WRITING OF THE GOSPEL

WHY IT TOOK LONG BEFORE THE GOSPEL (GOOD NEWS) WAS PUT IN WRITINGS?

The first gospel to be written was the gospel of mark, it was written around 64 Ad. The reasons for the delay were:

a). The oral method had been the common method of teaching in the near East.

b). the people in the near East had a high sense of memory. They would just memorize the massage they got.

c). the majority of the people were illiterate.

d). the writing materials were very expensive at the time i.e. the scrolls.

e). the writing itself was tedious and it necessitated a lot of time.

f). the early Christians didn’t have much leisure time.

g).  The disciples were anxious about the second coming (parousia) so they got more concerned converting as many people as possible.

h). Jesus himself had not written to his followers. They were following his example.

i). Jesus had not instructed them to write but to preach the gospel to the whole world.

j). the eye witnesses of Jesus ministry were still alive so people would consult them.

k). The holy spirit had not yet inspired them to write instead there was more speaking in tongues than writing.

l). the church was too small whereby there was no need to write the gospel.

m). The Christians had the Old Testament scriptures which they could regularly use.

WHAT PROMPTED THE WRITING OF THE GOSPEL. (GOOD NEWS)

• The parousia was being delayed.
• The eye witnesses of Jesus started dying.
• Christians started facing persecution which was mainly carried out by Emperor Nero.
• Writing materials became available.
• Some members of the church became rich and so they could afford to buy writing materials.
• The rate of literacy increased and so people could read and write.
• The church started expanding geographically to include gentiles’ areas.
• There was need to have a well-organized and formal system of worship.
• There was need to keep a permanent record for the massage.
• There were some heretical teachings of sprung up so they had to be combated by writing down the gospel.
• The Holy Spirit inspired the Christians to write.
• People’s memories started fading.
• There was a gradual separation of Christians from the synagogue and Judaism.

NB: There are four gospels i.e. mark, Mathew, Luke, and john. The first three gospels are referred to as the synoptic gospels because when you put them side by side you can see synopsis.

The first gospel to be written was st mark. This gospel was written around 64 AD. This gospel was written by John Mark. This is the same man who ran away naked during the rest of Jesus. John Mark was the interpreter of Peter he must have got information from him which he used to write the gospel of Mark.

Besides using Peter as the source, John Mark also used the keryma to write the gospel.

NB: The kerygma was the skeleton of the proclamation. The following is the content of the kerygma;

• Prophesies have been fulfilled.
• Jesus was born by the Virgin Mary.
• He came from the line of David.
• He was baptized by John the Baptist.
• At baptism he received the power of the Holy Spirit.
• He performed miracles.
• He preached using parables.
• He was hated by religious leaders.
• He was falsely accused to Pirate.
• He associated with all kinds of people like sinners and out casts.
• He was arrested, crucified, died, and was buried.
• All this was God’s plan (Divine)
• On the 3^rd day he rose from the dead.
• He ascended to heaven where he is sites on the right hand of God.
• He will come the 2^nd time to judge the living and the dead.
• So repent and be baptized.
• Believe in order to have internal life.
• Be baptized and get the power of the Holy Spirit.

THE WRITING OF THE GOSPELS (HOW THE GOSPELS WERE WRITTEN)

After writing Mark, Matthew was also written around 70AD.

This gospel was written by Matthew the former tax collector the one referred to as Levi. The author of Matthew had interest in Jewish Christians and the law. The author used the gospel of Mark as a source. He also used source “Q” ( Quelle). The author also had an independent source referred to as “M”.

Around 80 AD the gospel of Luke came into existence.

Luke was a gentile author. He was the same man who wrote Acts of the Apostles. The author was mostly interested in women, the poor and the sinners. The author of Luke used Mark, used Q and he had his independent source referred to as L

A round 100AD, the gospel of John appeared. John was written by John the beloved disciple. The author was interested in the educated Christians that is why there is a lot of philosophical. Theological ideas John used the gospel tradition or the kerygma but had a very unique way of treating this information that’s why John is not one of the synoptic gospels.

Get to know when was the gospel written in the video below