Basics of the New Testament - Lesson 2

In this lesson, we’re going to be looking at the first three Gospels. Remember, the Gospels are the foundational teaching upon which the rest of the New Testament is based. They are good news, the good news of what Jesus has done for us. 

And the first three Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, we generally call them the Synoptic Gospels. ‘Synoptic’ is just a fancy word that means same. And we call them Synoptic because these first three are really similar. They’re similar in their basic structure. It shows that there are some things that happened at the beginning, Jesus’s birth and whatnot. And then you have basically a Galilean ministry. Now, we know from the Gospel of John that Jesus didn’t just stay in Galilee. He went to Jerusalem three times. That’s why we know that Jesus’s public ministry lasted three, three and a half years. But for the most part, the Synoptic showed Jesus working in Galilee. And then there’s a travel ministry where he’s outside of Galilee, talking to non-Jews often. And then an extended Jerusalem ministry, the last week of his life that ended in his death and resurrection. The Synoptic Gospels all have that same basic structure.

And the Synoptic Gospels also have a lot of overlap in content. It’s interesting that almost all of Mark is in Matthew and Luke. Now, there are no copyright laws. No one owns these stories, so it’s perfectly okay to do that. But Mark is in Matthew and Luke, and then Matthew and Luke have some of their own material as well. But there’s a lot of similarity, and that’s why we call them the Synoptic Gospels. 

So I’m going to start with Mark. And I’m going to take a little more time with Mark because there’s a couple of just really key things in Mark. Mark was written, according to church tradition, as the memoirs of Peter. So the church has always called it Mark, but we understand that it’s Peter and Peter’s authority that stands behind it. And because Peter was there, we can trust his writings about Jesus; probably somewhere in the 50s. We don’t know for sure on the dating on the Gospels, but Mark was the first one written and is, again, somewhere probably in the 50s.

The theme of Mark is simply: who is Jesus? Who is Jesus? And it’s really interesting. He tells us that right at the beginning, Mark 1:1, it’s kind of the title for the book, or at least the title for the first section. It says, “The beginning of the good news about Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God.” So what he wants to do is to help us to see that Jesus is the Messiah. Now the Messiah is a prophetic figure throughout the Old Testament that was going to be the one who brought in God’s kingdom on Earth. Son of God, the little more difficult phrase, but we believe that basically Messiah, which can also be the word Christ, and the designation Son of God, are all kind of joined together. So who is Jesus? He’s the Messiah, which means he’s the Christ, which means he’s the Son of God. It’s interesting that even though that’s Mark’s stated purpose, at least primary or initial purpose for writing the Gospel, very rarely do people actually say, “You are the Messiah, you are the Christ.” In fact, sometimes when people call him that, Jesus says, “Shh, don’t tell anyone.” And there’s a reason for that we’ll get to in a second.

The way that Mark shows that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God, is by showing what he does. And as you read the stories, especially if you have an Old Testament background, you see Jesus doing things that only God can do. He has authority over the Law. He can reinterpret the Sabbath laws. He has authority over nature, he can calm the storm. He has authority over demons, he can exorcise them. They have to do what he tells them to do. He can forgive sins, Mark 2, something that only God can do. So, as you read through the Book of Mark, there’s not going to be affirmations on most people’s lips as to who he is. But Mark wants you to understand who Jesus is and come to your own conclusion that Jesus is the Christ. This is why, when I’m talking to people and they kind of want to know where to start, I always recommend Mark. It’s common for a lot of people to say “Start with John,” because John is such an evangelistic book. But Mark lets you know this is who Jesus is. And so, I tend to start with that in mind.

Now, there’s all kinds of important stories and teachings in the Gospel of Mark, but let me just cover some of what I think are the most important. Number one, let’s go to his baptism. When Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, a voice from heaven says, “You are my Son whom I love. With you, I am well pleased.” Now, again, if you don’t have an Old Testament background, you probably don’t know what’s going on in that affirmation. By calling Jesus “my beloved Son,” God the Father is uniting two characters. He’s uniting the Messiah, and he’s uniting another person that’s prophesied in the Book of Isaiah, another Old Testament prophet, and we call him the “Suffering Servant.” And the reason this is so important is, yes, the Messiah brings about God’s kingdom on earth, but the Jews expected an earthly kingdom and a political or a military Messiah, for the most part. The Suffering Servant is someone who is punished by God for our sins. And Judaism never put those two concepts together, but they are together because Jesus was the victorious Messiah through the path of suffering. And it is those two things going together that created so much of the conflict in Jesus’s public ministry.

Second of all, the Kingdom of God. In the very next passage, it says, “‘The time has come,’ Jesus said, ‘the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news.’” Now, the Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. Jesus made that clear with Pilate, but the Kingdom is a spiritual kingdom. It’s the rule; it’s the reigning of our King in our lives and in our hearts. So when you see Kingdom of God, understand it’s a spiritual, primarily a spiritual kingdom.

You also are introduced pretty quickly to the title, Son of Man. This is Jesus’s favorite name for himself. He uses it more than any other name. And Son of Man, again, from the Old Testament, it’s used two different times. In the Book of Daniel, there’s a Son of Man who’s coming on clouds of heaven, which is an affirmation of deity, and he is to be worshiped. But God calls Ezekiel the Son of Man to emphasize his humility. So again, you have this contrast, if you know the Jewish background, between this divine figure, the Son of Man, and the humility of the title in Ezekiel. And, you know, Jesus says things like, “Birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” So sometimes when he refers to himself as the Son of Man, it’s a statement of humility. At other times, it’s a statement of power. So those are really important.

But there’s something that’s really, really important, and I want to focus on that. And it’s in Mark 8, and it’s what discipleship is all about. What is it like to live in the kingdom of God? As you go through the story of Mark, you get to a point where Peter, for all the disciples, is willing to say, “You’re the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And everything changes in Mark at that point. And Jesus starts saying, “I’m going to go to Jerusalem, I’m going to be killed, but I’m going to rise again.” Again, which really confused the disciples because, well, “You’re the Messiah, you’re not going to get killed.” It is within the context of those death predictions that you get to Mark 8. And I want to look specifically at verses 34 and following. First of all, death prediction. “He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed, and after three days rise again.” Well, Peter didn’t appreciate that, and so there’s an interesting interchange.

But then he says, verse 34, “Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples.” There always was a larger crowd that followed Jesus, the 12 or the inner circle, but there always was a larger crowd. And he said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple” (okay, here’s the essence of discipleship) “must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” Now, I’m reading out of the NIV that uses ‘them’ and ‘they’ for both singular and plural, the direction English is going. But this is not a reference to plural people; it’s a reference to individual people. “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themself, must deny himself, herself, and take up his or her cross and follow me.” That’s the thesis statement of what it’s like to live in the Kingdom. It is to deny yourself and follow Jesus.

Living in the Kingdom, entering into the Kingdom, and living within the Kingdom is not a singular event. Okay, it’s really important to understand that. A Christian is not someone who raises a hand and then lives any way they want; that raises a hand, confesses their sin, and you know… A Christian is someone that enters into and lives within a relationship with God. And that starts by denial. And in fact, denial is a characteristic of every day of a disciple’s life. Now, Jesus is not saying you have to deny things. What you have to deny is your own ambitions, have to deny your own priorities. It’s like Jesus says, “It’s not my will, but yours be done.” So that’s what denying yourself is. That’s what it is to follow Jesus. That’s what it is to live within his Kingdom. It is to say no to yourself and to do what God calls you to do.

And then he follows with some interesting verses. Verse 35 is to put things in perspective, “Whoever wants to save their life” (that’s people who won’t deny themselves) “will lose it. But whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel” (that’s the person who denies himself) “will save it.” Okay? So you’ve got to put things in perspective. Then you’ve got motivation. “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world and yet forfeit his soul?” In other words, if you don’t deny yourself, if you don’t follow Jesus, you’re forfeiting your entire soul. “Or what can anyone give in exchange for your soul?” Obviously, nothing. And then comes the warning. “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation” (in other words, if you refuse to deny yourself) “the Son of Man” (see, there’s that word) “will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” Okay, that’s a reference to final judgment. And if you don’t deny yourself, if you’re ashamed to be one of his followers, if you don’t follow him, if you stay disconnected from him, then when Jesus comes back at the end of time to judge all people, he will be ashamed of you as well. This is, I think, the central teaching on discipleship and one that is phenomenally important that we all understand. All right, so that’s enough on Mark. 

Just really quickly now. Matthew, the first of the Gospels listed in the Bible. Matthew was a tax collector; therefore he was hated by the Jews. It must have been really interesting because in the 12, you have a tax collector, and then you have a zealot whose motto—remember my teacher saying zealots’ motto is “Kill a Roman today for God.” So you have two people on opposite spectrums. It must have been a very interesting mix of 12 people. But anyway, Matthew is one of the 12 disciples. He was a tax collector. He was a Jew. Matthew’s desire is that people understand that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Jewish hope; that as the Old Testament is building up, it comes to fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ. And that’s why Matthew, for example, starts with the genealogy. The Jews understood that the Messiah had to be a direct descendant of King David, and so he starts with the genealogy to show that Jesus at least could be the Messiah.

Now there’s all kinds of things in the Book of Matthew; extended discussion of Jesus’ birth, if you want to read about that. Jesus’ most famous sermon, Sermon on the Mount, is there, and it’s inside that sermon that you get the Lord’s Prayer. So many people know, “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name.” Okay, that comes from the Sermon on the Mount. And it also—the last couple of verses in Matthew are the Great Commission, and I’ll reference that at another time. But there’s all kinds of notable features, but there’s one that I really want to pick on again, because I think it’s key to understanding what life in the Kingdom of God is going to look like, and that is the Beatitudes.

So if you go to the very beginning of Matthew, up to chapter 5, I should say, it’s the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus says, “Blessed.” All right. Now, blessed doesn’t mean happy, okay? Blessed means you’re approved by God. And these are called the Beatitudes, the blessings of God. It’s basically, how do you want to be approved by God? Do you want to be approved by God? Do you want to be right with him? Well, here’s how you do that. And the first Beatitude is just hands down the single most important of the Beatitudes. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.” This is the fundamental key characteristic of a disciple, that he or she are poor in spirit. And what does that mean? It means you’ve come to recognize your inability to get in relationship with God on your own. You’re poor in spirit. You have nothing to offer. You stand at the base of the cross with your hands open, extended, and empty. There’s nothing I can do about my sin. There’s nothing I can do to be forgiven. There’s nothing I can do to enter into relationship with God. There’s nothing I can do to live within a relationship with God. I am poor in spirit. It’s just another way of saying, deny yourself. All right? So, that is the key Beatitude, recognizing who we are before Christ.

Then what happens in the other Beatitudes is Jesus spells out the implications of that; and someone once referred to it as the golden chain, because one Beatitude leads necessarily to the next Beatitude, and each of them are links in a golden chain. So, the second Beatitude are “Blessed are those who mourn.” In other words, those who recognize their spiritual bankruptcy. Number 3, “Blessed are the meek.” Now, that doesn’t mean you’re a doormat. It means that you have made a deliberate decision to not insist on your own rights and to put other people first. In other words, deny yourself. All right? It’s all the same thing, but said in different words. But being meek. Number 4, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst.” In other words, hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness, to be right with God. Number 5, “Blessed are the merciful.” It’s a loving response to people who are in need. “Blessed are the pure,” those who are unmixed in their devotion to God. “Blessed are the peacemakers. Blessed are you when you are persecuted.” Jesus is going to say later on, “If they hated me, they’re going to hate you.” And so, if you are truly a disciple, a follower of Jesus Christ, you will be at odds with the world and you will be persecuted for it.

Let me summarize what those are saying. There’s a nuance in the Greek, the language the New Testament is written in, that simply, it can’t really be translated. But the idea is “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they and they alone will receive the Kingdom of God.” This is an all or nothing deal. Either you are a disciple or you aren’t a disciple. Either you are in the Kingdom or you are not in the Kingdom. There’s no part-time disciples. Okay? Because it is those who are poor in spirit, and then everything else follows. They and they alone will inherit the Kingdom of God. 

There’s a really well-known book written by John Stott on the Sermon on the Mount. It’s a great book to read. And he uses the phrase ‘counter-cultural.’ And that’s what life in the Kingdom is. Life in the Kingdom is counter-cultural. If you are comfortable in the world, you need to be concerned. Because followers of Jesus Christ are in a different Kingdom. And that Kingdom is, “The first will be last, and the last will be first,” as Jesus says. And so, the Kingdom is counter-cultural. And that’s what, that’s the point that the Beatitudes are making. Okay. Many other things I could talk about, Matthew. But let me just real briefly say something about Luke and we’ll be done.

Luke was probably written in the 70s. Again, we’re not sure. The interesting thing about Luke is he was a Gentile. And he was not a firsthand witness of Jesus. He had never met Jesus, hadn’t seen the resurrected Jesus. But as you read the first four verses in his Gospel, it’s really clear that he did his homework. He studied. He talked to people. And he built a beautiful Gospel that is very, very believable. He also was a friend of Paul’s. And so, Paul would have helped him as well. So, notable features in the Book of Luke. One is historicity. There’s a real emphasis that this actually happened. He’s writing to his friends so that he may know the certainty of the things that he had been taught. So, it’s a real emphasis on history.

There’s a real emphasis on non-Jews, which you would expect with Luke not being a Jew, he was a Gentile. And you have some very interesting interactions. And because Luke has such an interest in the fact that the Gospel also was for the Gentiles and not just the Jews, you see him including information that makes that point. One of my favorite is in Luke 2, Jesus, after he was born, was presented at the Temple. And they meet a man there named Simeon. And Simeon had been promised by God that he would see the Messiah before he died. So, Simeon gets to see the baby Jesus. And he says, “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant of peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.” From the very beginning, the gospel was not just for the Jews. It was for everyone, Jew and Gentile alike. And so, you have Simeon saying that. You have wise men coming, the Magi, who are not Jews, they’re Gentiles, to give presents to Jesus, to adore him, to signal the birth of someone who is very, very important. That’s a Gentile witness. And in the travel ministry, when Jesus leaves Galilee and goes outside of the Jewish area, that’s almost 10 chapters in the Book of Luke. Why? Because Luke wants you to know that Jesus was concerned about Gentiles. And speaking as Gentile, I’m very glad for that.

The other thing that is really significant in the Book of Luke is that he is very interested in the least significant people socially. All cultures have a social pecking order. At the very bottom for Jews are shepherds. So, who does God announce the birth of his Son to? Shepherds. Women are not culturally significant in that culture, and yet women play a significant role in Jesus’s ministry. And Luke is really clear at saying women are part of the Kingdom of God and not just men. So, those are the Synoptic Gospels.