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Theology of the Synoptics · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to the deep dive brought to you by Reformed Thinking.
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Today we are taking a massive stack of sources, articles,
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historical commentaries and theological studies and plunging
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into one of the most intellectually rigorous and
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vital areas of biblical study, the Synoptic Gospels.
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That's right, we are zeroing in on the theological structures
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found within the first 3 Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke.
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For anyone who aims to gain real depth and understanding of the
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New Testament, you have to get a handle on why these books, which
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seem so similar on the surface, maintain such distinct and
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intentional differences. Our mission today is to unpack
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that. We want to uncover the
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particular theological concerns, the intentions, and, you know,
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the specific audiences that drove each writer.
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They tell the same core story of Christ, but how they frame it,
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the details they include, the details they leave out that
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reveal so much about God's multifaceted plan.
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And this is a task often called biblical theology, where we
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examine how Matthew, Mark and Luke see things together.
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That phrase synopticos is the Greek root for synoptic, which
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means viewed together. So despite sharing a common
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perspective on the life of Christ, each gospel offers an
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individual, divinely guided portrait that compliments rather
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than competes with the others. And that distinction,
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complimentary versus competitive, is where the deep
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dive starts. OK, let's unpack this, beginning
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with the famous literary puzzle that links them all.
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We have to begin with what's called the synoptic problem.
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This is the academic term for the attempt to define the
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precise literary relationship between Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
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The big question being, did they use shared written sources?
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Did they depend on one another? Yes.
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And the data points here are so compelling, they demand some
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kind of explanation. We.
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Truly are. The agreements aren't just
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general, they are shockingly specific.
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We have figures like BF Westcott, whose analysis
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highlighted just how interconnected the material is.
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He did, yes. If you look at Mark, for
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example, something like 93% of its material is reproduced in
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either Matthew, Luke, or both. Just think about that for a
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moment. 93% if you were in a history lecture with two other
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students and one student's notes, let's say Mark's was
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almost entirely contained within the notes of the other two.
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You'd immediately suspect they copied off the first student of.
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Course, in fact, if you exclude the last verses of Mark, the
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section that many scholars agree may have been a later edition,
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only about 30 verses are truly unique to Mark's Gospel.
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And that incredible level of overlap.
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It's not just the sequence of events, it's verbatim dialogue
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in many places. It is, and even the shared use
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of certain rare Greek words. It's just too coincidental to be
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explained by, you know, mere accident or some vague oral
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tradition. Precisely.
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However, the problem is kept alive by the striking
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dissimilarities. If Matthew and Luke both just
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copied for Mark, why do they differ so wildly in other key
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areas? OK, So what are the key points
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of contrast that make a simple linear copying model not quite
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work? Well, the contrast fall into two
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main categories. First is the unique material.
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Matthew and Luke have completely different birth narratives.
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Completely different. In genealogies, Matthew goes
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from Abraham to Jesus, which makes sense for his purpose of
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presenting the Jewish king. Luke, on the other hand, goes
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from Jesus all the way back to Adam, stressing his theme of
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universal humanity. This material is unique to each
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of them. So that's the first category,
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the second point. The second point is the
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variation in order. Even when parallel accounts of
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the same event exist, the sequencing can be radically
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different. A classic example is the
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temptations of Christ in Matthew 4.
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The order of temptations is turn stones to bread, then the temple
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pinnacle, then the mountain. But in Loot 4 he reverses the
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order of the last two. It goes stones, then the
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mountain, then the temple pinnacle.
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So if one was simply copying the other, why change the order of
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such a critical foundational event?
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That doesn't make a lot of sense.
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It doesn't. So we're left with this puzzle.
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Yeah, undeniable literary agreement suggesting a source,
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coupled with equally undeniable rearrangement and unique
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material. And this suggests independent
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authorship and a clear theological purpose.
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Which leads us directly into the various theories that have been
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developed over the centuries to try and solve this puzzle.
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Right over time, scholars proposed 4 major historical
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theories to explain this literary connection.
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We need to know them to understand why the modern
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theories were developed in the first place.
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OK, let's start with the 1. Based on how the early church
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communicated, that would be the oral tradition theory.
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This theory suggested that the early apostles and preachers had
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well fixed and standardized forms, sort of like catechisms
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or outlines for preaching about Jesus.
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Life. So the idea is, when Matthew,
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Mark and Luke later decided to write their gospels, they simply
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drew from this common shared oral tradition that was already
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circulating. That was the idea, yes.
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And that sounds reasonable, particularly given the reliance
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on memory and oral transmission in the 1st century.
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So why didn't that theory hold up?
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It failed because it just couldn't account for the
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verbatim agreement we just talked about.
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The specific wording. The specific wording.
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If they were drawing from an oral source, you would expect
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similarity in content and maybe general phrasing, but not
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agreement on rare grammatical particles or the exact same word
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order in long sentences. It became clear that some kind
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of written dependence must be involved.
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OK, so the failure of the oral theory paved the way for the
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interpendence theory, which is often attributed to Greece back
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in the late 18th century. This was the idea of sequential
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borrowing. Griesbach argued that Matthew
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was written first, Luke then came along and used Matthew's
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material. Finally, Mark wrote last, using
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both Matthew and Luke and sort of acting as a harmonizer or
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condenser of the two. And that theory placed Matthew
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in the priority position as the first Gospel written it did.
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So what about the theories that relied on documents we don't
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actually possess anymore? Well, we had the primitive
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Gospel theory proposed by Lessing.
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This one posited that all three canonical Gospels relied on a
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single lost original source and your Evangelii A.
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Proto A. Proto gospel, Yes.
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And then there was the fragmentary theory from
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Schleiner, which argued that the Gospels were assembled from
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dozens of smaller, individual written fragments about Christ's
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life that were circulating among early Christians.
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It seems like all of these historical theories struggled
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with the overwhelming evidence regarding Mark's centrality and
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his brevity. He did.
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And this is where it gets interesting, because the modern
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critical theories which really dominate the academic landscape
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today, they start start by accepting Mark as the first
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written gospel. That premise leads directly to
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what's called the 2 document theory.
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The steps are pretty simple. Mark must have been written
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first because 93% of his material is in Matthew and Luke,
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and Mark is almost always the shortest version of any terrible
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story. So he's the common denominator.
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He serves as the common denominator.
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So Matthew used Mark and Luke used Mark.
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That explains the common material.
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But what about the material that Matthew and Luke share with each
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other, but not with Mark? That's a pretty large chunk of
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shared sayings and. Parables.
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That shared material is attributed to a hypothetical
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source called Q, which is short for Cal, the German word for
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source. Hugh is hypothesized to have
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been a collection of Jesus's sayings, a kind of proto gospel
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that focused primarily on Christ's teachings, written even
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before Mark. OK, let's pause here.
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For our listeners who aren't deep into biblical studies, this
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is a massive point. The foundational theory for a
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lot of modern textual study is built on a document queue that
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we have never found correct. We have no direct external
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evidence that it ever existed. So how do scholars who rely on Q
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deal with that vulnerability? They argue that Q is the only
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logical necessity to explain the literary data.
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The argument is if Matthew used Mark and Luke used Mark and yet
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Matthew and the Luke share hundreds of verses of non market
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material, then they must have used 1/3 common document.
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For them, Q is a kind of mathematical necessity, even if
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it's a ghost document. And the two document theory then
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led to the more granular 4 document theory championed by BH
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Streeter in the early 20th century, which tried to account
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for all the material. Streeter simply formalized the
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unique material. He suggested 4 independent
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written sources. You have Mark as the backbone, Q
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is the saying source, then M for the private source material
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unique to Matthew. I like the visit of the merger.
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Exactly. And L for the private source
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material unique to Luke, like the parables of the Prodigal Son
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or the Good Samaritan. So these modern critical
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theories attempt to create a step by step literary history of
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the Gospels, and while they might satisfy some scholarly
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questions about composition, they also present a pretty
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significant challenge to traditional views of Scripture.
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A very significant challenge. The challenge arises because
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these critical methods fundamentally approach the Bible
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like any other ancient text, often discounting the
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possibility of divine influence or supernatural accuracy.
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We should probably evaluate the core assumptions of these 4
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approaches. Let's start with historical
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criticism. At its best, it seeks context.
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At its worst, it seems driven by skepticism.
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Well, historical criticism starts by trying to sift the
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text to find what actually happened, often based on secular
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history or modern presuppositions.
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If the Bible records a miracle or a unique supernatural event,
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the historical critic might look for discrepancies between
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parallel accounts. Assuming that if the details
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vary, the historical account itself must be suspect.
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Or worse, fabricated. So if they find a difference
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between Matthew and Mark on, say, the number of people
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involved in a healing, a historical critic might conclude
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that the story grew over time or was invented entirely.
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Rather than accepting that the Holy Spirit preserve the
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accurate memories of two different writers observing the
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same event. That's the core difficulty.
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This approach operates on the assumption that the Bible must
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conform to the rules of a modern history book and then it may
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contain errors, which is fundamentally incompatible with
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the Reformed understanding of biblical inspiration that the
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Holy Spirit guided the authors in a way that ensured inerrancy.
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OK, Next up is source criticism. This one focuses on dissecting
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the text to identify the underlying materials.
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Mark, QM and L. The goal here is to establish a
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hierarchy of texts. If Matthew and Luke used Mark,
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then Mark must be the older, more primitive text, and any
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changes Matthew or Luke made must be editorial editions.
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So the gospel writers were more like editors.
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Proponents of this view would argue that the gospel writers
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were historians and editors who were not worried about precision
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and historical details, but felt free to add detail based on the
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needs of their church community. But if we hold to the divine
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inspiration of scripture, the whole method is problematic from
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the start. Yes, for two main reasons.
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First, it tends to ignore the divine element in inspiration,
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acknowledging only human literary means.
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And 2nd, and this is crucial, the entire foundation,
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especially the existence of Q, is built on conjecture.
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We're building theories on documents we don't possess.
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We are, and we have to respect the historical priority the
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Church Fathers, like Papias, gave to Matthew.
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They believe Matthew was written first.
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That brings us to form criticism, which was pioneered
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by Rudolf Boltman. This one really intensified the
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skepticism toward historical accuracy.
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Boltman treated the Gospels as folk literature.
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His argument was that the Gospel writers weren't historians, but
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rather collectors and editors of short, anonymous oral traditions
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that it circulated for decades within the early church.
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So these little units, miracle stories, parables, conflict
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stories, they were shaped by the Church's needs, not historical
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fact. That's the idea.
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So the writers weren't reported recording history.
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They were embellishing existing traditions to, say, encourage
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suffering Christians or validate the church's leadership
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structure. The line between invent and
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tradition and historic fact completely dissolves.
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It does form criticism posits that much of the gospel
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narrative, particularly the stories surrounding Christ's
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divinity, are mythologized embellishments created by the
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early community after the fact. Rather than the historical truth
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recorded by eyewitnesses, this view fundamentally undermines
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the relies the ability of the New Testament as a historical
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record. The last major critical method
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is redaction criticism. If form criticism saw the writer
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as a collector, Redaction criticism sees the writer as an
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active creative theologian with an agenda.
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That's a good analogy. Redaction criticism seeks to
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determine the evangelist personal theological viewpoint
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by scrutinizing the changes they made to their sources,
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particularly to mark. So when Matthew changes a word
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from Mark, the redaction critic assumes that change reveals
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Matthew's personal sermon or agenda.
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And this potentially suggests he felt free to creatively alter or
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even depart from the historical facts to suit his theological
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goal. So if Matthew wrote for a Jewish
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audience and the source material mentioned Gentiles, Matthew
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might minimize or change that mention purely for theological
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effect, even if the change made the account less historically
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accurate. Our sources give a sharp example
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of this a critical like Gundry suggested, the story of the magi
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in Matthew's birth narrative was not a historical event at all.
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Right, He suggested it was a theological alteration of Luke
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Shepard story created to make a point.
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And that's where the high stakes lie.
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These critical theories, especially when based on the
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priority of Mark, elevate human literary dependence over divine
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inspiration. They replace the evangelist's
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role as historian and witness with the role of editor and
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theologian. Making the text a product of
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human ingenuity in church politics rather than divinely
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guaranteed truth. This is where conservative
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scholarship takes its stand. We approach these theories
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cautiously because they stress the human mechanism of writing
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while often neglecting the divine promise of accuracy.
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And that divine mechanism is the essential counterpoint.
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We cannot forget the fact of divine inspiration working
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through human means. Jesus Himself provided the key
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to this accuracy in John 14.26. He did.
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He promised the disciples that the Holy Spirit would bring to
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your remembrance all that I said to you.
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That is the divine memory hypothesis.
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It elegantly explains the incredible accuracy of the
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Synoptics, even the word for word agreements, without forcing
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us into a mechanical copying theory built on a ghost document
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like Hugh. The Holy Spirit ensured the
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memories were accurate. And this supernatural memory was
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bolstered by objective historical processes.
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I mean, we have to remember the role of eyewitness testimony.
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Absolutely, Matthew and John wrote as observers.
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Mark was essentially documenting Peters preaching and Luke the
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physician was a rigorous historian.
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He says so himself. He does.
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He states he conducted methodical research, collecting
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information from those who are eyewitnesses and servants of the
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word. While Luke may have used
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sources, his focus is on investigation and reliable
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testimony. So we have this layered defense
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of reliability, direct observation from Matthew and
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John relayed testimony from Mark, Diligent historical
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research from Luke. And overarching all of it.
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Supernatural memory for all three.
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And his final layer, direct divine revelation, Right?
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Not every truth was merely recalled or researched.
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The Apostle Paul, for instance, stressed that he did not receive
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his gospel from any man. It revealed directly to him by
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God. He's very clear on that in
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Galatians. Very clear.
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This principle confirms that elements of the Gospel cannot be
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explained purely through human processes.
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The divine element is always paramount, counterbalancing any
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theory focused solely on human compilation and editing.
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And if we accept this framework of divine inspiration, it means
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that every word and every difference in the Synoptics was
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intentional and serves A theological purpose.
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And that leads us beautifully into our next section analyzing
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those specific intentional theological agendas.
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Right. So we begin with Matthew, the
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Gospel with the strongest external historical claim to
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priority. Matthew, the former tax
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collector, wrote with a very specific task in mind.
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Early church testimony from figures like Poppius and Origen
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strongly suggest Matthew wrote first, possibly in Aramaic,
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specifically for the convert of Judaism.
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And that historical testimony really grounds Matthew's date
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and audience. An early date, maybe around
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8050, makes a lot of sense. Why was the need so pressing
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then? Well, think about the context of
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the early church. They were overwhelmingly Jewish,
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headquartered in Jerusalem, and experiencing this massive influx
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of Jewish converts. Acts records 5000 men being
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added shortly after Pentecost. Exactly.
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These believers were still deeply rooted in Judaism, and
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they needed an urgent, authoritative explanation for
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what was happening. If Jesus was the Messiah, why
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hadn't the promised earthly Kingdom arrived immediately?
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And why was the gospel now moving toward the Gentiles?
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So Matthew's purpose is really two pronged prove Jesus is the
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Messiah and then explain the messy current situation
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regarding the Kingdom. That's it.
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First, he proves Jesus is the Messiah.
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He presents Jesus as the unique Son of David, the rightful king
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who fulfills every Old Testament role, prophet, priest and king.
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And his genealogy reflects that he starts with Abraham and
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David, immediately anchoring Jesus within the Jewish covenant
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promises. He does and Matthew continually
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uses phrases like this was done that it might be fulfilled,
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which was spoken by the Prophet. Over and over, the entire
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narrative of Matthew is structured to answer Jewish
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objections. The virgin birth fulfills Isaiah
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7.14, the location of the birth and Bethlehem fulfills Micah
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5.2. He is constantly validating
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Jesus identity using their own scriptures.
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And that leads to the second, equally vital purpose,
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presenting the Kingdom program. Because the nation's leaders
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ultimately rejected the Messiah, a point in the AD of You,
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Matthew documents exhaustively, culminating in the blasphemy of
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the Holy Spirit, the promised earthly political Kingdom was
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postponed. He's explaining the delay.
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He is. Matthew clarifies that this
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Kingdom offered to the Jews will be established only at Christ's
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second advent, not at his first. Matthew, therefore, is crucial
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for understanding the Old Testament trajectory he
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provides. The bridge from the Covenant
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promises to the current reality of the age.
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OK, now we turn to Mark. While Matthew focused on proof
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and fulfillment, Mark focuses on immediate dynamic action.
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John. Mark, the author, is
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consistently identified as the interpreter of Peter, meaning he
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recorded Peter's preaching, likely while they were in Rome.
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Meeting Mark relies on external testimony.
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Irenaeus suggests Mark wrote after the deaths of Peter and
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Paul. He does.
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Since Paul likely died around 8066 or 67, Mark's composition
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is placed slightly later, maybe 66 or 67 AD, but crucially
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before the destruction of Jerusalem in 8070.
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And the audience define the style.
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Clement of Alexandria noted that the Roman people asked Peter for
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a written account, so Mark wrote for a Roman audience.
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Practical people focus on authority, conquest and action,
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not extensive theological discourses.
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He emits things that would bore or confuse a Roman, like complex
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genealogies and long sermons. He does.
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This explains Mark's famously rapid fire style.
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He presents Christ as the mighty worker rather than the profound
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thinker. His favorite word used over 40
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times is useless, often translated immediately or
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straightway. It is the narrative just jumps
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from one dynamic action to the next, teaching, healing, driving
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out demons, moving on. He omits the birth narratives
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and genealogies, launching straight into Christ's public
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ministry to demonstrate immediate divine power.
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So what is the core theological statement Mark is making through
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all this action? He presents Christ as the
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servant who conquers through action and suffering.
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The capstone of Mark's theology is Mark 10.45, where Christ
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states he came to minister and give his life as a ransom for
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many. And to a Roman audience obsessed
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with power and conquest, that would be a radical idea.
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A very radical idea, Mark shows that Christ's greatest conquest
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was his selfless service and sacrifice.
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The goal was to elicit faith from pragmatic Roman readers by
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showing a dynamic, authoritative yet suffering servant Son of
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God. And that brings us to Luke.
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Luke the physician, the highly educated traveling companion of
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Paul. The external evidence for Luke's
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authorship is equally strong, affirmed by the Meritorian Canon
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and Erinaeus. His date is usually fixed by his
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relationship to the Book of Acts, which he also wrote.
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And since Acts ends with Paul's first Roman imprisonment,
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without mentioning his subsequent release or later
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death, Luke was likely written earlier, perhaps between 8058
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and 60. That's the common view, yes,
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Probably after he finished his research during his time in
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Palestine. Luke addressed his gospel to
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Theophilus, but his primary audience was clearly Gentile,
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specifically Greek. This reflects Paul's ministry
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context. The Greek world needed a gospel
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tailored to their universal and philosophical worldview and the.
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Internal evidence for this cosmopolitan focus is just
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overwhelming. What are some of the specific
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details Luke included were excluded to speak directly to a
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gentile audience? Well, the most dramatic piece of
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evidence is the genealogy we mentioned.
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Matthew traces Jesus back to Abraham and David, locking him
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into the Jewish line. Luke bypasses Abraham and traces
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Jesus all the way back to Adam, the common ancestor of all
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humankind. This immediately establishes
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Jesus's relevance to every human being, Jew and Gentile alike.
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He also consciously removes or translates elements of Judaism
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that would just confuse a Greek speaker.
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Exactly. He avoids Jewish terminology
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like rabbi substituting Greek equivalents.
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He substitutes Greek names for Hebrew ones when it's
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appropriate. His whole scope is broader,
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deliberately stressing the universality of the gospel.
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And this universality shows up in the people Jesus interacts
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with in his gospel. It does.
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Luke stresses that the gospel is open to all categories of people
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who are typically excluded or marginalized by the rigid
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instructions of Judaism. He includes specific parables
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and narratives focusing on Samaritans.
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Who are often despised. Pagans, publicans, tax
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collectors who were seen as betrayers, outcasts, the poor,
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and most notably, women whom Luke features very prominently
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throughout his account. He is essentially building the
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case for a savior who redeems all of humanity, not just one
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nation. So his theological purpose is
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summed up perfectly in Luke 19.10.
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For the Son of Man has come to seek and save that which was
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lost. We have 3 intentionally distinct
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portraits. Matthew's king for the Jews,
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Mark's servant for the Romans, and Luke's savior for the
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Gentiles. And this leads us perfectly into
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the unifying theological thread that holds all three together.
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And despite the differences in audience and style, the
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Synoptics share an absolute unity in their understanding of
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the nature of God, which they inherited directly from the Old
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Testament. While we need the rest of
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Scripture for a systematic view, what specific attributes of God
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are most prominent in Matthew, Mark, and Luke?
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Well, the primary attributes revealed often relate to God's
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direct involvement in the human world.
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We see His absolute Providence in fatherhood.
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Christ teaches us to look at the birds of the air, knowing God
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provides for them. Matthew 6.26.
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And he controls every single Sparrow that falls to the
23:15
ground. This is an abstract philosophy.
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This is intimate daily care. If he controls the Sparrow, how
23:21
much more does he control and provide for those who are made
23:24
in his image? And that leads directly into the
23:26
doctrine of the fatherhood of God.
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He's not just some abstract creator.
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No, He is the Father who knows what his children need before
23:32
they even ask. This concept of a relational
23:36
providing Father is absolutely key to the synoptic prayer life.
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The concept of grace is also starkly presented.
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God's grace or benevolent favor is given to both believers and
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unbelievers alike. Matthew 5.45 states that God
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causes His Son to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain
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on the righteous and the unrighteous.
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Common grace. This common grace, extended to
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all humanity, confirms God's impartial goodness.
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But while He is a loving Father, he is also the ultimate ruler.
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His kingship is fundamental. God has a literal throne, and He
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is definitively Lord. This kingship relates directly
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to His judgement. The judgement He pronounces is
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equitable, but it is calibrated according to privilege.
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Christ warned the cities of Chorizin and Bethsaida that the
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judgment awaiting them would be greater than that of Tyre and
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Sidon because they had seen greater works.
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Greater privilege calls for greater judgment.
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It does, and God will avenge his own people.
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And finally, the most powerful revelation of God and the
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Synoptics, which really moves beyond the Old Testament
24:37
presentation, the doctrine of the Trinity.
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The Trinity is not just hinted at, it is clearly revealed at
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the baptism of Christ, Mark One. In Mark 1.9 to 11 we see the
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Father speaking from heaven, the sun being baptized in the water,
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and the Spirit descending upon Him in bodily form like a dove.
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This is a public dramatic manifestation of the three Co
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equal Persons of the Godhead working in unity.
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And Matthew closes his Gospel with the commissioning of the
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apostles, instructing them to baptize in the name of the
25:06
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
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Matthew 28.19. That command is the ultimate
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systematic statement of the Trinity in the Synoptics.
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It is, and the Trinity sets the stage for Christology, the
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doctrine of Christ's person. We have to begin with the
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miracle of the virgin birth and His complete humanity.
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Both Matthew and Luke are unambiguous.
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Christ's conception was related directly to the Holy Spirit.
25:31
Matthew takes great pains to document the lineage through
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Joseph, but then he quickly clarifies that Joseph had no
25:36
involvement in the conception before the birth.
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This confirms the miraculous nature of the physical event.
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And Mark, even without the birth narrative, still hints at this
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exceptional status by referring to Jesus as the son of Mary,
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which defies the normal Jewish custom of identifying a man by
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his father. And the Synoptics show his
25:54
birth, his conformity to Jewish custom like circumcision, and
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his natural growth as a child and young boy.
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They show us he was fully man. He needed sleep, he felt
26:03
fatigue, he navigated fishing boats.
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He paid taxes. The accounts of his suffering
26:08
are evidence of real human vulnerability.
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The agony of sweating blood in the garden, the cry of
26:13
abandonment on the cross. But here is the critical point.
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Though fully human, he was not ordinary.
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The Synoptics established his absolute sinlessness.
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The virgin birth was the divine mechanism to ensure he lacked
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the inherited sin nature passed down through Adam.
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And his life proved it. If you look at every figure in
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the Gospels, including John the Baptist, they are calling people
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to repentance and confession of sin.
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But Jesus never once confessed to sin or repented of a failing.
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Never. His baptism is the ultimate
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proof. He didn't come to John to
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confess sin. He came, as he told John, to
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fulfill all righteousness. Right.
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He submitted to the prophetic act of baptism to validate
26:52
John's ministry and affirm his identification with humanity,
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not to be cleansed himself. Exactly, and the temptations in
26:59
the wilderness served as the proving ground.
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He was tested by Satan in every area.
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Desire, faith, power. But he remained impeccable,
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perfectly sinless in both thought and deed.
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And the sinlessness is non negotiable because it validates
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the titles that reveal his deity.
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Let's look at the four main titles, starting with the
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messianic term. Matthew prioritizes Son of
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David. Matthew uses this title to speak
27:21
directly to Jewish expectations. It connects him directly to the
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eternal covenant God made with David for an everlasting throne.
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So when blind men cry out, have mercy on us, son of David, they
27:32
are not just identifying him historically.
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No, they're asking the prophesied Messiah to perform
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the work that only God can do, opening the eyes of the blind
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work specifically referenced in Isaiah.
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The title is functional. It demonstrates His divine
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authority to rule and redeem. Secondly, he is the Messiah,
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Christ the anointed one. This is the official political
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title that fulfills the hundreds of Old Testament predictions
27:56
and. Jesus accepted this identity
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even though it's politically dangerous.
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When Peter made his famous confession, You are the Christ,
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the Son of the living God, Jesus commended him.
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And at his trial? Crucially, at his trial, when
28:08
the high priest pressed him, Are you the Christ, the Son of the
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Blessed One? Mark records his absolute
28:14
affirmation. I am.
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He did not deny the title of anointed ruler.
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Perhaps the most frequent and intriguing title, the one Jesus
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uses most often for himself, is the Son of Man.
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It seems to be the most comprehensive, tying together
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his humanity and his glory. The term is rooted in Daniel
28:31
7.13, where the Son of Man comes on the clouds of heaven to
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receive an everlasting Kingdom. When Jesus uses this title, he
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is claiming that divine glorious identity.
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In fact, when this high priest asked if he was the Messiah,
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Jesus responded by citing Daniel 7.
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He did, saying you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right
28:49
hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven.
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So the title Son of Man is basically synonymous with Son of
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God. It stresses his authority, his
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ultimate glorification, his necessary suffering, and his
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role as Redeemer. And finally, the title that
29:04
confirms his very essence, Son of God.
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Jesus's unique relationship with God as my Father is used in the
29:10
Synoptics over 50 times. And this claim is one of nature,
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not just office. That's the key.
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It is a Son is of the same nature in essence as the Father.
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If God the Father affirms Jesus is his Son, as he did at the
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baptism and the transfiguration, he is confirming that Jesus is
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of the same nature as God. Therefore Jesus is deity.
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He's not a prophet or a good teacher, but God Incarnate.
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And this brings us to the work of Christ.
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The Synoptic show a clear shift in Christ's teaching after the
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national rejection documented in Matthew 12.
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From that point on, he began to focus intensely on his upcoming
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substitutionary atonement. And he wasn't vague about it
29:50
either. Our sources show he foretold his
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suffering in incredibly specific detail.
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Who would initiate his death? The Jewish leaders.
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Who would carry it out? The Gentile.
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How he would die, crucifixion and that he would rise after
30:03
three days. The meaning of that death is
30:05
defined in the Synoptics as substitutionary.
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The pivotal teaching found in both Matthew 20 and Mark, 10,
30:11
states that he gave his life as a ransom for many.
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Let's breakdown that Greek word Lutron.
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Lutron was the price paid to free a slave.
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It implied substitution. Something was given in place of
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the person being freed. Christ's death pay the necessary
30:26
price to free humanity from the bondage of sin, and the phrase
30:30
for many highlights the vicarious substitutionary nature
30:34
of the ACT. This concept is then cemented at
30:36
the Lord's Supper, where he ties his blood to the establishment
30:39
of a new covenant. His blood shit on behalf of
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many, secured the forgiveness of sins.
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His death provided the redemption price, which is
30:48
forgiveness, the result that the animal sacrifices of the Old
30:51
Covenant could never fully achieve.
30:53
The Synoptics are unified that his death was not a martyrdom
30:56
but a necessary substitutionary sacrifice.
30:59
And that ultimate sacrifice was authenticated by the
31:01
resurrection. Christ predicted his physical
31:04
resurrection on the third day, proving both his omniscience and
31:07
his authority. And the Synoptics are adamant
31:10
that this was a physical, bodily resurrection, not merely a
31:12
spiritual one. The list of witnesses is
31:14
substantial and diverse, countering any claims of mass
31:17
hallucination or stolen body theories.
31:19
Mary Magdalene, Peter and John, the disciples on the road to
31:22
Emmaus, the 11 apostles, they all encounter, the resurrected
31:26
Christ. They did.
31:27
I find the physical evidence so compelling.
31:30
He had them touch him. He ate with them.
31:33
Luke documents Jesus eating fish to prove he wasn't a ghost.
31:36
And John provides that fascinating physical detail in
31:39
John 20, which is referenced in the context of the synoptic
31:42
discovery of the empty tomb. John notes the facecloth was
31:46
still rolled up, detached from the linen wrappings, yet
31:50
retaining the circular shape of the head.
31:52
It suggests the physical body pass through the wrappings.
31:54
A supernatural physical rising that counters any notion that
31:58
the body was merely rearranged or stolen, The resurrection
32:02
guarantees the validity of his person and his work.
32:05
And if the resurrection is certain, the future is certain.
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That leads us to our final theological section.
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The Holy Spirit The Spirit is central to the synoptic
32:13
narrative, particularly in relation to Christ's life in
32:16
ministry. He appears at four key junctures
32:19
related to the Sun. The 1st, and arguably the most
32:22
crucial, is the conception. The Holy Spirit was the agent
32:25
that generated Christ's humanity in Mary's womb.
32:29
This action is critical for both the doctrine of Christ's
32:31
humanity and His sinlessness, as it confirms the divine
32:34
intervention required for the Incarnation.
32:37
Secondly, the baptism marked the start of his public ministry.
32:41
The Spirit descended to endue Christ with the necessary power
32:44
for that ministry and to publicly reveal His unity with
32:47
the Triune Godhead. Christ needed the spirits power
32:50
for the three years of public work he was about to undertake.
32:53
And Mark specifically highlights the spirits compelling role in
32:56
driving Christ immediately from his baptism into the temptation
33:00
in the wilderness. Yes, Mark 1.12 states the Spirit
33:03
drove him there. This was the proving ground
33:06
necessary to demonstrate that the Son of God was in fact
33:09
impeccable, that He could not sin even when tested by the
33:12
devil. Finally, Christ's entire
33:14
ministry was conducted through the Spirit.
33:16
His authority to heal, teach, and cast out demons came from
33:19
the Holy Spirit, as he explicitly stated in Matthew
33:22
12.28. I cast out demons by the Spirit
33:24
of God. Luke 4 similarly documents
33:27
Christ quitting Isaiah, stating the Spirit of the Lord was upon
33:30
him. It's also vital to connect the
33:32
Spirit back to the very words of Scripture, confirming his role
33:35
in inspiration. Yes, Mark 12.36 cites David
33:39
writing Psalm 110 in the Holy Spirit.
33:43
This statement confirms the Spirit's direct verbal guidance
33:46
of the prophets to ensure their words were God's words.
33:50
So the Spirit works both to form the living Word Christ, and to
33:53
inspire the written Word Scripture.
33:56
That's a strong statement on the complete authority of the Bible.
33:58
As we transition to the future, we have to acknowledge the
34:01
limited role of the Church, the ecclesia.
34:03
In the synoptic Gospels, the term only appears three times in
34:06
Matthew, and not at all in Mark or Luke.
34:09
That's right, the concept of the church as a technical, distinct
34:12
institution is only future focused in Matthew 16.18 where
34:16
Christ says I will build my church.
34:18
It isn't yet established. Because the overwhelming focus
34:21
of the Synoptics is on eschatology, specifically the
34:24
Kingdom. The term Basilia or Kingdom
34:26
dominates the discussion 56 times in Matthew, 46 times in
34:30
Luke. Matthew in particular stresses
34:32
the concept of the Kingdom of heaven because he presents the
34:35
king. The narrative starts with the
34:37
open initial offer of the millennial Kingdom.
34:40
John the Baptist and Jesus both preached repent, for the Kingdom
34:44
of heaven is at hand. The King was present, and he
34:47
validated his credentials through the moral law in the
34:50
Sermon on the Mount and through his miraculous works of healing
34:53
and authority. But the program changed
34:55
dramatically when the king was rejected.
34:57
The pivotal moment of rejection occurred when the leaders of
35:00
Israel attributed Christ's works casting out demons to the power
35:04
of Satan or beelisable in Matthew 12.
35:07
This act was blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, and it sealed
35:11
the nation's immediate fate. So since the king was rejected
35:14
by his subjects, the Kingdom was held in abeyance.
35:17
It was postponed. It was.
35:19
Jesus then used the parables of Matthew 13 to describe the
35:22
interim period that would exist between his first and 2nd
35:24
advents. These parables describe the
35:26
mysteries of the Kingdom, the nature of the Kingdom program
35:30
during this unprophesied age where the Church exists and the
35:33
message goes out to the world before the King returns in power
35:36
and glory. And the Synoptics don't leave
35:38
the listener hanging. They lay out the blueprint for
35:40
the events that will lead to the ultimate establishment of the
35:43
Kingdom at the Second Advent. They detail the events of the
35:46
last things very clearly, primarily in the Olivet
35:49
Discourse in Matthew 24. This sequence includes the Great
35:54
Tribulation, a period of worldwide distress.
35:57
This is followed by the visible, physical second advent of
36:01
Christ, where he returns to the earth in glory.
36:04
And finally, this leads to the judgments.
36:06
The Synoptics outlined 2 specific judgments relevant to
36:10
the Kingdom program. Israel will be held accountable
36:13
for the privileges and knowledge they had, and the Gentiles will
36:16
be judged according to their response during the Tribulation.
36:19
Commonly known as the Sheep and Goats judgment.
36:21
The outcome of this entire program is the establishment of
36:24
the earthly Kingdom when Christ reigns.
36:27
This has been a truly expansive deep dive.
36:29
We wrestled with the synoptic problem and acknowledged the
36:32
serious challenges posed by critical theories, but
36:34
ultimately found the literary data perfectly aligned with a
36:37
high view of divine inspiration. Our main finding is that the
36:41
synoptics are not repetitive at all.
36:43
No, they are three distinct, highly intentional presentations
36:47
of the same Messiah tailored precisely for three different
36:50
world views. Matthew's Jewish king, Mark's
36:53
Roman servant, and Luke's Gentile savior.
36:57
This multifaceted portrait ensures the Gospel message is
37:00
accessible and relevant across every human culture.
37:02
Yet they maintain absolute theological unity regarding
37:05
God's nature and Christ's person, His sinless work and His
37:09
glorious return. The theological cohesion of the
37:12
Synoptics offers that unified portrait of Christ, fully God,
37:16
fully man, sinless, substitutionary in his death,
37:19
confirming the certainty of his resurrection and his coming
37:22
Kingdom. The individual lens is offered
37:24
by these three gospels. King, servant, savior,
37:26
guarantee. The story of Jesus is completely
37:29
comprehensive. They affirm the authority and
37:31
accuracy of the Old Testament, demonstrate the perfect
37:34
fulfillment of prophecy, and ensure that the gospel message
37:37
appeals to the highest spiritual needs of humanity.
37:40
So what does this all mean for you, the learner, as you return
37:43
to these texts? Well, the question is how the
37:45
distinct purpose of each gospel effects how you read the
37:47
parallel accounts. Right when Matthew and Mark
37:50
present the same miracle, take a moment to ask what specific
37:54
detail did Matthew include that Mark ignored?
37:56
And what does that choice tell us about Matthew's argument for
37:59
Jesus's kingship? Every change is an intentional
38:02
theological fingerprint. And a final thought for you to
38:06
consider. We discussed the Holy Spirit's
38:08
dual role in the life of Christ, generating his humanity at the
38:12
conception and inspiring the very words of the prophets like
38:16
David. If the Spirit ensures both the
38:19
perfect nature of the living Word and the perfect reliability
38:22
of the written Word, how does this complete reliance on the
38:25
Spirit influence your personal confidence in the Bible's
38:27
authority, particularly when faced with critical theories
38:31
that attribute differences to human error or an editorial
38:33
agenda? That's a powerful challenge to
38:35
sit with. Thank you for joining us for
38:37
this deep dive into the theology of the Synoptic Gospels.