ADVENTIST UNIVERSITY OF WEST AFRICA

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION AND HUMANITY

DEPARTMENT OF THEOLOGY
FIRST SEMESTER 20212022

LECTURE NOTES1

RELB 115 SYNOPTIC GOSPELS (3 semester credits)

Lecturer: Yvonne Witherspoon M.Div.

e-mail: [email protected]
0775 022 465 (Mobile)

Class schedule: Monday | 4-5pm

Friday | 1-3pm
September 17- December 8

CHAPTER 1: WHAT ARE THE GOSPELS?

I. Introduction
The Gospels exhibit both unity and diversity, bearing witness to the same Jesus (unity) but viewing
him from unique perspectives (diversity). What are these four portraits? Matthew presents Jesus as the
Jewish Messiah, the fulfillment of OT hopes; Mark portrays him as the suffering Son of God, who offers
himself as a sacrifice for sins; Luke’s Jesus is the Savior for all people, who brings salvation to all nations
and people groups; and in John, Jesus is the eternal Son of God, the self-revelation of God the Father.
The Gospels are also unique in their presentations. Mark is the most dramatic of the four, a
powerful vivid story which grips the reader from beginning to end. Matthew is the most structured of the
Gospels, crafted around five carefully ordered teaching sections. Luke is the most thematic, with themes
like God’s love for the lost, the role of the Spirit, and Jerusalem’s role in God’s plan resurfacing again and
again. John’s is the most theological of the four, with more explicit statements concerning Jesus’ identity
and purpose.

II. The Synoptic Gospels and the Gospel of John

The first three gospels – Matthew, Mark, and Luke – are known as the Synoptic Gospels (from the
Greek synopsis, meaning “viewed together”) because they view the life and ministry of Jesus from a
similar perspective, follow the same general outline, and record a great deal of common material. The
gospel of John presents a strikingly different perspective. He includes some unique material, writes with a
different style and dwells more on the theological significance of Jesus’ words and deeds.

Table 1. The Synoptics and John

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Compilation of the textbook Strauss, Mark L. Four Portraits, One Jesus. Zondervan, 2006.

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 Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) Gospel of John
Emphasize the Galilean setting of the first part of Considerable movement between Galilee and
Jesus’ ministry Judea
Little information given to determine the length of Mentions at least three different Passover feasts
Jesus’ ministry; material could fit into a single year
(2:13; 6:4; 13:1), and so a ministry of 2 and a half
to 3 and a half years.
Jesus teaches mostly in parables, short sayings, and Relates long speeches by Jesus, dialogues with his
epigrams opponents, and interviews with individuals
Teaching focuses on the kingdom of God; healings Teaching focuses on Jesus and himself and the
and exorcisms demonstrate the power of the Son’s revelation of the Father. Signs or miracles
kingdom and the dawn of eschatological salvation reveal Jesus’ identity and glorify the Father; no
exorcisms.

III. The Gospel Genre

The genre of the gospels may be examined under three headings: history, narrative, and theology.

1. The Gospels as Historical Literature

 They have a history of composition: the authors used traditions and sources available
to them to compile their work
 They are set in a specific historical context: the setting is first-century Palestine
during the period of Roman occupation
 They are meant to convey accurate historical information: John 21:24; Luke 1:1-4
2. The Gospels as Narrative Literature
 Stories with plot, characters, and setting
 Parables
3. The Gospels as Theological Literature
 Theological documents written to instruct and encourage believers and to convince
unbelievers of the truth of their message
 They proclaim the good news about Jesus Christ and the coming of the kingdom of
God: John 20:30-31

IV. The Gospel Audiences

The Gospels were written primarily to believers. Over the last century, there has been a tendency to
view each of the Gospels as written to a specific Christian church to address the needs of that community,
but this perspective has been challenged in recent years. The Gospel writers were certainly members of
individual churches and would naturally have written with the needs and concerns of their church in mind.
But since it is nearly impossible to identify the precise community situation in which each Gospel arose, it
is more profitable to discuss the general kinds of readers – what we call the implied audience.

V. Why Four Gospels?

The church retained all four Gospels in the canon of Scripture because the church recognized each
as a unique literary account and as an inspired and authoritative work of the Holy Spirit.
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VI. Why Only Four Gospels?
There are more than four ancient documents which claim to be Gospels, including works like the
Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Peter, and a number of infancy gospels. The church rejected these later
writings because they failed the test of historical veracity and because they lacked the spiritual power and
authority that indicated the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

VII. Reading The Gospels Today

It is important to read the Gospels on their own terms, following the progress of each narrative from
introduction, to conflict, to climax, to resolution. Reading this way has been called reading vertically,
following the story from beginning to end.
While there is a danger in harmonistically reading one Gospel’s presentation into another, there are
also benefits comparing their accounts using a synopsis, which places the Gospels in parallel columns. By
comparing the Gospels, we can identify each writer’s themes and theology. We may call this reading
horizontally.

Table 2. Reading the Gospels vertically and horizontally: The seven sayings of Jesus from the cross

Luke John Matthew/Mark

1.“Father, forgive them, 2. To Mary: “Dear
for they do not know woman, here is your
what they are doing.” son.” To John: “Here is
your mother.”
3.“I tell you the truth, 4. “I am thirsty.” 5. “My God, my
today you will be with God, why have
me in paradise..” you forsaken
me?”
6. “Father, into your 7. “It is finished.”
hands I commit my
spirit...”

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CHAPTER 2: EXPLORING THE ORIGIN AND NATURE OF THE GOSPELS

I. The Development of the Gospel Tradition

It is beyond dispute that Jesus of Nazareth was a historical figure who lived in Palestine during the
period of Roman domination and was crucified by the Roman governor Pontius Pilate sometime around
AD 30-33. Nor is there any doubt that a short time after his death, his disciples began proclaiming that he
had risen from the dead.
As the message of Jesus began to spread from Palestine throughout the Roman empire, stories
about Jesus were told and retold, passed down from one person to the next by word of mouth. In time,
these stories were put in written form. The writers of the Gospels took these written and oral sources and
produced their works. Hence, we can discern four main stages in the development of the Gospels:
Stage 1: The life, death, and resurrection of the historical Jesus (the events themselves)

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 Stage 2: The period of oral tradition, when the sayings and stories of Jesus were passed down
primarily through the spoken word
Stage 3: The period of written sources, when collections of sayings and other material began to be
written down and collected
Stage 4: The writings of the Gospels themselves

Luke refers to these four stages in his prologue:

Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us,
just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the
word. Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed
good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus.
-Luke 1:1-3
Throughout the history of the Gospel research, tools have been developed to examine each stage in this
transmission process. These tools are collectively known as historical criticism, since they trace the
history of the Jesus traditions through its various stages.

II. The Synoptic Problem

The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke bear striking similarities. They use exactly the same
words in some instances, at other times they say essentially the same thing, but using different words.
Sometimes, one writer gives additional details. The question then is the relationship between these three
Gospels. Are the Gospels dependent on one another? If so, which was written first and which depended on
the others? The question of these relationships has been termed the synoptic problem.
This problem is especially striking when we consider that the sayings of Jesus were first passed
down in the Aramaic language. Yet our Gospels are written in Greek. It is unlikely that Matthew and Mark
would have independently translated from Aramaic to Greek with so much identical language. It seems
likely, therefore, that there is some literary relationship between the Synoptics.

III. Markan Priority and the Two- and Four-Source Theories

Markan priority is the view that Mark is the oldest Gospel and is the prototype for the other
Gospels. Mark wrote first, then Matthew and Luke composed their Gospels by adding to the framework of
Mark. There is significant evidence that Mark is the original Gospel:
 Though Matthew and Luke differ considerably from one another, most of Mark
(approximately 93 percent) is found in one or the other.
 It is difficult to explain why Mark, if he is borrowing from both Matthew and Luke, would
leave out so much seemingly important material.
 In the “triple tradition” (stories included in all three Synoptics), readings in Matthew and
Luke do not generally agree with each other when one or the other differs from Mark. This
suggests that Matthew and Luke are using not each other but rather another common source,
Mark.
 The order of events in Mark seems to be original, since wherever Matthew departs from
Mark, Luke supports Mark’s order, and wherever Luke departs from Mark, Matthew agrees
with Mark’s order. This also suggests that both are following Mark.
 Mark tends to have a rougher, less-polished Greek style, which Matthew and Luke
frequently smooth over.

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  Matthew and Luke tend to alter readings in Mark that could be taken as offensive or
theologically questionable. It seems unlikely that Mark would have changed Matthew’s and
Luke’s easier readings into harder ones.
 Mark occasionally preserves the original Aramaic words which Jesus used. Matthew and
Luke consistently replace these with a Greek translation. One would expect Mark’s Aramaic
words to be original.

Mark alone however cannot account for all of the Synoptic material, so additional sources had to be
proposed. The main expansions on Markan priority are known as the two-source theory and the four-
source theory. There are some materials which appear in Matthew and Luke, but not in Mark. Another
source was therefore proposed, known as the Synoptic Sayings Source or “Q” which Matthew and Luke
are said to have used independently. This material is mostly sayings of Jesus, with a few narratives. The
origin of the designation Q is uncertain, but it was probably derived from the German word Quelle,
meaning “source.” Two additional sources were also suggested to account for the material unique to
Matthew and John. The sources are M for Matthew and L for Luke.
 The two source-theory: Mark + Q
 The four-source theory: Mark + Q + M + L
In summary, New Testament scholars hold the view that both Matthew and Luke used:
 The Gospel of Mark
 A source or sources which Matthew and Luke had in common, called Q
 Unique material which each had in hand, designated M and L

IV. Matthean Priority: The Griesbach or Two-Gospel Hypothesis

The most serious challenge to Markan priority and the two- and four- source theories is the
Griesbach hypothesis. It is the view that Matthew write first, Luke used Matthew as source, and Mark
combined and abridged their two accounts.