Confession: The can be a confusing book. It can be difficult to read, frustrating, and absolutely beautiful all at the same time. Part of the problem is that we think of the bible as a singular book when, in fact, it’s a collection of 66 books; historical narratives, civil and ceremonial law, poetry, prophecy, biographies, and letters. But they are written by approximately 40 authors over a period of around 2,000 years and in written in cultures very different than ours. But as confusing and difficult as it can be, the Bible has been the primary way people have come to know God and the character of God for thousands of years.

Generally Christians divide the bible into two parts: an “Old” Testament and a “New” Testament (They are both pretty old... we should probably say “Older and Newer”). The readings below (except for the first) are from what are called “.” literally means “Good News,” but you can think of them as biographies of . Written by 4 different people, they tell the story of Jesus through their unique perspective. As you read, remember that ancient biographies are not like modern-day biographies. The goal was not to get every fact and chronology to perfectly agree between the 4 writers; they weren’t trying to prove anything. Rather, then wanted to tell the story of this man Jesus.

When you are reading, you will almost immediately read about miracles: a virgin birth, Jesus turning water into wine, Jesus calming a storm and healing people. Although these can go against our modern-day sensibilities (“seriously, a person possessed by a demon!”), I would urge you to read them initially at face value. In these pages, the case is being made that the person of Jesus is God in human form. And if God WAS in human form, it would only make sense that miracles would exist (I mean seriously, if you were God in human form and you were at a big party and they ran out of wine – bringing disgrace to your friend throwing the party -- wouldn’t you be tempted to make more? Especially if your mom asked you to?). So just read the bible at face value. There will be time for skepticism later. As you read, simply ask: If Jesus was God, what does this say about the character of God? Do I see myself in any of these stories? How is this Jesus different from the image of Jesus I have formed in my head?

Finally, you will notice that there is a shorthand way to tell people how to find the different stories and books in the bible. These biographies (gospels) were originally written without chapters and verses. Actually, they were basically one, big, long run-on sentence in Greek. Most of the chapter and verse divisions were added around 1500 AD simply to help us find things. There really is nothing magical about them and they can even become a hindrance to understanding what the author was trying to say (because we don’t get the context).

Take time each day (or at least regularly) to read. And simply use this as an opportunity to get to know the person of Jesus more clearly A note on shorthand: :18-25 simply means that you turn to Matthew (the table of contents or a search engine can help). It’s the first chapter, and verses (basically sentences of clauses) 18-25.

Jesus foretold (Isaiah 53) The birth of Jesus (Matthew 1:18-25) prepares the way (:1-4:11) Water to wine and the Samaritan woman (John 2:1-11; John 4:1-26) Jesus rejected in his hometown (Luke 4:14-30) Jesus calls his disciples (Luke 5:1-11; :9-13) (Luke 6:17-46) A centurion, a widow's son, and a sinful woman (:1-13; Luke 7:11- 17; 7:36-50) Encounters with the (:1-13; 22-45) Parable of the sower, weeds, and seeds (:1-43) Jesus calms the storm and later walks on water (Luke 8:22-25; Mark 6:45-56) Jesus heals a man, woman, and girl (Mark 5:1-43) Feeding of the 5,000 (John 6:1-14) Peter identifies the Christ and the Transfiguration (:18-27; :1-8) Healing by faith (:14-32) Teachings and parables (:24-18:20) Teachings and parables (Matthew 18:21-19:15) The rich young ruler (Mark 10:17-31) Disciples sent out (Luke 10:1-24) The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) Jesus teaches how to pray (Luke 11:1-13) Jesus revives Lazarus (John 11:1-44) Jesus comes to (:1-27) The (John 13:1-17; :17-35) Comfort for the disciples (John 14-15) Jesus arrested and disowned (Matthew 26:36-75) Jesus' trial (John 18:19-19:16) Jesus' Crucifixion and death (John 19:17-42) Jesus' Resurrection and appearances (-21) The and Ascension (:16-20; Luke 24:50-53)