Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction: The Historical Background

to the Gospels and Acts 3

Chapter 2: Genre and Form Criticism12

Chapter 3: The Gospel of Mark18

Chapter 4: Jesus and the Kingdom of God33

Chapter 5: Source and Redaction Criticism39

Chapter 6: The Gospel of Matthew44

Chapter 7: The Sermon on the Mount54

Chapter 8: Introduction to Luke-Acts69

Chapter 9: Luke’s Use of the Old Testament74

Chapter 10: Luke’s Parables85

Chapter 11: The Synoptics and John103

Chapter 12: The Gospel of John106

Chapter 13: Jesus’ “I am” Claims116

Chapter 14: Preparation for the Passover125

Chapter 15: Eschatology in the Gospels144

Chapter 16: The Passion Narrative149

Chapter 17: The Expansion of the Gospel in

Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria164

Chapter 18: The Expansion of the Gospel to

the Ends of the Earth179

The Gospel and Acts

The Gospels and Acts present the best historic and theological interpretation of the Life of Jesus Christ available to people in the modern world. On the one hand, the Gospels are a straightforward telling of the life of Jesus of Nazareth. Two of the Gospels describe his birth. All four Gospels describe his life and ministry, including teaching, healing, and miracles. Every Gospel gives a detailed reporting of the final week of Jesus’ life, including a clear description of his crucifixion and a proclamation of his resurrection. Luke alone wrote a two volume work that proclaims the result of the ascension of Jesus by describing the work of the Holy Spirit through the apostles in the years following Jesus’ resurrection.

On the other hand, the Gospels and Acts are a complex collection of written records that describe the life and ministry of Jesus with different emphases. While many parts are identical, some parts of the Gospels appear to be in tension with other parts. The first three Gospels are very similar while the fourth is quite distinct. While the Gospels report much of Jesus’ life, they are not mere biographies of Jesus. They proclaim the meaning of His life and resurrection through the reporting of the events therein. The process by which Jesus’ actions and words came to be written in the form we know in the Gospels is rather complex. Jesus spoke in Aramaic yet the Gospels are all recorded in Greek. The Gospels and Acts require careful analysis to be understood most accurately.

This volume is intended to guide the reader through the major themes and complexities of the Gospels and Acts. The first chapter introduces the historical context into which Jesus was born. Each of the Gospels is then assessed in three chapters. The first chapter is more academic, giving theological or historical background to either the process by which the Gospels came to be written or the comparison between the Gospels. The second chapter provides an overview of the Gospel, and the third chapter takes a major theme or section of the Gospel and addresses it more specifically. This section is designed to be used as an independent Bible study guide to that portion of the Gospel. Since all four Gospels report very similar accounts of the last week of Jesus’ life, they have been combined into one section entitled “The Passion of Christ.” Likewise, since Luke and Acts were originally written as a two volume set, the introductory chapter to Acts is found in the section on the Gospel of Luke.

May this volume be used to spur people on to a greater knowledge and love of Jesus Christ, the central character in the Gospels and Acts.

Chapter 1: The Historical Background to the Gospels and Acts

In what kind of world did Jesus grow up?

In order to understand the message of the Gospels and Acts, it is important to understand something about the historical setting in which they were written. The life of Jesus accomplished salvation for people of all times and from every nation. Yet this great act of salvation, recorded inerrantly by the gospel writers, took place in a particular time and a particular place. Jesus ministered in Palestine in the first part of the first century. What religious, cultural, and political issues informed the world in which he lived? What were the major debates of His day? Against what ideologies was Jesus preaching in his time? A survey of the Jewish and Roman backgrounds of first century Israel will help us understand the message and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth.

Jewish Background: History

Jesus lived one millennium after the establishment of the nation of Israel by King Saul, six centuries after the fall of that kingdom to the Babylonians, and four centuries after the last event recorded in the Hebrew Bible. The golden era of Israel began under the leadership of her greatest Kings, David and Solomon. During that era Israel was wealthy, expanding, and independent of the control of other nations. That era, however, was very short. By 920 BC Israel had been split because of internal conflict. Two centuries later, after many years of fighting with enemies both within and without, the Northern Kingdom of Israel fell to the kingdom of Assyria. Her citizens were deported and never returned. In 586 BC, the Southern Kingdom of Israel, Judah, fell finally to Nebuchadnezzar and the conquering Babylonian army. They were deported to Babylon, where they would spend seventy years in captivity outside of the promised land. This was all part of God’s judgment for Israel’s idolatry. God’s restoration of Israel began in 538 BC when Persia conquered Babylon and sent a group of Israelites back to Jerusalem with support to rebuild the temple. A century later, the wall surrounding Jerusalem was rebuilt under the leadership of Nehemiah. The restoration of God’s people after their captivity had begun, but only in part. With the prophecy of Malachi around 400 BC, the era of OT prophets closed. No inspired writings were composed again until the beginning of the New Era.

The closing of the Old Testament canon did not mean that nothing happened during the next 400 years. Many events worthy of note occurred and were recorded by Jewish and secular writers. The Persian Empire which conquered Babylon in 538 ruled for about two centuries. Their empire reached its peak under Darius (514-486 BC) but began its decline under Xerxes (486-465). He attacked and conquered Athens, but was defeated by the Greeks at sea. His luxurious court and high taxes began to overextend the resources of Persia. Artexerxes (465-424) faced two revolts in Egypt. Persia steadily declined until they were conquered by Greece in 334 BC.

Alexander the Great conquered vast territories for Greece but died young in 323 BC, reportedly depressed that there were no more worlds left to conquer. His vast kingdom was divided among his 4 generals, whose successors would fight over the coming centuries to establish their particular kingdoms and areas of influence. The Ptolemies ruled in Egypt and the Seleucids in Syria after the breakup of Alexander’s kingdom. Jerusalem is located between these two kingdoms and was a point of contention between the two of them. Jerusalem was primarily under the jurisdiction of the Ptolemies for the first 150 years after the death of Alexander and then was taken over by the Seleucids.

One important consequence of Alexander’s conquests was the process of Hellenization. As the Greek empire expanded, Greek culture spread with it. This included language, education, culture, and religion. Throughout the Greek empire politicians and business leaders were required to learn the Greek language. Centers for education were established where the Greek classics were taught. Gymnasiums were established with their sports and training centers. Temples were established for Greek gods. This process of Hellenization was received in various way, even among Jews. Many considered the spread of the Greek language and education to be progress. This development and advancement of civilization was considered to be a benefit to be pursued. Some Jews received these changes and simply filtered out the parts, like polytheism, that they considered offensive. Jews in Alexandria developed a great center of learning after the pattern of the Greek philosophers. Other Jews considered the entire process of Hellenization to be a compromise of their faith. Studying pagan philosophers, wrestling naked in the gymnasium, and speaking a language other than Hebrew was an affront to their self-understanding and was resisted fully. The Hasides, from the Hebrew word meaning “holy”, were the leaders of those who resisted Hellenism and all its changes. To this day, the root word can be heard in the term “Hasidic” Jews, those who hold on to orthodox traditions and are very resistant to modern changes. These matters come from the conviction that they are set apart to be “holy.”

The desire to be separate from Greek influence became especially poignant in the first part of the second century BC. Antiochus Epiphanes was eager to re-take land from the Ptolemaic realm in Egypt. After an unsuccessful battle against Egypt, in which the rising power of Rome forced him to retreat, he returned home to Syria in an especially bad mood. He discovered upon returning to Jerusalem that the Jews had removed his high priest and placed their own in power. They had acted upon a false rumor that Antiochus had died in battle and would pay dearly for this mistake. In response Antiochus deposed their high priest, killed many Jews, and offered a pig upon the altar in the most holy place. This act was not simply mean spirited. It was an attempt to force the Jews to become Hellenized. However, it produced the opposite effect. It united Jews of all kinds to resist him and in the coming years led the Jews to rebel in what came to be known as the Maccabean revolt (167 BC). This revolt was led by Mattathias and his son, Judas Maccabeus, who died in battle in 160 BC. A decade of battles led to the re-establishment of some religious freedom for the Jews. They cleansed and re-dedicated the temple and expelled Syrian troops from Jerusalem. Continued fighting, political maneuvering, and negotiations led to limited Jewish independence in 142 BC.

The Hasmoneans took the role of acting as the defenders of the Jewish people. They represented the Jews in political negotiations with the Syrian, Ptolemaic, and eventually Roman leaders. However, in the process, they alienated the Hasides, who felt the Hasmoneans were too quick to compromise with worldly powers. For example, the Hasmoneans appointed from among themselves each successive high priest. He was not required to be from among the sons of Zadok, as Jewish tradition (the Old Testament) required. The Hasides considered this a spiritual compromise for the sake of political expediency.

It is likely that during this period the Qumran community was founded. This community is known today because their collection of scrolls was found in 1947 in the area of the Dead Sea. This Jewish community emphasized that the sons of Zadok were the only ones who could truly serve as high priests and in their writings called the high priest in Jerusalem “the wicked priest.” They represented an extreme form of Hasides.

This limited independence of Jerusalem lasted until 63 BC, when Jerusalem was conquered by Pompey. Herod the great, the one mentioned in Matthew 2, ruled from 40 BC until just after the birth of Jesus. He was a cruel but effective ruler. He helped rebuild the temple, not out of religious conviction, but out of political shrewdness. He was succeeded by his 4 sons, including Herod Antipas, who was mentioned in Luke 3 and Matthew 14. Archalaeus, one of the four, was eventually replaced by Pontius Pilate.

After the life of Jesus, the key event in Judea that related to the Gospels and Acts was the fall of Jerusalem. In 66 AD Rome required a tax from the temple of 17 talents. This pushed an already burdened people over the edge. They already paid taxes to Rome, but considered this new tax on their tithe a sacrilege. They refused to pay and the tension with Rome escalated. In 70 AD Rome sent Vespasian to take Jerusalem. He laid siege to the city for 5 months. During the siege he was called home to Rome to become emperor and his son, Titus, completed the conquest of Jerusalem. The temple was destroyed by the Roman army just as it had been destroyed by the Babylonian conquerors six centuries earlier. In fact, it was at this time that the land was re-named Palestine, literally meaning “land of the Philistines.” In doing so Rome was attempting to declare that God’s great act of salvation accomplished in Israel had never really occurred. They wrote history as if the Jews had never existed and God had never intervened in history to save His people.

The Jews did not disappear, of course, but dispersed to other countries. They completely adapted to having the synagogue as the center of their religious life. A series of councils from 80-90 AD were held in Jamnia which determined what would become “normative” Judaism. It was from this base that Rabbinic Judaism would develop. Also at this time Judaism was responding to the rising threat of the new Jewish sect, Christianity. These councils made it clear that those who professed faith in Jesus would be excluded from Judaism.

During the reign of Trajan there were additional Jewish uprisings in Egypt, North Africa, Cyprus, Mesopotamia. In 135 AD one final revolt by the Jews was led by Barcochba (son of the stars) against Rome. His rhetoric was popular among Jews but required declaring that their leader was the Messiah. Christian Jews could not make such an affirmation and so were persecuted by non-Christian Jews. At this point the separation between Christian Jews and Jews became final. The result of this failed revolt was that Rome forbade Jews from entering Jerusalem. From a human point of view, the judgment against Jerusalem was complete.

Jewish Background: Social Groups

The Jewish historian Josephus wrote towards the end of the first century AD to explain and defend Jewish culture to his Roman patrons. In Antiquities he described several different groups of Jews, many of which we meet in the New Testament. The Pharisees were the “separate ones” who strictly followed the law. They believed in predestination, immortality, the resurrection of the dead, angels and demons, all the Scriptures, including the law, prophets, and the writings, and the oral tradition of the Talmud. This Talmud claimed to be the words God gave Moses at Mount Sinai that were not recorded in the Pentateuch. The Pharisees were likely the successors to the Hasides of the previous centuries. Matthew 22:34-36 captures their typical approach to life: “What is the Greatest commandment?” Pharisees were highly concerned with matters of the law and the correct understanding and interpretation of it.

More radical than the Pharisees, but along the same lines, were the Essenes. They led a strict and regimented life and did not marry. They did not hold private property and withdrew from society. They were similar in character to Christian monks of later centuries. The Qumran community was likely an Essene group. Some scholars speculate that John the Baptist may have come from an Essene background.

On the other side of the spectrum were the Sadducees. They were politically oriented and held power in their community. The Sadducees were the successors of the Hasmoneans. Theologically, they were somewhat the opposite of Pharisees. They only regarded the Pentateuch as authoritative. They didn’t necessarily reject the rest of the Hebrew Scriptures but put the Pentateuch so far above the other writings that they became secondary. By stating that the Pentateuch was the only certain source of doctrine, the rest of the Hebrew Scriptures were not fully trusted. They denied angels, demons, and the resurrection. Matthew 22:23-24 captures their skepticism when they attempted to trap Jesus with a question about the resurrection.

More radical than the Sadducees, but along the same line, were the zealots. They refused to pay taxes and were ready to take up arms against Rome. Since Rome was the great opponent to true Judaism, they were willing to give their lives for the purity of Judaism. One of Jesus’ disciples was a zealot.

Josephus refers to a group of Jews that he calls the Scribes and Rabbis. These are those Jews who wrote and copied the law. Not every community had their own copy of the scrolls to use in synagogue worship. A class of people developed who would copy the law for use in the synagogue. In the process of copying the law, they obviously came to know its details very well. It is thus not surprising that many of the Scribes became Rabbis and teachers of the law. They knew the contents of the law so well they naturally became the ones who taught and explained it. It should be noted that as they copied the law, they often found it important to copy the marginal notes, particularly when dealing with the Targum or the Septuagint, or when copying the scroll from a well known Rabbi. These notes in some cases became incorporated into later generations of the text. It is difficult in some manuscripts to determine what is “text” and what is “commentary.” Most Rabbis continued in their secular profession while leading their community in religious practice.