Faith was simple when we were young. But as life grew more complex, the familiar story didn't always address our deepest questions. You've heard the gospels your whole life - noticed how Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John each tell the story their own way, portray Peter in such contrasting ways. But nobody wondered out loud why that matters, or what riches might be hiding in plain sight. This book goes where your pastors didn't.
What about those differences? They're not errors or contradictions that need to be explained away but invitations to see more deeply. The Bible gave us four gospels, not one - and that diversity is by design. Each was written for a specific community and the challenges it faced. Think of Peter. While Mark shows him as a failure who denies Jesus and then disappears, Matthew calls him "the rock" on which the church is built. Luke portrays him as a prophet. Same person, three different portraits, each revealing something essential about faith.
Each gospel contains surprises that reveal its community's struggles. Mark ends with women fleeing the tomb in terror, saying nothing to anyone, reflecting the fear of Mark's congregation. Living in the aftermath of the Temple's destruction and wary of Roman occupation, they barely dare to speak openly about God's kingdom. Luke transforms that fear into joy-angels repeatedly announce "Do not be afraid"-and carefully portrays Jesus' earliest followers (Mary, Peter, Zechariah, Elizabeth) as deeply devout, Torah-observant Jews. Luke builds the case for including Gentiles while establishing the movement's faithful Jewish roots. Matthew takes the opposite position, insisting that even "the least commandment" matters for the kingdom-even as his community faces painful expulsion from the synagogue. John moves beyond these earthly debates entirely, focusing on spiritual rebirth and the heavenly realm. Each evangelist shaped his story to address what his people were experiencing.
The gospels invite you to join this conversation. You'll explore how each evangelist tells the story and why they made the choices they did. Mark's fear speaks to the challenge of living in today's fearful world. Luke's joy helps you find hope in the face of conflict. Matthew's Jesus, who teaches with authority, guides you on the way that leads to life (Mt 7:14). John's mystical vision of Jesus offers the way to the life of the world above (Jn 14:6). Their distinct voices reveal we are not locked into one way of seeing Jesus or understanding faith. As you explore the diverse ways early Christians told Jesus' story, you're awakened to wonder and freed to engage the Bible in fresh ways. That freedom can awaken curiosity, renew faith, and open you to possibilities you never imagined. Each gospel story becomes an invitation to faith and wonder.
Ourisman, David J.: - David Ourisman has spent nearly fifty years as a United Methodist pastor, and his pastoral experience informs everything he writes. For sixteen years he served congregations in New Jersey, including as co-pastor of a bicultural, bilingual Anglo-Korean congregation. As he preached on Sunday mornings, he wrestled with how to communicate nuanced biblical truths to people and churches navigating challenges.He brings to One Life, Four Stories: Invitations to Faith & Wonder the awareness that different people are at different places in their spiritual journeys, with differing levels of comfort working with new ideas. He respects where people are coming from and invites them to explore where they feel safe and intrigued to go.In 1992, Ourisman's pastoral questions led him into academic study. How could literary readings of the gospels enrich preaching? His Ph.D. work at the Graduate Theological Union explored that question, resulting in From Gospel to Sermon: Preaching Synoptic Texts (Chalice Press, 2000), which helps preachers use insights from narrative approaches to Scripture and employ narrative dynamics in their preaching. He has taught preaching and New Testament at Pacific School of Religion and Vancouver School of Theology.The seeds of Ourisman's approach were planted during his final semester at Princeton Theological Seminary in 1976, when a lecture by professor Donald Juel on Mark's passion narrative opened up the potential of literary approaches to Scripture. That discovery sparked a lifetime of exploration.One Life, Four Stories takes that exploration further, broadening it for a popular audience and demonstrating how the four gospels' distinct narratives address contemporary questions of faith.Born in Washington, DC, Ourisman now lives in Asheville, North Carolina, where he continues occasionally preaching, teaching, and working with churches.
