Matthew, Mark, Luke

The Synoptic Gospels

Questions

2009           

400 years of silence have passed since completion of the Old Testament.

Throughout the two thousand some years of recorded Biblical history, from the time of Abraham, Moses, David and the prophets, Jehovah God spoke to His chosen people, ________, establishing several unbreakable __________, none of which had been completely fulfilled at this time.  Malachi closed the Old Testament with a prophecy of God’s message of________ on Israel for their________ sin and God’s merciful promise that one day the Jews would repent and the nation would be saved.  His warning went largely unheeded until another prophet appeared with a message from God.  That was John the Baptist preaching, “Repent, the Kingdom of God is at hand!” (Matt. 3:2).  __________ had come!

            As we begin our journey through the 37 books of the New Testament, let us first uncover where the word “Gospel” originates. The English word “gospel” derives from the Anglo-Saxon word godspell, which can mean either “a story about God,” or “a good story.”  This is in harmony with the Greek word translated “gospel,” evangellion, which means “_____ _____.”  The 4 gospels are the good news about the most significant events in all of history, the life, sacrificial death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.  What a privilege it is for all the people of the world, for the first time, to have an actual eye-witness account of the long promised Messiah, His life, His teaching, and ultimate sacrifice Jesus Christ made so that man might be saved.

 The first three Gospels cover many of the same events in Jesus’ life in the same way.  For that reason they are often called the “Synoptic Gospels” meaning that they are “able to be____ ________.”  It is generally assumed that Matthew and Luke used Mark as their prime source in compiling their writings.  In Matthew, nearly 90% of the material in Mark is reproduced.  These similarities, however, do not mean that the Gospels are merely a restatement of each other.  Matthew adds many teaching sections and other details not found in Mark.  Matthew slants his material to a _________ audience as he cites numerous OT prophecies that were fulfilled in Jesus’ life and ministry.

His purpose in his extended genealogy, traced back to Abraham, was to show that Jesus is the promised Messiah, descended as necessary from Israel’s greatest King, David.  He writes to proclaim that Messiah has come to establish the Kingdom of God, not only for the Jews, but also for all people.  Matthew was the other name for Levi the tax collector, who left everything to follow Christ (Luke 5:27,28) and because of his salvation, he wrote to extend the same opportunity for his Jewish audience.  He quotes more than 60 times from Old Testament prophetic passages, emphasizing how Christ is the_________ of all those promises.  His ultimate purpose for writing the Gospel was to demonstrate that Jesus is the Jewish nation’s long-awaited Messiah.  His frequent quotes of the OT are designed to show the tie between the Messiah of ________ and the Christ of History and God Incarnate.  He makes little attempt to follow a strict chronology and frequently places events out of order.  As an eyewitness to the accounts of the life of Jesus, he reports the __________ of Israel’s Messiah.

Mark was not one of the _________; rather, he was a close, younger friend of Peter and is often seen in the Book of Acts where he is known as “John whose surname is Mark.”  He was a cousin to ________ and a companion to Paul on Paul’s first missionary journey.  Mark deserted Paul and Barnabas on this journey and he returned to Jerusalem.  When Barnabas wanted Paul to take John Mark on His second missionary journey, Paul refused and this caused a long-standing division between Paul and Barnabas.  Yet, Mark’s _____ turned into great strength and maturity, and in time he proved himself of great help to Paul.  Mark’s restoration to ministry was probably due in large part to Peter, who referred to him as, “Mark, my son” (1 Pet. 5:13).  The Gospel is often referred to as “the memoirs of Peter” and consisted of what Peter preached about Christ. 

While Matthew was addressed to a largely Jewish audience, Mark seems to have targeted ________believers, particularly Gentiles.  Matthew wrote to prove that Jesus was indeed the long awaited Christ, the Messiah.  Mark wrote to show Jesus as the suffering ________of the Lord.  He focuses on the _______of Jesus rather than on His teaching, emphasizing _________ and__________.  If we could pick one key verse in this Gospel it would be 10:45, “For even I, the Son of Man, came here not to be served but to serve others, and to give my life as a ransom for many.”  Mark, more so than any of the other Gospel writers, demonstrates the ________of Christ, emphasizing Christ’s human ________, His human _________and other small details, which highlight the human side of the Son of God.  In fact, his Gospel begins simply, “The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”

Mark did not begin his Gospel with genealogies but with John the Baptist’s preaching of a “baptism of__________,” a one-time act (as opposed to the continual ritual cleansing followed by the Jews.)  The Jews baptized _________proselytes, symbolizing their embracing of the true faith of Judaism.  That Jews would participate in such a rite was a startling admission that they, although members of God’s Covenant people, needed to come to God through _________and ______just like the Gentiles.  This baptism did not produce repentance, but was its result.  Genuine repentance is a work of ____in the human heart and involves a turning from sin, possible only through the ________of the _____ _______.  After John was imprisoned, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.  Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:14,15.)  Repentance and faith (see Rom. 1:16) are man’s required _________to God’s gracious offer of salvation (Acts 20:21).

The Gospel of Luke is the third of the Synoptic Gospels, synoptic meaning “to see_________” or “to share a common point of view.”  That is why we see so many similarities in these three Gospels.  One point of view is that the Gospel of Mark may have been written first and then Matthew and Luke used this as a source, or base, from which to write their Gospels.  However, the early church was unanimous in believing that Matthew was the first Gospel written.  Matthew was an Apostle and had first hand knowledge of the life of Christ.  Nevertheless, each has a different perspective and is written to a different audience.  Mark targeted a Roman Gentile audience.  He described Jesus as the Servant who came to suffer for the sins of many.  Matthew wrote primarily to a Jewish audience, presenting Jesus of Nazareth as Israel’s long awaited ________and rightful _____.  His genealogy, unlike Luke’s, focuses on Jesus’ royal descent from Israel’s greatest king, David.  Luke addressed a broader Greek and Roman ________audience.  He portrays Jesus as the Son of_____, the answer to the needs and hopes of the human race, who came to  _____and  _______lost sinners.

Luke helps us see these hopes and needs met as we see Christ portrayed as the Great __________, ministering to the social __________of society – tax collectors, Samaritans, Gentiles and sinners as well as you and me.  Unlike a Jewish writer, Luke the Gentile gives ________a central role in the life and ministry of Jesus - from the extended stories of Elizabeth and Mary, all the way from the Cross-to the Resurrection. 

While very little is known of Luke, a physician, we do know that he was a frequent and faithful companion to Paul.  He wrote to Theophilus, perhaps a Roman dignitary and one who had turned to Christ in “Caesar’s household.”  His two letters, the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts, were a compilation of reports from eyewitnesses and written to give an _______ ________of the events of Jesus’ life.  He claims to have a “perfect understanding of all things from the very first” (Luke 1:3).  While his letter was the result of much painstaking investigation, his understanding was perfect because of the ________ __________he received from the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:19-21).  The Spirit’s empowerment ensured that we, as well as Theophilus, could rely on the “__________of those things in which you were instructed” (Luke 1:4).

Luke’s gospel gives us the most complete account of the events leading up to and the early life of Jesus and His ministry.  He gives us insight into the baptism of Jesus by John and we see the _________(not named) in Jesus, the voice of the Father, and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descending upon Jesus.  Matthew’s genealogy moves forward from Abraham to Joseph legally tying Jesus to the Royal Line as King.  Luke’s genealogy is backward from Jesus to Adam and establishes Christ’s physical descent from________through ________.  His account is rich in the teaching and ministry of Jesus as He travels toward Jerusalem and we see at the heart of His Gospel, Jesus’ relentless progression toward the cross, the very _______for which Christ had come to the earth, He would not be stopped.  The saving of  __________was His whole mission.