On Line Bible Study - For the Week July 8 - 14, 2013

Lesson 566

“Jesus did not write an account of his passion.”  Father Raymond Brown reminds us that the four gospel accounts of Jesus passion, death and resurrection are written thirty to seventy years after the events themselves.  Each of the four evangelists – Mark, Matthew, Luke and John – were dependent on traditions that preceded their writing, and we don’t have access to those traditions.  The story the evangelists tell is as rife with differences as it is replete with similarity.  For example, there are three different stories with regard to the last words Jesus said on the cross.  This serves to show us that the evangelists had different emphases in mind even though the general line of the story is the same.

Some points to ponder:

·         Scholars suspect that Matthew and John were conversant in Aramaic, and possibly with Hebrew as well.  Evidence suggests that Mark and Luke only knew Greek. 

·         Even though Jesus didn’t writes anything down, we know more about him than we do about those who wrote his story.  We know when the evangelists lived (latter half of the First Century).  Remember that the four names don’t refer exclusively to one person; the names represent traditions that arose in particular places relative to those particular people and their relationship to Jesus.

·         Two Questions: 

o   What is the original intent of the writers of the passion? 

o   What does the passion story mean for our own time?  These are two very different questions; they aren’t meant to imply that we can’t address them both, only to make us aware that we have to be aware! 

·         Another way of thinking about it:  Fr. Brown puts it this way: What did the evangelists intend?  What did the evangelist convey? 

·         Scholars believe Mark was intended for audiences in either Rome or Syria.  Matthew seems to be directed toward an audience in Antioch.  Asia Minor or Greece are the locations where Luke’s words seem to take aim.  John’s audience is presumed to have been in either Ephesus or Syria.

·         A significant number of things happen in threes:

o   In Matthew and Mark Jesus speaks first with the disciples, then with the three (Peter, James and John), and then he speaks alone with God.

o   Jesus returns three times to find the disciples sleeping.

o   Peter denies Jesus three times.

o   Jesus is mocked three times (Matthew, Mark & John).

What is true about the gospels in general is especially true with regard to the passion story – each evangelist recorded the events for the purpose of communicating in such a way that faith and life would be nourished.

A point that must be remembered is this: In 70 AD the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed.  We believe this event colored the meaning of Jesus’ passion.  In the next three lessons we will take a closer look at Matt/Mark, Luke and John to consider what is distinctive about each.