最近，我的兄弟柯斯特取得父親在二戰期間的服役記錄。當我仔細翻閱這些文件的時候，發現其中的記錄都是平平無奇，沒有提及父親的個人事蹟，也沒說他是個怎樣的人，純粹是記錄事實，只是數據。這些文件固然值得一讀，但最終難免讓我有些遺憾，因為這些資料並沒有讓我對父親有更進一步的認識與瞭解。

值得慶幸的是，聖經的四本福音書為我們記錄了耶穌的生平和事工，而不是只有數據。其中的描述揭示了耶穌的身分和祂的所言所行。馬可福音中的記錄證明了馬可的論點：「上帝的兒子，耶穌基督福音的起頭」（1章1節）。接著，馬可告訴我們，施洗約翰為彌賽亞作見證。施洗約翰說：「有一位在我以後來的，能力比我更大，我就是彎腰給祂解鞋帶也是不配的」（7節）。馬可的敘述清楚指出，耶穌是上帝的兒子。使徒約翰在他自己對耶穌生平的記錄中補充說：「但記這些事，要叫你們信耶穌是基督，是上帝的兒子，並且叫你們信了祂，就可以因祂的名得生命。」（約翰福音20章31節）

與耶穌的生平和事蹟有關的證據多不勝數，這些遠不只是數據，讓我們問問自己：耶穌對我意味著什麼？祂如何改變我的生命？

Recently, my brother Scott acquired our dad’s military service records from World War II. As I studied the pages, there was nothing startling or shocking—nothing about who Dad was. There were mere facts. Data. It was interesting to read but ultimately dissatisfying because I didn’t come away feeling like I learned anything new about Dad.

Thankfully, in giving us a record of the life and work of Jesus, the four gospels are much more than just data. They are descriptions that reveal who Jesus was in His time on this earth as well as what He did and said. In Mark’s gospel, that record was for the purpose of proving Mark’s thesis statement: “The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God” (1:1). Immediately, Mark tells us how John the Baptist testified about this Messiah. John said, “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie” (v. 7). Mark’s account makes it clear that Jesus is the Son of God. As John the disciple adds in his own account of Jesus’ life, “These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31).

The evidence of Jesus’ life is abundant. These questions remain: What does He mean to you? How has He changed your life?