I was not in class on November 5 for personal reasons, so I will be talking about some class notes from the previous class I attended in which we talked about the synoptic gospels because this is a topic that I am greatly interested in.
We began by addressing why we need to explain how the gospels overlap. From a literary perspective, understanding how the gospels overlap allows one to see how the author takes an earlier text and rearranges it. It also allows us to get a clearer sense of the author’s creativity and allows the reader to gain more context.
The synoptic gospels overlap greatly. Some problems that arise when trying to explain which of the gospels came first are as follows. Luke using Matthew to write his gospel seems unlikely because the information in Matthew is nicely laid out and easy to follow and the information in Luke is scattered throughout the book. The overwhelming consensus is that Matthew and Luke used Mark’s gospel, so therefore Mark was the earliest gospel written. However, it is also understood that Matthew and Luke did not know of each other’s gospels. Some people explain the synoptic gospels by adding in a fourth source, Q, which all of the gospels depend on. Some people claim that source Q was a collection of Jesus’ teachings, but not gospel.
The gospel of John is distinctive from the rest. It references the beloved disciple and the end refers to another party reading this gospel and supporting it. It describes events such as dialogue with Nicodemus and the wedding in Cana. It also has a different setting, in Jerusalem rather than Galilee. It takes on a different chronology of visits to Jerusalem and cleansing the temple at the start of public ministry. It also has a very distinct language and style from the other gospels.