the destruction of the temple in 70 c.e. Employing many Old Testament allusions, Matthew attempts to show Jesus to be the fulfillment of Old Testament messianic prophecies. He stresses parallels between Jesus and Moses, the major liberator of Jewish tradition, which would be especially important for the Jewish followers of Jesus who were concerned about their relationship to Judaism and, in particular, their obligation to Jewish law. In fact, Matthew presents the Pharisees (the staunch supporters of traditional Judaism) as Jesus’ main opponents, echoing the tension that existed between various segments of the Jewish community at the time he wrote. Matthew’s deliberate appeal to a Jewish audience can be seen in his careful tracing of Jesus’ genealogy back to Abraham, the father of the Jewish faith.

Tradition holds that the author of Luke’s Gospel (and the Acts of the Apostles) was a physician and traveling companion of Saint Paul. Although none of this can be historically verified, Luke’s Gospel appears to be directed toward Gentile Christians living in a Hellenistic culture (perhaps Greece or the Greek cities of Asia Minor), who were not as familiar with Jewish traditions and customs. In an attempt to present Christianity as no threat to the governing Roman authorities, Luke traces Jesus’ lineage back to their common ancestor, Adam. The focus of his Gospel is to present Jesus as the universal savior. Concerned with the inclusion of the marginalized in the Kingdom of Heaven that Jesus proclaimed, Luke emphasizes Jesus’ compassion, including many stories about how he interacted with and embraced the outcasts of society.

The Gospel of Mark is believed to be the earliest of the four Gospels and, as such, possesses an authenticity that the others do not. Held by tradition to have been a disciple of the apostle Peter, Mark wrote to an audience of persecuted Gentile Christians. This focus is reflected in his emphasis on the suffering and cross of Jesus and highlights Jesus’ exhortations to his disciples to “take up their crosses” and follow him. Perhaps as a way of defending the lack of insight on the part of the apostles with regard to Jesus’ status as Messiah, Mark employs a literary technique referred to by biblical scholars as the Messianic secret. After performing miracles or exorcisms, Jesus admonishes the onlookers to say nothing to anyone. He silences demons who recognize his divine nature and instructs his apostles in private as to the real meaning of his parables. Although scholars have had different theories as to why Mark uses this technique (which is not found in the other Synoptics), the most commonly accepted explanation is that Mark is challenging common assumptions about the role of a Messiah. By avoiding quick labeling, Jesus forces his followers to reach their own conclusions about his nature and salvific role.

Jesus’ messiahship is not political but characterized by suffering. This can be seen clearly in the pivotal chapter 8 of Mark’s Gospel, in which Peter “confesses” Jesus to be the Messiah. When Jesus goes on to remark that the Son of Man (a title used by Jesus most often for himself in Mark’s Gospel) must suffer, be put to death, and rise three days later, Peter protests this fate, thereby indicating a false understanding of the nature of Jesus’ messiahship. Jesus immediately rebukes Peter, saying angrily to him, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not on the side of God but of men” (Mark 8:33).

All three Synoptics relate the numerous miraculous healings Jesus performed and his discourses and instructions to his disciples, and recount the altercations with Jewish leaders leading to his arrest and crucifixion. These biographical details provide Christian sects with a firm basis for their doctrinal beliefs about the nature of the God-man Jesus and a model of ethical perfection for their followers.

Christian Themes

Although the Synoptic writers emphasize different characteristics of Jesus as Messiah, they all present Jesus as wonder worker, sage, teacher, and Son of God. From depictions of his humble birth in a manger in Matthew and Luke’s Gospels, all three Gospels go on to record the numerous miracles of Jesus (healings, exorcisms, and nature miracles) and the effects the words and deeds of Jesus had on his many followers.

Growing up as a practicing Jew in first century Israel, Jesus followed the customs and rituals of his religious tradition. Rather than offer a new religion, Jesus reinforced the message of the Old Testament prophets by demanding a change of heart that would have a liberating effect on people as well as on the unjust social order in which they lived. The main theme of Jesus’ teaching was that the Kingdom of God announced by the Old Testament prophets had indeed arrived. This kingdom, ushered in by Jesus, would bring with it the liberation of the oppressed as foretold by the prophet Isaiah. Although the kingdom had officially arrived, it had to be realized within the hearts of all those willing to undertake the necessary conversion to enter this kingdom.

Jesus summarized his message as the Great Commandment: Love God with all of your heart, mind, and soul, and love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:30-31, Matthew 22:37-39). The fact that this is a reiteration of two Old Testament passages (Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18) illustrates Jesus’ respect for his Jewish religious background and his attempt to promote love as the guiding principle of all ethical action. His close relationship with God, his abba (an Aramaic word commonly translated as “father” but more accurately translated as the more intimate “daddy”), can be seen in his penchant for private prayer and his countless attempts to portray God’s love through parables. The love that Jesus preached was a self-sacrificing love that put the welfare of others before all else. The Greek term for this type of selfless love is agape, sometimes referred to as Christian love. The rewards of practicing this type of love are manifold, according to Jesus. Many of the paradoxes he used resound with this theme. (“For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it” Mark 8:35, Matthew 16:25, Luke 9:24.) In fact, Jesus’ willingness to subject law to the overriding consideration of love not only led to his occasional breaking of established Jewish laws but also antagonized some influential Jewish leaders, ultimately resulting in his arrest and death.

The many miracles of Jesus recorded in the Synoptic Gospels not only attracted many followers but also divulged Jesus’ true nature and identity. Although there exists a difference of opinion among Christian denominations as to the true nature of Jesus (for example, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons do not believe Jesus to be a distinct person in the triune Godhead as do most Christians), the biblical stories of Jesus’ acts of power provide modern Christians with evidence of Jesus’ supernatural essence. These miracles, which amazed onlookers at their occurrence, indicated to early Christians Jesus’ mastery over both the physical and spiritual realms. Because illness was believed to be caused by sin, the idea that Jesus could heal physical ailments indicated a power over sin that was reinforced by Jesus’ overtly proclaiming to various recipients of miracles that their sins were forgiven (Mark 2:5, Luke 5:20, Matthew 9:2). His mastery over nature (for example, the calming of the sea in Matthew 8:23-27, Mark 4:35-41, Luke 8:22-25) hinted at his divine status. The authority with which he ordered demons to come out of those possessed evoked awe in onlookers.

These acts involved what many Jewish leaders regarded as an appropriation of divine authority and culminated in their leveling a charge of blasphemy against him, seen by scholars as a significant factor in Jesus’ subsequent arrest and execution. The greatest of all of Jesus’ miracles, his own resurrection, is recounted in the Synoptic Gospels along with numerous accounts of post-resurrection appearances. His followers and generations of Christians who came after them believed that this act illustrated for once and for all Jesus’ divinity and identified him as the son of God.

Sources for Further Study

• Brown, Raymond. An Introduction to the New Testament. New York: Anchor Bible, 1997. A preeminent biblical scholar guides the reader through the sociohistorical background of the Gospels and their philosophical and theological significance. Provides resources for further study.
• Brown, Raymond, Joseph Fitzmyer, and Roland Murphy, eds. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1987. A serious academic guide to individual passages of Scripture. Provides background, interpretation, and resources for more in-depth analysis. Catholic perspective, but more academic than denominational.
• Malina, Bruce, and Richard Rohrbrough. Social Science Commentary on the Synoptic Gospels. 2d ed. Minneapolis, Minn.: Augsburg Fortress Press, 2002. Provides the reader with fascinating sociological background to the world in which Jesus lived and a deeper insight into the meanings of his words and actions.
• Sanders, E. P., and Margaret Davies. Studying the Synoptic Gospels Philadelphia: Trinity Press International, 1990. Surveys the various scholarly debates about the purpose, authorship, and interrelationship of the Synoptic Gospels for the interested layperson. Clear explanations of abstract theories.
• Senior, Donald. Jesus: A Gospel Portrait. Rev. ed. Mahwah, N.J.: Paulist Press, 1992. Senior combines biblical scholarship with a reverential study of the person of Jesus, his world, and his significance for Christians today. Contains a valuable bibliography.
• Throckmorton, Burton H. Gospel Parallels: A Comparison of the Synoptic Gospels. 5th ed. Nashville, Tenn.: Nelson Reference, 1992. Handy tool first published in 1949. Illustrates clearly how the material of the Synoptics lines up. Gospel passages are copied in parallel columns for clear comparison.