The Sypnoptic Gospels

Prayer for Serenity

+God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time,
enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardship as a pathway to peace;
taking, as Jesus did,
this sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it;
trusting that You will make all things right
if I surrender to Your will;
so that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with You forever in the next.
Amen+
Same event or news different info sources
• Reading different newspapers
• Watching different TV stations
• Listening different radio channels
The Promised Messiah
• In various parts of the old testaments,
God promises the coming of Messiah
which means “anointed” from the
Hebrew Messiah, in Greek the word is
“Christos” ,In English “Christ” who
would come and save the people of
Israel from their oppressors. Jesus'
followers believed that he, Jesus of
Nazareth, was the promised
Christos prophesied in the Old
Testaments, and eventually they were
called “Christians”(Acts 11:26)
The Promised Messiah
• The New Testament is the story of
Jesus ,his birth, early childhood, public
ministry, suffering, death, resurrection
from the dead ,and ascension into
heaven .It also describe the Pentecost
event, the spread of Jesus' teachings
through the preaching of his
apostles ,and the formation of the early
Christian Communities.
The Promised Messiah

The New Testament describes in various ways this “Jesus

event”. Jesus was born around 3-5 BC and died around 30
AD .The books of the new testament were written between
50 AD to 95 AD .Between the time of his death and the first
letter written by Paul around 51 AD ,the apostles and
followers of Jesus preached his message and formed
communities .Eventually ,these communities began to
write down these preaching and gather together the
various stories about Jesus ,thus resulting in the 27
books that now form the New Testament .
The New Testament consits of:
• The four Gospel(Attributed to the four evangelist ,Matthew ,Mark,Luke,and
John)which presents the four portraits of Jesus;
• The Acts of the Apostles which describes the spread of Christianity as
Jesus' disciples moved out of Jerusalem to proclaim The Good News to
other places;
• Various epistles or letters of teachingand admonitions to Christan Churches that
had been established;
• The book of Revelation which describe a new heaven and a new earth that
is to come.
The Gospels and their Formation
• Gospel is taken from Greek word “euangelion”(“eu”
meaning “good” and aggeliun, meaning message) ,
which in Latin Combined to form the word
evangelium .meaning “good tidings” or “good news”.
• The Romans at the time of Jesus used the word to refer
to the birth of an heir to their king whom they
addressed as Caesar ,or the accession to the throne
of Caesar .For the Christians at the time of Jesus, “good
news” connotes the birth of a true king who will rule
and reign over God's Kingdom.
• It originally referred to something that was orally spoken,
not written. Jesus himself did not write down any of his
teachings, nor did his apostles when they began
preaching .Only towards the latter half of the 1st century
did the apostles and their disciples begin writing down
these “oral tradition” about Jesus .These oral traditions
were gathered together into 4 streams of teachings about
Jesus, later called the four gospels.
• The four gospels were written between 65 AD and 95
AD .These oral traditions consisted of different stories
about Jesus as the apostles remmbered them ,his
words,actions,miracles,parables,etc.Jesus' ressurection
and ascension ,and the coming of the Holy Spirit at
Pentecost gave the followers of Jesus a much deeper
understanding of his life ,his mission ,and person.
Four Traditions,One Historical Event
• The gospels present four traditions or portraits about Jesus in
the gospels of Matthew,Mark,Luke, and John.They were not
written to present a chronological narrative or a biography of
man called Jesus of Nazareth.Rather they were written to
proclaim his message of his unconditional love to
humanity .The gospels were written for particular Christian
Communities ,at different periods of time between 65-95 AD and
were meant to address the concerns and situations of thos
communities at the time of writing.So they do not relate the story
of Jesus in exactly the same way
The Sypnoptic Gospels
• Synoptic means “ in a glance” or “seen together”. This term
refers to the gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke. It is commonly
believed that Mark's gospel was the first to be written around
64 AD and was the basis of the gospels Matthew written around
70 AD , and Luke written around 80 AD. These two evangelists
also made use of a third source designated as the “Q” from
the German “Quelle” meaning source. Some materials found
only in Matthew seem to have come from another source which
scholars call “M”. John's Gospels was written around 95 AD.
Symbolism of the gospel author
The Gospel of Matthew
• The gospel is believed to have been written after
70 AD in Antioch .At this time, Jewish Christian
who continued to attend in the synagogues
were no longer welcome and were being
persecuted by their Jewish neighbors .Based
on the study of its content, it was written by a
Jewish Christian for an audience that were also
mostly Jews converted to Christianity and some
non-Jews as well. Jesus is presented as the
Messiah .He is Emmanuel meaning “God with
us “who promised to remain with us until the end
of time. Matthew emphasized that in Jesus is
fulfilled the reign of the kingdom of God .True
discipleship and faith in Jesus must be expressed
in living a moral and ethical life.
 The Gospel of Mark
• It is commonly agreed that Mark is John. He was
the cousin of Barnabas, a companion of Peter
and joined Paul in his missionary journeys .Mark's
vivid portrayal of Jesus indicates that he heard
these stories directly from the apostle Peter .It is a
principal source of the gospels of Matthew and
Luke. Mark's gospel is the shortest of the four
gospel and the earliest to be written(65-70
AD).The emperor Nero put the blame on the
Christians for the burning of Rome in 64 AD. Mark
presents his gospels by saying ”the beginning of
the gospel of Jesus Christ ,the son of God .Mark
unveils the mystery of Jesus as a “Suffering
Messiah” .Peter acclaimed him as the
“Messiah” and his death on the cross ,the
centurion proclaimed him as truly the Son of God.
The Gospel of Luke
• Luke's Gospel is written between
80-90 AD is often called gospel of
mercy and universal
salvation .He portrays that Jesus
is a compassionate
Lord ,Merciful to the poor,
sinners, the marginalized, and
who accords women equal
dignity. Luke is a Gentile
Christian, a Syrian from
Antioch ,who also wrote the Acts
of the Apostles. The Holy Spirit is
emphasized in Luke and Acts, as
well as detachment from material
things and kindness to the poor.
Canon of Scriptures
• There were other stories about Jesus in the
years following of his ascension, many written
by individuals ,but the church, carefully studying
and evaluating each one ,declared that the four
gospels ,written by the whole church ,are indeed
the ones truly inspired by the Holy Spirit. The
Church has with authority declared that only these
four gospels would be read during a public
service. They are called the “canonical” gospel,
belonging to the “Canon of Scripture” (The list of
books of scripture declared as inspired by the
Church.
Quiz Purposive Assignment/Assessment:
1. Draw creatively the symbolism
• Please answer the of the 4 Gospels in your activity
evaluative quiz on notebook.
pages 11-12.
2.THINGS TO REMEMBER only on
page 10
• Ask the following questions:
• - Who is the final and definitive covenant of
God?
• -Who is the messiah?
• -What does the New Testament consist of?
• - What does the term Gospel mean?
• - Who are the 4 Evangelist?
• - What does Synoptic gospels mean?
• - What does the Church tell us about the
canonicity of the 4 gospels?