This is the fourth article write-up in the new blog series Encountering the New Testament.

Chapter Summary

1. The essence of the gospel as preached includes God’s offer of salvation; the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus; and the call to faith in light of the coming judgment.
2. The material for the Gospels was first preserved by eyewitnesses.
3. The earliest Christians collected information about Jesus, which included Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah and things that Jesus did and said.
4. An early description of the Gospels comes from the writings of Justin Martyr in AD 155.
5. The primary purpose of the Gospels is to call people to faith.
6. The genre of the Gospels can best be described as biography.
7. Written Gospels were needed because it was impossible to disseminate the message quickly, widely, and reliably via the spoken word alone.
8. The Gospels are trustworthy because they were written when those who knew Jesus were still alive, they are directly linked to the apostles, and God guided the authors.

Study Questions

1. What elements of the life of Jesus were included in the preached gospel message of the early church?

The keys aspects common across all four gospel messages includes:

• the lordship of Jesus. He clearly had the authority he claimed he had.
• John the Baptist and his ministry, preparing the people to receive the message of Jesus
• Jesus’ ministry in the area of Galilee, both sides of the lake
• Jesus’ power, miracles, healing & exorcisms
• Jesus’ death in Jerusalem on the cross
• Resurrection and the empty tomb
• His post-resurrection appearances to the disciples
• Jesus’ commands of love and forgiveness; specifically to believe in Him as Christ Messiah
• Alignment and fulfillment of Jesus to the Old Testament prophecies

 

2. What is the “Gospel form”?

The Gospel form refers to the way in which the Gospel accounts are written. There is a rough biographical and chronological order to the sequence of the various messages contained within, but there is also a clear emphasis on important episodes where key lessons were espoused. This style of writing is intentional in that not every little detail of Jesus’ life is to be captured.

3. Cite five reasons why the Gospels were written

Reasons why the Gospels were written include:

1. The initial oral reciting method of communication was simply not efficient enough for the pace and spread that the Gospel required.
2. As the apostles aged, the need to have a written record of their memories and teachings as an authoritative source increased.
3. The early believers were very future driven in their desire to continue spreading the Gospel throughout the Roman Empire and beyond.
4. As the Gospel spread far and wide, other versions started to pop up and compete and dilute the core message.
5. As new believers came to faith, the need to teach and disciple them effectively required an authoritative written source.

4. Why may the Gospels be trusted?

The authenticity of the Gospel is extremely high, particularly when you take into account 2000 years of history, which serves to amplify this factor. Compared to other historical documents and the events recorded, the close time frame for the Gospels adds to their credibility; the events written down were events that took place while many if not most of the people mentioned were alive. Three of the four Gospels are believed to be authored by the apostles or scribes working for them. The fourth Gospel was highly dependent on eyewitness accounts.

Historicity of the Gospels in terms of faithful reproduction also has shown that the human effort to preserve, copy and distribute the Gospels (indeed the New Testament) has been highly successful, accurate – with God’s help. The Dead Sea Scrolls are part of this reasoning, showing that almost 2000 years later, our printed Bibles remain faithful to God’s Word.

The faith of believers is such that we trust God was part of the entire process, the source of inspiration and hand overlooking the formation and writing process.