New Testament Exam 1 - Ford

Why the NT needs the OT

The OT sets up categories to understand the NT

Why the OT needs NT

The NT clarifies shadows in the OT

Meaning of the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1

Shows it is a continuation of the OT and reminds that God hasn’t forgotten his promises

Summary of the OT

God’s search for a faithful covenant partner

The meaning of canon

A catalogue of books that layout what should be believed and how one should behave

Recognizing the canon vs determining the canon

Church leaders did not determine the canon, they recognized books as being canonical. The canon created the churches.

The implications of canon

1. Unity - Bible has a unified message

2. Diversity - It covers a wide range of topics

3. Authority - What you believe about the Bible is your authority

The genre of the gospels

• Ancient biographies called “bioi”

• Both history and theology

• Chronologue the life of Jesus

The meaning of gospels being history and theology

The gospels record historical events and communicate theology through the flow of the plot, not the flow of thought (Showing, not telling)

Meaning of Matthew 19 and the rich young man

• Jesus appears to tell a man that he is saved by the law

• However, he applied the law to expose the rich man’s sinful heart (love of money)

How we interpret the gospels (plot not thought)

To correctly understand the thought of the story, the parts of the plot must be identified (setting, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution)

The meaning of the prodigal son

Jesus rebukes the hard hearts of the Pharisees

The literary distinctive of Matthew

• Has many discourses

• Sermon on the Mount/Mission + Witness/Parables/Ecclesiology/Judgment

The main theme of Matthew

Persuade that Jesus is the promised messiah, the Son of David, and the fulfillment of OT prophecies

The nature of fulfillment in Matthew and the virgin birth

• Fulfillment works by typology and trajectory

• Matthew 1 addresses the fulfillment of the virgin birth predicted in Isaiah

The purpose of the Sermon on the Mount

To answer “What is true righteousness?”

The nature of righteousness on the Sermon on the Mount

Jesus is talking about heart-wrought righteousness, not law-gospel or works-based righteousness

The problem of the Pharisees

They wanted the visual of righteousness, not the lifestyle

How Jesus fulfills the Law

Jesus brings about the New Covenant and shows the heart behind the law

The events of the Olivet Discourse

Jesus answers questions concerning the destruction of the temple and his second coming

The arguments for a complex reading of the Olivet Discourse

• Preterist (past) view - Events have been fulfilled

• Futurist view - The events are still to come

• Mixed view - Describes the past destruction and events to come

The nature of apocalyptic language

Political destruction is usually described with cosmic language

The source of Mark’s gospel

• Peter is the source of Mark’s gospel.

• Mark traveled with Peter and wrote down how Peter preached the gospel

The literary features of Mark’s gospel

Contains Markan sandwiches (story sandwiched within another story) and literary real estate

The main theme of Mark

Tries to persuade you that Jesus is the Son of God who gave his life as a ransom for many

How Mark communicates Jesus’ divinity

Connects Jesus to Isaiah’s prophecy about John the Baptist, the voice in the wilderness, preparing the way for Yahweh

The meaning of the miracle in Mark 8

Parallels to the disciples’ journey of spiritual blindness

How Mark communicates the theological purpose of Christ’s death

• Jesus came to give his life as a ransom for many

• The blood of the covenant brings freedom and forgiveness

• The temple veil is torn when Jesus dies, ending our separation from God

The authorship of Luke

• Written by Luke, a physician who traveled with Paul

• Internal evidence: Written in quality Greek

• External evidence: Papius and Marcion say he wrote it

Literary features of Luke

• Has the most parables

• Tells of the trip to Jerusalem

The main theme of Luke

• Jesus was the savior of the world

• He saved all types, men and women, rich and poor, Jew and Gentile

The sub themes of Luke

• The Holy Spirit

• The disenfranchised

• The meaning of the OT

The purpose of parables

So that believers can see the truth but it is made unclear for nonbelievers. IYKYK

The principles of the parables

• Stories

• Speak to the context

• Theology not history

• Usually only 1 main point w/ subpoints

The point of the Rich Man and Lazarus

The love of money that marked the Pharisees is indicative of a heart that will not believe God no matter what he does

The literary features of John

• Different than synoptics

• The prologue

• Long discourse

• The seven signs

• The high priestly prayer

The main theme of John

Written that people may believe Jesus is the divine son incarnate. Belief results in eternal life.

The meaning of the Son of God

Jesus is God but he is not God the Father

The purpose of John’s use of the Word

• Harks back to the OT creation accounts

• Paints Jesus as the supreme revelation of who God is

• Subverts the Greek worldview on the word

The nature of belief

• The condition of salvation

• Brought about by the Holy Spirit’s power

• Is preserved

• Must persevere

• Does not presume on God’s kindness

The authorship of the gospels

The authors of the gospels are anonymous