RLGN1302 New Testament History

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RLGN1302New Testament History

• Week Three

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The Gospels

• General characteristics of the Synoptics
• The Greek word translated gospel (e?a??e????)
  means good news
• Jesus teaches in parables, short pithy stories
  that typically have one main point
• Concern for Kingdom of God or Heaven

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The Gospels

• General characteristics of the Synoptics
• Remote eschatology
• Son of Man as Jesus self-designation of choice
• Jesus is presented as a resident of Nazareth, a
  small village in Galilee

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The Gospels

• General characteristics of the Synoptics
• Jesus is betrayed by Judas, denied by Peter, and
  tried before Pontius Pilate in all gospels
• John the Baptist
• Presented as the last of the prophets in the OT
  tradition

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The Gospels (Continued)
)

• MARK
• Most scholars think Mark was the first of the
  canonical Gospels to be written.
• Apology for the cross
• Probably written for didactic or catechetical
  purposes
• Short, to-the-point
• Vivid, lively action
• Use of e???? (immediately, straightway) as a
  connecting device between narratives to keep the
  action moving

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The Gospels (Continued)

• MARK (Continued)
• Focus on Jesus actions, more than His teaching
• No birth narrative Jesus is introduced as an
  adult
• Universal in nature
• The gospel is for ALL people, not just the Jews
• 212 724-30

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The Gospels (Continued)

• MARK (Continued)
• Written for a Roman audience
• Translates Jewish words and customs (317 541
  71-4)
• Dense disciples
• The demons know who Jesus is (e.g. 311)
• The centurion at the cross understands Jesus
  identity

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The Gospels (Continued)

• MARK (Continued)
• Dense disciples (Continued)
• The disciples are the last group to figure out
  who Jesus is (e.g, 410, 41, 640, 51-52, 822
  910)
• Strong emotions and words describe Jesus
• 112 , 41 35 439 66, 34 812, 32-33 919
  1112 1215 1434

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The Gospels (Continued)

• Mark (Continued)
• Messianic Secret
• Jesus never publicly acknowledges that He is the
  Messiah in Marks gospel. In fact, He even
  prohibits others from saying things that might so
  identify Him (e.g., 134, 44 311-12, 543
  643 736, 40 826, 29-30 99)

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The Gospels (Continued)

• MARK (Continued)
• Messianic Secret (Continued)
• Some scholars interpret this to mean that Jesus
  did not see Himself as the Messiah this
  interpretation was pressed on Him by the early
  church
• The Hebrew word ???? and its Greek translation
  ???st?s both mean anointed one.

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The Gospels (Continued)

• MARK (Continued)
• Messianic Secret (Continued)
• The problem, though, was who the Jews expected
  the Messiah to be
• Some expected a priestly figure who would
  reconsecrate the Temple and the religion
• Some expected a military figure who would drive
  out all the gentiles from the Holy Land
• Some expected a royal figure who would restore
  Israel to its former greatness

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The Gospels (Continued)

• MARK (Continued)
• Messianic Secret (Continued)
• Jesus understanding of His role as Messiah was
  very different than any of those in the public
  debate
• He saw Himself as a model of life in relationship
  to God and one in whose life the reign and
  authority (kingdom) of God was brought to bear on
  the forces of evil

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The Gospels (Continued)

• MARK (Continued)
• Messianic Secret (Continued)
• His role, as He understood it, was to model
  divine love (a?ap?) through service to others
• This role included His sacrificial, vicarious,
  and atoning death on the cross
• Not even His disciples understood this dimension
  of His messiahship until after the resurrection

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The Gospels (Continued)

• MARK (Continued)
• Markan intercalation (sandwich)
• A literary device that gives meaning to two
  stories by placing one story between the halves
  of the other
• Mark 521-43
• Mark 1112-21
• Difficult ending
• Best and oldest MSS end at 168

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The Gospels (Continued)

• MATTHEW
• Universal in nature
• Theologically shaped genealogy
• Includes three gentile women (universality)
• Traces Jesus lineage through Joseph
• Is a telescoped genealogy that omits some
  ancestors for the sake of creating three groups
  of fourteen persons
• Traces Jesus lineage back to Abraham

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The Gospels (Continued)

• MATTHEW (Continued)
• Annunciation to Joseph
• Birth narrative includes the natal star and magi
  (foreign astrologers) (universality)
• Unpacks Marks brief temptation account
• Written by a Jew for Jews
• Concerned to show that Jesus was the fulfillment
  of messianic expectations and messianically
  interpreted scriptures

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The Gospels (Continued)

• MATTHEW (Continued)
• Contains the greatest number of fulfillments
  citations of all the gospels
• Tendency to double some elements of tradition
  from Mark (c.f., Mk 1046-52 with Mt. 2029-34
  and Mk.111-7 with Mt. 211-7)

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The Gospels (Continued)

• MATTHEW (Continued)
• Portrays Jesus as the new Moses predicted in
  Dt. 1818
• Constructs his gospel around five major
  discourses
• Presents Jesus as a new lawgiver
• c.f., sermon on the mount
• c.f., feeding of the 5000

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The Gospels (Continued)

• MATTHEW (Continued)
• Uses Kingdom of Heaven, mostly, instead of
  Kingdom of God because of Jewish taboos against
  speaking the name of God in vain
• Only gospel to record the miraculous
  resuscitations associated with the passion (MT.
  2753)