Reading the Gospels Well

READING THE GOSPELS WELL
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW TESTAMENT AND THE
GOSPELS

Unit 9

LJMtMk

The Gospels

 What are the four canonical
gospels?

 The gospel according to ____
– Why this phrasing?

 Other gospels: Thomas, Peter, Judas, Mary, etc., etc., etc.
– Why did these exist?
– Why are they not in our Bible?

What is a gospel anyway?

 Greek _______ = “good news”
 Gospel v. gospel
 Who is the protagonist of the gospels?
– Other characters?
– Compare to the Hebrew Bible
 Who’s “missing”?

New Testament Basics

 Remember
– When does the Jesus story happen?
– When are the gospels written?

– So… why do the gospel writers have the “whole”
story?

Four Source Hypothesis

 What are the sources?
 What are the two models?
 Can you recreate the model?

Picking and choosing

 If the gospel writers have the “whole” story,
then why do they pick and choose about
what makes the cut?
 In other words, what are the writers trying to
say about Jesus?
– Each author has a different perspective.
– But… there’s one common focus across the
gospels.

As we read the introductions…

Please be mindful of the following:
(And you might want to write the answers in your
notebook as you work through the
introductions…)
2. Author
3. Audience
4. Place composed
5. Language of original composition
6. Date
7. Major themes

Beginning Mark

 Mark as our earliest sustained record of Jesus
traditions.
 Author:
 Audience:
 Place composed:
 Language:
 Date:
 Themes:
– Two themes

The Suffering Jesus

 Mark 8:31
“He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must
suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief
priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be
killed and after three days rise again.”

 Mark 10:45
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to
serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

What discipleship looks like
 Mark 10:35-40

And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to
35

him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us
whatever we ask of you.” 36And he said to them, “What do you
want me to do for you?” 37And they said to him, “Grant us to sit,
one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”
38
Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking.
Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with
the baptism with which I am baptized?” 39And they said to him,
“We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink
you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized,
you will be baptized, 40but to sit at my right hand or at my left is
not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been
prepared.”

The cost of discipleship
 Mark 12:41-44

41
Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings
were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the
temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42But
a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins,
worth only a few cents. 43Calling his disciples to him, Jesus
said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the
treasury than all the others. 44They all gave out of their wealth;
but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to
live on.”

TONIGHT’S TASK

Read through the entire gospel of Mark!
Why? Two reasons (among many):
 Exposure to a gospel
 Being able to see the unity Mark intended

More on Mark

 What’s “missing”?
 Characters
 Describe that Jesus character

Key moments

 Baptism (1:9-11)
– Why begin here?
 1:15: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of
God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
– What is this Kingdom of God business?
 9:2-8: Transfiguration
– What happened?
– Who’s with Jesus?
 11:15-19: “Cleansing of the Temple”
 13:1: Destruction of the Temple forecast
 14-16: The Paschal events

Did you notice?

Differences between Matthew’s and Luke’s infancy
narratives?

Luke’s Narrative
 “He was the son….[many generations]… of Adam, the son of
God.” (3:23-38)
 “But they had no child because Elizabeth was barren and both
were advanced in years.” (1:7)
 “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and
you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called
Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne
of David his father.” (1:31-32)
 “He has raised up a horn for our salvation within the house of
David his servant, even as he promised through the mouth of
his holy prophets from of old.” (1:69-70)
 “For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you
who is Messiah and Lord.” (2:11)

Matthew’s Narrative
 “In the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David,
the son of Abraham.” (1:1)
 “She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because
he will save his people from their sins.” (1:21)
 “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the
prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son,
and they shall name in Emmanuel’.” (1:22-23)
 “Assembling all to the chief priests and scribes of the people,
he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They
said to him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written
through the prophet: ‘And you Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by
no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall
come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel’,’.” (2:4-6)

Infancy Narratives

Why the different perspectives?

– Where does each genealogy begin?
– What’s going on in each story?

The Romans in Israel:
A Simple Timeline

 323 BCE
 164 BCE
– Recent memory of homegrown leadership?
 63 BCE
 37 BCE
 post-Herod – “Tetrarchy”
– Galilee – _________ – 4 BCE-39 CE
– Judea
 ______– 4 BCE-6 CE
 ______ – 6 CE-41 CE
 ______ – 41 CE-70CE
 ______ – 70CE-135CE
– North Judea – ______

Josephus
 Flavius Josephus
– Emperor Titus
 37-100 CE
 Jewish War
 Antiquities of the Jews
– Testimonium Flavianum, 18.3.3:
“Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to
call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of
such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him
both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was the
Christ, and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men
among us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him
at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again
the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten
thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of
Christians so named from him are not extinct at this day.”

Beginning Harrington (Chapter 1)

 Criteria for historicity (from JP Meier)
– What are the five?
 Take the Nazareth business,

for example

 No un-interpreted Jesus
 Dependence upon sources

A little more Harrington (Chapter 2)

 Jesus is Jewish
– No Christianity or Catholicism yet
 Traditional major modes of Judaism
– What are the four kinds of Jews that Josephus
mentioned?
 Relationship between Jesus and John

Geography
of Palestine

 Galilee
 Samaria
 Judea
 Idumea
 Decapolis and
NE Sea of Galilee

Palestinian Social Structure 1/4

The Powerful/Wealthy ~ 2%


Working Class ~ 70%


Day laborers/itinerant
laborers ~ 15%


Social outcasts ~ 15%

Looking forward…

 Be mindful of the Paschal Mystery as a lens.
 Much like with the HB, the gospel accounts
are NOT history per se.

Reading the Gospels Well

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