CHAPTER 11 HOW, WHEN AND WHY WERE THE …€¦ · Why do think Chris?anity was like immediately following the death ... ascension of Jesus? We need to understand the context in ...

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?