2. What is good news? Jesus Revealed and Was Good News Jesus is the incarnate Son of God, revealing God’s unconditional love for all people. Incarnate: invested with a human nature and form = God becomes Man Jesus himself was the Good News, the Messiah and Savior of the world.

3. What is good news? Gospel The term ‘gospel’ comes from the Old English meaning ‘good news’. The Church uses the word ‘Gospel’ to refer to the four New Testament books that proclaim the life, teaching, Death and Resurrection of Jesus. The word refers to the proclamation of the entire message of faith revealed in and through Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity.

4. What is good news? Jesus Revealed and Was Good News Jesus’ announcement of the coming of God’s Kingdom and the Messiah who would usher it in must have excited the first disciples. No prophet or Jewish leader before Jesus had ever declared the Good News that God’s Kingdom had come.

5. The formation of the Gospels The Life and Teaching of Jesus The Church holds firmly that the four Gospels, ‘whose historicity she unhesitatingly affirms, faithfully hand on what Jesus, the Son of God, while he lived among men, really did and taught for their eternal salvation, until the day when he was taken up.’ CCC, no. 126

6. The formation of the Gospels Oral Tradition becomes the Written Gospels The sacred authors, in writing the four Gospels, selected certain of the many elements which had been handed on, either orally or already in written form; others they synthesized or explained with an eye to the situation of the churches, while sustaining the form of preaching, but always in such a fashion that they have told us the honest truth about Jesus. CCC, no. 126

7. The Formation of the Gospels Scripture scholars discovered that there are three stages in the formation of the Gospels: 1.Life and teachings of Jesus – Evangelists faithfully hand down what Jesus, the Son of God, did and taught for our eternal salvation. 2.The Oral Tradition – After the Ascension of the Lord, the Apostles handed down to their hearers what he had said and done, but with a fuller understanding, having been guided by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. 3.The Written Gospels – Selected the many elements, both oral or already in written form, and synthesized the details for their intended audience.

8. The Formation of the Gospels The public ministry of Jesus: revealed God’s unconditional love for all people; announced the coming of the Kingdom of God; revealed Jesus to be the Messiah and Savior, the Son of God; revealed how best to live as the People of God and his disciples.

9. The formation of the Gospels The Preaching and Living of the Good News The early disciples witnessed the Risen Jesus and came to believe that he had, indeed, risen from the dead. They were witnesses to the world.

10. The formation of the Gospels The Written Account Subsequent generations would need a written account of the life, Death, Resurrection and teachings of Jesus. The four Evangelists tell ‘the honest truth about Jesus’. Jesus’ teachings at the Sermon on the Mount was a collection of his teachings from different times and places in his public ministry. They are seen as the ‘blueprint for living as His disciples.’ Each was inspired by the Holy Spirit but with his own particular style, audience and emphasis.

11. The formation of the Gospels The Feeding of the Five Thousand Matthew 14:13-21 Mark 6:30-44 Luke 9:10-17

12. Introduction to the Synoptic Gospels—Mark, Matthew and Luke The Gospel According to Mark Source: Peter the Apostle was primary; some oral tradition Audience: Christians in Rome suffering from persecution Emphasis: Jesus is both true God and true man (fully divine and fully human in all ways but sin) The Gospel according to Mark portrays Jesus as an active healer and miracle worker, who accepts loneliness and suffering as the cost of obedience to his Father’s will. Faithful disciples will also share in Jesus’ final victory over resurrection.

13. Introduction to the Synoptic Gospels—Mark, Matthew and Luke The Gospel According to Matthew Source: He was one of the Twelve Apostles (an eyewitness account) Audience: Jews who had become believers in Jesus Emphasis: Jesus is the fulfillment of the Covenant between God and the people of Israel, using the literary genre of typology to teach that Moses prefigured Jesus. The Gospel according to Matthew emphasizes that Jesus is the Messiah promised to the Jewish people.

14. Introduction to the Synoptic Gospels—Mark, Matthew and Luke The Gospel According to Luke Source: Oral Tradition Was a Gentile convert to Christianity and a doctor of medicine; his was the most polished of the Synoptic Gospels Audience: Greek converts from paganism (polytheistic) Emphasis: Luke’s account of the Gospel depicts Jesus’ mercy, compassion and concern for all people, especially the poor and others marginalized by society in His time. Throughout his Gospel, Luke proclaims that Jesus is the saving God of all people, Jews and Gentiles.

15. The greatest story ever told The coming of Jesus and his story changed the history of the world. That is why it is often called the ‘greatest story ever told’. Even nonbelievers acknowledge the power and force of Jesus’ life and how it has shaped all of human history.