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Chapter 11 of Textbook

Books of the New Testament: An Overview

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The New Testament:

- See Table 11.3, “Approximate Order of Composition of New Testament Books,” p. 357 in Textbook (see also Box 11.1, “Organization of the Hebrew and Christian-Greek Scriptures,” p. 344 in Textbook.

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Introduction:

• The NT consists of 27 books (see Table 11.3, p. 357);

• The early Christians added these books to those of the Hebrew Scriptures (or Greek version of the Hebrew Scriptures) to form what is now called the Christian Bible (see pp. 9-11 of Textbook);

• Thus, the Christian Bible consists of an Old and a New Testament/Covenant.

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• The New Testament may be arranged:

• Four Gospels (story of Jesus);

• Book of Acts - a theological account of the early Church (“Church history”);

• Letters of Paul and other Church leaders ; and

• Book of Hebrews, Catholic Epistles, and an Apocalypse/Revelation.

• (see Textbook, p. 344, Box 11.1).

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The Gospels:

• The word Gospel derives from the Greek evangelion, meaning “Good News”;

• It is a new literary category created by the early Christian community;

• Gospel is a proclamation about the person of Jesus…;

• Thus, in the NT there are four versions of the one Gospel/ “Good News”.

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The Evangelists:

• The authors …. are called “Evangelists”;

• The Evangelists are believers in the person of Jesus of Nazareth;

• They proclaim the “Good News” about the person of Jesus;

• Their purpose is theological (John 20.31);

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• The Gospels (contd.):

• The Gospels are not biographies …. (see John 20.30);

• The Evangelists focus on Jesus’ adult ministry and passion - suffering and death;

• They provide very little information about Jesus’ early life;

• They emphasize his public career;

• They declare, “God works through the person of Jesus”;

• They stress the redemptive activity of Jesus;

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The Evangelists:

• The Evangelists proclaim Jesus as the Messiah/“Anointed One”/Christos (see Textbook, pp. 333-36);

• Jesus for them is the universal Saviour;

• For the Evangelists, God makes the divine will known through the person of Jesus (see Hebrews 1.1-3);

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The Gospels:

• Composed 40-65 years after the death of Jesus (see Table 11.2: “Major Events in the NT History”, pp. 348-49);

• They are four different attempts ….to say what was important about the Christ/Messiah/Anointed One;

• The Gospels are theological works.

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Acts:

• Composed by the same author who wrote “the Gospel according to Luke”;

• It shows the same religious preoccupations;

• It is not a “history” of the early Christian Church in the sense of present-day understanding of history;

• It was written ca. 80-90 C.E. (see, Table 11.2, p. 349).

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Letters of Paul:

• See Tables 11.2 (pp. 348) and Box 14.4 (p. 466) for “A Tentative Sequence of Events in Paul’s Life” - chronology on Paul and his letters;

• Paul’s letters are the earliest documents of the NT;

• Written between 50 and 62 C.E.;

• They are written to newly found Churches in Asia Minor, Greece, and Italy;

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Other NT Works:

• Letter to the Hebrews;

• Revelation/Apocalypse;

• General (Catholic) Epistles (James; 1 and 2 Peter; 1, 2, and 3 John; and Jude)

• etc. (See Table 11.2, p. 349 in Textbook).

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The Synoptic Gospels:

• The first three accounts of the Gospel;

• Matthew, Mark, and Luke;

• Why called Synoptic?

• How do they differ from the “Gospel according to John”?

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The Synoptic Problem (see Fig. 11.2, p. 351 in Textbook):

• The first three Gospels resemble each other closely;

• What is the nature of their relationship?

• Which gospel account is the source for the others?

• Thus, questions of authorship, chronological priority, dates of composition, etc.

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The Two-Document Theory:

• Source Criticism (see Textbook, pp. 29, 351);

• Recognition that Mark was the source for the chronological framework in Matthew and Luke;

• A second source that Matthew and Luke used;

• This source, a collection of Jesus’ sayings, is called Q (from the German term for source (quelle);

• Sources M and L;

• See Figure 11.2, p. 351 in Textbook;

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How the Written Gospels Came to Be - From Oral Preaching to Written Gospels:

• Four stages are generally recognized (see Box 11.3, “From Oral Kerygma to Written Gospel”…p. 352 in Textbook):

• Stage I: The Exclusively Oral Traditions Stage (30-70 C.E.):

• The stage of Jesus’ preaching; and

• His earliest followers’ preaching about him;

• A period of about 40 years 30-70 C.E.;

• The Kerygma (proclamation about Jesus);

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Stage I: The Oral Stage (contd.):

• This done originally in Aramaic - in Galilee, Judea, and nearby regions (Decapolis);

• The message then taken to Greek-speaking areas; to other ethnic groups; religions;

• What happens when you bring a message orally from one region and/or culture and proclaim it orally in a different language in another region and/or culture?

• To another ethnic group?

• To another religious group?

• Can this explain why Jesus’ sayings are reported differently in different accounts of the Gospel?

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Stage I: The Oral Stage (contd.):

• The importance of Form Criticism (see Textbook, p. 353);

• The identification and study of pericopes, or the individual, orally transmitted building blocks from which the longer Gospel account is constructed (see Textbook, pp. 29, 353, and G-36);

• See, for example, the Gospel according to Mark;

• The sitz im leben, that is, the “life-setting” or social circumstances from which stories about Jesus originated and were orally transmitted by the Early Church;

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Stage I: The Oral Stage (contd.):

- Missionary tours of Paul and associates;

- Establishing of new Gentile, Greek-speaking churches in Asia Minor and Greece (40-60 C.E.).

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Stage II: Period of Earliest Written Documents (50-70 C.E.):

• Brief compilations of Jesus’ sayings (ca. 50 C.E.);

• e.g., See Mark 4 and Matthew 13;

• Q, quelle;

• Q must be reconstructed from passages in Matthew and Luke;

• e.g., Matthew 5-7 (“Sermon on the Mount”) and Luke 6 (“Sermon on the Plain”);

• What was Q originally?

• How does it present Jesus?

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Stage III: Period of Jewish Revolt against Rome and the appearance of The First Canonical Gospel (66-70 C.E.):

• Redaction Criticism (see Textbook, p. 355):

• The redactor’s/author-editor’s importance in assembling, rearranging, and reinterpreting his sources;

•How do Matthew and Luke use their sources, e.g., Mark and Q? (See Luke 1.1-4)

• Mark and the Gospel genre/literary category (66-70 C.E.);

• the transformation of the oral kerygma into a narrative about Jesus’ public career;

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Stage IV: Period of The Production of New, Enlarged Editions of Mark (80-90 C.E.):

• Composition of Matthew (80-85 C.E.) and Luke (80-90 C.E.);

• Matthew and Luke used Mark, Q, and individual sources, namely M and L respectively (see Figure 11.2, p. 351);

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Stage V: Period of Production of New Gospels Promoting an Independent (Non-Synoptic) Tradition (90-100 C.E.):

• Composition of The Gospel According to John;

• Second edition of the Gospel of Thomas (a non-canonical account of the Gospel).

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Four Distinctive Portraits Of Jesus:

• Each Gospel account is a distinctive portrait of Jesus;

• Each is a reflection of the author’s concept of Jesus’ theological meaning;

• Why four portraits?

• Due to historical processes?

• e.g., Gospel according to Mark;

• e.g., Gospel according to John;

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Questions For Review:

• Five on p. 358;

•Question for discussion and reflection: p. 358.

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The Gospel According to Mark:

• (N.B.: read The Gospel According to Mark.)

• Five main divisions:

• Prelude to the public ministry (1.1-13);

• The Galilean ministry (1.14-8.26);

• Journey from Caesarea Philippi to Jerusalem (8.27-10-52);

• The Jerusalem ministry (11.1-15.47); and

• The postlude: the empty tomb (16.1-8).

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The Gospel According To Mark (contd.):

• The first author to put the oral traditions about Jesus into a written form that is called “Gospel”;

• The account cites few of Jesus’ “sayings”;

• It emphasizes Jesus’ actions;

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The Gospel According to Mark (contd.):

• Historical Setting:

• Who is the author of this account of the Gospel?

• Was the Gospel written for a group undergoing severe testing (see, e.g., 8.34-38; 10.38-40)?

• Is it related in any way to Nero’s persecution of early Christians in Rome?

• What was the author’s relationship to the apostle Peter (Acts 12.12-25)?

• To Paul (Philem. 24; Col. 4.10)?

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Historical Setting (contd.):

• Some scholars favour a Roman setting while others a Syrian or Palestinian one;

• The parousia in the account;

• Eschatological concerns;

• The title, “The Gospel According to Mark”;

• Author of the work is anonymous.

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The Leading Characters In Mark’s Account:

• see Box 9.3, p. 367 in textbook.

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Mark’s Attitude Towards Jesus’ Close Associates:

• To Jesus’ family and acquaintances (3.21; 3.31-35; 6.2-3; 6.6);

• To the disciples (3.13-19; 4.35-41; 9.9-10; 10.35-41; 14.30; 14.66-72);

• Why this negative attitude on the part of Mark?

• Is Mark’s negative attitude in this regard related to his wish to portray Jesus alone as the one who does God’s work and declares God’s will?

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Madonna and Child: Icon.

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The Geographical Arrangement of Mark’s Account:

• A north-south or geographical arrangement:

• First half takes place in Galilee:

• Climax of this section: the Messiah (8.27-29).

• Second half (after Ch. 8) deals with Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem where he is rejected and crucified:

• Climax of this section: the Son of God (15.39).

• See Box 9.4, p. 369 in textbook.

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Mark presents two different aspects of Jesus’ story:

- 1) the presentation of Jesus in Galilee (a person of authority in word and deed);

- 2) a helpless figure on the cross in Judea.

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• Five Main Divisions of Mark’s Account:

• 1) Prelude to Jesus’ Public Ministry (1.1-13):

- No background provided;

- “Here begins the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (1.1);

- Activity of John the Baptist (1.2-8);

- Jesus’ baptism (1.9-11);

- Jesus’ temptation (1.12-13).

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JESUS IS BAPTIZED BY JOHN (MARK 1.9-11).

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2) The Galilean Ministry (1.14-8.26):

- Mark’s eschatological urgency;

- “The time has come, the kingdom of God is upon you; repent and believe the Gospel” (1.15);

- The eschaton is about to take place;

- A sense of urgency - the present tense used;

- The author uses the word “immediately” to connect pericopes;

- Jesus’ activity proclaims that history has reached its climactic moment;

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2) The Galilean Ministry (1.14-8.26) (contd.):

- Jesus as “Son of Man” (see Box 9.6, p. 375 in textbook);

- Mark’s use of conflict stories;

- Jesus as healer

45Nazareth. View from Surrounding Hills.

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Jezreel Valley: To the West of the Sea of Galilee.

47Sea of Galilee: Viewed from Mountains to the West.

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3) The Journey to Jerusalem: Jesus’ Predestined Suffering (8.27-10.52):

- Ch. 8 as pivotal to Mark’s account;

- Here Mark ties together several themes that deal with his vision of Jesus’ ministry; and

- what Jesus requires of those who follow him;

- Lack of understanding on the part of Jesus’ followers;

- The hidden quality of Jesus’ Messiahship;

- The necessity of suffering on the part of Jesus’ followers;

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Ch. 8 (contd.):

- Peter’s recognition of Jesus as the Messiah (8.29);

- Jesus tells his disciples to keep this a secret;

- Jesus’ reluctance to have news of his miracles spread abroad - the Messianic Secret;

- the setting is Caesarea Philippi/Banias.

50Mount Hermon: View from Area of Banias.

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Banias (Caesarea Philippi): Waterfall.

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Banias (Caesarea Philippi): Beginning of River Jordan.

53Banias (Caesarea Philippi): Cave of Pan.

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The Messianic Secret and Mark’s Theological Purpose:

- People could not know Jesus’ identity until after his mission was completed;

- Jesus had to be unappreciated in order to be rejected and killed (see 10.45);

- Jesus must suffer an unjust death to confirm and complete his Messiahship;

- This is the heart of mark’s Christology;

- Thus, the relationship between Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Messiah and Jesus’ prediction that he must go to Jerusalem to die (8.29-32).

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Ch. 8 (contd.):

- A third idea introduced:

- True disciples must expect to suffer as Jesus did (see 8.27-34 and 10.32-45: what is required of a true disciple);

- To reign with Jesus means to imitate his suffering.

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The Journey To Jerusalem: Jesus’ Predestined Suffering (8.27-10.52) (contd.):

- Jesus travels to Jerusalem via Transjordan.

57Jordan River: South of Sea of Galilee.

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4) The Jerusalem Ministry (11.1-15.47):

- For mark, Jesus makes only one visit to Jerusalem;

- Jesus is welcomed into Jerusalem (11.9-10);

- Jesus accepts a Messianic role;

- Jesus alienates himself from both the Roman and Jewish administrators;

- He arouses hostility;

- His actions in the temple (11.15-19);

- Confrontations and successes against the Pharisees, Herod’s party, and the Sadducees.

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Jerusalem:

Outline of Old City.

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Holy Land Model of Herodian Jerusalem

61THE HERODIAN TEMPLE: RECONSTRUCTION.

62HERODIAN TEMPLE: MODEL.

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4) The Jerusalem Ministry (11.1-15.47) (contd.):

- The first commandment of all (12.28-34);

- Jesus’ foretells the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple (Ch. 13 - The Little Apocalypse);

- Mark’s concern with predictions of Jesus’ return (13.5-6, 21-23);

- The tribulations of the disciples will be ended when the Son of Man returns to gather the faithful;

- In the meantime: “keep alert” (13.33); “be awake” (13.37).

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4) The Jerusalem Ministry (11.1-15.47) (contd.):

- The Last Supper (14.12-25):

- Actually, a passover meal (see ex 11.1-13.16);

- Jesus gives the passover a new significance (14.22-25);

- The origin of the Christian celebration of the Eucharist.

65Jesus Celebrates the Passover Meal with His Disciples.

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4) The Jerusalem Ministry (11.1-15.47) (contd.):

- Jesus’ Passion:

- Mark wishes his readers to see the disparity between Jesus’ appearance of vulnerability and the reality of his spiritual triumph;

- Jesus’ enemies are seemingly ridding the nation of a radical;

- In fact, they are making possible his saving death;

- All this is in accordance with God’s design.

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Jesus’ Passion (contd.):

- Gethsemane;

- Mount of Olives;

- Caiaphas, the High Priest;

- Pontius Pilate;

- Barabbas;

- Simon of Cyrene.

68Gethsemane: Steps in the Garden of….

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70THE PIETA: MICHAELANGELO.

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Jesus’ Burial:

- Mary of Magdala as the link between Jesus’ death and burial and the discovery that the tomb is empty (see 15.40-41, 47 and 16.1);

- Joseph of Arimathaea.

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Jesus is laid in the Tomb.

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Holy Sepulchre from Outside.

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Holy Sepulchre - from Inside.

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5. The Empty Tomb (16.1-8):

- The women flee in terror (16.8);

- They say nothing to anyone for they were afraid (16.8).

- Thus, Mark’s account of the Good News ends abruptly.

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THE WOMEN AND THE ANGEL AT THE EMPTY TOMB.

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By not including resurrection appearances, is Mark expecting a parousia, that is, a second coming or appearance of Christ to judge the world, punish the wicked, and redeem the world?

- Does Mark wish to emphasize that Jesus is absent?:

- He is present neither in the grave; nor as yet triumphal son of man.

- Is Jesus present in memories, and

- In his enduring power over the lives of his disciples?

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Added Conclusions (16.9-19):

- Were many Christians unhappy with Mark’s inconclusiveness?

- If so, this could account for the heavy editing of Mark’s account;

- Some editors appended postresurrection appearances of Jesus;

- This made Mark’s account more consistent with Matthew and Luke (Mark 16.8b and 16.9-20).

Amen!

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Questions for Review:

Questions 1, 2, 3, and 5 (do not do the one on parables) on p. 380;

Questions for Discussion and Reflection on p. 380.