Scripture Readings - New Testament Readings

New Testament Readings

The books of the Bible which contain the revelation of God since the coming of Christ: the four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the seven General Epistles, the fourteen Epistles of Saint Paul, and the Book of Revelation (Apocalypse).

The center of the New Testament part of the Bible is the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John who are called the four evangelists, which means those who wrote the gospels. Gospel in Greek is ‘evangelion’ which, as we have seen, means the “glad tidings” or the “good news.”

In the New Testament scripture there is also the book of the Acts of the Apostles, written by St. Luke. There are fourteen letters called the epistles (which simply means letters) of the Apostle Paul, though perhaps some, such as the Letter to the Hebrews, were not written directly by him. Three letters are also ascribed to the Apostle John; two to the Apostle Peter; and one each to the Apostles James and Jude. Finally there is the Book of Revelation, also called the Apocalypse, which is ascribed to St. John as well.

For the Orthodox, the Bible is the main written source of divine doctrine since God Himself inspired its writing by His Holy Spirit (see 2 Tim 3:16 and 2 Pet 1:20). This is the doctrine of the inspiration of the Bible, namely that men inspired by God wrote the words which are truly their own human words—all words are human!—but which nevertheless may be called all together the Word of God. Thus, the Bible is the Word of God in written form because it contains not merely the thoughts and experiences of men, but the very self-revelation of God.

The center of the Bible as the written Word of God in human form is the person of the Living Word of God in human form, Jesus Christ. All parts of the Bible are interpreted in the Orthodox Church in the light of Christ, since everything in the Bible leads up to Christ and speaks about Him (Lk 24: 44). This fact is symbolized in the Orthodox Church by the fact that only the book of the four gospels is enthroned on the altars of our churches and not the entire Bible. This is so because everything in the Bible is fulfilled in Christ.

Reading Read Time Hit Count
John 19:6-11; 13-20; 5-28; 30-35 (Exaltation of the Precious Cross) 3 mins 4,805
John 2:1-11 (2nd Monday after Pascha) 1 min 5,564
John 2:12-22 (BRIGHT FRIDAY) 1 min 5,262
John 20:1-10 (7th Matins Resurrection Gospel) 1 min 5,599
John 20:11-18 (8th Matins Resurrection Gospel) 1 min 5,709
John 20:19-23 (Pentecost Matins) 1 min 4,501
John 20:19-25 (Pascha) 1 min 5,819
John 20:19-31 (2nd Sunday after Pascha) 2 mins 5,476
John 20:19-31 (9th Matins Resurrection Gospel) 2 mins 5,492
John 21:1-14 (10th Matins Resurrection Gospel) 2 mins 5,650
John 21:14-25 (7th Saturday after Pascha) 2 mins 4,714
John 21:15-25 (11th Matins Resurrection Gospel) 2 mins 6,213
John 3:1-15 (Bright Thursday) 2 mins 5,053
John 3:13-17 (Sunday Before Elevation of the Cross) 1 min 3,058
John 3:16-21 (2nd Tuesday after Pascha) 1 min 5,190
John 3:22-33 (BRIGHT SATURDAY) 1 min 6,853
John 4:46-54 (3rd Monday after Pascha) 1 min 5,078
John 4:5-42 (5th Sunday after Pascha) 4 mins 5,395
John 5:1-15 (4th Sunday after Pascha) 2 mins 5,002
John 5:1-4 (At the Blessing of Waters) 1 min 4,116
John 5:17-24 (2nd Wednesday after Pascha) 1 min 4,772
John 5:17-24 (For the departed – Monday) 1 min 4,145
John 5:24-30 (7th Saturday of Pascha) 1 min 8,301
John 5:30-47; 6:1-2 (2nd Friday after Pascha) 2 mins 4,790