11: How to Read the Gospels
The Four Gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John Gospel = good news The Gospels are biographies about Jesus which seek to convince readers about the good news that he is the Messiah. Basic Storyline of the Gospels Birth narratives John’s ministry John baptizes Jesus. Jesus calls the twelve. Teachings of Jesus Miracles of Jesus Conflict with critics Triumphal entry Intensified conflict Last supper Arrest, trial, execution Resurrection appearances Great commission Mark (11,305 words) Papias: “And the elder used to say this: ‘Mark, having become Peter’s interpreter, wrote down accurately everything he remembered, though not in order, of the things either said or done by Christ. For he neither heard the Lord nor followed him, but afterward, as I said, followed Peter, who adapted his teachings as needed but had no intention of giving an ordered account of the Lord’s sayings. Consequently Mark did nothing wrong in writing down some things as he remembered them, for he made it his one concern not to omit anything that he heard or to make any false statement in them.’”1 John (15,633 words) Purpose statement: John 20:30-31 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. Matthew (18,348 words) Five blocks of teaching 5-7 Sermon on the Mount 10 Missionary Instruction 13 Parables of the Kingdom 18 Discourse on the Church 24-25 Olivet Discourse Luke (19,483 words) Luke’s method: Luke 1:1-4 1 Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative about the events that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, 3 I, too, decided, as one having a grasp of everything from the start, to write a well-ordered account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may have a firm grasp of the words in which you have been instructed. Luke’s historical precision: Luke 3:1-2 1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. The Synoptic Gospels Matthew, Mark, and Luke Matthew and Luke quote Mark extensively. Both quote another source of sayings as well. Still, much of Matthew and Luke is unique to them. Fee & Stuart: “Take, for example, the fact that there is such a high degree of verbal similarity among Matthew, Mark, and Luke in their narratives, as well as in their recording of the sayings of Jesus. Remarkable verbal similarities should not surprise us about the sayings of the one who spoke as no one ever did (John 7:46). But for this to carry over to the narratives is something else again—especially so when one considers (1) that these stories were first told in Aramaic, yet we are talking about the use of Greek words; (2) that Greek word order is extremely free, yet often the similarities extend even to precise word order; and (3) that it is highly unlikely that three people in three different parts of the Roman Empire would tell the same story with the same words—even to such minor points of individual style as prepositions and conjunctions.”2 Fee & Stuart: “The best explanation of all the data is …that Mark wrote his gospel first, probably in part at least from his recollection of Peter’s preaching and teaching. Luke and Matthew had access to Mark’s gospel and independently used it as the basic source for their own. But they also had access to all kinds of other material about Jesus, some of which they had in common. This common material, however, is scarcely ever presented in the same order
