The Formation of the Gospels

Some Chronological Order

• Year 0Jesus is born (but it’s probably more likely anywhere from 7 BCE to 4 CE)

• Year 30 to 33Jesus is crucified

CE- Common Era

The Genre Known as Gospel…• Meaning ‘good news’• Deals solely with life and teachings

of Jusus• Matt and Mark begin with birth• Mark and John begin with Baptism

(beginning of ministry)

• Late 60s – Early 70s Gospel of Mark is written for the persecuted Christian community in Rome, Christianity is illegal at this time

• 70The Romans destroy the Temple in Jerusalem, split between the Jewish community and the Jewish followers of Jesus

• Late 70s - Late 80sThe Gospel of Matthew is written for the Jewish followers of Jesus

• Mid to Late 80sThe Gospel of Luke is written for non-Jewish Christians, Greeks living in an urban environment

• 90 – 100The Gospel of John is written for an unknown Jewish Community

The Three Stages of the Development of the Gospels

• Stage 1: The Lived Experiencethe life, death and resurrection of Jesus as experienced by the disciples

• Stage 2: The Oral Traditionthe stories and sayings of Jesus were kept alive orally among the followers of Jesus

• Stage 3: The Written Gospelsas the eye witnesses of Jesus began to die the members of the Christianity community began to put these oral stories into written form

The Synoptic Gospels• Synoptic means “same view”, Mark,

Matthew and Luke are called the Synoptic Gospels as they follow the same general pattern

• Narrate same incidents, use similar phrasing (sometimes identical phrasing!)

• Matthew and Luke seem to have had another source named “Q” - hypothetical source of sayings and stories found in Matthew and Luke but not in Mark

• the Gospel of John in unlike the Synoptic Gospels, it has a unique writing style and contains passages found only in John’s Gospel

• John’s gospel more concerned with Jesus’ divine nature and relationship to God, synoptics emphasize his messianic vocation and everyday religious and ethical matters.

Matthew’s Gospel

• Written in Antioch (modern day Turkey) around 80 CE

• For a Jewish community who became first Christians

• Warnings to stay united, refrain from judgement, accept sinners, form stable structure (church).

Matthew’s Focus…

• Jesus as ultimate teacher and authority on earth

• Traced back through genealogy to King David

• Portrayed as on who brings teachings/ethics of Moses to perfection (New Torah)

The Sermon on the Mount: The Five Contrasts• In the Sermon on the Mount in

Matthew’s gospel Jesus makes a series of contrasts between the law of the prophets and that of his teaching.

• He doesn’t abolish the Torah, but rather gives it deeper meaning…

In-class assignment…• Make notes on the 5 contrasts listed below

as outlined in your text on pages 93-94.• What did the original law of Moses say?

How does Jesus give a new interpretation to the laws and customs of the Jewish ppl?

• 1. concerning anger• 2. concerning adultery and divorce• 3. concerning oaths• 4. concerning retaliation• 5. love for enemies