Have you ever read the four Gospels:
Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John?
A Papyrus Manuscript (P66) of the Beginning of John
People say that they don’t have time to read the four most important books in human history, but the truth is that everyone does. It is simply a question of our priorities.
Given the average person’s reading speed and the number of words in each book, about how long does it take to read the Gospels? [NB: These times will vary based upon the Bible translation and a person’s reading speed.]
Matthew: 1 hour, 14 minutes
Mark: 46 minutes
Luke: 1 hour, 18 minutes
John: 1 hour, 3 minutesThe Four Gospels: 4 hours, 21 minutes
For comparison, you can read:
- Mark in the typical span of one quarter of NFL football.
- John in the time lost watching commercials in four hours of cable TV.
- Matthew in the average span of four Major League Baseball innings.
- Luke in the typical length of one half of an NBA playoff game.
- Matthew & Mark in the time it took to see Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.
- Mark & Luke in the span of three plays of Michael Jackson’s Thriller album.
- Matthew & John in the average time of one regular season NBA game.
- Luke & John in the time it took to see Marvel’s The Avengers.
- Mark, Luke, & John in the time you took to watch Peter Jackson’s King Kong.
- Matthew, Mark, & John in the time of an average NFL football game.
- Matthew, Mark, & Luke in the theater runtime of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
- Matthew, Luke, & John in the time it took you to see M. Night Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense twice.
- Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John in time it takes to watch the first season of Sherlock, or five episodes of House of Cards or Game of Thrones.
If we have had the time for any of the things above, what excuse will we have for someday appearing before the Lord Jesus without having read his Gospels? Put first things first, and take time today to begin reading his four Gospels.
Parishable Items 