Resources to Help Study the Gospels
Resources to Help Study the Gospels
Last week I shared some initial ideas to keep in mind when reading the Gospels. You can read that post here. Today I want to share some resources to help study the Gospels. As a reminder, the Gospels are the first four books of the New Testament and they teach us about Jesus Christ’s ministry here on earth.
The Gospels are key for understanding many things. We can know the following as we read and study these four books in the Bible.
We can see….
- God’s ultimate plan for the whole world.
- God’s salvation through His Son, Jesus.
- Why Jesus had to came to earth.
- How Jesus lived the perfect life and died on the cross for us.
- The type of world Jesus is going to create for us in eternity.
- The Father’s love for us.
- And many more things!
Studying the Gospels not only are a great way to introduce someone to the God of the Bible and His Son, the Gospels are for Christians a way to live a deeper, more satisfied and fulfilling life as we look to Jesus as our Savior and Guide.
Tweet ThisAlthough I’ve read some of these books, the ones I share below have been recommended by people I respect and so I offer these to you as well.
Resources to Help Study the Bible
ESV.org Introductions
These simple pages found at ESV.org are a great resource for getting a quick overview of each of the Gospels. Starting here is a great place to start! Click on the name below to find a page for each of the four gospels.
Surprised by Jesus by Dane Ortlund
I referred to this book in the previous post and I highly recommend reading this book as a way to view the Gospels in a unique way. I read through this book myself and it helped me see more of the depth of each of the Gospels as well as a deeper understanding of what Jesus’ message is for us today.
Warren Wiersbe’s “Be Series”
One of my favorite commentaries for beginners especially is the Wiersbe series. Pastor Weirsbe has a commentary on all four gospels and what I love about each book is that it takes it mostly verse-by-verse and explains historical context, confusing verses, and gives really practical application for each of the topics. These books are shorter and easy to read. Click the name below to find each of the books.
StudyLight.Org
This is a site that contains a myriad of commentaries to choose from – and they are all free. Navigating the site can be difficult and confusing, but if you click the links below you will find a starting point for each of the Gospels. Dedicate an hour or two to get used to the site and this can be a very valuable resource for you!
John MacAurthur’s Commentaries
Pastor John MacAurthur has been studying the New Testament and Jesus’ life for over fifty years. His deep understanding of the times of the New Testament is found in each of his commentaries on the Gospels. I found these to be a great reference point and not necessarily used for straight reading. If you find yourself struggling to understand a certain passage, I highly recommend MacAurthur’s teachings! Below are links to the Kindle edition (which come in a set) but they are available as hardback as well – just more expensive!
Kindle Versions:
Hardback Versions:
What else would you add? Leave a comment and let me know what other resources you might have found helpful when studying the Gospels! I’d be happy to add to my list above.
Understanding each of the Gospel’s perspectives helps us to read them with better understanding and provides for us a clearer picture of who Jesus was while He lived on earth. This allows us a full and complete picture of Jesus our Savior today! If you would like a simple Bible reading plan to help you read through the Gospels one chapter a day it should take you about ninety days. Click here to download a PDF.