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Chronological

Read the Bible in the chronological order in which its stories and events occurred.

Duration: 365 days

Matthew 3

Jesus Inaugurates His Ministry as Savior

Chapter 3

John the Baptist Preaches and Baptizes.^[a]¹In those days, John the Baptist^[b] appeared in the desert of Judea, preaching: ²“Repent,^[c] for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.” This was the man of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said:

³“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’ ”^[d]

⁴John’s clothing was made of camel’s hair, with a leather loincloth around his waist, and his food consisted of locusts and wild honey.^[e] ⁵The people of Jerusalem and the whole of Judea and the entire region along the Jordan went out to him, ⁶and as they confessed their sins they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

⁷^[f]But when he observed many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸Produce good fruit as proof of your repentance. ⁹Do not presume to say to yourselves: ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones. ¹⁰Even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹^[g]“I baptize you with water for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is more powerful than I am. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹²His winnowing fan is in his hand. He will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”^[h]

¹³Jesus Is Baptized.^[i] Then Jesus arrived from Galilee and came to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. ¹⁴John tried to dissuade him, saying, “Why do you come to me? I am the one who needs to be baptized by you.” ¹⁵But Jesus said to him in reply, “For the present, let it be thus. It is proper for us to do this to fulfill all that righteousness demands.”^[j] Then he acquiesced.

¹⁶After Jesus had been baptized, as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened and he beheld the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. ¹⁷And a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”^[k]

Footnotes

Matthew 3:1 This account is concerned with the person and prophetic message of John (vv. 1-6), his baptism (v. 6), his criticism of the Pharisees and Sadducees (vv. 7-10), his teaching about Jesus (vv. 11-12), and his baptism of Jesus (vv. 15-17).
Matthew 3:1 John the Baptist: the cousin and precursor of Jesus (see Lk 1:5-80). Desert of Judea: a twenty-mile barren region from the Jerusalem-Bethlehem plateau to the Jordan River and the Dead Sea.
Matthew 3:2 Repent: a change of heart and conduct—a return to keeping the Mosaic Law. Kingdom of heaven: a phrase found only in Matthew (33 times); in Mark and Luke it is “kingdom of God.” The kingdom of heaven is the rule of God, both as present reality and as future hope. The kingdom is a central part of Jesus’ message.
Matthew 3:3 All four Gospels quote Isa 40:3 and apply it to John the Baptist. Make his paths straight: a phrase that is equivalent to “Prepare the way for the Lord” in Lk 3:4. In ancient times, when the king was to travel to a distant land, the roads were improved. Similarly, the spiritual preparation for the coming of the Messiah was made by John in calling for repentance and the remission of sins and announcing the need for a Savior.
Matthew 3:4 John’s simple food, clothing, and lifestyle were reminiscent of Elijah (see 2 Ki 17), and Jesus later declares that John was the Elijah who had already come (see Mt 17:10ff; see also Mal 3:23).
Matthew 3:7 John heavily criticizes members of two religious sects of the Jews who come to receive his baptism. The Pharisees were a legalistic and separatist group who strictly kept the Law of Moses as well as the unwritten “tradition of the elders” (Mt 15:2). The Sadducees were more worldly and politically minded, closely connected with the high priests, and they accepted only the first five Books of the Old Testament as their Scriptures. They also rejected belief in the resurrection after death.
Matthew 3:11 I am not worthy to carry his sandals: bearing sandals was one of the duties of a slave. The baptism of John prepares for the purifying action with the Holy Spirit and fire that Jesus will effect (see Isa 1:25; Zec 13:9; Mal 3:2) and that was seen very dramatically at Pentecost (Acts 1:5, 8; 2:1-16). Refusal of this Baptism instituted by Christ leads to final condemnation in imperishable fire (see Isa 34:8ff; Jer 7:20).
Matthew 3:12 The separation of the good and the bad that will take place at Christ’s Second Coming is compared to the way farmers separated wheat from chaff. After trampling out the grain, they used a large fork to pitch the grain and the chaff into the air. The kernels of wheat fell to the ground while the light chaff was borne away by the wind, then gathered up and burned.
Matthew 3:13 The theophanies of the Old Testament were meant to convey something of the ineffable transcendence of God (Ex 3); the theophany that here begins the New Testament reveals something of the inner life of God: God is three persons. The dove perhaps suggests the Creator Spirit (Gen 1:2), but may also symbolize the divine goodwill that was restored after the flood (Gen 8:8-12), or the very People of God (Hos 7:11; 11:11; Isa 60:8), the formation of which is the work of the Spirit.
Matthew 3:15 All that righteousness demands: i.e., all observances, everything that is part of God’s plan. Jesus obeys the Father’s will in everything (Phil 2:8).
Matthew 3:17 This heavenly pronouncement intermingles language from Ps 2:7 and Isa 42:1, prophetic terminology that was well known to those with Messianic expectations (see Mt 17:5; Mk 1:11; 9:7; Lk 3:22; 9:35).

Mark 1

Preparation for the Mission of Jesus^[a]

Chapter 1

Beginning of the Good News.^[b] ¹The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

²It is written in the prophet Isaiah:^[c]

“Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you;
he will prepare your way.
³The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’ ”

⁴Hence, John the Baptist appeared in the desert, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵People from the entire Judean countryside and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem went out to him, and as they confessed their sins they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

⁶John was clothed in a garment of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and his food consisted of locusts and wild honey. ⁷And this was the message he proclaimed: “One who is far more powerful than I am is coming after me. I am not worthy even to stoop down and loosen the straps of his sandals. ⁸I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”^[d]

Jesus Is Baptized by John.^[e] ⁹At that time,^[f] Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰^[g]And as he was coming up out of the water, he beheld the heavens break open and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove. ¹¹And a voice came from heaven: “You are my beloved Son; in you I am well pleased.”

¹²Jesus Is Tempted in the Desert.^[h] The Spirit immediately drove him out into the desert. ¹³He remained there for forty days, during which time he was tempted by Satan. He lived there among the wild beasts, while the angels ministered to him.

Is Jesus the Messiah?^[i]

First Testimonies of the Messiah’s Mission

¹⁴Jesus Inaugurates His Mission. After John had been arrested,^[j] Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, ¹⁵“The time of fulfillment has arrived, and the kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

¹⁶The First Disciples.^[k] As Jesus was walking along by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea, for they were fishermen. ¹⁷Jesus said to them, “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” ¹⁸Immediately, they abandoned their nets and followed him.

¹⁹As he proceeded farther, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They also were in a boat mending their nets. ²⁰Immediately, he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired workers and followed him.

²¹Jesus Heals a Man with a Demon.^[l] They journeyed to Capernaum, and on the Sabbath Jesus immediately entered the synagogue and began to instruct the people. ²²They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.

²³In that synagogue there was a man with an unclean spirit, and he shrieked, ²⁴“What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.”^[m] ²⁵But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!”

²⁶The unclean spirit threw the man into convulsions and with a loud cry emerged from him. ²⁷The people were all amazed, and they began to ask one another, “What is this? It must be a new kind of teaching! With authority he gives commands even to unclean spirits, and they obey him!” ²⁸His reputation quickly began to spread everywhere throughout the entire region of Galilee.

²⁹Jesus Heals Peter’s Mother-in-Law. Immediately on leaving the synagogue, he went with James and John into the house of Simon and Andrew. ³⁰Simon’s mother-in-law^[n] was lying in bed, sick with a fever, and they informed Jesus at once about her. ³¹Jesus approached her, grasped her by the hand, and helped her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

³²Other Healings. That evening, after sunset, they brought to him all those who were sick or possessed by demons.^[o] ³³The whole town was present, crowded around the door. ³⁴He cured many who were afflicted with various diseases, and he drove out many demons, although he would not permit them to speak because they knew who he was.

³⁵Jesus Proclaims the Message and Heals the Sick. Early the next morning, long before dawn, he arose and went off to a secluded place, where he prayed. ³⁶Simon and his companions set forth in search of him, ³⁷and when they found him they said, “Everybody is looking for you.” ³⁸He replied, “Let us move on to the neighboring towns so that I may proclaim the message there as well. For this is the reason why I came.” ³⁹Then he traveled all throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.

⁴⁰Jesus Heals a Man with Leprosy. A man with leprosy^[p] approached and, kneeling before him, begged him, “If you choose to do so, you can make me clean.” ⁴¹Moved with pity, “he stretched out his hand and touched him,^[q] saying, “I do choose. Be made clean!” ⁴²Immediately, the leprosy left him and he was cured.

⁴³Jesus then sent him away at once, after first sternly warning him, ⁴⁴“See that you tell no one anything about this. Just go and show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed. That will be proof for them.”^[r] ⁴⁵However, he went forth and began to proclaim the entire story, spreading the word far and wide. As a result, Jesus could no longer go openly into any town. Rather, he stayed outside in deserted places, and people continued to come to him from every quarter.

Footnotes

Mark 1:1 Around the year 30, after centuries of silence, a prophet named John appears and unsettles his contemporaries. They are captivated by the force of his personality and the vehemence of his message. Then Jesus comes on the scene. Mark uses this story as a kind of prologue for his book, a kind of key for understanding the pages that follow: the Gospel, the “good news,” is here bursting out in the midst of humanity; the action of Jesus inaugurates the kingdom of God, the time of salvation.
Mark 1:1 The Gospel is not primarily a book but rather God’s action for the salvation of humankind. The entire Book of Mark depicts Jesus as the promised and awaited one (the Messiah) and as the Son of God (see Mk 8:35; 10:29).
Mark 1:2 The prophet Isaiah: the quotation that follows is a combination of Malachi (3:1) and Isaiah (40:3). See note on Mt 27:9.
Mark 1:8 Baptize you with the Holy Spirit: see note on Mt 3:11.
Mark 1:9 Mark retains only the essential elements of the divine manifestation, which here is given only to Jesus, whose mission is announced.
Mark 1:9 At that time: Jesus probably began his public ministry about A.D. 27 at approximately 30 years of age (see Lk 3:23). Nazareth: see note on Mt 2:23. Baptized by John: see note on Mt 3:15 for the meaning of Jesus’ baptism.
Mark 1:10 This passage has the involvement of all three persons of the Trinity: (1) the Father speaks; (2) the Son is baptized; and (3) the Holy Spirit descends on the Son.
Mark 1:12 Jesus is already committed to his mission of combating Satan, the representative of all the forces of evil that batter humanity.
Mark 1:14 People had a simple idea of the Messiah as a glorious figure: they were expecting a national hero, a political liberator, a restorer of their independence and their public worship, a leader who would bring Israel to world domination. But the reason why Jesus comes before the nation is quite different. This first part of Mark’s Gospel describes three periods. Three times the author gives a general summary of the activity of Jesus and describes a mission of the disciples; each period ends with a scene of hostility and lack of understanding. At the end of this first half of the book, the confession of Peter at Caesarea recognizes the Messiah without any misunderstanding. From that point on, the road will lead to the Passion; that development occupies the second half of the Gospel.
Mark 1:14 After John had been arrested: the ministry of Jesus begins under the sign of his precursor’s martyrdom. This simple chronological marker is a veiled prefiguration of the suffering and death that await the Messiah. See note on Lk 3:20.
Mark 1:16 See note on Mt 4:18-22.
Mark 1:21 See note on Lk 4:31-41.
Mark 1:24 The Holy One of God: this title is used only here and in Lk 4:34 and Jn 6:69. It refers more to Jesus’ divinity than to his Messiahship (see Lk 1:35).
Mark 1:30 Simon’s mother-in-law: Paul (in 1 Cor 9:5) speaks of Peter being married.
Mark 1:32 At sunset, the strictly enjoined Sabbath rest came to an end.
Mark 1:40 Leprosy: see Lev 13–14.
Mark 1:41 Touched him: an act that caused defilement according to the Law (see Lev 13:45-46). Jesus’ compassion superseded any consideration of defilement.
Mark 1:44 For this ritual cleansing, see Lev 14:1-32.

Luke 3

The Beginning of Jesus’ Ministry^[a]

Chapter 3

The Ministry of John the Baptist. ¹In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias^[b] was tetrarch of Abilene, ²during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas,^[c] the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert. ³He journeyed throughout the entire region of the Jordan valley, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, ⁴as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah:

“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
    make straight his paths.
⁵Every valley shall be filled in,
    and every mountain and hill shall be leveled;
the winding roads shall be straightened
    and the rough paths made smooth,
⁶and all mankind shall see the salvation of God.’ ”

⁷He admonished the crowds who came out to be baptized by him: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸Produce good fruits as proof of your repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones. ⁹Even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰When the crowds asked him, “What then should we do?” ¹¹he said to them in reply, “Anyone who has two coats must share with the person who has none, and whoever has food must do likewise.” ¹²Even tax collectors were coming to him to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?” ¹³He answered them, “Cease collecting more than the amount prescribed.” ¹⁴Some soldiers also asked him, “What about us? What should we do?” He replied, “Do not extort money from anyone, do not falsely accuse or threaten anyone, and be satisfied with your wages.”

¹⁵As the people began to experience a feeling of expectancy, they all wondered in their hearts whether John might be the Christ. ¹⁶John answered, telling them all: “I baptize you with water, but there is one coming who is more powerful than I am. I am not worthy to loosen the straps of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” ¹⁸And with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.

¹⁹But Herod the tetrarch, after having been rebuked by John because of his affair with Herodias, his brother’s wife, in addition to all the other evil deeds he had done, ²⁰added still this, that he put John in prison.^[d]

²¹The Baptism of Jesus.^[e] After John had baptized all the people, and while Jesus was engaged in prayer after also having been baptized, heaven opened ²²and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my beloved Son; in you I am well pleased.”

²³The Genealogy of Jesus.^[f] When Jesus began his ministry, he was about thirty years old. He was the son, as it was thought, of Joseph,^[g]

the son of Heli, ²⁴the son of Matthat,

the son of Levi, the son of Melchi,

the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph,

²⁵the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos,

the son of Nahum, the son of Esli,

the son of Naggai, ²⁶the son of Maath,

the son of Mattathias,

the son of Semein, the son of Josech,

the son of Joda, ²⁷the son of Joanan,

the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel,

the son of Shealtiel,

the son of Neri, ²⁸the son of Melchi,

the son of Addi, the son of Cosam,

the son of Elmadam, the son of Er,

²⁹the son of Joshua,

the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim,

the son of Matthat, the son of Levi,

³⁰the son of Simeon, the son of Judah,

the son of Joseph,

the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim,

³¹the son of Melea, the son of Menna,

the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan,

the son of David,

³²the son of Jesse, the son of Obed,

the son of Boaz, the son of Sala,

the son of Nahshon, ³³the son of Amminadab,

the son of Admin,

the son of Arni, the son of Hezron,

the son of Perez, the son of Judah,

³⁴the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac,

the son of Abraham,

the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,

³⁵the son of Serug, the son of Reu,

the son of Peleg, the son of Eber,

the son of Shelah,

³⁶the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad,

the son of Shem, the son of Noah,

the son of Lamech, ³⁷the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch,

the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel,

the son of Cainan, ³⁸the son of Enos,

the son of Seth, the son of Adam,

the son of God.

Footnotes

Luke 3:1 The word of God finds expression in the history of humankind. By listing the many temporal rulers and religious authorities, Luke enables us to date John’s activity as occurring between the fall of A.D. 27 and Passover of 28. But he also wants to contrast these earthly rulers and religious authorities with the sovereignty and authority of Jesus. The deeper movement of history does not take place at the level of official appearances; in fact, it is Jesus who is fulfilling the destiny of the world by giving history its true meaning.
Luke sums up in a single passage all the information that he intends to offer on the work of John. More than the other evangelists, he stresses the point that salvation is offered to everyone; in his citation of Isaiah he highlights the final verse, thereby underscoring the thought that the new age is meant for the authentic children of Abraham and not solely for the chosen people. At the end of the passage he immediately jumps ahead to the imprisonment of John, of which Mark and Matthew speak at a later point and at greater length (Mt 14:1-12; Mk 6:14-29). His intention is to make a clear distinction between the Jesus movement and the Johannine movement: when the time of Christ begins, that of John, the forerunner, is finished.
Luke 3:1 Lysanias: an unknown governor. Abilene: a region northeast of Damascus.
Luke 3:2 Caiaphas was the current high priest (A.D. 18–36). Annas, that is, Ananiah, had preceded him from 5 B.C. to A.D. 15. He is named here because he still exercised considerable influence.
Luke 3:20 John’s imprisonment occurred sometime after the beginning of Jesus’ ministry (see Jn 3:22-24). Luke mentions it here to bring his section on John’s ministry to a conclusion before starting his account of that of Jesus (see also Mt 4:12; Mk 1:14). Later he alludes to John’s death (Lk 9:7-9). See also note on Mk 1:14.
Luke 3:21 Jesus here shows himself to be in solidarity with sinners by receiving the bath of repentance. But a unique event also takes place: The Messiah receives his investiture from heaven. The Holy Spirit will be present in him (see Isa 11:2); over him are pronounced the words used in consecrating kings (Ps 2:7), but here they attest that he is the Son of God in a sense hitherto unsuspected (see Lk 1:35).
Luke 3:23 Luke gives a genealogy that is meant not as a historical document but as the assertion of a legal status. Jesus is linked to Joseph, even though it was known that the link was not one of blood; the reason for doing so is that at that time only men and not women had rights. The genealogy then moves back to David, without following the line of kings. From that point it continues again, not only as far as Abraham, but—and this is the chief novelty of the passage—as far as Adam, who comes from the hand of God. Luke’s intention is to stress the point that Jesus belongs not only to the chosen people but to the entire human race, which he has come to save.
Whereas Matthew specifically mentions three groups of 14 generations, Luke lists 77 names, according to a scheme of sevens. From the beginning of the human race until Jesus there are eleven series of seven (11 x 7). Jesus comes as Messiah in the eschatological stage of history (see 4 Esdras 14:11).
Luke 3:23 It may be helpful to record another interpretation of the difference between this genealogy and that of Matthew: in virtue of the law of the levirate, Joseph (it is said) had two fathers, one biological (Jacob), the other legal (Heli); thus two different lists are used as far back as Shealtiel.

New Catholic Bible (NCB)

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Chronological

Jesus Inaugurates His Ministry as Savior

Chapter 3

Footnotes

Preparation for the Mission of Jesus[a]

Chapter 1

Is Jesus the Messiah?[i]

First Testimonies of the Messiah’s Mission

Footnotes

The Beginning of Jesus’ Ministry[a]

Chapter 3

Footnotes

Preparation for the Mission of Jesus^[a]

Is Jesus the Messiah?^[i]

The Beginning of Jesus’ Ministry^[a]