What to read after Red Letters (Annotated)?

All Bible passages are from the King James Version (1769), which is in public domain outside the United Kingdom. The changes I made are as follows.

• Only the words of Jesus Christ have been reproduced.
• Chapter and verse numbers have been removed, so there are minor punctuation changes. Interpretative headings have also been removed.
• Nonconsecutive passages are separated by an ellipsis.
• Words written or spoken by others are in brackets.
• Aramaic and Hebrew words are translated in the footnotes (first appearance only). Also in the footnotes are Old Testament quotations (italicized) and contextual references.
• Appendices consist of thirteen categories of lexicons (e.g. food and drink), as well as all Bible references cited in the footnotes.

I created this book to give Red Letter Christians what they really want: a Bible consisting only of "red letters," i.e. the words of Jesus Christ. If we take "red letters" to its logical conclusion, then who needs the black ones? Yet Paul says, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God" (2 Timothy 3:16). Therefore, the black letters do matter. They give context, if nothing else. For example, to whom did Jesus say "follow me" (Matthew 4:19, 9:9, 19:21; Mark 2:14, 10:21; Luke 5:27, 18:22; John 1:43, 21:19)? Only the black letters can tell us.

Still, if one insists on differentiating the words of Jesus from those of everyone else, then red is an appropriate color. It is certainly better than yellow, black, or white. Why? Red is the physical color of human blood, the spiritual color of sin (Isaiah 1:18). Through the shedding of his blood, Jesus purchased our redemption (Ephesians 1:17; Colossians 1:14; 1 Peter 1:18-19).

What surprises me is how much spiritual power Jesus' words have. No one else in the New Testament speaks like him. The nature of this power is prophecy. Contrary to popular opinion, it has not "fail ed]" (1 Corinthians 13:8). Jesus said he would send "prophets" whom the Pharisees would "kill and crucify" (Matthew 23:34; cf Luke 11:49). Many prophets appear by name in the book of Acts (11:27-28, 13:1, 15:32, 21:10). Even Philip - apostle, deacon, disciple, and evangelist - "had four daughters" who "did prophesy" (21:8-9). Furthermore, the apostle Paul told the church in Corinth to "covet to prophesy" (1 Corinthians 14:39).

All these people either spoke or told others to "speak as the oracles of God" (1 Peter 4:11). How is Jesus different? He is God (John 10:30). Jesus speaks with the same authority as the Old Testament prophets, yet he is the final prophet (Matthew 13:57; Mark 6:4; Luke 4:24, 13:33; Acts 3:22-23, 7:37). Truly, the "God who ... spake in time past ... by the prophets hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son" (Hebrews 1:1-2).

And just what does he say that is so powerful? The Jesus who said "let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth" (Matthew 6:3) also said "if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off" (5:30). Again, the Jesus who said "love your enemies" (Luke 6:27) also said "those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me" (19:27). This contrast indicates that Jesus took eternity and submission to his authority just as seriously as charity and love.

Jesus tells us that, unlike "heaven and earth," his words are eternal (Matthew 24:35, Mark 13:31, Luke 21:33). May we listen and obey.