Lecture 4: The Synoptic Gospels

The Synoptic Gospels ......................................................................

Lecture 4

There are four books of the New Testament called Gospels which tell

the story of the life of Jesus, also his death, and then very brieÀ y, his

resurrection. It’s important to know, these were written down quite a

long time after the letters of Paul.

T

he Four Gospels of the New Testament are our main sources for the

life of Jesus. “Gospel” translates a Greek word meaning good news.

Hence it can mean simply the content of Christian proclamation, as it

does in Paul. The four written Gospels are more than proclamations, but they

are also more than historical or biographical documents; they have a literary

agenda that attempts to make you answer the question, “Who is Jesus?”

Three of the Gospels tell the story of Jesus’s life in roughly the same order

(so that it’s relatively easy to make a synopsis of them all together) and are

therefore called the Synoptic Gospels. These

Gospels are the ¿ rst three books of the New

Testament: Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The

order in which they were written is different:

Probably Mark was written ¿ rst, and then

Matthew and Mark used it as a source.

All the Synoptic Gospels reach a high point in

the middle of the narrative when the leading

disciple is confronted with Jesus’s question,

“Who do you say I am?” Peters answers, “You are the Messiah,” that is,

the Christ. Peter is not so happy when Jesus goes on to say he must suffer

and die and rise again. Peter is evidently thinking: The Messiah is the long-

awaited King of Israel, who is to restore the Kingdom of God in Israel—

not to get killed. There is something very important about Jesus that Peter

doesn’t understand: This is a Messiah who must suffer. Peter takes Jesus

aside and tries to rebuke him. But Jesus rebukes Peter, saying “Get behind

me, Satan!” Jesus follows up with the famous saying about taking up the

cross and following him. But he also mentions that the Son of Man will

The Synoptic Gospels

are the ¿ rst three

books of the New

Testament: Matthew,

Mark, and Luke.