The Benefits of a Harmony of the Gospels

Have you ever wanted to read the entire life of Jesus in chronological order? Well, that’s exactly what the Olive Tree Harmony of the Gospels does for you. We’ve taken the four Gospels in the New Testament and arranged all 250 events of Jesus’ life in chronological order. While no singular resource could contain all that Jesus ever said or did (cf. John 21:25), Olive Tree Harmony of the Gospels is a tool that allows you to read all the Gospels in chronological order. Here are some reasons why you can benefit from a harmony of the Gospels.

1. What is a gospel harmony?

A gospel harmony is a chronological account of the four Gospels in their entirety. Olive Tree Harmony of the Gospels take into account all the details of the life of Jesus from his birth through his resurrection as they are recorded in each of the four Gospels and arranges them in chronological order. A gospel harmony then is a seamless chronology of the life of Jesus, a resource built on the four portraits we’ve been given of him in the Scriptures. This differs from a parallel account of the gospels, which maintains the independent order of each Gospel but presents the material in a similar side-by-side format.

2. How can a gospel harmony help your study?

Devotional

There are several benefits to using a gospel harmony. Let’s call the first benefit the devotional benefit. There is no better way to know Jesus than to immerse yourself in the Spirit-inspired biographies of him. We’ve made this that much easier for you by creating harmonies of the Gospels allowing you to read these biographies of Jesus in a single, side-by-side resource.

Didactic

A second way a gospel harmony can help you in your studies is exposing you to the teaching of Jesus. This is the didactic benefit. In his final words to his disciples in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus commanded them to make disciples by “teaching” all that he has commanded them (cf Matt. 28:18–20). At least part of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus is to follow his teaching and commandments. What better way is there to know what Jesus taught and commanded of his followers then to read a single chronological account of all that he taught and said?

Compare Differences

A third benefit of a gospel harmony is that this resource can help you spot the differences between the four Gospel accounts of the life of Jesus. Anyone who has read through the Gospels knows that they don’t contain all the same material. They also don’t arrange the material they do share in the same order. Additionally, there are differences in the details of the material they share in common. Olive Tree Harmony of the Gospels helps you spot and compare these differences in the chronological order of the material and by placing the shared material in columns side-by-side. The differences between these accounts highlight the particular emphases of the biblical authors’ eyewitness testimony and the purposes for which they wrote their Gospel.

3. What features do Olive Tree’s Gospel Harmonies have?

Olive Tree Harmony of the Gospels follow the chronological order of events in Jesus’ life according to the Gospel of Mark and Luke while adding in the events recorded in Matthew’s and John’s Gospels. Titles are provided for each event (or pericope) along with hyperlinked cross-references that open in a separate popup window. There are over 250 separate events in Jesus’ life in the Gospels and you can access an overview of these events, their titles, and Scripture references in the end matter (easily accessible through the Table of Contents).

Learn More about Jesus with Olive Tree’s Gospel Harmonies

What are you waiting for? Add an Olive Tree Harmony of the Gospels to your study experience today! These are available in many of the most popular Bible translations. Here are some of our favorites: