The New Testament
The Gospel of Mark
This shortest of the New Testament gospels
is likely the first to have been written. It
recounts the ministry of Jesus a clear style,
one incident following another. Mark
stresses Jesus' message about the
kingdom of God now breaking into human
life as good news and Jesus himself as the
gospel of God. Jesus is the Son whom
God has sent to rescue humanity by serving
and by sacrificing his life.
The opening verse about good news in Mark
serves as a title for the entire book. The action
begins with the appearance of John the Baptist,
a messenger of God. But John points to
someone greater, Jesus, at whose baptism God
speaks from heaven, identifying Jesus a Son.
The Spirit comes upon Jesus, who eventually
will baptize "with the holy Spirit." Jesus
proclaims as gospel: fulfillment, the nearness of
the kingdom, and the need for repentance and
for faith.
In Mark, Jesus is portrayed as immensely
popular with the people in Galilee during his
ministry. He appoints twelve disciples to help
preach and drive out demons, just as he
does.
A key moment comes at the mid-point of the
gospel with Peter's confession that Jesus is
the Christ, the Messiah. But Jesus himself
emphasizes his passion, not glory in the
kingdom.
The Gospel of Mark ends in the oldest
manuscripts with an abrupt scene at
Jesus' tomb, which the women find
empty. Other hands have attached
additional endings after Mark 16:8.
Mark's Gospel is oriented toward Jesus as
the Son of God. He is the Messiah, the
anointed king of David’s line (Greek,
Christos.) Jesus is also seen as Son of
Man, a term used in Mark not simply as a
substitute for humanity in general or with
reference to a mighty figure who is to
come, but also in connection with Jesus'
predestined, necessary path of suffering
and triumph.
Mark shares with Paul, as well as with other
parts of the New Testament, an emphasis
on election and discipleship, and upon
the gospel as Christ and his cross. Mark
also emphasizes the humanity of Jesus as
well, his authentic human emotions: pity,
compassion, surprise, sadness, grief and
even anger.
Although by an unknown author (except for the
ancient heading "According to Mark”) it has
traditionally been assigned to John Mark, in
whose home in Jerusalem Christians
assembled. This Mark was a cousin of
Barnabas and accompanied Barnabas and
Paul on a missionary journey. He may have
been a disciple of Peter. The writer has
assembles various oral and possibly written
sources--miracle stories, parables, sayings,
stories of controversies, and the passion.
Probably written before 70 A.D. in Rome, at
a time of coming persecution, before the
destruction of Jerusalem. Probably
written for Gentiles, unfamiliar with Jewish
customs. The book tries to equip
Christians to stand faithful in the face of
persecution, while continuing the
proclamation of the gospel begun in
Galilee.
Gospel of Matthew
Some think the Gospel according to
Matthew was the first to be written, a
view that goes back to the second
century A.D. Today most scholars
believe it was the second written.
Matthew presents his story of Jesus,
the demands of Christian
discipleship, and the breaking-in of
the new and final age through his
ministry, particularly through his
death and resurrection.
The gospel begins with a genealogy of
Jesus starting with Abraham. He is
conceived of a virgin by the power of
the Spirit of God. The first of the
gospel's fulfillment citations, whose
purpose it is to show that he was the
one to whom the prophecies of Israel
were pointing, occurs here: he shall
be named Emmanuel, for in him God
is with us.
Matthew begins his account of the ministry
of Jesus, introducing it by the preaching of
John the Baptist, the baptism of Jesus
where God claims him as "beloved Son",
and the temptations which show that true
sonship is obedience to the Father. The
central message of Jesus is the coming
of the kingdom and the need for
repentance, a complete change of heart
on the part of those who are to receive
this great gift of God.
Matthew shows Jesus preparing for the
establishment of his church with its
teaching authority that will replace
the Pharisees. The church of Jesus
will be built on Peter, who will be
given authority to bind and loose on
earth, an authority whose exercise
will be confirmed in heaven.
The concept of binding and loosing has
many meanings, including that of giving
authoritative teaching. This promise is
made to Peter directly after he has
confessed Jesus to be the Messiah, the
Son of the living God, a confession that
he has made as the result of revelation
given to him by the Father.
The passion is absolutely key to
Matthew’s Gospel. In Jesus'
absolute faithfulness to the Father's
will, accepting the cup of suffering,
the perfect model for Christian
obedience is given; in his death "for
the forgiveness of sins", the saving
power of God is revealed as never
before.
In his passion Jesus combines both the
obedient Son who goes in fulfillment of
the scriptures, sure of his vindication by
God, and the fear and abandonment
that he feels in face of death. These
two aspects are expressed by an Old
Testament theme of the suffering
Righteous One who complains to God
in his misery, but is certain of eventual
deliverance from his terrible ordeal.
Attributing this gospel to the disciple
Matthew may have been due to his
having been responsible for some of
the traditions found in it, but that is
far from certain.
Since Mark was written shortly before or
shortly after A.D. 70, Matthew was
composed certainly after that date,
which marks the fall of Jerusalem …
probably ten years later since
Matthew's use of Mark presupposes a
wide diffusion of that gospel. The post-
A.D. 70 date is confirmed within the
text by Matthew 22:7, which refers to
the destruction of Jerusalem.
Place of writing: possibly Antioch, the
capital of the Roman province of Syria.
That large/important city had a mixed
population of Greek-speaking Gentiles
and Jews. His gospel answers the
question how obedience to the will of
God is to be expressed by those who
live after the "turn of the ages," the
death and resurrection of Jesus.
The Gospel of Luke
This is the first of a two-volume work
that continues the history of God's
dealings with humanity found in the
Old Testament, showing that God's
promises to Israel are fulfilled in
Jesus and how the salvation
promised to Israel and accomplished
by Jesus has been extended to the
Gentiles.
The purpose of the two works is to provide
readers/hearers assurance about earlier
instruction they have received. Luke shows
that the preaching/teaching of the
apostles/disciples of the early church is
grounded in the preaching/teaching of
Jesus, who during his historical ministry
prepared his specially chosen followers
and commissioned them to be witnesses to
his resurrection and to all else that he did.
This continuity between the historical
ministry of Jesus and the ministry of
the apostles is Luke's way of
guaranteeing the fidelity of the
Church's teaching to the teaching of
Jesus.
No gospel writer is more concerned with the
role of the Spirit in the life of Jesus and the
Christian disciple, or with Jesus' concern
for women. While Jesus calls all humanity
to repent, he is particularly demanding of
those who would be his disciples. Of them
he demands absolute and total detachment
from family and material possessions. To
all who respond in faith and repentance to
the word Jesus preaches, he brings
salvation and peace and life.
Early Christian tradition identifies the author
of this gospel and Acts as Luke, a Syrian
from Antioch, who is mentioned in the New
Testament in Col 4:14, Philippians 1:24
and 2 Tim 4:11. Luke is not part of the first
generation of Christian disciples but is
dependent upon the traditions he received
from eyewitnesses/ministers of the word.
His two-volume work marks him as highly
literate both in the Old Testament traditions
and in Hellenistic Greek writings.
Among the likely sources for the composition of
this gospel are the Gospel of Mark, the written
Q collection of sayings of Jesus, and other
special traditions that were used only by
Luke. Because of its dependence on the
Gospel of Mark and because details in Luke's
Gospel imply that the author was acquainted
with the destruction of Jerusalem by the
Romans in A.D. 70, the Gospel of Luke is
dated by most scholars propose A.D. 80-90
as the time of composition.
Luke's substitution of Greek names for the
Aramaic/Hebrew names, his omission from
the gospel of specifically Jewish Christian
concerns, his interest in Gentile Christians,
and his poor knowledge of Palestinian
geography, customs, and practices
suggest that Luke was a non-Palestinian
writing to a non-Palestinian audience that
was largely made up of Gentile Christians.
Acts of the Apostles
The Acts of the Apostles continues Luke's
biblical history, describing how the
salvation promised to Israel, accomplished
by Jesus, and now under the guidance of
the Holy Spirit is extended to the Gentiles.
This was accomplished through the chosen
representatives whom Jesus prepared
during his ministry and sent after his
resurrection as witnesses to all that he
taught. Of all those sent the roles of Peter
and Paul serve Luke's interest.
Peter was the leading member of the Twelve
and the spokesman for the Christian
community, who was responsible for the
growth of the community in the early days.
Paul eventually joined the community at
Antioch, which commissioned him and
Barnabas to take on the spread of the
gospel to Asia Minor. This missionary
venture generally failed to win the Jews but
enjoyed success among the Gentiles.
Paul's refusal to impose the Mosaic law upon
his Gentile converts provoked very strong
objection among the Jewish Christians of
Jerusalem, but both Peter and James
supported his position. Paul's second and
third missionary journeys resulted in the
same pattern of failure among the Jews
generally but of some success among the
Gentiles. Paul, like Peter, is presented as a
miracle worker and the object of divine
care.
In the development of the church from a
Jewish Christian origin in Jerusalem, to a
series of Christian communities among the
Gentiles of the Roman empire, Luke sees
the action of God in history opening the
hearts of all people to God’s message of
salvation.
His history of the apostolic church is the story
of a Spirit-guided community and a Spiritguided
spread of the Word of God. The
travels of Peter and Paul are in reality the
travels of the Word of God as it spreads
from Jerusalem to Rome.
Gospel of John
The Gospel according to John is different
in character from the other three
gospels. It is very literary, even poetic,
and symbolic. It does not follow the
same order or copy the same stories as
the synoptic gospels. It is much more the
product of a developed theology and
comes from different community
traditions. It was probably written in the
90’s.
The gospel contains many details not found
in the other gospels: that Jesus had a
baptizing ministry (John 3:22) before he
changed to one of preaching and signs;
that Jesus' public ministry lasted for
several years (3); that he traveled to
Jerusalem for various festivals and met
serious opposition long before his death;
and that he was put to death on the day
before Passover.
These events are not always in
chronological order because of the
development and editing that took place.
However, the accuracy and detail of John
suggest that John’s tradition rests upon
the testimony of an eyewitness. Although
tradition identified this person as John, the
son of Zebedee, most modern scholars
find that the evidence does not support
this.
The fourth gospel is not simply history; the
narrative has been organized and adapted
to serve the evangelist's theology as well.
Among them are the opposition to the
synagogue leaders, the desire to show
that Jesus was the Messiah, and the
desire to convince Christians that their
religious belief and practice must be
rooted in Jesus.
These ideas have impressed the writer
to emphasize themes and ideas that
were not so clear in the synoptic
account of Jesus' ministry, e.g., the
explicit emphasis on his divinity.
The author of this gospel seems to
take pains to show that women are
not inferior to men in the Christian
community: the woman at the well in
Samaria (John 4) is presented as a
prototype of a missionary, and the
first witness of the resurrection is a
woman.
The final editing of the gospel and
arrangement in its present form
probably dates from between A.D. 90
and 100. Traditionally, Ephesus has
been favored as the place of
composition, though many support a
location in Syria, perhaps the city of
Antioch, while some have suggested
other places, including Alexandria.
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