Three Gospels

Reynolds Price

• Publisher: Scribner
• Year: 2010
• ISBN:
  9781451603149
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Commentary

Reynolds Price pays tribute to his literary love of translation in this adaptation of the Gospels of Mark and John, in addition to a gospel written by the esteemed novelist himself. Esteemed novelist, dramatist, scholar, essayist, and poet, Reynolds Price turns his attention back to a literary love he had discovered earlier in his career: translation.But for Reynolds that didn't mean abandoning his passion for writing original work; powerful and imaginative, Three Gospels offers eloquent translations of the Gospels of Mark and John as well as a gospel never before seen—an original one written by Price himself.These stunning triumphs of imagination tell and retell some of the most iconic ancient stories in Price's unparalleled literary voice.

THE GOOD NEWS
ACCORDING TO JOHN

ACCORDING TO JOHN

At the start was the Word. The Word was with God and God was the Word—he was at the start with God. Everything came to be through him and apart from him nothing that has come came to be. In him was life. The life was the light of humankind. The light shines in the dark and the dark didn’t quench it.

Came a man sent from God, John by name. He came as a witness so he might witness about the light so all might trust through him—he wasn’t that light but so he might witness to that light. The true light that lights everyone was coming into the world.

He was in the world—the world came to be through him—but the world didn’t know him. He came to his own and his own didn’t take him. Still as many as took him he gave them the right to be children of God—those trusting in his name, those born not of blood nor will of the flesh nor man’s will but born of God. So the Word became flesh and tented among us. We watched his glory, glory like that of a father’s one son full of grace and truth.

John witnessed to him and cried out “This is he of whom I said ‘The one coming after me has come before me since he preceded me.’”

(From his fullness we all took grace on grace. The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Messiah. No one has ever seen God yet an only Son God—the one in the Father’s bosom—he explained him.)

This was John’s witness when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him “Who are you?”

He confessed and didn’t deny it but confessed “I’m not Messiah.”

They asked him “What then—are you Elijah?”

He said “I’m not.”

“Are you the prophet?”

He answered “No.”

They said to him “Who are you?—so we may give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

He said “I am

A voice crying in the wilderness
‘Straighten the Lord’s way!’

as Isaiah the prophet said.”

Those sent were from the Pharisees. They asked him “Why baptize then if you’re not Messiah nor Elijah nor the prophet?”

John answered them “I baptize in water. Among you stands one whom you don’t recognize, the one coming after me whose sandal strap I’m unworthy to loosen.” These things happened in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and said “Look, the lamb of God who cancels the wrongs of the world. This is he of whom I said ‘After me comes a man who comes before me since he preceded me and I didn’t recognize him.’ But so he might be shown to Israel I came baptizing in water.” And John witnessed “I saw the Spirit descending like a dove out of Heaven and it stayed on him. I didn’t recognize him but the one who sent me to baptize in water said to me ‘On whomever you see the Spirit descending and staying he’s the one who baptizes in Holy Spirit.’ I’ve seen and witnessed that this is the Son of God.”

The next day again John was standing there and two of his disciples. Seeing Jesus walking he said “Look, the lamb of God.”

The two disciples heard him speaking and they followed Jesus.

Turning and seeing them following Jesus said to them “What are you after?”

They said “Rabbi” which translated means Teacher “where are you staying?”

He said to them “Come and see.”

So they went and saw where he was staying and stayed with him that day. It was about four in the afternoon.

It was Andrew the brother of Simon Peter one of the two hearing John and following him. First he found his own brother Simon and said to him “We’ve found Messiah” which means Anointed. He led him to Jesus.

Looking at him Jesus said “You’re Simon son of John. You’ll be called Cephas” which is translated Peter or Rock.

The next day he wanted to go to Galilee so he found Philip and Jesus said to him “Follow me.”

Now Philip was from Bethsaida, Andrew and Peter’s town. Philip found Nathanael and said to him “The one Moses wrote about in the law—and also the prophets—we’ve found him, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.”

Nathanael said to him “Can anything good be from Nazareth?”

Philip said to him “Come and see.”

Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him “Look, a true Israelite in whom there’s no guile.”

Nathanael said to him “From where do you know me?”

Jesus answered “Before Philip called you I saw you under the fig tree.”

Nathanael answered “Rabbi, you’re the Son of God. You’re king of Israel.”

Jesus said to him “Since I told you I saw you under the fig tree you trust? You’ll see greater things.” And he said to him “Amen amen I tell you you’ll see Heaven opened and the angels of God rising and falling on the Son of Man.”

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana in Galilee and Jesus’ mother was there. Jesus and his disciples had been invited to the wedding too and when wine ran short Jesus’ mother said to him “They’re out of wine.”

Jesus said to her “What’s that to me and you, woman? My hour hasn’t come.”

His mother said to the servants “Just do what he tells you.”

Now six stone jars for the Jews’ washing custom were standing there. Each could hold twenty or thirty gallons.

Jesus said to them “Fill the jars with water.”

They filled them to the top.

He said to them “Now draw some and take it to the head servant.”

They took it.

When the head servant tasted the water turned to wine, not knowing where it came from—though the servants knew, the ones who’d drawn the water—the head servant called the bridegroom and said to him “Everybody brings out the good wine first and once the guests are drunk brings out the poor stuff. You’ve kept the good wine till now.”

Jesus did this the start of his signs in Cana in Galilee and showed his glory.

His disciples trusted in him.

After this he, his mother, his brothers and his disciples went down to Capernaum and stayed not many days.

The Passover of the Jews was near and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the Temple he found people selling oxen, sheep and doves and the money changers sitting there. Making a whip from cords he drove them all out of the Temple all the sheep and oxen. He scattered the money changers’ coins and upset their tables and to the dove sellers he said “Get all this out of here. Stop making my Father’s house a market.”

His disciples recalled that it was written of him ‘Zeal for your house will consume me.’

The Jews said to him “What sign can you show us for doing such things?”

Jesus answered “Destroy this temple and in three days I’ll raise it.”

The Jews said then “This Temple was built over forty-six years and in three days you’ll raise it?”

But he was speaking of the temple of his body.

So when he was raised from the dead his disciples recalled him saying this and they trusted the scripture and the word which Jesus said.

When he was in Jerusalem during Passover at the feast many seeing the signs he did trusted in his name.

But Jesus wouldn’t trust himself to them since he understood people and needed no one to witness to people since he understood what was in people.

Now there was a man from the Pharisees named Nicodemus a leader of the Jews. He came to him at night and said to him “Rabbi, we know that you’ve come from God a teacher since no one could do these signs you do unless God is with you.”

Jesus answered “Amen amen I tell you unless a person is born from above he can’t see the reign of God.”

Nicodemus said “How can a man be born being old? He can’t enter his mother’s womb a second time to be born.”

Jesus answered “Amen amen I tell you unless a person is born from water and Spirit he can’t enter the reign of God. What’s born from flesh is flesh. What’s born of the Spirit is spirit. Don’t wonder that I told you it’s necessary to be born again. The wind blows where it wants and you hear its sound but don’t know where it comes from and where it goes—the same with everyone born from the Spirit.”

Nicodemus answered “How can such things happen?”

Jesus answered “You’re the teacher of Israel and you don’t know these things? Amen amen I tell you what we know we tell and what we’ve seen we witness to. You don’t accept our witness. If I tell you earthly things and you don’t trust, how will you trust if I tell you heavenly things? No one has risen to Heaven except the one who came down the Son of Man. And as Moses raised the snake in the desert so must the Son of Man be raised so all who trust in him may have eternal life. For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son so all who trusted in him might not be lost but have eternal life.

“God didn’t send the Son into the world to judge the world but so the world might be saved through him. A person who trusts in him isn’t judged but the one not trusting is judged already since he didn’t trust in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment that the light has come to the world and people loved the dark instead of the light since their deeds were evil. For everyone doing wrong hates the light and won’t come to the light so his deeds won’t be exposed. But the one doing the truth comes toward the light so his deeds are shown as done through God.”

After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside. He stayed there with them and baptized.

John was also baptizing in Aenon near Salim since there was plentiful water there and people kept coming and were baptized—John hadn’t yet been thrown into prison.

Now there was a dispute between John’s disciples and a Jew about purification. They came to John and said to him “Rabbi, the one who was with you across Jordan to whom you witnessed—look, he’s baptizing and everyone’s coming to him.”

John said “No one can get anything if it hasn’t been given him from Heaven. You yourselves witness that I said ‘I’m not Messiah but have been sent ahead of him.’ The one with the bride is the bridegroom but the friend of the bridegroom the one standing there hearing him rejoices joyfully in the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been fulfilled. He must increase but I must decrease.”

(The one coming from above is over all. The one from the Earth is of the Earth and speaks of the Earth. The one coming from Heaven is over all. What he has seen and heard he witnesses to and no one takes his witness. Who takes his witness attests that God is true since he whom God sent speaks God’s words for he gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all into his hand. Who trusts in the Son has eternal life but the one who disobeys the Son won’t see life—the wrath of God stays on him.)

So when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard how Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John—though Jesus himself didn’t baptize but his disciples did—he left Judea and went off again into Galilee. But he had to pass through Samaria so he came to a Samaritan town called Sychar near the plot of land that Jacob gave Joseph his son. Now Jacob’s well was there so Jesus tired from the trip just sat down by the well—it was near noon.

A Samaritan woman came to draw water.

Jesus said to her “Give me a drink”—his disciples had gone off to the town to buy food.

So the Samaritan woman said “How can you a Jew ask a Samaritan woman for a drink?” (Jews won’t use the same dishes as Samaritans.)

Jesus answered “If you knew of God’s gift and who’s saying to you ‘Give me a drink’ you’d have asked him and he’d have given you living water.”

She said “Sir, you’ve got no bucket and the well’s deep—where do you get living water? You can’t be greater than our father Jacob who gave us the well and drank from it himself with his sons and his flocks.”

Jesus answered “Everyone drinking this water will be thirsty again but whoever drinks the water I give them will never be thirsty again. The water I give him will be a spring gushing into eternal life.”

The woman said “Sir, give me this water so I won’t be thirsty nor come here to draw water.”

He said to her “Go call your husband and come back here.”

The woman answered “I’ve got no husband.”

Jesus said to her “Well said ‘I’ve got no husband’ since you’ve had five husbands and the one you’ve got now isn’t your husband. You spoke truly.”

The woman said “Sir, I see that you’re a prophet. Our fathers worshiped God on this mountain but you say that Jerusalem’s the place where we must worship.”

Jesus said “Trust me, woman, that an hour’s coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you don’t know; we worship what we know since salvation is from the Jews. But an hour’s coming—and now is—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth for the Father really seeks such people to worship him. God is spirit and those worshiping him must worship in spirit and truth.”

The woman said to him “I know that Messiah is coming, the one called Anointed. When he comes he’ll lay out everything to us.”

Jesus said to her “I’m he, the one speaking to you.”

At this his disciples came and were amazed that he was talking with a woman but no one said “What are you hunting or why are you talking with her?”

So the woman left her water jar and went back into the town and said to the people “Come see a man who told me everything I ever did. Can he be Messiah?”

They went out of the town and came toward him.

Meanwhile the disciples were saying “Rabbi, eat.”

But he said to them “I have food to eat that you don’t know of.”

So the disciples were saying to each other ‘Surely no one brought him anything to eat.”

Jesus said to them “My food is to do the will of who sent me and to finish his work. Don’t you say ‘Four more months and the harvest comes’? Look, I tell you raise your eyes and see the fields since they’re white for harvest. Already the reaper’s taking his pay and gathering fruit for eternal life so the sower and reaper may be glad together for here the saying is true ‘One sows, another reaps.’ I sent you to reap what you never worked on. Others worked and you’ve entered their work.”

From that town many Samaritans trusted in him because of the word of the woman witnessing “He told me everything I’ve done.” So when they approached him the Samaritans asked him to stay with them.

He stayed there two days.

Many more trusted because of his word and they said to the woman “It’s no longer because of your talk that we trust since we’ve heard for ourselves and know that this is truly the savior of the world.”

After two days he went from there on to Galilee for Jesus himself had witnessed that a prophet gets no honor in his own country. But when he got...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• A General Preface
• A New Thing Entirely: A Preface To The Good News According To Mark
• The Good News According To Mark
• The Strangest Story: A Preface To The Good News According To John
• The Good News According To John
• A Modern Apocryphal Gospel: A Preface To An Honest Account of A Memorable Life
• An Honest Account of A Memorable Life: An Apocryphal Gospel By Reynolds Price
• Author Bio