Authorship of the Gospels
The Gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke and John have or have not been written by specific individuals. The Catholic tradition has always believed that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are specific persons who have recorded the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. According to Felix Just, SJ. (Who Really Wrote the Gospels, and Why Should we Care), recent scholars have argued the anonymity of the original authors. In his comparative chart of the gospels, Just identified the gospels’ traditionally attributed as well as the implied authors. Mark was John Mark of Jerusalem; Matthew was a tax collector and apostle; Luke was a physician and companion of Paul; and John was one of the twelve apostles and the son of Zebedee. The implied authors are “a bilingual Christian of the second generation” (for the Gospel of Mark); an “early Jewish Christian” or ”trained scribe” (for the Gospel of Matthew); a “Gentile Christian convert” or a “well- educated Greek historian” (for the Gospel of Luke); and for the Gospel of Mark, the implied author is “the beloved disciple and his Jewish followers” (Just np). For the Faithful, the Gospels speak the truth and the message that these bring into the lives of the believers is more important than the issue of whether one man or a group of men have written each of the Gospels.
Four accounts of the visit to the tomb of Jesus
An analysis of the details about the women’s visit to the tomb of Jesus three days after he was buried (from the Gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke and John) present slight variations. These are in terms of the number of angels and what the women did after hearing the news, the message remains the same. On the third day, Jesus rose from the dead. The women realized this when they visited his tomb and were met by an angel who instructed them to tell Jesus’ disciples. The chart below provides the details from the four accounts.
“Messianic secret” in Mark’s Gospel
In The Gospel According to Mark: Literary Features & Thematic Emphases, Felix Just, S.J., enumerated the various occasions where Jesus told the people “not to tell others” that he healed the sick or performed exorcisms. He has also instructed his own disciples to keep the information about him being the Messiah among themselves only. This is the Messianic Secret. The reason for the use of this device was to redefine the term Messiah and also to present the tension between the Early Church’s notion of Messiah and Jesus not presenting himself as Messiah. It was also a way to prevent a military revolt at those times (Donahue and Harrington 28).
The “Suffering Messiah” refers to Jesus dying on the cross, giving up his life to save his people. The Gospel of Mark is provides a new definition of Messiah, that of the suffering Messiah. The understanding of this definition of Messiah can therefore become possible with showing Jesus “suffering and dying on the cross.
The Gospel of Matthew and Luke
Infancy of Jesus
The three items about the infancy of Jesus are (a) He was born in a manger; (b) the three kings brought him gifts; and (c) going back to the parents’ home. Jesus was born in a manger because his parents, Mary and Joseph could not find an inn that would take them in for the night. During Christmas, Catholics celebrate the birth of Jesus and during this time, the above-mentioned elements are present. Being born in a manger signifies simplicity thus emphasis is placed on having simple celebrations. The three kings gifts of gold, myrrh and frankincense is being continued until today in the tradition of giving gifts to children during Christmas usual gifts would be money, food and toys. The tradition of going back to one’s home is celebrated in modern times by families being together especially during Christmas. All family members would participate in the ceremonies and attend Mass together.
The Gospel of Matthew
According to Felix Just, the Gospel of Matthew was written in the late 70s or 80s. The purpose of the author in writing the gospel was to “teach a community with internal division and external enemies.” The initial target audiences of the Gospel of Matthew were Jews who were more educated and were believers of Jesus Christ. This group was also perceived to argue a lot about the Law. The five divisions in the gospel is meant to imitate the way Jesus presented his teachings. At the end of each of the five discourses, Matthew wrote “Now, when Jesus finished saying / instructing” The genealogy of Jesus went far back as Abraham. When Jesus was born, three wise men or magi came to visit him. The first to see the risen Lord in Matthew’s gospel were the women (Mary of Magdala and the other women).
Discussion
Two endings in Mark’s Gospel (Lesson 3.1)
The first ending of the Gospel of Mark is in chapter 16:1-8. This story is about the empty tomb and the concluding statement in verse 8 says “And the women came out and ran away from the tomb because they were frightened out of their wits; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid”. The second ending is Mark 16:9-20. These last 12 verses talked about Jesus appearing to the disciples and instructing them to proclaim the gospel. The second ending is said to have been added at a later time and scholars are saying that Mark did not anymore write these verses. There is an extensive debate about the way Mark concluded his gospel in verse 8. They say the ending (in verse 8) was an open-ended one. One explanation was that he wanted his readers to get into the story and form their own opinion about Jesus “rather than telling the reader what he must believe” (Wallace, p.37)
Preferred Gospel (Lesson 3.2)
Among the four synoptic gospels, I prefer the Gospel of Matthew because it has the most number of chapters and contains more materials not found in other Gospels. In the Gospel of Matthew there are detailed descriptions of the Sermon of the Mount, Missionary instructions, Parables Collection, Community Instructions, and Sermon on Eschatology. According to Just, Catholics emphasize the Gospel of Matthew especially its information on ecclesial structures. Reading the Gospel of Matthew helps this student to gain a better understanding about the life of Jesus, his ministry, and his teachings.
Works Cited
Donahue, John R. and Harrington, Daniel J. The Gospel of Mark. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2002.
Just, Felix. “The Four Gospels: Some Comparative Overview Charts.” 27 Feb 2013. Web. 26 Jan 2014. Retrieved from http://catholic-resources.org/Bible/Four_Gospel_Chart.htm.
Just, Felix. “Who Really Wrote the Gospels, and Why Should We Care? A Talk Given at the Religious Education Congress of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.” 17 Feb 2001. Web. 26 Jan 2014. Retrieved from http://catholic-resources.org/Bible/Evangelists.htm.
Wallace, Daniel B. “Mark 16:8 as the Conclusion to the Second Gospel.” Perspectives on the Ending of Mark: Four Views. Ed. David Alan Black. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publisher, 2002. 1-39 . Print
