Gospel References
After studying the fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and those before them, God led me to study the words of the Messiah in the four Gospels. I was struck by how often He referred to the Father, so I began counting the verses. That led me to compare His other topics, and I found He spoke of the Father twice as much as any other single subject. Reviewing the remaining topics, I saw they all point back to Him: the Kingdom is the Father's Kingdom, the Son of Man is the Son of the Father, faith brings us to the Father, and love begins with loving the Father and reaches outward to one another.
I gathered the following references from Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, identifying the top five single topics the Messiah spoke about. Select any reference below to read it in the King James Version at eBible.org.
The Father
182 versesMatthew: 5:16, 45, 48; 6:1, 4, 6, 8–9, 14–15, 18, 26, 32; 7:11, 21; 10:20, 29, 32–33, 40; 11:25–27; 12:50; 13:43; 15:13; 16:17, 27; 18:10, 14, 19, 35; 20:23; 23:9; 24:36; 25:34; 26:29, 39, 42, 53; 28:19
Mark: 8:38; 9:37; 11:25–26; 13:32; 14:36
Luke: 2:49; 6:36; 9:26, 48; 10:16, 21–22; 11:2, 13; 12:30, 32; 22:29, 42; 23:34, 46; 24:49
John: 1:14, 18; 2:16; 3:35; 4:21, 23–24, 34; 5:17, 19–24, 26, 30, 36–38, 43, 45; 6:27, 29, 32, 37–40, 44–46, 57, 65; 7:16–18, 28–29, 33; 8:16, 18–19, 26, 28–29, 38, 42, 49, 54–55; 9:4; 10:15, 17–18, 25, 29–30, 32, 36–38; 11:41; 12:26–28, 44–45, 49–50; 13:1, 3, 16, 20; 14:2, 6–8, 10–13, 16, 20–21, 23–24, 26, 28, 31; 15:1, 8–10, 15–16, 21, 23–24, 26; 16:3, 5, 10, 15, 23, 25, 27–28, 32; 17:1, 3, 5, 11, 21, 24–25; 18:11; 20:17, 21
The Kingdom
92 versesMatthew: 4:17; 5:3, 10, 19–20; 6:10, 13, 33; 7:21; 8:11–12; 10:7; 11:11–12; 12:28; 13:11, 19, 24, 31, 33, 38, 41, 43–45, 47, 52; 16:19, 28; 18:3–4, 23; 19:12, 14, 23–24; 20:1; 21:31, 43; 22:2; 23:13; 24:14; 25:1, 34; 26:29
Mark: 1:15; 4:11, 26, 30; 9:1, 47; 10:14–15, 23–25; 12:34; 14:25
Luke: 4:43; 6:20; 7:28; 8:10; 9:2, 27, 60, 62; 10:9, 11; 11:2, 20; 12:31–32; 13:18, 20, 28–29; 16:16; 17:20–21; 18:16–17, 24–25, 29; 21:31; 22:16, 18, 29–30
Faith
91 versesMatthew: 8:10, 13, 26; 9:22, 28–29; 14:31; 15:28; 16:8; 17:17, 20; 21:21–22
Mark: 1:15; 4:40; 5:34, 36; 9:19, 23; 10:52; 11:22–24; 16:16–17
Luke: 7:9, 50; 8:25, 48, 50; 12:28; 17:6, 19; 18:8, 42; 22:32; 24:25
John: 1:50; 3:12, 15–18; 4:21, 48; 5:24, 38, 44, 46–47; 6:29, 35–36, 40, 47, 64; 7:38; 8:24, 45–46; 9:35–38; 10:25–26, 37–38; 11:25–27, 40, 42; 12:36, 44, 46–47; 13:19; 14:1, 10–12, 29; 16:9, 27, 30–31; 17:8, 20–21; 20:29
The Son of Man
79 versesMatthew: 8:20, 9:6, 10:23, 11:19, 12:8, 12:32, 12:40, 13:37, 13:41, 16:13, 16:27, 16:28, 17:9, 17:12, 17:22, 18:11, 19:28, 20:18, 20:28, 24:27, 24:30, 24:37, 24:39, 24:44, 25:13, 25:31, 26:2, 26:24, 26:45, 26:64
Mark: 2:10, 2:28, 8:31, 8:38, 9:9, 9:12, 9:31, 10:33, 10:45, 13:26, 13:34, 14:21, 14:41, 14:62
Luke: 5:24, 6:5, 6:22, 7:34, 9:22, 9:26, 9:44, 9:56, 9:58, 11:30, 12:8, 12:10, 12:40, 17:22, 17:24, 17:26, 17:30, 18:8, 18:31, 19:10, 21:27, 21:36, 22:22, 22:48, 22:69
John: 1:51, 3:13, 3:14, 5:27, 6:27, 6:53, 6:62, 8:28, 12:23, 13:31
Love
44 versesMatthew: 5:43–46; 6:24; 19:19; 22:37–39
Luke: 6:27, 32, 35; 7:42, 47; 10:27; 11:42; 16:13
John: 3:16; 5:20, 42; 8:42; 10:17; 12:25; 13:34–35; 14:15, 21, 23–24, 28, 31; 15:9–10, 12–13, 17, 19; 16:27; 17:23–24, 26