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1. The Primary Differences Between the Synoptics and the Gospel of John
Double Meaning and Use of Symbols
John makes use of more literary techniques than the synoptic gospels (Smith 1992, 98), for instance, John 7:37-38 (water/Spirit), John 2:25 (temple/body) and John 12:32 (exalted/ lifted up). Most of the symbolism used in John employs the dualistic antitheses such as truth/falsehood (8:44), freedom/slavery (8:33, 36), light/darkness (1:4; 3:19; 12:35, 46; 8:12; 11:9), and above/below (8:23).
Length of Jesus Ministry
John depicts the public ministry of Jesus as extended over a particular time of 3-4 years. During this period, Jesus visits Jerusalem several times. On the other hand, the synoptic gospels only appear to show one voyage of Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem, which is the last one with the majority of His teachings occurring in a span of less than a year (Ehrman, 2000, p. 159).
Christology and Chronology
The prologue of John has a high Christology than gospel of synoptics. John commences by affirming Jesus preexistence and also His deity that reaches its peak in (John 20:28) where Thomas confesses “My Lord and my God!.” John also commences with an eternity past in his gospel, “In the beginning the word already was…” (John 1:1-5). On the contrary, Mark commences his gospel by depicting Jesus’ Baptism with Luke and Mathew beginning theirs with the birth of Jesus (Ehrman, 2000, p. 160).
Literary Point of Perception
The gospels of synoptic were put in writings from “a third person of point view” by explaining the scenarios in Jesus ministry as if they were present during that period and observed everything; they are descriptive in their approach. Conversely, even though the gospel of John was also put in writing from “a third person point of view”, it is much more of a reflection of Jesus ministry. He separates himself from the events that he describes despite being an eyewitness of Jesus life (Ehrman, 2000, p. 160). Christians are guided to view Jesus’ events, not as John did when they occurred but as he now sees them, for instance, "His disciples remembered that it is written: 'Zeal for your house will consume me'" (John 2:17).
Omission of Materials
John also omits majority of the materials present in the synoptic gospels such as Jesus transfiguration, the temptation of Jesus, and the Lords Supper institution. John also does not mention scenarios whereby Jesus performs miracles by casting out demons from possessed individuals (Ehrman, 2000, p. 159).
Jesus Manner of Speaking
In the Gospel of John, Jesus uses extended discourses or dialogues, for instance, in John 3:1-21 (“Jesus Teaches Nicodemus”) while synoptic uses the pithy or proverbial sayings such as in Mathew 5 where Jesus states, “What I say to you in darkness, you speak in the light, and what you hear in your ear, proclaim in the houses”. John generally passed on Jesus’ words principally in dialogue discourses as the synoptics utilized controversy dialogues, parables, and sayings (Stanton, 2002, p. 100).
2. Methods used in Analyzing the Gospel
Historical criticism refers to the study of literary, biblical texts concerning their development within the contexts and historical origin. It describes the dominant methods and approaches to studying that are used in the biblical interpretation. It comprises of several disciplines such as narrative, form, redaction, source, and literary criticism.
Source criticism questions where the biblical text came a particularly from a historical context, author, or singular source, and thrives to unravel the sources that are within a given text (Marshall, 2006, p. 144). For instance, it can read the gospel of Mark with an eye towards the material it came from or from Mark’s tradition. Mark shares most of the material from the gospel of Mathew and other materials from Luke. Source criticism offers a connection of several materials by digging into the similarities and differences of the various texts.
Form criticisms try to comprehend the claims of a biblical text by analyzing its linguistic patterns as written, for instance, it reads the gospel of Mark by focusing on particular expressions and words such as “the kingdom of heaven” and reflecting the broader claims of the text (Muilenburg, 1969, p. 14).
Redaction criticism usually analyzes how the various redactors (editors) in the bible wove together several traditions into one. For instance, it read the Gospel of Mark by dwelling on how Mathew changes and utilizes materials from other traditions such as the Gospel of Luke and Mathew to fit the broader texts of the claims (Perrin, 2002, p. 49).
Literary criticism dwells on investigating problems of authorship and sources. It involves exploring historical material through the assistance of a particular question, conducting criticism by ascertaining what, when, and where was the case, and finally interpreting the results of the investigation. For instance, it can focus on finding out the connection between the three synoptic gospels regarding the relevance of a particular text such as “the temptation of Jesus” by describing the location, time, and people involved when it occurred. Through the investigation, one can then clearly assert that they indeed share similar texts (Amit, 2001, p. 67).
Narrative criticism dwells on the stories that a writer describes in the Bible to comprehend how they assist us in applying Jesus teachings to our daily lives. For instance, the parables of Jesus based on Luke 10:25-37 such as Parables of the Good Samaritan assist Christians in learning how they can help their neighbor regarding need without expecting rewards for God is the one who will bless them for their actions (Resseguie, 2005, p. 89).
3.
The notion of a humanitarian Jesus in the Gospel of Luke
Luke’s Gospel supported the idea of a humanitarian Jesus primarily to minimize the differences that existed between various factions and to promote peace within the Church. During the time of his writings, he was aware of the criticisms regarding Christianity that was made by the majority of the people outside the Church, and he needed to inform the people who asserted that Jesus was only a revolutionist and a foe of the Roman government (Josephus, 2014, p. 176). By offering authentic account of the ministry of Jesus to his readers, he could show to them that the account that were made against Jesus by those who opposed him were indeed false. Luke was quite sure that if everyone knew about the good deeds and sympathy that Jesus carried out towards others, their hearts will be won by the powerful personality of Christ thus portraying Jesus as a sage (Johnson, 2010, p. 206). Thus, his writings portray Jesus as a humanitarian who cared for the people that he met in his ministry who include the oppressed, the less-privileged, and the marginalized in the society such as the women, the Gentiles, and the Samaritans.
Jesus’ Concern for Women, the Poor, the Marginalized, and the Outcasts in Luke
Luke dwells on women in his writings who were portrayed as second-class citizens. In the first birth of Jesus as Luke portrays it was first revealed to the shepherds on the field who were ranked the lowest in the society regarding the class. He portrays Jesus ministry as universal, particularly for the diminished or rejected individuals in the society. Luke also uses parables that highlight the significance of prayer according to Jesus to show His concern for the poor (Cassidy, 2015, p. 97). He uses the “parable of the Good Samaritan” (10:25–37) to show how the poor should not be despised since they are the ones who can help a rich person concerning need thus people should love one another.
A Christian, but does not follow Jesus’ example of helping the marginalized people
A person cannot claim to be a Christian, yet he or she does not follow Jesus’ example of helping the marginalized people. Christians live as per Christ teachings to show their complete belief in his teachings, and those who do not follow his ministry are not true Christians. Acts 11:26 points out, “In Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.” The phrase applies to people who have already accepted Christ as their savior and follows His teachings. Apostle Peter goes ahead to support the term in his writings whereby he says, “Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name” (1 Peter 4:16). Not only does the scripture describe individuals who have been washed by the blood of Jesus, but also challenges them to honor the teachings of Christ. Following the parables of Jesus, he helped all the marginalized; therefore, one failing to emulate His ministry shows that they are indeed not Christians.
4. Parables
A parable refers to an earthly story, which has a heavenly meaning that contains a particular amount of truth. However, an individual has to be aware of its allegorical meaning (Metzger, 1965, p. 142).
Jesus used parables in conveying the vision of God’s kingdom to Christians. The number of parables that He used are around 38 with different sources containing different units since some parables in the sources are at times repeated or vary (Scott, 1989, p. 79). Concerning the distribution of the parables within the synoptic, Mark has the least while Luke and Mathew the most.
The parables are interpreted concerning the kingdom of God with one of the best example being the “the pearl of great price.” Christ stated, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it” (Matthew 13:45-46). It shows that just like the described merchant in the scripture who placed a great effort and value in acquiring the expensive pearl, Christians too need to seek and value being part of the kingdom of God. Christians seeking God need to be their most crucial quest in life. Another example is the parable of the Two Builders (Luke 6: 46-49). It talks about the importance of establishing a foundation on stable and solid ground than in sandy areas, which signifies why Christians need to build their faith in Christ by following the teaching of Christ strictly without hypocrisy.
Why did Mark say Christ used the Parables so that people would not understand His teachings?
Jesus spoke in parables so that those who truly desired the truth would seek Him out (Herzog, 1994, p. 78). Many people prefer standing from far and present their opinions of what life means. As per some opinionated individuals, Jesus was just a babbler, for instance, when He encountered some Stoic philosophers, they said, “What would this babbler say?” (Acts 17:18).
Jesus also spoke in parables to show those who genuine Christians and those who were only pretending. In one of his ministry to a multitude of a crowd that came to listen to Him, He said, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy” (Luke 12:1). Christ celebrated God’s wisdom in enabling Him identity the righteous through his teachings; he said, “I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will.” (Matthew 11:25–26). Through the parables, Christ was able to separate the sheep from the goats who were prepared for the Kingdom of God.
References
Metzger, Bruce Manning. 1965. The New Testament its background, growth, and content. Nashville: Abingdon Press.
Bible, H. New International Version (NIV)(1978). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Bible Publishers.
Scott, B. B. (1989). Hear then the parable: A commentary on the parables of Jesus. Fortress Press.
Cassidy, R. J. (2015). Jesus, politics, and society: A study of Luke's Gospel. Wipf and Stock Publishers.
Herzog II, W. R. (1994). Parables as subversive speech: Jesus as pedagogue of the oppressed. Westminster John Knox Press.
Johnson, L. T. (2010). The Writings of the New Testament. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.
Smith, D. M. (1992). John Among the Gospels: The Relationship in Twentieth-Century Research. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
Ehrman, B. D. (2000). The New Testament: A historical introduction to the early Christian writings. Oxford University Press.
Stanton, G. (2002). The Gospels and Jesus 2nd ed., New York: Oxford University Press.
Marshall, I. H. (Ed.). (2006). New Testament interpretation: essays on principles and methods. Wipf and Stock Publishers.
Resseguie, J. L. (2005). Narrative criticism of the New Testament: An introduction. Baker Academic.
Perrin, N. (2002). What is redaction criticism?
Wipf and Stock Publishers.
Muilenburg, J. (1969). Form criticism and beyond. Journal of Biblical literature, 88(1), 1-18.
Amit, Y. (2001). Reading biblical narratives: literary criticism and the Hebrew Bible. Fortress Press.
