The people who wrote the Bible had a problem. There were lots and lots of stories about Jesus and they had to
choose which ones to put into their books.
In the Bible there are four main books that tell us about Jesus, they are called Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
They are named after the people who we traditionally think wrote them. We call these four books the Gospels. Gospel means Good Story or Good News.
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John probably talked to lots of People other who met Jesus. They would have shared with the other disciples and the women who travelled with Jesus and looked after him. They would have talked to people who heard Jesus speak and tell stories. They would have talked to men, women and children who saw Jesus heal people. They would have talked to people who saw Jesus die and who saw him in his new body after the resurrection.
The four Gospels contain some stories about Jesus that are the same and some that are different. Only Matthew
tells us about the wise men who came from the East to see Jesus when he was a child. Only Luke tells us the
story of the Good Samaritan. Each Gospel writer would have talked to different people and heard different stories.
At the end of John’s Gospel about Jesus the writer tells us that there were so many stories about Jesus that nobody
could have written them all down. He also says that the stories he put into his book were the ones he hoped would
help people to get to know Jesus for themselves.
Quick Quiz
1. Which Gospel tells us that Jesus was born in
Bethlehem?
2. Which Gospel tells us that there were wild animals
with Jesus in the wilderness?
3. Which Gospel starts with the words ‘In the
beginning...’?
4. Which Gospel tells the story of The road to Emmaus?
5. Which Gospel finishes with the words ‘Lo I am with
you always to the close of the age’?
6. In how many gospels would you find the story about
Jesus feeding lots of people with loaves and fishes?
Think About It
• What’s the same about these four accounts? What’s different?
• If you were making a book about the life of Jesus, which stories about Jesus would you include?
• Which of the stories that Jesus told would you include in your book and why?