Passion Narratives And Gospel Theologies

Although the passion narratives of the synoptic gospels can be read as free standing narrative, each one of them is the goal and climax of the Gospel story that precedes it. In Passion Narratives and Gospel Theologies, Frank Matera describes the intimate relationship between the theology of each of the synoptic gospels and its passion narrative. Matera's study of the Markan passion narrative in light of the Gospel's theology shows that no one can confess that Jesus is the Son of God until he or she acknowledges Jesus as the crucified Messiah, and no one can be Jesus' disciple unless he or she accepts the scandal of the cross. While the Gospel of Matthew continues to develop the great themes of Mark's gospel, Matera argues that its passion narrative manifests a distinctive ecclesiological and ethical outlook in light of its unique gospel theology. Finally, Matera demonstrates how the Lukan passion narrative, by presenting Jesus as a model of innocent suffering, also contains a distinctive outlook in light of its gospel theology: God's righteous suffer afflictions by trial and persecution. Comprehensive in scope and clearly written, Passion Narratives and Gospel Theologies provides a much needed introduction to the synoptic passion narratives and the theology of each evangelist. It will be welcome by students and pastors.

Engaging the Passion gathers an impressive array of scholars to survey how the death of Jesus has been portrayed and represented in Scripture, liturgy and music, literature, art and film, and theology and ethics—from the first to the twenty-first centuries. The contributors approach the passion from a variety of perspectives—diversely Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and secular. Their voices differ as well, from the challenging to the comforting and from the academic to the confessional. They address the faithful, the skeptical, and the curious.

The New Testament opens with four Gospel accounts that introduce the reader to Jesus Christ. From the very beginning, the redemptive drama moves toward the cross. The final week of Jesus's life, Passion Week, takes up nearly 40 percent of the entire narrative. The canonical Gospels provide four different perspectives on the life of Jesus. He is portrayed in this fourfold account as King and covenant keeper (Matthew), as obedient Son-servant (Mark), as the perfect Man among men (Luke), and as the eternal Son of God (John), the only person ever born whose central purpose in living is to die. The Gospels are Passion narratives with extended introductions. This is the governing principle of the present work as Jesus moves toward the culmination of his saving mission. From early adumbrations to deepening shadows to direct predictions and finally to the detailed narratives of Passion Week, the Gospels follow the Lord's inexorable journey to the cross. This synthetic study, which follows the life of Jesus in a chronological sequence while attempting to preserve the unique contribution of each of the four Gospel accounts, draws upon the long-established tradition of harmonies of the Gospels, dating back to Tatian's Diatessaron (AD 170). The ordering of the data follows, with minor rearrangements, The NIV Harmony of the Gospels edited by Robert L. Thomas and Stanley N. Gundry. In The Passion of the Servant, eighteen chapters with thirteen maps trace the geographical context of Jesus's ministry. Biblical quotations are taken from the English Standard Version (ESV) except where otherwise noted. The chronology adopted in this work, one that assumes a spring AD 30 date for the crucifixion, is appended, along with a brief bibliography of works that have been particularly helpful to the author. The front cover is a portrait of the risen Lord instructing the two disciples near Emmaus that the events surrounding his death and resurrection fulfilled the sacred prophecies of the Old Testament (Luke 24:25-27).

What is the significance of the trial and death of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark? In its annual meetings the Mark Group of the Society of Biblical Literature studied the trial of Jesus in 2003 and the death of Jesus in 2004. Both speakers and audience expressed the desire to bring some of the papers together in book form. The current volume fulfills this wish. The contributions presented here represent an up to date expression of one of the most important themes in Markan exegesis. The editors use the metaphor of a prism to illustrate the two sections of the book. Like a concave prism spreading light, the first section presents a range of understandings of the meaning of the death of Jesus. Like a convex prism focusing light, the second section uses multiple methodologies to focus attention on the trial of Jesus, particularly the charge of blasphemy. The papers together raise questions, challenge common views, and interrelate themes that push Markan scholarship forward.

This best-selling book is certain to remain in the forefront of Gospel exegesis for years to come. In it, Father Brown treats the Gospels, written thirty to sixty years after the life of Christ, as reflecting considerate theological and dramatic development and not simply as literal accounts of a historical event.

There is much discussion today about how we are to understand the life of Jesus in the Gospels. What was Jesus doing between his birth and death and how does this relate to salvation? This book corrects the Christian tendency to minimize the life of Jesus, explaining why the Gospels include much more than the Passion narratives. Brandon Crowe argues that Jesus is identified in the Gospels as the last Adam whose obedience recapitulates and overcomes the sin of the first Adam. Crowe shows that all four Gospels present Jesus's obedient life as having saving significance.