The gospels are often thought of either as a series of sayings of Jesus Christ, including various sermons he preached to the disciples and the people, or as a biography of his life and times. But their real purpose is the witness borne by his twelve disciples/apostles to the words and deeds of his public life from their first meeting with him at the time of his baptism by John till his ascension into heaven. Thus the reader is led by degrees from the knowledge of his human personality to an acknowledgement of his divinity, according to the confession of Peter, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God'.