The Depiction of the Transfiguration
The Transfiguration, depicted with minor variations in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, is an event in which Jesus’ true glory is revealed to the privileged disciples (Peter, James, and John) who were there to witness the event. Our author, Jerome Murphy-O’Connor, O.P., gives us a literary critical perspective on what he believes really happened atop Mt. Tabor in Lower Galilee.
As the story in The Synoptic Gospels goes, Jesus ascends to the top of a mountain with Peter, James and John to pray. It is here that Jesus is transformed completely, “and his face shone like the sun, but his garments became white as light” (Matthew 17:2). It is said that his true nature was revealed there when Moses and Elijah
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In Matthew, Peter uses the phrase, “if you wish” when asking Jesus if they should build the tents; thus, Peter seems much more in control of the situation. Would the author of Mark change Matthew’s confident Peter into one that was afraid and didn’t know how to handle himself? The contrary seems more likely.
Through examples like these, our author make his point about Matthew was using Mark as a written source for the Transfiguration information. He also used similar examples to show us that the first part of Luke’s Gospel was used for a written source for the Gospel of Mark. As for the second part of Luke, we find an internal contradiction that, according to our author, suggests that an editor changed the existing text.
In Luke 9:33 we read, “And when they {Moses and Elijah} parted from him {Jesus}, Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, it is well that we are here, let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’“ Why would Peter want to set up three tents after Moses and Elijah have already left Jesus? Our author believes that a later editor of Luke picked up most of the later part of Luke’s account from Mark; that is, the part containing Peter’s suggestion that three tents be built and the account of the cloud descending and saying that Jesus is God’s son. All of this is not part of the original account of Luke.
Doing away with the additions in Luke and the inaccuracies of the Gospels that relied upon one and
It is possible to write on the life of Jesus from the information gathered from the bible. I will be dividing my essay into three parts. In the first part of the paper, I will talk about the nature of the gospels, John’s views vs. the Synoptic, discuss if the authors of the gospels are eyewitnesses and how they used written sources. Also I will talk about the Q source. Then I will elaborate on the topic of how Matthew and Luke were similar. Then I will continue on by discussing how the Old Testament uses Moses, Samuel and Elijah to interpret Jesus, and finally whether or not the Sermon on the Mount happened. In the second part of my paper, I will talk about Jesus’s birth and childhood, his miracles, his resurrection, and what Jesus did to cure people, spirits and how they are interpreted to the prophet, magician and the mad man compared to Saul and Elijah. The final part of the paper I will talk about what Jesus talked about as regards to the Kingdom of God vs. the Kingdom of the Romans and what he intended by speaking of the end of the world. I will also speak of the reasons behind the Romans executing him. My sources for this paper will be the New Jerusalem Bible Readers edition as my primary source and lecture notes from Professor Trumbach.
While both books of Mark and Matthew portray Peter as one of the most important followers of Jesus, Mark seems to emphasize Jesus' spiritual career unlike the broad, more in-depth pursuit of Jesus' life that Matthew embellishes on. As both Jesus' student and friend, Peter is the one disciple most commonly referred to in the stories. Yet the two passages seem to draw different pictures of Jesus' distinguished disciple. In Matthew, Peter seems to play a larger role in Jesus' teachings and seems more significant to Jesus throughout the book. In Mark, he is still important, but to a lesser extent in the eyes of the author. Mark leaves Peter out of a few of the stories altogether and only touches
It can be argued that the similarities and differences of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke can cause the reader to either see both of these accounts to complement one another with their different perspectives or that they contradict one another by certain events being mentioned in one birth narrative but not the other. Different aspects of both of these birth narratives such as the way Matthew and Luke treat Mary, the extent to which they use the Old Testament and the audience to whom they are writing to reveals the authors’ agenda as they allow their culture and own personal beliefs to influence what they write. These factors could be argued to have an effect on the historical authenticity of these texts as it could be possible that they could have caused the authors to twist the truth to fit in with their own beliefs.
In the Gospel of Matthew, the infancy narrative contributes a large sum of background information of Jesus that contributes to the development of Matthew’s Christology. In order to analyze how Matthew develops the Christology, we have to cut the infancy narrative into sections. This paper will discuss background information of the writing of this Gospel, literary elements of Jesus’ miraculous conception that reinforce his Jewishness, how Magi and literary devices help to understand Matthew’s Christology, what important biblical hero the infancy narrative parallels, and what foreshadowing is caused from this infancy narrative. Comparatively, the use of divine intervention in dreams to fulfill prophecy has been a key focus of the infancy narrative in order to create an unusual birth narrative and develop the unique Christology that Matthew envisioned specifically for the Jewish Messiah.
To accept the Markan Priority one must first denounce the word of Jesus, “that the Holy Spirit would bring all things back to their remembrance”; the testimonies of the early church leaders and historical facts. Also, if Matthew and Luke were present at the same time that Mark was present, why would they need to use Mark’s account?[7] Some authors believe that
This means that during the second stage many of Jesus’ sayings were not simply treated as things to be memorized. They were to be used as living words that would eventually guide Christian communities in all new situations. Third Stage: The oral traditions about Jesus were written down. If Marks gospel was already being used, why would Matthew and Luke want to write their respective Gospels as well?
Readers of the Gospel of Luke often try to identify Luke’s intended audience. Understanding Luke’s intended audience can provide insight into how Luke used current culture to strategically spread the word of God. Specifically, we can look at the period of Hellenization, along passages, to interpret Luke’s Gospel as intended for a Greco-Roman audience.
In the first comparison that I will look review, the story of Jesus walking on water both in Matthew 14:22-33 and Mark 6:45-52. Starting with the verses in Mark, the story of Jesus walking on water, was rather anti-climactic (Martin, 2012). In both versions Jesus dismissed the disciples, to go to the other side of the sea, while he cleared the crowd out and then goes to the mountain to pray alone. The first difference between the two versions is that Mark has him standing on the shore looking out at the boat that was far out to sea. In Matthew’s version, there is no mention of Jesus watching the boat, just coming to it. The second difference is the type of trouble that the disciples are having. In Mark, there is a heavy wind that they are struggling to row against. In Matthew, there is a bit more danger, his is a heavy wind that is battering the boat while they are far from
In this paper, I am writing about the Gospel of Mark. The Gospel of Mark is the shortest Gospel, but is a really cool one. It covers a lot of key events that happened during Jesus’ lifetime. After reading the chapters, we pointed out things that stood out to us, which we thought were strange or interesting. We also pointed out spiritual lessons that taught us about our faith. We also wrote down questions that we had about the material.
In the bible we have recently been looking at the gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke. In these gospels there are a lot of similarities and also some differences. For example in each one of those gospels it tells the story of John’s Preaching About the Coming One. (Matthew 3:11-12, Mark 1:7-8, Luke 3:15-18) All three of these gospels have a share a lot of similarities. This is not the only story. Another story is The Walking on the Water. (Matthew 14:22-33, Mark 6:45-52) Although not this story is not in Luke, the other two gospels have similarities. Looking at all of the things that are the same in these stories helps supports that the bible is true. It would be hard for the authors of these gospels to make up exactly the same thing for all three or two stories. There are many other examples of similar stories in the
Throughout the New Testament are recounts of the miracles that Jesus performed to give proof that He was indeed the Son of God and the Messiah foretold of in the Old Testament. John chose to recount only seven of the many miracles that Jesus performed. He felt that these seven, more than any of the others, showed definitive proof that the Messiah, the Son of God, had come as promised.
When judging the historical reliability of the gospels many factors come into paly. In judging the historical reliability of the Gospels the kind of the gospels is important in understanding the intentions of the writers concerning the historical value of the text. When ranking the following sayings of Jesus:
This essay will show contrasts in views on the Gospel of John regarding authorship,dates, and the relationship between John's Gospel and the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. Some comparison of thought, concerning composition and life setting, will also be presented.
“Six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Peter said to Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah. While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, this is My Beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him! When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground and were terrified. Jesus came to them and touched them and said, get up, and do not be afraid. Lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone. As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has
The word "gospel" is a translation of the Greek word "euangelion" which means "good news. The first three books in the New Testament (Mark, Matthew, and Luke) are often referred to as the Synoptic Gospels (from Greek synoptikos, "seen together") They bear greater similarity to each other than any of the other gospels in the New Testament. Along with these similarities come some differences among the gospels, suggesting that each gospel was written for a specific audience and for a specific purpose. This paper will examine the resurrection of Jesus, while identifying the significant differences between Mark, Matthew and Luke. This paper will also analyze the differences to suggest the prominent theological perspective each gospel author