The gospels are the Christians most sacred doctrine, yet neither one of them can fully agree as to certain accounts, especially when speaking of the crucifixion and resurrection.  Because  the gospels were written many, many years after the said events, they are based on a lot of hearsay and stories being blown out of proportion.

See also problems with  MARK   |  LUKE   |  JOHN

Matthew 1:23  Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

This verse was actually taken from Isaiah 7:14, which is said to be the prophecy of Jesus' birth.  No where in the New Testament is the man that is called Jesus, the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of the living God ever referred to as Emmanuel.

Matthew 4:1  Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

The spirit of God leads Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.  He wasn't sure if he could trust him or not, so he had to put him to a test.

Matthew 4:8  Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them.

The devil takes Jesus to the top of an "exceeding" high mountain to show him "all" the kingdoms of the world.  You can't see the whole earth at once; no matter how high the mountain is, because the earth is spherical.  This would only be possible if the author thought the earth was flat.

See Flat Earth

Matthew 4:10  Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

Elsewhere through the Bible, slaves are told that they are to serve their masters.

Matthew 5:22   But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

This is Jesus talking, but he constantly called his critics "fools".  See Matthew 23:17,19,  Luke 11:40, Luke 24:25

Matthew 5:33-34  Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne.

Here Jesus says not to take any oaths by heaven..."But I say to you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven".  In this country (USA), whenever you take the stand in a court of law to testify, you must swear an oath.  Whenever someone is elected to a public office, they must swear an oath.  These oaths usually end with, "So help you God?"

Matthew 5:44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.

Jesus shows his love to his enemies by sentencing them to eternal damnation in Hell.

Matthew 6:5-6  And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.  But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

Jesus says not to pray in public, but his modern day followers ignore his advice and defy their savior's orders by pushing for school prayer.

Matthew 8:5-6  And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.

This story differs somewhat in Luke 7:3.  It states that the centurion does not go see Jesus himself, but sent the "elders of the Jews".

Matthew 8:21-22  And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.  But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.

Jesus is not a very compassionate savior, is he?

Matthew 10:34-35  Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.  For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

And all this time you thought Jesus came to save you from your sins.  He actually came to pit family members against each other.

Matthew 13:31-32  Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:  Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.

Here Jesus says that the mustard seed is the smallest seed; but that is wrong.  The mustard seed is not the smallest seed.  There are many seeds much smaller than the mustard seed, e.g. poppy & banana.  He is also in err when he says that mustard is greatest of trees.

Matthew 15:32-33  Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.
And his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude?

Jesus' disciples question how they will get so much bread to feed the multitude.  In Matthew 14:14-21, they have already seen this "miracle" take place, so why would that be a concern?

Matthew 16:13-14  When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?  And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.

If so many people thought Jesus was the resurrection of John the Baptist, and were wrong, couldn't people also be wrong about who was the resurrected Christ?

Matthew 16:28  Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.

Jesus says that some of the people standing there would not die before seeing his second coming.  Well, they are long dead and he still hasn't returned.

Matthew 17:20  And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

Here Jesus says that anyone with faith enough, (just the size of a mustard seed), can move mountains from one place to another, and that nothing will be impossible for them.  If anyone wants to go move a mountain with their faith, let me know, because I'd like to see that.

Matthew 18:14  Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.

Jesus says it is not the will of God that children should parish, but in the Old Testament, God had children put to death all the time.

Matthew 19:16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?  And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

In one sentence, Jesus denies being good or God.

Matthew 19:28  And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Will Judas also be sitting on a throne as a judge?

Matthew 21:2-7  Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me.  And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.  All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.  And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon.

Sitting on both a ass and a colt at the same time must have taken some practice.  Maybe Jesus was a circus performer.

Matthew 21:21-22  Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.  And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

Jesus says that faith can move mountains, and whatever you ask for in prayer, you will receive.  Yet, no one can move mountains with faith, and no one ever gets everything they pray for.

Matthew 24:3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

After the disciples of Jesus asks what signs they should look for, so that they would know of Jesus' second coming and the end of the world.  Jesus tells them...

24:4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
24:5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
24:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
24:8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
24:9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
24:10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
24:11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
24:16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
24:17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
24:18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
24:19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
24:20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
24:22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
24:23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
24:25 Behold, I have told you before.
24:26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
24:27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
24:28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
24:32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
24:33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

Matthew 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

Here he says that the current generation will not pass until all those signs are seen.  That generation is long gone, and the world is still here.

Matthew 26:52  Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.

In Matthew 10:34, Jesus said he came not to bring peace, but a sword.

Matthew 27:5  And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.

Here is says that Judas went and hanged himself, but in Acts 1:18, it says that he fell down and all his bowels gushed out.

Matthew 27:12-14  And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing.  Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee?  And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly.

Here it says that Jesus never said anything during his trial before Pilate.  But in John 18:33-38 Jesus says all kinds of stuff during his trial.

Matthew 27:32  And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross.

This contradicts with John 19:17, which says Jesus carried his cross alone.

Matthew 27:32  And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

None of the four gospels agree as to what the sign above Jesus' head said.

Mark:  THE KING OF THE JEWS
Luke:  THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS
John:  JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS

Matthew 28:1  In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.

All four gospels disagree with how many women visited the sepulchre.

Mark:  Three
Luke:  Five or more
John:  One

Matthew 28:2  And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.

None of the gospels agree with whom the women saw at the tomb.

Mark:  Young man
Luke:  Two men
John:  Two angels

Matthew 28:8  And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.

Here the women run and go tell the disciples, but in Mark 16:8, it says they were too afraid to tell anyone.

© 1998 Derrick Miller