You will definitely want to review the themes for each gospel discussed in the lectures. Mark: Theme of Secrecy; Jesus keeps the fact that he is the Son of God a secret until the trials, perhaps to help reshape the Messianic Expectation that he would not suffer and be rejected. Matthew: Theme of Fulfillment Luke: “Plan of God” theme. Everything happens according to God’s plan. -What did it mean for the writers of the gospels to say that Jesus was the “Christ”? To what religious tradition was this term important?
To whom was the term applied within that tradition? Christ means “anointed”. The term is important to the Israeli, later on Jewish tradition. Kings, Priests, and Prophets were anointed. -How would people in antiquity have understood the claim that Jesus was the Son of God? Jesus was the Messiah come to rule over Jerusalem; he would not suffer or be rejected. -Be able to discuss the issue of “fulfillment” in Matthew. What do you notice when you look at the OT quotations in their original context? Using Midrashic exegesis, Matthew shows that by linking key words, we see that from the verses in the old testament, Isaiah 7 that speak about a irgin conceiving, that prophecy is fulfilled in Matthew. -How is the “Law” treated in Matthew’s Gospel? Does Matthew’s Jesus say the same things about the law that Paul says about the law?
