The Synoptic Gospels

NT Overview
		{400}	Introduction to Concise New Testament Survey
		{401}	The Historical Books of the New Testament
		{402}	The Synoptic Gospels
		{403}	The Purpose and Distinctive Focus of the Four Gospels
		{404}	Harmony of the Gospels
		{405}	The Gospel Books Detailed Reviews

Before beginning a survey of each of the Gospels, it might be well to say a bit about the use of the term, The Synoptic Gospels. Though each Gospel has its distinct emphasis and purpose, the first three are sometimes referred to as

the Synoptic Gospels because they “see together,” that is, they have the same point of view with regard to the life of Christ, agreeing in subject matter and order.

Further, they also present the life of Christ in a way that complements the picture given in the Gospel of John. The following show a number of areas that are common to each of the first three Gospels:

  Synoptic   

THE SYNOPTIC GOSPELS: THEMES
		{Syn01}	The baptism of Jesus
		{Syn02}	The temptation of Jesus
		{Syn03}
		{Syn04}	The transfiguration of Jesus
		{Syn05}	The trial, death, and burial of Jesus
		{Syn06}	The resurrection of Jesus
SYNOPTIC TEACHING OF JESUS:
		{SYN-T-00}	The Miracles of Jesus (The major portion of each Gospel).
		{SYN-T-00}	God’s Love for Mankind
		{SYN-T-00}	The Kingdom of God
		{SYN-T-00}	Love the Lord Your God
		{SYN-T-00}	Love Your Neighbor as Yourself
		{SYN-T-00}
			Synoptic Teachings

   graph  ^[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synoptic_Gospels

Almost all of Mark’s content is found in Matthew, and much of Mark is similarly found in Luke. Additionally, Matthew and Luke have a large amount of material in common that is not found in Mark.

By Relationship_between_synoptic_gospels.png: Alecmconroyderivative work: Popadius - This file was derived from  Relationship between synoptic gospels.png:, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27903558

  The triple tradition  ^[2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synoptic_Gospels

The triple tradition, the material included by all three synoptic gospels, includes many stories and teachings:

• John the Baptist
• Baptism and temptation of Jesus
• First disciples of Jesus
• Hometown rejection of Jesus
• Healing of Peter’s mother-in-law, demoniacs, a leper, and a paralytic
• Call of the tax collector
• New Wine into Old Wineskins
• Man with withered Hand

• Commissioning the twelve Apostles
• The Beelzebul controversy
• Teachings on the parable of the strong man,eternal sin, His true relatives, the parable of the sower, the lamp under a bushel, and theparable of the mustard seed
• Calming the storm
• The Gerasene demoniac
• The daughter of Jairus and the bleeding woman

• Feeding the 5000
• Confession of Peter
• Transfiguration
• The demoniac boy
• The little children
• The rich young man
• Jesus predicts his death
• Blind near Jericho
• Palm Sunday

• Casting out the money changers
• Render unto Caesar
• Woes of the Pharisees
• Second Coming Prophecy
• The Last Supper, passion, crucifixion, andentombment
• The empty tomb and resurrected Jesus
• Great Commission

Furthermore, the triple tradition’s pericopae (passages) tend to be arranged in much the same order in all three gospels. This stands in contrast to the material found in only two of the gospels, which is much more variable in order.

  The double tradition  ^[3]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synoptic_Gospels

An extensive set of material—some two hundred verses or roughly half the length of the triple tradition—are the pericopae shared between Matthew and Luke but absent in Mark. This is termed the double tradition. Parables and other sayings predominate in the double tradition, but it also includes narrative elements:

• Preaching of John the Baptist
• Temptation of Jesus (which Mark summarizes in two verses)

• The Sermon on the Mount(Matthew) or Plain (Luke)
• The Centurion’s servant

• Messengers from John the Baptist
• Woes to the unrepentant cities
• Jesus thanks His Father

• Return of the unclean spirit
• Parables of the leaven, the lost sheep, the great banquet, thetalents, and the faithful servant
• Discourse against the scribes and Pharisees
• Lament over Jerusalem

Unlike triple-tradition material, double-tradition material is very differently arranged in the two gospels. Matthew’s lengthy Sermon on the Mount, for example, is paralleled by Luke’s shorter Sermon on the Plain, with the remainder of its content scattered throughout Luke. This is consistent with the general pattern of Matthew collecting sayings into large blocks, while Luke does the opposite and intersperses them with narrative.

Besides the double-tradition proper, Matthew and Luke often agree against Mark within the triple tradition to varying extents, sometimes including several additional verses, sometimes differing by a single word. These are termed the major and minor agreements (the distinction is imprecise). One example is in the passion narrative, where Mark has simply, “Prophesy!”[Mk 14:65] while Matthew and Luke both add, “Who is it that struck you?”[Mt 26:68][Lk 22:64]

The double-tradition’s origin, with its major and minor agreements, is a key facet of the synoptic problem. The simplest hypothesis is that Luke relied on Matthew’s work or vice versa. But many experts, on various grounds, maintain that neither Matthew nor Luke used the other’s work. If this is the case, they must have drawn from some common source, distinct from Mark, that provided the double-tradition material and overlapped with Mark’s content where major agreements occur. This hypothetical document is termed Q, for the German Quelle, meaning “source”.

  The Gospels Compared   

   sub heading   

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