Christian Scriptures EXAM #3

Gospel

(greek Evangelion) means “good news” also become the name for a literary genre - biographies of Jesus and collections of his teachings.

Synoptic Gospels

means “seeing together.” Matthew, Mark, and Luke are referred to as the because their three accounts of Jesus’s ministry are broadly similar in chronology, content, and often event exact wording (in contract to the Gospel of John).

Mark was the first Synoptic Gospels

and that Matthew and Luke both tried to expand and improve on Mark’s shorter narrative 

Son of God

When used by characters in the Synoptic Gospels, the title is basically synonymous with “Messiah/Christ” - in other words, it refers to Jesus as a human not a divine “Son” 

The Son of Man

Jesus often refers to himself in the third person. In some contexts, can mean “human being” to “Mortal.” The apocalypses of Daniel and 1 Enoch both refer to a specific, Messiah - like figure as the

Major Topics in Mark/ Synoptics

1. Preparation fro Jesus’s Ministry

2. Jesus as teacher

3. The Pharisees’ Opposition of Jesus

4. Jesus as Miracle-worker

5. The “Messianic Secret”

6. The Disciples’ Lack of Understanidng

7. Turning Point: Clarification of Jesus’s Identity and intentions

8. Jesus’s Final Week in Jerusalem

Disciples

Jesus calls 12 “students” to follow him. 3 of them: Peter, James, and John - are especially prominent in the Synoptics

Kingdom of God

is a central phrase in Jesus’s teaching that cab refer either to God’s realm or to God’s reign

Parables

Jesus often teaches in (short fictional stories that provide mortal lessons). He says he does this so that the true meaning of his words will be clear to “insiders,” but hidden from “outsiders”

The Messianic Secret

In Mark, Jesus repeatedly tries to prevent his identity as Messiah and his miracles from being publicized

The Disciples’ Lack of Understanding

Mark repeatedly emphasizes that Jesus’s disciples disappoint him through their failure to understand his identity and mission: After teaching in parables. After the calming of the storm. After feeding of 5,000/walking on water. After feeding of 4,000.

Peter’s Confession

He finally has a partial breakthrough in the understanding of Jesus’s identity

The Transfiguration

Jesus ascends a mountain with Peter, James, and John. Jesus’s appearance is transformed, Moses and Elijah aper with him. 

The Triumphal Entry

Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey, evoking Jewish prophecy

The Jewish leaders resolve to kill Jews in response to his action in the temple 

In the Synoptics

The Eschatological Discourse

Jesus predicts that the temple will be destroyed, and his disciples ask him when this will happen. Jesus responds by first speaking about the future of Jerusalem and the Temple, then predicting his own future return to earth.

Distinctive Aspects of Matthew 

1. Includes Jesus’s genealogy and birth story

2. Emphasizes that Jesus fulfills OT Scripture

3. Much of Jesus’s teaching appears in 5 long speeches

4. Jesus stresses the importance of the Law / right actions

5. Jesus’s pre-crucifixion ministry is essentially only to Jews

6. More balanced portrayal of Peter/disciples

7. Very harsh portrayal of Pharisees

The Sermon on the Mount

first of the 5 large speech in Matthew; contains many of Jesus’s most famous teachings: The Beatitudes (“Blessed are those who..”) The Lord’s Prayer (“Our Father”) The Golden Rule (“Do unto others”) “Do not judge, let you be Judge” 

Fulfillment Quotations

Matthew often quotes Jewish prophecies and links them to events

in Jesus’s life: “This happened in order to fulfill what had been

spoken through the prophet . . .” Similar to the Essenes’ pesher interpretation

mary

conceives by the

power of God’s Spirit despite being a virgin

Jospeh

that he should wed Mary, and

that her son will “save his people from

their sins”

Distinctive Aspects of Luke: 

1. Begins with an authorial Preface

2. Includes distinctive genealogy and birth story (different from Matthew’s) 

3. Includes extra background info (John the Baptist’s birth, a story of Jesus’s childhood)

4. Emphasizes from the beginning that Jesus’s ministry concerns both Jews and Gentiles 

5. Emphasizes Jesus’s concern for social outsiders (the poor, women, “sinners,” Gentiles, etc.)

6. Includes memorable narrative parables

7. Includes a lengthy “travel narrative” describing Jesus’s journey from Galilee to Jerusalem

Jesus’s Nazareth Synagogue Sermon:

At a synagogue service in his hometown of Nazareth, Jesus reads a passage from Isaiah and declares that he is the fulfillment of it. The crowd initially responds positively, but when Jesus recalls that Elijah and Elisha worked miracle’s among non-Jews and suggests that his own mission is to both Jews and Gentiles, they are furious. They try to throw Jesus off a cliff, but he escapes. 

Parable of Good Samaritan

Samaritans lived in Samaria (between Galilee and Judea) and claimed to be descendants of the 10 Northern tribes of Israel. Jews and Samaritans had different understanding of the Torah and the Temple, leading to hostility. In Jesus’s parable, the hero is a Samaritan who shows mercy to a wounded Jew after his fellow Jews have ignored him. The paint is that God calls his people to love those in need, regardless of who they are. 

Parable of the Prodigal Son

Parable about a son who leaves home and selfishly wastes his inheritance. His father gladly welcomes him home, but his older brother resents the special treatment he receives. The main point is that God welcomes sinners who repent, and believers should too. Can also be read as illustrating God’s love for both Jews (older brother) and Gentiles (younger brother) SIDE NOTE: You need to be excited to welcome in the Gentiles but they got to eat whatever they wanted didn’t circumstize there sons or made fun. 

“disciple whom Jesus loved”

The Author / editor of the Gospel says the source of his information was the

Distinctive Aspects of John: 

1. Clearly highlights Jesus’s divine origin and status 

2. Others recognize Jesus as Messiah/ Son of God from the beginning 

3. Distinctive Chronology / Geographical Focus 

4. Jesus teaches through conversations / speeches focused on his identity (not parables) 

5. Highlights intimate Father~Son relationship between God and Jesus 

6. Contains unique stories of Jesus’s miracles

Nicodemus

is a Pharisee who is convinced by Jesus’s miracles that Jesus is from God. Jesus tells him he must be “born again” (or “born from above”) but he misunderstands and takes this literally. Jesus says those who believe in him will receive eternal life 

The Woman at the Well

Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at a well who is surprised when he asks her for water. Jesus says she should ask him for “living water” so she would never thirst again but, like Nicodemus, she misunderstands and takes him literally. When the woman mentions the Messiah, Jesus reveals that he is the Messiah

“I Am” Sayings

• In John, Jesus rarely talks about “the kingdom of God/ heaven,” but instead talks about himself using memorable metaphors

• 1) The Bread of Life (6:35)

• 2) The Light of the World (8:12)

• 3) The Gate (10:9)

• 4) The Good Shepherd (10:11)

• 5) The Resurrection and the Life (11:25)

• 6) The Way, the Truth, and the Life (14:6)

• 7) The Vine (15:1)

the raising of Lazarus (not the temple incident) is the finial straw that leads Jesus’s opponents to resolve to kill him: 

“So the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the council and said, ‘What are we to do? This man is performing many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation.’. . . So from that day on they planned to put him to death”

The Raising of Lazarus

Jesus’s friend becomes ill. His sisters Mary and Martha ask Jesu to dome heal him, but Jesus delays until he dies. Jesus raises him from the dead after he has been burried for 4 days 

Judas

one of Jesus’s 12 disciples, agrees to help the priests arrest Jesus in exchange for money

The Last Supper (Synoptics)

Jesus shares a Passover meal with his disciples and predicts that one of them will betray him. He says that the bread and wine symbolize his body and blood being broken and poured out.  

The Last Supper (John)

does not mention Jesus’s words about the bread and wine representing his body and blood. Only recorded that after the meals, Jesus washed his disciples’ fat as an example of servanthood. 

Pontus Pilate

the Roman governor of Judea. In the Synoptics, HEasks Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews,” and Jesus replies “You say so.” HE finds no grounds for executing Jesus, but agrees to do so to please the Jewish crowds. Jesus is beaten, mocked, and taken to be crucified along with two criminals.

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 

The Crucifixion (Mark/Matthew) - Mark and Matthew highlight Jesus’s suffering and isolation. He is mocked by the bystanders and by both criminals. Jesus’s finial words are When he dies, the curtain of the Temple is torn and a Roman centurion says, “Truly this man was God’s Son.” In Matthew only, Jesus’s death triggers and earthquake and the opening of the tombs.

“Certainly this man was innocent.”

The Crucification (Luke) - Luke highlights Jesus’s innocence and care for others. One of the criminals recognize that Jesus is innocent, and Jesus promises him a place in paradise. Jesus asks God to forgive his crucifiers. Jesus’s final words are… The centurion says, “Certainly this man was innocent.”

“It is finished.” 

The Crucifixion (John) - John highlights Jesus’s confidence / strength / control. Only John says that Jesus carried his own cross. In all the Sypotics a man named Simon of Cyrene carries it. Jesus says he is thirsty, but John emphasizes that he only said this in order to fulfill Scripture. Jesus’s final words are… Only John records that the soldiers pierced Jesus’s side with a spear after he died.

Mary Magdalene 

On Sunday morning, and other women come to Jesus’s tomb and find it empty. An angel appears and tells them Jesus is risen, and that they should tell the disciples he will meet them in Galilee. 

The Puzzling Ending of Mark 

The oldest surviving manuscripts end like this: “So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone for they were afraid.” It is unclear whether this was Mark’s intended ending, or whether the original ending of the Gospel was lost. Later copyists added an ending to, inspired by the ending of Matthew and Luke. 

Matthew’s Unique Ending (1): The Cover-Up

The Priests pay the guards to claim they Jesus’s disciples had stolen his body. According to, “ this story is still told among the Judea’s to this day.” 

Matthew’s Unique Ending (2): The Great Commission 

The Disciples meet the risen Jesus on a mountain in Galilee and he gives them instructions…

The Emmaus Story

Jesus appears on the road. two of his followers who do not recognize him. The travelers are sad beaus they assume Jesus’s death has proven he wasn’t the Messiah. Jesus explains to them that it was actually a necessary part of God’s plan for the Messiah to die. After revealing his identity to the travelers, Jesus appears to his eleven disciples and “opened their minds to understand the Scripture’s.”

Luke’s unique ending: The Ascension

records that the disciples saw Jesus ascend into heaven shortly after the resurrection. Jesus tells the disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they have received additional power from God. 

John’s Unique Ending (1): Thomas’s Doubts

The risen Jesus appears to 10 disciples, but one is missing. When he returns, he does not believe the others. Jesus appears again when he is present and shows him, his wounds. Then he responds by calling Jesus “My Lords and my God!”

John’s Unique Ending (2): Peter’s Restoration

Jesus appears to the disciples by the sea and enables them to catch a miraculous number of fish. Jesus asks him 3 times is he loves him (mirroring he’s 3 earlier claims that he did not know Jesus) and entrusts him with caring for his “sheep.”