CHAPTER11HOW,WHENANDWHYWERETHEGOSPELS

WRITTEN?

WhydothinkChris?anitywaslikeimmediatelyfollowing the death, resurrec?on, andascensionofJesus?

WeneedtounderstandthecontextinwhichtheNTwaswri3en.

TheearlyChris8ansdidnotseeJesusasafounderofanewreligion,butthefulfillmentoftheold.Soearlyon,Chris8anitywasconsiderednothingmorethananotherJewishsect.AsasidenotebothChris8anityandRabbinicalJudaismsprangfromtheOTJudaism.NeitherrequiredsacrificesaFerthetemplewasdestroyedin70AD.

Chris8answeremostlyinJerusalemandmostconvertswereJewishSomecamefromoutsideJerusalemandstayedthereorwentbackhometoGalileeandspreadChris8anityThe11discipleswereTHEauthorityonJesusandtoldmanystoriestothepeople.

Discipleswouldgofromvillagetovillage.Askedtotellstoriesabouttheir8meswithJesusandwhatJesussaid.Eyewitnesswasvaluedaboveanythingwri3en.AsChris8anitybegantospread,thedisciplescouldnotbeeverywheresoapostolicwri8ngstooktheplaceofapostolicpresenceandthewri3enwordbecameama3erofgreatimportance.Thesewerewri3eninGreekbecausethatwastheuniversallanguageofthe8me

Eachvillagehadtheirownsetofstoriestoreadwhilethediscipleswereaway.Somewherealongtheline,someonedecidedtocreateacollec8onofthesestoriessotherewouldbeauniformsource.

MostJewsrejectedJesusasthefulfillmentofOTprophecyconcerningtheMessiahandtheyrejectedtheChris8anmessagesotheChris8anshadtocomeupwiththeironauthorita8vewri8ngstoseparatethemselvesfromtheJews.

Whowrotethe4Gospels?

Mathew,Mark,LukeandJohnwereprobablyallcompiledbyanonymouswelleducated,GreekspeakingChris8ansduringthesecondhalfofthefirstcentury.Theygottheirnamesbecausesome8meinthesecondcentury,theproto-orthodoxygrouprecognizedtheneedforauthorita8venamessotheya3ributedthemtoMa3hewandJohn(twoapostles),Mark(thesecretaryforPeter),andLuke(thetravelingcompanionofPaul)

TheGospelswerewri3enbetween70-90CE.That’s40-60yearsaFerthedeathofJesus

DoesitbotheryouthattheGospelswerewriMensolongaNerthedeathofJesus?

Oneofthemainreasonsforwri8ngisthattheoneswhoactuallyknewJesusweredying.AnotherreasonmightbethatJesushadnotreturnedasexpected/

ReadLuke1:1-4

Thisshowsthattherewereearliera3emptstowritedownthestoryofJesus,probablyaround50-60CEwhileatleastsomeofthe11weres8llalive.

WhatdoyouthinkabouttheseearlieraMempts?

Lukeinves8gatesthestoryofJesusfromdifferentsourcesandwritesanorderlyaccountforTheopolis.Theopolismaybeapersonoritmaybeageneralterm(God-lover)foranyChris8an.

Hadyoueverno?cedthisbeforewhenreadingLuke?

Ma3hew,Mark,andLukeareverysimilarinthewaytheypresentJesus.Theyarecalledthesynop8cGospels.TheGreekword“synop8cos”whichmeansto“seewith”oneanother.ThisposedwhatscholarscalltheSynop8cproblem.

Whatproblemshaveyouencounteredwhenreadingthesethreebooks?

Thesynop8cproblemislikeapuzzlebecauseoftherela8onshipamongthethreeGospels.

ReadMaMhew24:15andMark13:14

Bothhavetheiden8calparenthe8calinser8onassayingtothereader“Youknowwhatwerearetalkingabouthere.”Thelikelihoodofthembothincludingthisphraseisverysmall,indic8ngacommonsource.

WhatdoyouthinkabouttwodifferentGospelshavingacommonsource?

Ma3hew–1068versesMark-661versesLuke–1149verses

95%ofMark’sversesappearinMa3hew80%ofMark’sversesappearinLuke75%ofMark’sversesappearinboth

Whatisyouropinionofthiscommonality?

BeforewemoveawayfromMarkturntoMark19(don’treadyet)

Whatdoesyourcommentarytellyouaboutverses9-20?

TheGospelofMarkendsatverse8intwooftheoldestandmostrespectedmanuscripts.Since1611,olderandmoreaccuratemanuscriptshavebeendiscoveredandtheyaffirmthatvv.9-20werenotintheoriginalGospelofMark.

Whatdoyouthinkaboutthisaddi?onandwhydoyouthinkitwasaddedlater?

While the added ending offers no newinforma8on, nor does it contradict previouslyrevealed events and/or doctrine, both theexternal and internal evidence make it quitecertain that Mark did not write it. In reality,endinghisGospel inverse8withthedescrip8onof theamazementof thewomenat the tomb isen8relyconsistentwiththerestofthenarra8ve.Amazement at the Lord Jesus seems to be athemewithMarkDoesitbotheryouthattheseverseswereaddedlater?

AllfourGospelswerewri3eninGreekwiththepossibilityofsomeearlyaccountsbeingwri3eninorinfluencedbyAramaic(notHebrew).MarkwasthefirstoftheGospelstobewri3en.

IfMarkwasthefirsttobewriMen,thenwhydoesitnotappearfirstintheNewTestament?

TheproblemwiththeGospelofMarkforthefinaleditorsoftheNewTestamentwasthatitwasgrosslydeficient.FirstitissignificantlyshorterthantheotherGospels–withonly16chapters.ButmoreimportantishowMarkbeginshisGospelandhowheendsit.HehasnoaccountofthevirginbirthofJesus–orforthatma3er,anybirthofJesusatall.Infact,Joseph,husbandofMary,isnevernamedinMark’sGospelatall–andJesusiscalleda“sonofMary”.ButevenmoresignificantisMark’sstrangeending.HehasnoappearancesofJesusfollowingthevisitofthewomenonEastermorningtotheemptytomb!

TheauthorsaysthatwewouldexpecttheHolySpirittohaveeliminatedallconflictsamongthetexts.Instead,thereareplaceswheretheGospelstellconflic8ngaccountsofwhatJesussaidordid?

Whatareyourthoughtsontheseconflic?ngaccounts?

ThereissomematerialthatisuniquetoMa3hew.ThereissomematerialthatisuniquetoLuke.

Whatisyouropinionofthesedifferencesandwheredidtheycomefrom?

Thematerial(25%commontoMa3hewandLukebutnotMark)Ma3hewandLukeshareisvirtuallyallsayingsofJesus.

WhydoyouthinkitismostlysayingsofJesus?

Wenolongerhavetheoriginalsource.JoannesWeiss,aGermanscholar,callsthslostsourceQwhichstandsfor“quelle”Germanforsource.TheauthorsofMa3hewandLukereworkedtheircommonsourcestobe3errelatetotheirintendedaudiences.

Doesitbotheryouthatthesecommonsourceswerereworked?

ThereisalsoasourceuniquetoMa3hew,callitM.20%ofMa3hewisuniquetoMa3hew.ThereisalsoasourceuniquetoLuke,callitL.30%ofLukeisuniquetoLuke.

TheauthorsaysthatsomeChris8ansarebotheredthatthereweresourcesbehindtheGospelsratherthantheauthorsjustwroteundertheguidanceoftheHolySpirit.

Doesthisbotheryou?

Theauthorsaysthatsomeskep8csques8onthereliabilityoftheGospelsbecauseMarkwaswri3en40yearsaFerJesus’deathandMa3hewandLukes8lllater.

Doesthisbotheryou?Explainwhyorwhynot?

Howgoodareyouatrememberingwhathappened40yearsago?

TheauthorsaysthattheGospelswerewri3entorecordthestoryofJesusforapar8cularcommunityorgroup,forexampleMa3hewfortheJewsandLukefortheGen8les.

Howmuch?medoyouspendtryingtounderstandthecontextinwhichtheGospelswerewriMen?

DoesitmakeanydifferencethatthesebookswerewriMenforaspecificcommunity?

ReadJohn21:25

TheauthorsaysthateachGospelwriterhadtochoosewhatinforma8ontoinclude.Theirchoiceshadsomethingtodowiththeneedsandperspec8vesoftheirintendedaudience.

WhatdifferencesdoyouseeinMaMhewandLuke?

Luke’sGospelshowsemphasisonthepoorandmarginalizedwhichreflectsJesus’concerns.

Why?HaveyoueverreadLukeinthatcontext?

ReadLuke6:20-21 ReadMaMhew5:3,6

Whatdoyouthinkofthesedifferences?