The Gospel and the Gospels

MODULE 3: WHAT IS A GOSPEL?

SCHOOL OF THE WORD

2

PART 1

Module 1: The current context of faith

Module 2: The readings at Mass

Module 3: What is a gospel?

Module 4: The Gospel of the current year

Module 5: Mark’s portrait of Jesus

Module 6: Discipleship according to Mark

WWW.TARSUS.IE

3

SEQUENCE

• Reading Mark - how did you find it?

• The word “gospel”

• Timeline

• Gospel and Gospels

• Biographies

WWW.TARSUS.IE

4

READING MARK – HOW WAS IT?

• How did you feel?

• Did anything strike you?

• Anything you’d like to ask?

WWW.TARSUS.IE

5

THE WORD “GOSPEL”

• Old Testament (Isaiah)

• New Testament (throughout)

• What Jesus preached

• What early Christians said about Jesus

• The “Gospels” in the New Testament

Euagge/lion

EuangelionEvangelium

Good Newsgōd spellGospel

WWW.TARSUS.IE

6

map

THE WORD “GOSPEL”

7PRIENE CALENDAR INSCRIPTION

THE WORD “GOSPEL”

WWW.TARSUS.IE

8

Since providence, which has divinely disposed our lives, having employed zeal and ardour, has arranged the most perfect culmination for life by producing Augustus, whom for the benefit of mankind she has filled with excellence, as if she had granted him as a saviour for us and our descendants, a saviour who brought war to an end and set all things in peaceful order

and since with his appearance Caesar exceeded the hopes of all those who had received good news before us, not only surpass those who had been benefactors before him, but not even leaving any hope of surpassing him for those who are to come in the future, and since the beginning of the good news on his account for the world was the birthday of a god…

THE WORD “GOSPEL”

WWW.TARSUS.IE

9

• Four Gospels used in the Church

• Familiar through the cycle of readings

• At heart, each Gospel is a “life” of Jesus

• The four Gospels do differ in approach

• For example: the first words, in his public ministry, of Jesus in four Gospels

GOSPEL AND GOSPELS

WWW.TARSUS.IE

10

Mark 1:14-15 Luke 4:20-22

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.

Matthew 4:17 John 1:38

From that time Jesus began to proclaim, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?”

GOSPEL AND GOSPELS

WWW.TARSUS.IE

11

• Written from faith

• Written for faith

• To be read in faith

• The guiding light is the Resurrection

Different contexts, different portraits

1 Matthew: Jewish Christians

2 Mark: persecution?

3 Luke: non-Jews or Gentiles

4 John: mixed congregation

GOSPEL AND GOSPELS

WWW.TARSUS.IE

12

• Mark 16

• Matthew 28

• Luke 24

• (John 21)

1 Matthew and Luke are expansions of Mark

2 Matthew and Luke share about 250 verses not found in Mark

3 Matthew and Luke also have material unique to each one

GOSPEL AND GOSPELS

WWW.TARSUS.IE

13

• Opening scenes…

• Matthew: The Sermon on the Mount

• Mark: A typical day

• Luke: Preaching in Nazareth

• John: Call of the first disciples

GOSPEL AND GOSPELS

WWW.TARSUS.IE

14

GOSPEL AND GOSPELS

• You’ve been called / inspired / invited to write a Gospel

• How would you do it?

• What would you definitely include?

• What would you perhaps leave out?

WWW.TARSUS.IE

15

• The Gospel writers used various sources

• They used sources differently

• They used sources freely

• Examples: Preaching in Nazareth, Sermon on the Mount, Cleansing of the Temple

GOSPEL AND GOSPELS

WWW.TARSUS.IE

16

Mark Sayings (Q)

The Sower The Lord’s Prayer

M source L source

The Magi Prodigal Son

Matthew Luke

GOSPELS AND GOSPELS

WWW.TARSUS.IE

17

1. 250 verses = the Sayings Sources (Quelle)

2. Q survives only in Matthew and Luke

3. Q written, probably, in Palestine, in Greek

GOSPEL AND GOSPELS

WWW.TARSUS.IE

18

• Not everything was written down

• Awareness of traditions

• Offering a structured account

• Differing, to a greater and lesser extent

GOSPELS AND GOSPELS

WWW.TARSUS.IE

19

TIME LINE

Jesus6bc – 30 ad

Paul6bc / 35, 64 ad

Mark70

Matthew85-90

Luke85-90

John95-100

Galilee, Judea Syria, Asia Minor, Greece, Italy

Syria?Rome? Syria Greece?

Syria, Asia Minor

Augustus TiberiusCaligulaClaudius

NeroVespasia

nTitus Domitian Nerva, Trajan

31-14 14-37 37-4141-54 54-68 69-79 79-81 81-96 96+

70 years 30 years

WWW.TARSUS.IE

20

BIOGRAPHIES

• Before the Gospels, we find fragments of narrative:

• In hymns, such as

• In short “creeds” such as

• In passages about the Christ event, such as

• These traces presume a longer narrative

• This longer narrative was oral until a double crisis triggered the writing down of the proclamation, always in the light of Easter

WWW.TARSUS.IE

21

BIOGRAPHIES

• Our Gospels resemble biographies of the time, but

o The purpose is proclamation, in the light of Easter

o The writers felt free to select, arrange, edit and add

o Each Gospel has a viewpoint (a “theology”), a kind of religious DNA which enters every cell of the text

o The story continued in the lives of believers

• So, the Gospels are not biographies in our modern sense

WWW.TARSUS.IE

22

BIOGRAPHIES

• Mark: probably oppression, if not persecution

• Matthew: a difficult relationship with Jews

• Luke: a text for the Gentile seeker

• John: a community with a special history and leadership

WWW.TARSUS.IE

23

TASK FOR THE NEXT DAY

Imagine only Mark has come down to us

1 What would be “missing” from our tradition?

2 Why, do you think, does Mark “leave out” so much?

3 Any really startling omission for you?

WWW.TARSUS.IE

24

CONVERSATION

WWW.TARSUS.IE