been hit with an axe.

Matthew writes his Gospel for the believing Jews and speaks mostly of Jesus' stay in Galilee. He describes the Lord Jesus as the promised Messiah in Whom all prophecies are fulfilled, and for this reason he repeatedly takes texts from the Old Testa­ment to prove his words. The Messiah is promised to the fathers as the Son of Abraham and the Son of David. Matthew makes it clear that the Messiah was come to his people, but they did not accept Him, and therefore the Gospel must be brought to the heathens, as he himself has done.

The following book is THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MARK. The writer, Mark, is also called John Mark (Acts 12:12); he was the son of Mary, in whose home the apostles regularly gathered. He first accompanied Paul in his travels (Acts 13:5), and later Peter (1 Peter 5:13), with whom he was closely be­friended. Through his stay in Jerusalem and his service to Peter, he knew the facts of Jesus' life history very well, and this was used by the Holy Spirit. His book was probably written with the help of Paul in Rome, between the year 64 and 67 A.D.

The main thought of Mark's Gospel is Genesis 49:9 – Judah is a lion's whelp. He describes the Messiah as the Victor over all enemies, and shows the Lord Jesus in His actions - His works, His deeds, and His wonders. He does not mention so many of the words of the Lord, but writes mostly about his deeds, which show His majesty as the promised Messiah. This Gospel is called the most concise and the most plain, but also the most important history of this world.

Next is THE GOSPEL AC­CORDING TO ST. LUKE, written by Luke, the physician. According to Eusebius and Hyronymus, this evangelist was born in Antioch, and some believe that he was one of the seventy who were sent out by the Lord Jesus. He was a faithful follower and friend of Paul, and also stayed with him during his capti­vity in Rome. His Gospel is the only one written by a person not of Jewish descent; it was written in about the year 60 A.D. either in Rome or in Achaia. In this last province he probably died as a martyr at the age of 84 years.

Luke is really an historian, as we can see in his Gospel. He begins at the period of time shortly before the birth of the Lord Jesus, and he indicates that he did much research. As a true historian, he places the birth of the Lord Jesus in that period of world history when Augustus reigned. He depicts the Messiah in His connection and importance for the whole human race. Matthew goes back in his genealogical register to Abraham, but Luke goes back to Adam. He speaks of the person and the work of the Son of man; his interest in medicine is evident as he, more than the other evange­lists, reveals the miracles of healing performed by the Lord Jesus. In addition he writes in a beautiful style of the parables and works of the Lord Jesus, the Saviour of the world, showing Him in His great love and mercy. Luke condemns the self-righteousness of the Pharisees. His friendship and association with Paul can be noticed in his writings.

John, the son of Zebedee, was the writer of the fourth Gospel, THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. He was a fisherman living near the sea of Gennesaret, and his mother Salome was a sister of Mary the mother of Jesus. John and Andrew were the first disciples of the Lord Jesus, and John was the disciple so much loved by Him, being also one of the three disciples that were always with Jesus. To him was given the care of Jesus's mother as Jesus hung on the cross.

Prior to the destruction of Jerusalem, John left Judea to labor among the churches, primarily in Ephesus. From Tertulian we obtain the history that during the persecution of Caesar Domitian John was cast into boiling oil for four hours, but was not harmed. Later he was sent into exile on the isle of Patmos, where he wrote the book of Revelation. He did not establish new congregations, but helped preserve the existing congregations for the pure doctrine of free grace. Gnosticism became a great danger in his days, as they denied the birth of Christ. John therefore wrote his Gospel, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, that his readers might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. He speaks mostly about Jesus' stay in Judea.

The next book, THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, was also writ­ten by Luke. Its title reveals its contents – the work of the apostles after the ascension of the Lord Jesus. He also describes the ascension. Another very im­portant event is the day of Pentecost, the descending of the Holy Ghost, Who will remain with the church to the end of the world.

Acts is in fact a continuation of the Gospels and an introduction to the epistles which follow. Beginning with the ascension of the Lord Jesus, it ends with the imprisonment of Paul in Rome in the year 65 A.D. Luke describes the extension of the church from Jerusalem, the center of the Jewish world, to the heathen nations, the transition of Christianity from the Jews to the Gentiles.