New Testament Midterm Review

New Testament Midterm Review

Divine revelation - God revealing Himself to human beings

                Two sources of public Divine Revelation

1)      Scripture

2)      Tradition

The fullness of revelation came in the coming of Christ

Tradition of the Church – the teachings of Christ and the understanding of them guided by the Holy Spirit as handed down by the apostles and their successors

The deposit of faith – the teachings Christ gave to the apostles

Apostolic tradition – the tradition of interpreting those original teachings of Christ as handed on by the apostles and their successors

The twelve apostles are the original bishops

The canon - the accepted list of all the inspired books of the Bible

                The canon of the Bible was formed by the Church

                Books of the Bible had to:

1)      Be in accord with apostolic tradition

2)      Originate with the apostles or those who knew them

*The tradition came first and was the criteria used to determine what was included in scripture

Scripture is the inspired word of God

                God guided the writing of scripture

                This means that both God and human beings were authors

                God sometimes speaks in spite of the human author

Three stages of the formation of the Gospels

1)      Public life of Jesus

2)      Oral tradition

3)      Writing the Gospels down

No original manuscripts come down to us from the evangelists

                Manuscript – a handwritten work

                The manuscripts we have are all copies from earlier manuscripts

Old Testament – originally written in Hebrew

New Testament – originally written in Greek

Q source

                From the German word “quelle” meaning “source”

                A hypothetical list of sayings of Jesus used to explain similarities between Matthew and Luke

Authors of the Gospels

                Matthew

                                A tax collector

                                One of the twelve disciples

                                Wrote for a Jewish Christian audience

                                Emphasizes Jesus as the fulfillment of the Old Covenant

                Mark

                                A companion of St. Peter

                                Not an eyewitness

                                Wrote for persecuted Christians

                                Emphasizes Jesus as the suffering servant

                                The shortest gospel

                                Modern scholars believe it was the first Gospel written

                Luke

                                A companion of St. Paul

                                Not an eyewitness

                                Wrote for Gentile Christians

                                Emphasizes Jesus as the universal Messiah

                John

                                One of the twelve; also known as “the beloved disciple”

                                An eyewitness

                                Wrote for various churches around the Roman Empire

                                Emphasizes Jesus as the Word made flesh

                                The last Gospel to be written

                                Not one of the synoptic Gospels

Titles for Jesus

                Christ (Greek)

                                Messiah (Hebrew)

                                Means “anointed one”

The Messiah was prophesied to be a king in the line of David who would conquer Israel’s enemies

                Lord

                                Adonai (Hebrew)

                                A substitute term for “Yahweh”

                                Jews did not use the term Yahweh because it was sacred

                Jesus – “God saves”

                Son of God – Jesus comes from and is one with the Father

Non-Christian sources on Christ

                Tacitus

                                A Roman historian

                                Wrote about Emperor Nero setting Rome on fire and then blaming the Christians

                                Legend has it that Nero played the fiddle while Rome burned

                Josephus

                                A Jewish historian who wrote about 1^st century Palestine

                                Mentions St. John the Baptist, King Herod, St. James, and Jesus

Allegedly refers to Jesus as the Messiah, but this may have been interpolated (i.e. edited in by a later copyist)

                Non-Christian sources that mention Christ confirm that Jesus was a real historical figure

Four senses of scripture

                Literal – what actually happened

                Allegorical – a figurative treatment of one subject under the guise of another

                Moral – tells us how to live justly

                Anagogical – helps us to see how events lead to our final destiny (Heaven/Hell/the end of time)

Biblical Criticism

                Source – tries to identify the sources the Gospel writers used for their information about Jesus

                Historical – looks at the Gospel writers in their historical context

                Form – interprets scripture in light of the literary form or genre it takes

                Redaction – looks at the Gospel writers as editors

                Textual – compares minor mistakes and changes copyists made down through the ages

Gospel of Mark

Opens with John the Baptist

                Dressed in camel’s hair

                Preaching a Gospel of repentance

                Fulfills the prophecies in Malachi

                                Elijah will come

                                He will prepare the way for the Messiah

                Baptizes Jesus – points to Him as the Messiah

                Arrested by King Herod before Jesus begins His ministry

                                Criticized Herod’s marriage to Herodias (his brother’s wife)

                                Beheaded at the request of Herodias’ daughter, Salome

Jesus comes from Nazareth

                Almost no one has heard of Him when He begins His ministry

                People begin wondering who He is based on the things He says and does

The central question in the first half of Mark’s Gospel is “Who is Jesus?”

                This question is raised by the things Jesus says and does

Jesus demonstrates authority over:

                Demons – they obey Him and leaves when He tells them to

                                No human being has power over demons

                Disease – Jesus has the power to cure sick people

                Sin – Jesus forgave the paralyzed man’s sins and He could walk

                                Only God can forgive sin

                The Sabbath – Jesus says the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath

                                God created the Sabbath, therefore Jesus has claimed authority equal to God

                Nature – Jesus calms the storm at sea

                                Jesus sleeping in the boat all through the storm

                                Wakes up and tells the sea to be quiet

Messianic Secret – Jesus conceals the fact that He is the Messiah

                “Tell no one” – Jesus swears those He heals to secrecy

“We know who you are! The Holy One of God!” – Jesus silences the demons before they can give away His identity

                Jesus implies who He is rather than states it explicitly

“Which is easier to say: your sins are forgiven or rise, pick up your mat and go home?”

Jesus demonstrates His power to forgive sins and His divinity by healing the paralytic

Jesus never says outright that He is God

                                Jesus speaks in parables

                                                Symbolic stories

                                                He only explains the stories to His apostles

Reasons for the Messianic Secret:

1)      Timing of the crucifixion – ultimately Jesus will be killed for claiming He is God

The Pharisees already want to kill Him for implying this

They refrain because they need clear evidence that Jesus has indeed made this claim

By refraining from explicitly stating His identity, Jesus allows His ministry to continue longer

2)      Avoid being treated as a king

Jesus came to be a humble servant and to suffer and die

He is the Messiah, but He is not the Messiah the Jews are expecting

If He reveals who He is, He will gain a type of attention that will confuse His message

Conflict with the Pharisees

                The Pharisees criticize Jesus because

1)      He claims to be God

Claims authority over the Sabbath itself

Claims the power to forgive sins

2)      He doesn’t keep the tradition of the Pharisees

Heals on the Sabbath

Picks grain on the Sabbath

Eats without washing His hands

                Jesus criticizes the Pharisees for being legalistic

                                Legalism – getting caught up in the letter of the law and losing track of the spirit

                                According to Jesus, the spirit of the law is to love God and love your neighbor

The Pharisees get so caught up in the letter of the law that they forbid healing on the Sabbath, which is an act of love for your neighbor

                “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath”

The Pharisees get so caught up in the letter of the law that they permit money that should be used for caring for your parents to be given as corban to the Temple

                Their tradition is kept

                The spirit of the law is violated

Jesus says that it is the things that come from within that defile a person

                He declared all foods clean (which is why Christians can eat bacon)

                Emphasizes the things inside of us that corrupt us

                                Anger, lust, envy, greed, etc.

Disciples

                Disciple – means student or follower

                Jesus has many followers

                Twelve disciples are specially chosen and given special authority to work in Jesus’ name

                                Preach

                                Drive out demons (aka exorcise)

                                Anoint the sick with oil to heal them

                                More powers will be given to them later

                These twelve disciples are the original bishops

Condition of Discipleship

1)      Complete trust in Jesus

Sent out without food, money, or shelter: they had to beg for everything

They had to depend completely on God’s providence in order to survive

The Rich Young Man: sell all you have, give it to the poor, and then follow me

Peter walking on water: entrusting His life into Jesus’ hands

2)      The greatest among you must be the servant of all

3)      Whoever wishes to serve me must deny himself, pick up his cross and follow me

“Go, your faith has saved you”

                Faith is necessary for Christ to be able to perform miracles

                You have to give Him permission to work

                Faith healed the woman with the hemorrhage

                Lack of faith in Nazareth kept Jesus from being able to perform mighty deeds there

Peter’s Confession of Jesus as the Messiah: the turning point

                People have been speculating about who Jesus is

                                John the Baptist back from the dead (Herod’s favorite option)

                                Elijah

                                A prophet

                “Who do you say that I am?”
                                “You are the Christ” – Peter

                                “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my Heavenly Father.”

                The question “Who is Jesus?” has been answered: He is the Messiah

                The rest of the Gospel will answer the question: “What sort of Messiah will Jesus be?”

The disciples are expecting a great military conqueror for a Messiah

                Jesus instead tells them that he will be handed over to the Pharisees and crucified

                The disciples fail to realize that Jesus has come as a suffering servant

The Transfiguration

                Peter, James and John go up with Jesus on Mt. Tabor

                Jesus appears shining in all His glory

                                Speaking with Moses (representing the law) and Elijah (representing the prophets)

1)      Confirms Jesus’ identity

A voice thunders down, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to Him.”

2)      Strengthens the disciples’ faith before the crucifixion

Jesus instructs them to tell no one about this until He has risen from the dead