THE SYNOPTIC GOSPELS

The Synoptic Gospels are the first three Gospels in our New Testament.  They are The Gospel of Matthew, The Gospel of Mark, and The Gospel of Luke.  The fourth Gospel, John, is not included among the Synoptic Gospels, and is simply known as The Fourth Gospel, or The Gospel of John.

The are called Synoptic because they see the gospel story along similar lines, or "through the same perspective."  The term Synoptic derives from two English words drawn from the Greek language, syn (sun) = together, and optic (oraw - oyaomai)= to see, hence they see the gospel story together or in similar fashion.  What we mean by this is that fundamentally they follow a similar chronological or structural outline, whereas John follows a different chronological or structural outline. 

Although all four Gospels tell the story of Jesus carefully and accurately, they differ somewhat in content and considerably in what they want to say about Jesus, hence they each have a different theological purpose or intention (or tendenz, a German term used as a technical term for intention/purpose).  Furthermore, they each have a different audience in mind.

We will notice that Mark and Matthew are very similar in their narrative account, with Luke only slightly different, but with much in common with Matthew and Mark.   (It has been estimated that over 90% of the verses of Mark are found in Matthew.)   The discussion on why these gospels are so similar and yet so different, and how they relate to one another, is known as The Synoptic Problem.  We will discuss the concept of a Synoptic Problem later in another lesson.  (At this point we merely emphasize that the term problem simply implies that there are some interesting questions to ask regarding the relationship of these three gospels.)

In this study we will adopt the view that Mark was the first of our Gospels written, then Matthew followed by Luke.  Both Matthew and Luke followed Mark's basic narrative form.   Matthew and Luke built material into Mark's structure (narrative form) to meet the unique theological purpose and audience each had in mind.  We will discuss the unique nature of Mark and Luke in another lesson.

Our Procedure in this Study:
In contrast to Mark (a Gentile - Roman gospel) and Luke (a Gentile - Greek gospel), the study of the language, terminology, and style of the Gospel of Mathew will set the Gospel of Matthew in the context of 1st century Jewish Christianity.  We will examine the text exegetically (attempting to ascertain the meaning of the text from within the text itself). From this analysis we will attempt to define the theology of Matthew in the context of the 1st century church in Syria (Palestine).   Finally, we will attempt to understand and apply the meaning of the text to contemporary life in the church, and in relation to our secular world.

The presumption of this course is that Matthew is a  "Jewish" Gospel in which Matthew addresses the Kingdom of God, Messianic concerns,
Jesus the Messiah King, and our being disciples of this Messianic king.  We will learn that Matthew explains what it means to be a disciple of Jesus in a Gentile context after the destruction of Jerusalem.

We will emphasize that the Gospel of Matthew has universal application in the discussion of discipleship, the kingdom, and the universal (for all nations) nature, relevance, and implications of the gospel message.

THE MAJOR THRUST OR THEOLOGY OF THE SYNOPTIC GOSPELS
Each of the Gospels has a unique "story" or message to tell about Jesus as they interpret Jesus to different audiences.
We speak of the unique theological thrust of each of the Gospels.
The following is a "thumbnail" introduction to the Synoptic Gospels:
The Gospel of Mark: 
    Influenced by Peter's preaching to the Roman Gentile world.
    Written before Matthew and Luke.
    Written with a Roman audience in Italy in mind.
    Characterized by action and dynamic power.
    Demonstrates that Jesus is the Son of God, in power.
The Gospel of Matthew:
    Influenced by Marks chronology of Jesus' ministry.
    Written with a Jewish Christian audience in a Gentile community in mind.
    Incorporates special "fulfillment" statements.
    Characterized by blocks of teaching materials.
    Demonstrates that Jesus is the Messiah, the rightful King of God's kingdom, and the fulfillment of
        God's messianic promises.
The Gospel of Luke:
    Influenced by Mark's chronology of Jesus' ministry.
    Written with a Greek Gentile audience in mind.
    Characterized by concern for people, the poor, and women.
    Significant emphases on prayer.
    Demonstrates that Jesus as the Son of God is the savior of mankind.

CANONICAL AND APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS
We refer to the four Gospels of the New Testament as the Canonical Gospels, implying that from at least as early as 180 AD these were the only Gospels accepted by the church as authoritative.
We know that at least by 180 AD our four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) had been collected into one corpus (group).  We can refer to Tatian's Diatessaron (ca 180 AD) as an example of such a corpus of Gospels. 

By the time that Luke and Matthew wrote their Gospels there apparently had already been several unreliable "gospel" stories attempted (read Lk 1:1-4).  We refer to these other Gospels, many of which date from very early in the life of the church (The Gospel of Thomas, for instance) as Apocryphal Gospels.   Other Apocryphal Gospels include The Gospel of Bartholomew, The Gospel of Phillip, The Gospel of the Ebonite's, The Gospel of Marcion, The Gospel of Cerinthus, et al.