MATTHEW
Why is Matthew the 1st Gospel

1. Matthew offers the most extensive coverage of Jesus’ teachings

2. Matthew is most concerned with the nature and function of the Church

•     2 full chapters  (10 & 18) are devoted to guidance of the Christian community

3. Matthew forms a strong connecting link with the Hebrew Bible (O.T.)

HOW DOES MATTHEW EDIT?

w      90% of Mark is in Matthew

w      Matthew inserts 5 large blocks of teachings:

•    Sermon on the Mount (5)

•    Instructions to the Apostles (10)

•     Parables on the Kingdom (13)

•     Instructions to the Church (18)

•     Final Judgement (23-25)

HOW DOES MATTHEW EDIT?

w      “Q” source - some of the material in the 5 teaching sections is identical to material found in Luke; but NOT found in Mark.

w      “M” source - material found only in Matthew

•    example = Vineyard & Laborers parable (20:1-16); and many of the kingdom pronouncements (13).

MATTHEW’S PORTRAIT OF JESUS: THE GREAT TEACHER!!

w      Matthew’s gospel presents a comprehensive collection of Jesus’ ethical teachings and provides a behavioral guide for the early church.

w       Jesus as the great Torah interpreter; 60 times Matthew either quotes from, paraphrases, or mentions the Hebrew Bible.

MATTHEW’S PORTRAIT OF JESUS: THE GREAT TEACHER!!

w      Jesus is Israel’s true Messiah; he fulfills propheses from the Hebrew Bible.

w       Matthew dilutes Mark’s apocalyptic message  by adding parables that picture the church making converts before Jesus returns.

w       Adds infancy narrative, 5 teaching sections, and a resurrection narrative.

LUKE-ACTS
Jesus: a Savior for all Nations!

Key themes:

w       Luke is Part 1 of a 2-volume work: a) The Gospel; b) a history of the early Church.

w       Luke emphasizes the HOLY SPIRIT and PRAYER.

w       Writes for a Gentile audience; a faith for all people.

LUKE-ACTS
Jesus: a Savior for all Nations

w      Jesus is portrayed as a gracious forgiver of sins; kindness towards the powerless in society.

w       Luke has less apocalyptic urgency.

w       Luke was probably a gentile physician writing after the fall of the Temple, 70ce

w       Luke apparently had no knowledge of Paul’s letters.

LUKE-ACTS
Jesus: a Savior for all Nations

w       Parables unique to Luke’s Gospel

w       Drawn from the “L” source:

•    Two Forgiven Deptors (7:41-43)

•     The Good Samaritan (10:29-37)

•     The Prodigal Son (15:11-32)

•     The Lost Coin ((15:8-10)

•     Lazarus and the Rich Man (16:19-31)

LUKE’S USE OF SOURCES

w      “L” SOURCE - includes unique material: birth stories, prayers, anecdotes about woman, parables of  forgiveness.

w       Luke uses 45-50% of Mark; generally follows Mark’s chronology.

w       Like in Mark and Matthew, the Hebrew Bible  provides another source; Luke uses OT images and themes.

LUKE’S USE OF SOURCES

w      Luke adds two large blocks of teaching materials to Mark’s material:

•    lesser interpolation (6:20-8:3) - includes Luke’s version of the Sermon on the Mount; shares the same “Q” source f Jesus’ sayings

•     greater interpolation (9:51-18:14) - presents Jesus’ teaching on the road from Galilee to Jerusalem; composed of “Q” and “L” material

LUKE’S PORTRAIT OF JESUS

w      LUKE’S “L” MATERIAL PAINTS A PORTRAIT OF JESUS AS A GENTILE SHEPHERD TENDING HIS FLOCK

w      IN LUKE, JESUS SHOWS CONCERN FOR THE POOR, THE MARGINALIZED, AND WOMEN; ILLUSTRATES  JESUS’ REDEMPTIVE KINDNESS

TYPICAL LUKAN IDEAS

w      Jesus’ kingdom demands a radical change in society’s present social and religious values.

w       Jesus as Savior: “Soter” figure for Gentile audiences

•    Luke: 1:69; 2:11

•     Acts: 3:13-15

•     only Luke uses this model for Jesus

THE IMPORTANCE OF PRAYER IN LUKE

w      Luke’s infancy narrative is full of prayers

w       The Holy Spirit descends on Jesus while he is in prayer (3:21)

w       Jesus chooses his disciples after prayer (6:12)

w      Jesus’ instructions on prayer are more extensive (11:1-13; 18:1-14)

THE HOLY SPIRIT IN LUKE

w      For Luke, Jesus’ career and the growth of Christianity are the direct result of the Holy Spirit.

•    Luke uses the term 14 times; more than Mark and Matthew together

•     Jesus is conceived & anointed after baptism by the Holy Spirit

•     The Holy Spirit is conferred through prayer

THE HOLY SPIRIT IN LUKE

w      At death, Jesus commits his “spirit” to God (23:46)

w       In ACTS 2, the Holy Spirit reappears on the Day of Pentecost

w       Possession by the Holy Spirit confirms God’s acceptance  (Acts 11: 15-18)

w       Church is led by the Holy Spirit!

Acts: A History of the Early Christian Church

Part 1: The birth and growth of the Christian Church (Acts: 1-12)

•       Christianity begins as a sect within Judaism in Jerusalem

•       The Church grows: converts include Palestinian Jews, Samaritans, then Gentiles (non-Jewish peoples)

•       Antioch Church is the first where the name “Christian” is applied to the group

 

Acts: Paul’s Missionary Journeys

Part II: The missionary activities of Paul

•       1st journey: Paul evangelizes the Gentiles in the cities of Asia Minor

•       2nd journey: Paul brings Christianity to Europe with new churches in Philippi, Thessalonica, and Corinth

•       3rd journey: revisits churches in Europe and Asia, is arrested in Jerusalem, and taken to Rome for trial; preaches to the Romans….??

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN

w      Date: between 90 and 100c.e. ; after some Christians were expelled from Jewish synagogues

w      Author:

•    Faith community = John, Son of Zebedee and brother of James; on of the 12 apostles

•    Scholars = anonymous work; fragments found in Egypt in the 2nd century

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN

w      Place of composition: Unknown

w      Audience: Johannine communities influenced by a uniquely high Christology:

•    belief in Jesus’ prehuman existence as Cosmic Wisdom (Logos)

•     proto-Gnostic group

JOHN’S PORTRAIT OF JESUS
Divine Wisdom Made Flesh

JOHN’S JESUS:

w      the human form of God’s celestial Word

w      the cosmic expression of divine Wisdom by which God created the universe

w      Jesus’ crucifixion is not humiliating but a glorification that frees Jesus to return to heaven

w       no Second Coming tradition

 

MAJOR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN JOHN AND THE SYNOPTICS

w      90% of John’s material is unique and has no parallel in the Synoptics

w      John has no birth story or reference to virginal conception

w       John has no record of Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist

w       John has no period in the wilderness or temptation by Satan or exorcisms

MAJOR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN JOHN AND THE SYNOPTICS

w      John does not record a single parable of the synoptic type

w      John reports none of Jesus’ reinterpretation of the Mosaic Law

w      Prediction of Jerusalem’s fall is absent

w       John’s Jesus undergoes no agony before his arrest at Gethsemane

MAJOR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN JOHN AND THE SYNOPTICS

w      John contains no prophecy of Jesus’ Second Coming; Jesus is already present among believers in the form of the Paraclete

w      John does not preserve a communion ritual or the institution of a new covenant at the Last Supper

STAGES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF JOHN

1. Oral tradition; independent from the Synoptic tradition

2. Shaping and developing of the Johannine material into a proto-gospel

3. Organization of the this material into  a first edition

4. Re-editing after the death of the author