Dec 9 2019 - Introduction to these notes on the New Testament

These reflections differ from many Bible reading notes, firstly in that they are deliberately designed to take you through the entire New Testament in a year. Secondly, while aiming to be devotional – to stimulate love for God and worship of Christ – they are also consciously theological. I am concerned to understand the Scriptures and to know the God who speaks through Scripture and who addresses us supremely in Christ. I am concerned to understand the overall message of the New Testament and for us to hear Christ’s call upon our own lives and upon the world in which we live.

In 2018, the notes were revised for the use of the church of which we are a part – Christ Church Downend. We encouraged as many from the church as possible to use them to read through the entire New Testament in one year and the notes were made available both on the church's website and as paper copies for those who preferred that medium. The following year, at the encouragement of the church, I produced a reading plan and notes to take the church through the Old Testament in a year. Unlike the New Testament notes, this did not include every chapter and verse from the Bible but covered the sweep and scope of the Old Testament.

As our year in the Old Testament progressed, we discussed what we might do for 2020. I had originally planned simply to rerun the New Testament readings with the notes following the common ordering of the New Testament books. However, it was suggested to me that this had the disadvantage of presenting the four gospels together at the beginning of the year and that it might be better to split them up so that we revisited the life and teaching of the Lord Jesus throughout the year. With this in mind, I worked on a rescheduling of the New Testament material.

For 2020 we are going to begin our readings with Luke's Gospel before continuing with the second part of his two-volume work with The Acts of the Apostles. We plan to interrupt our readings in Acts at relevant points to look at the letters which the Apostle Paul wrote to various churches. We shall try to insert these letters into the appropriate places in the chronology of Acts – but it must be remembered that the chronology is sometimes difficult to fix with any degree of certainty.

After the writings of Luke and Paul we will turn to Mark's Gospel which will be followed by the letters of Peter and Jude. Peter seems to have been a key source for Mark's account of the life of Jesus and so there seems some logic in linking these writings. The Letter of Jude also has clear links with 2 Peter and so is included at this point.

We will then read through the Gospel of Matthew, followed by the letters of Hebrews and James, all of which appear to have been written primarily for Jewish Christians.

We will finish the year with John's Gospel, the Epistles of John and the book of Revelation.
It is my hope and prayer that these notes may help you to see more of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ in his human life, teaching, miracles, death, resurrection and in his risen glory and that they may encourage you to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

Peter Misselbrook