Session 13 Conclusions
BIB 114 Synoptic Gospels
Course Overview:
Unit 1: The World
Events that set the stage for the coming of Christ: Middle Eastern
Empires –Babylonian, Greek and Roman; and Jewish Religious
History
Unit 2: The Man
Harmonizing stories of each Synoptic writer recorded from Christ’s
Annunciation to His Ascension
Unit 3: Jesus’ teachings and works The teaching of Christ; The
Kingdom; The Parables; and Miracles
Discussion:
What does “synoptic” and does “gospel” mean?
What’s the point of studying the synoptic gospels? To study the
dates, authorship, and purpose of each writing
What do we mean by the “priority of Mark”?
The World:
Galatians 4: 4 – 5, “When the fullness of time was
come, God sent His son, made of a woman, made
under the law, to redeem them that were under the
law, that we might receive the adoptions of sons and
daughters.”
What were some of the factors that made the precise
time of Jesus’ birth “the fullness of time”?
The Nations and the “Fullness of Time”
Greece—language and culture
The Greek culture and language tied the people of the empire together,
making the spread of ideas and values much easier.
Rome—political security and stability
Established peace
Promoted Hellenism
Established an effective legal and political system
Israel—religious organization
Judaism constituted a strong and organized religious force that provided an
appropriate base for Christ to be revealed. Visual 5
The Man
The synoptic gospels are not a biography of Jesus’ life! They
record the last few years of His life, roughly 3-3 ½ years of His
public ministry years.
Only one gospel records a few stories of His life before that: Luke
John’s gospel records in detail the last few months of Jesus’ life –
mostly His last week –the Passion Week is recorded in detail
Remembering that all 4 authors wrote with different audiences
in mind and reading them together –helps to have a more
complete picture of Jesus’ life on earth
Threefold Purpose of Christ’s Message
1.Prove that He was both the promised Messiah of Israel
and the Son of God.
2.Prepare His hearers to accept the new order (the
Kingdom) He was establishing that would be built on the
Law.
3.Persuade Jews that God would accept Gentiles into His
kingdom.
Visual 7
Who were most dangerous to Jesus?
Who were the Pharisees? Why were they a threat?
Who were the Sadducees? Why were they a threat?
What is the Sanhedrin? How did they fit –a threat?
Worksheet
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