THE GOSPELS EXPLAINED The Story of the Good News Revealed to the World

THE TWO OBJECTIVES Understand the context of the Gospels. Understand the content of the Gospels.

Religious Groups  Pharisees  Sadducees  Essenes  Zealouts  The Apocalyptic Movement  Other Groups in Palestine

The Am ha-Aretz The Lost sheep of Israel  THE PEOPLE OF THE WAY  That’s US!

The Content of the Message

Kerygma The Essence of the Gospel Preached: God’s offer of salvation, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus and a call to faith in light of coming judgment. The Preached Message: Jesus is the Lord John the Baptist’s Ministry Life of Jesus in Galilee Jesus’ Power, Miracles, Healings and Exorcisms Jesus’ Death by Crucifixion and Resurrection Jesus’ Appearance to the Believers in full bodily form after His death Commandment to preach forgiveness of sins through faith in Christ Old Testament prophecies pointed to all these things

The Growing Body of Material  Recounting  Gather collection of prophecies from the Old Testament that related to both to Jesus’ life and to themselves as the heirs of Jesus’ ministry Showed Jews that Jesus was not an innovator but part of God’s plan Provide Gentiles who knew nothing at all aabout Israel with some background for their understanding of Jesus, Israel’s Messiah  Collection of what Jesus said and did

Why the Gospels Were Written  The speed of the spreading of the Word  The extent of the spreading of the Word  TRUSTWORTHY  Took place while those who had known Jesus were still alive and the information could be traced back to them.  3 of the gospels directly linked to Apostles (Matthew and John; and Mark depended on the recollections of the Apostle Peter); the 4 th (Luke) from eyewitnesses and those who had known Jesus from the beginning.  God had a hand in all this.

HOMEWORK QUESTIONS: Review Questions: Chapter 2 - #8 – 10; Chapter 3 - # x9 4x3