Chapter IV

The witness of the Synoptists

The 4 Gospels constitute the heart of the witness to Jesus Christ

specific form of Criticisms

1. Source Criticism is the attempt to show how the documents have been put together from earlier
document.
a. Mark is the earliest and yet they prioritized the gospel of Mark.
b. Mathew was one of the 12 and an eyewitness therefore he is trustworthy.
c. Mark was not one of the 12 he belong to younger generation than the original disciples. He
would have the first hand account of Jesus. Mark was the companion of peter and he had
learned from him of the sayings and doings of Jesus.
2. Form Criticism the gospel were divided unto fairly short paragraphs many of which are complete
in themselves and joined together.
3. Redaction Criticism we have not only the material that the various evangelist have gathered out of
the tradition we have also their own contribution as they have edited the material and formed into
less continuous narratives.

William Wreed
The messianic secret
Jesus teaching public (exoteric
Reserved for an inner circle of initiates(esoteric)

Mark makes a clear distinction between these two types of teaching..
Parable of the sower and the seed

The greatest secret that was mention on the book is the fact that Jesus is the messiah.

Why does Mark represent Jesus as having an esoteric body of teaching including his own messiahship?

- Jesus was concerned that if he publicly announced himself as messiah, this would be
misunderstood because of political and nationalist association of the term. In Jesus ministry it
serves as a literary device dividing the earlier hopeful ministry of Jesus in Galilee from the
sombre period that begins with his journey up o Jerusalem...
- So the silence about this period during his ministry has to be accounted for by the fiction that he
imposed a ban on his disciples making any public mention of his messiahship.

The teaching of wreeds gave a of the use of the title Christ or messiah in relation to Jesus
- Mark is not at all consistent in the matter of the messianic secret. He holds hat long before
Peters confession in Marks account Jesus was already known as the messiah
- The healing is also a sign of fulfilling the messianic sign
- And also the exorcism
- The son of Man means the messiah then... means no more than a human being
- In wreeds, he showed that mark is inconsistent in the use of the idea of a messianic secret.
- The parables are admittedly an indirect form of language, but it is absurd to suggest that they
were used to prevent the people in understanding the message.
- The parables are educational device for illuminating mysteries that cannot be directly describe.
- Mark is very unsuccessful with these explanations there are several complaints Lack of
understanding

Can we discern a CHRISTOLOGY in the gospel of Mark?

Yes, but it is not that coherent and not well developed it has neither the simplicity nor the profundity of
what we have found in Paul.
- Marks presentation of Jesus a liveliness which can still be impressive.
- We also have the glimpse of Human Jesus in what we might call the naturalness.
- The Marcan picture by a heavy stress on the supernatural qualities ascribed to Jesus, but existing
amidst the chances and changes of human life is certainly there.
- Subject to common human emotions
o Death
o Angry
o Sorrow
- Mark understood Jesus as a human person, subject to the limitations that belong to any
human being.
- Mark Jesus regard him, is certainly a man but not just a man but a superman or a divine man
filled with supernatural powers.
- Miracles powers- are manifestations of the messiah
- Mark testifies to the genuineness humanity of Jesus whose understanding of the world
and of nature was that of his contemporaries.
- During the old testament there were prophesies that were announced during the old age that will
signalled the miracles of healing, as PROMISED BY THE ANCIENT PROPHETS
- Isaiah
- The healing miracles are signs of pointers to the central saving mission of the [Link] seem
to act only as impressive evidences of supernatural powers.

The DIVINE Man ( theos aner ) type in the Hellenistic world a man whom endowed with supernatural
powers.
Bultmann uses this expression theois aner to describe the Christ of Mark gospel primarily Hellenistic in
contribution.

- He also view and connects his study in the history of Religions

Theios aner type of Christology has found its ways into Marks miracle stories. Because he cited a
quasi physical healing power ( dunamis) flow out with Jesus to the woman with a haemorrhage without
any conscious volition on Jesus part.


For Mark: Idea of Jesus - through the wonders and miracles
For Paul: Idea of Jesus Christ is a reckoned in the worldy terms among the things that are weak and
foolish. not equal with God but rather he empties himself and humbles himself
The supernatural element in Marks presentation of Jesus

1. Miracles and healing (not only this one but the third)
2. knowledge of future events

Marks Christology is a Spirit Christology
- the spirit of God rest upon Jesus Spirit Christology
o it is about the Spirits Descending on a human being resting on human being conceal
their own ontological mysteries.
o Mars Christology is not that developed because he clings to the humanity of Christ but
overlays the supernaturalism which is never properly integrated with the humanity
o It is a regression from the first and second Adam Christology of Paul
- Christ Event was perceived as Gods salvific act for his people.
- Bornkamm for the earlier silence about Jesus messiahship, Marks employs his device of the
messianic secret.

For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many
reminds us of the Christ Hymn in the Philippians also the suffering servant image in the old testament -
the word ransom (lutron)
Vincent Taylor it is reasonable to believe that Jesus interpretation his death or so to speak more
exactly his surrendered life as a sacrificial offering.
What do we mean by ransom?
We meant ransom as a kind of appeasement. Christ surrendered life might be ransom as some paid to the
devil or satisfaction offered to the Father for the outrage done to his honor ( anselm or a proppriatory
sacrifice
Ransom is implied to Christian discipleship let him deny of himself and take up his cross and follow
me. For who ever would save his life will lose it and who ever loses his life for my sake and the gospel
will save it.
Cross would symbolize the sacrifices and the and the suffering. This is the teaching about taking up his
cross together with the passages on servanthood, seems to bring us close to the very heart of Christianity
to the center of Christ event.
Christ-event it is the true transvaluation of all values, the exaltation of servant hood and even the disciple
must takes up his or her dying to understand the values of the world and becoming united with Christ in
the new life he offers.
The ransom paid by Jesus was his own sacrificial death on the cross which is seen as the price of human
deliverance from enslavement to sin.

THE TWO STORIES in which Jesus is depicted still with his disciples
1. the supper on the eve of the crucifixion
2. the agony in the garden of Gethsemane
1. the supper on the eve of the crucifixion

- Paul mentions the last supper because he believed that it was her that Jesus instituted the
Eucharist and he quotes Jesus as having used both the word over the bread, this is my body
- There is no command to continue doing in this remembrance we would not know that a
continuing rite had been instituted. Mathew is similar to Mark.
- Luke is closest to Paul does not have a command to repeat the rite after the bread word but not
after the cup word. John tells of the supper but not connected with the Eucharist

The Eucharist brings together and throws light on several of the themes that have emerged in our
discussion so far of Christ last days in Jerusalem.

John there is no account of the Eucharist

Anamnesis the remembering
Maranatha reminded of the climax of the work of salvation

Geoffrey Wainwright the Eucharist is a dominically instituted memorial rite which ot only serving to
remind men but being performed before God, is sacrificial at least in so far as it recalls before God with
thanksgiving that one sacrifice and pray for it.

Eucharist just like baptism unites the believers with Christ in his self offering. Bultmann language
christs cross as their own

Why was Jesus put to death?

He threatened the security of the established powers and did so not by force of arms but a
transvaluation of values in which the values of his non worldly kingdom were supplanting the values of
this world.

Holloway the man who worships God is a threat to every other power which claims absolute
authority.


2. The agony of Jesus in the Garden

Tells the of Jesus prediction of the passion and give the impression that he has gone up to Jerusalem
knowing that he will die and prepare for his death.
He is now overcome with the natural human shrinking o in the face of death. He prays to the father so
that the hour might pass from him.

Not clear charge brought to Jesus
- Blasphemy
- Ambition to be a king

Son of God- truly seen on the crucifixion scene centurion truly he is a son of God

In the Gospel of Mark showed him as a truly man, or even true man who simply by being man in the
fullest sense is also the son of God.

Summary

- Jesus is baptized by John and the Spirit descends upon Jesus and said in a loud voice
- Mark is surely mistaken parables to conceal his msgs. It is designed to manke it clear even to
ordinate people that this kingdom is not political dominion founded on human power but a
kingdom that will be inaugurated by God nd in which our customary human values will be
reversed.
- He is a man of divine spirit has conferred superhuman powers and therefore Son of God.
- Superhuman knowledge especially the future
- The gospel progresses, the divine man type of Christology moves in the direction of a servant or
kenotic Christology

The major difference between the two gospels is that Matthew has included a large quantitu of
Jesus teaching not present in Mark and usally supposed to be derived from the source as the q.

Matt. was a Jewish Christian and had to present the Christian message in terms that the actions
of Jesus Fulfilled Old Testament prophecies and why he tries to relate Jesus moral teaching to
the Law of Moses.

Jesus is the new moses that the sermon at the mount is the Christian version of the law that had
been given on Mount Sinai.

Moses and Jesus and to the Jews who reverenced Moses as the deliverer of the people and the
communicator of Gods demands there must be a considerable significance in the thought of
Jesus as the new Moses.

Jesus and the resurrection third point at which Mtt. Augments the Marcan account

Lukes gospel it contains several parables attributed to Jesus which are among his best but are
not to be found in the other gospels

Like matthew, Lukes adds to the story of the empty tomb stories of the appearance of Risen
Christ

God has made him both the Lord and Christ . this Jesus whom you Crucified and this we have
made the transition from lukes gospel to second volume the acts of the apostles the primitive
teaching of the church/

Synoptist a Christology in which the man Jesus receives the Spirt of God and through his
obedience even death is raised to Christhood and Lordship.