New Testament Exegesis
The Gospels
The synoptic problem, Johannine theology, exegetical methods
The four canonical Gospels are not biographies in the modern sense but proclamations (εὐαγγέλιον) addressed to particular communities with distinct theological purposes.
The synoptic problem
Matthew, Mark and Luke are called synoptic because they may be read alongside one another (σύνοψις). They share roughly ninety per cent of Mark’s material, which raises the question of common sources.
The two-source hypothesis
Matthew and Luke drew independently on two sources: Mark, the principal narrative source, some ninety per cent of which reappears in Matthew and Luke; and Q (Quelle), a hypothetical collection of sayings amounting to some 230 verses common to Matthew and Luke but absent from Mark. Each evangelist also has his own Sondergut: M for Matthew, including the Magi and Joseph’s dreams, and L for Luke, including the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son.
| Gospel | Intended community | Theological emphasis | Probable date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mark | Christians at Rome under persecution | Christ the suffering servant (Mark 10:45). Narrative urgency, marked by εὐθύς used forty-one times. The messianic secret. | ca. 65-70 |
| Matthew | A Jewish-Christian community in Syria or Palestine | Christ the new Moses and teacher of the Law, in five discourses on a Pentateuchal pattern. Fulfilment (πληρόω) of Old Testament prophecy. | ca. 80-90 |
| Luke-Acts | Communities of the Graeco-Roman diaspora | Christ the universal Saviour, with attention to the poor, to women, to Samaritans and to Gentiles. The Spirit drives salvation history. | ca. 80-90 |
| John | The Johannine community, probably at Ephesus | Christ the eternal Logos (John 1:1). A christology from above, with seven signs and seven “I am” discourses, and a dualism of light and darkness. | ca. 90-100 |
The Gospel of John
John differs radically from the Synoptics. There is no nativity at Bethlehem, no baptism of Jesus, no transfiguration, and no institution narrative at the Supper, its place taken by the washing of feet and the farewell discourses of chapters 13 to 17. John presupposes the Synoptics, completing and interpreting them.
The seven “I am” sayings
| Saying | Reference | Old Testament background |
|---|---|---|
| “I am the bread of life” | John 6:35 | The manna in the wilderness (Exod 16) |
| “I am the light of the world” | John 8:12 | The pillar of fire (Exod 13); a light to the nations (Isa 42:6) |
| “I am the door of the sheep” | John 10:7 | Ps 118:20 |
| “I am the good shepherd” | John 10:11 | YHWH as shepherd of Israel (Ezek 34; Ps 23) |
| “I am the resurrection and the life” | John 11:25 | The resurrection of the dry bones (Ezek 37) |
| “I am the way, the truth and the life” | John 14:6 | Torah as the way; the way in Isa 40:3 |
| “I am the true vine” | John 15:1 | The vine as Israel (Isa 5:1-7; Ezek 15; Ps 80) |
The absolute ἐγώ εἰμι of John 8:58
“Before Abraham was, ἐγώ εἰμι.” The declaration stands without predicate, and it is a claim to divine identity, taking up the formula of YHWH in Exod 3:14 as rendered in the Septuagint (ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν). This is why the hearers take up stones: they understand a claim to divinity (John 8:59). It is the strongest Johannine text for the eternal pre-existence of Christ.
Exegetical methods
| Method | Question posed | Contribution and limits |
|---|---|---|
| Source criticism | Where does the text come from, and what sources did it use? | Identifies Mark, Q, M and L. Its limit is that Q remains hypothetical. |
| Form criticism (Formgeschichte) | What oral form preceded the text, and in what Sitz im Leben? | Bultmann identified pericopes, apophthegms and miracle stories. Its limit is an excessive scepticism about historicity. |
| Redaction criticism | How did the evangelist edit his sources, and what theology does the editing disclose? | Conzelmann on Lucan theology, Marxsen on Mark. It recovers the distinctive voice of each evangelist. |
| Narrative criticism | How does the narrative function in its own terms, and who is its implied reader? | Rhetorical analysis, point of view, Johannine irony. It respects the final form of the text. |
| Canonical criticism | How does the text function within the canon as a whole? | Childs gives priority to the received text. Congenial to Reformed theology, on the principle that Scripture interprets Scripture. |
Bibliography
- Brown, Raymond E. The Gospel According to John. 2 vols. AB 29-29A. New York: Doubleday, 1966-1970.
- Bauckham, Richard. Jesus and the Eyewitnesses. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006.
- France, R. T. The Gospel of Matthew. NICNT. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007.
- Bultmann, Rudolf. The History of the Synoptic Tradition. Oxford: Blackwell, 1963.
The Gospels are intelligible only from within the great theological themes of Israel. Each section below follows one theme from its Old Testament elaboration to its Gospel appropriation, marking both the continuity and the displacement.
The Kingdom of God
Old Testament elaboration
The kingship of YHWH is first a cultic confession: the enthronement psalms proclaim יְהוָה מָלָךְ, “the Lord reigns” (Pss 93:1; 96:10; 97:1; 99:1). It then becomes a disappointed political hope: the Davidic monarchy fails, exile follows, and divine kingship is projected into the future. Deutero-Isaiah announces the herald who says to Zion “your God reigns” (Isa 52:7), and Daniel sees a kingdom God will raise up that shall never be destroyed (Dan 2:44; 7:14, 27).
Gospel appropriation
The Kingdom is the very content of Jesus’ preaching: “the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand” (Mark 1:15). The displacement is twofold. The Kingdom is present in his ministry — “if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Luke 11:20) — and it remains still to come. And it is announced to the poor and the excluded rather than to the righteous, a reversal expressed in the Beatitudes and in the parables of growth.
Covenant
Old Testament elaboration
The בְּרִית unfolds in stages: Noah and the cosmic covenant (Gen 9), Abraham and the promise of descendants and land (Gen 15; 17), Sinai and the covenant of the people sealed in blood (Exod 24:8), David and the dynastic promise (2 Sam 7:12-16). The failure of the Sinai covenant leads Jeremiah to announce a new covenant, with the Law written on hearts and definitive forgiveness (Jer 31:31-34), which Ezekiel supplements with a new heart and an indwelling Spirit (Ezek 36:26-27).
Gospel appropriation
The Supper narrative is therefore the point at which three traditions converge: the blood of the covenant, the vicarious suffering of the Servant, and the promise of a new covenant. The Passover setting adds the memory of the deliverance from Egypt (Exod 12).
Law and righteousness
Old Testament elaboration
Torah is not first a code but instruction given within a covenant already granted: the Decalogue opens by recalling the deliverance (Exod 20:2) before issuing a single commandment. Deuteronomy reduces the whole to loving God with all one’s heart (Deut 6:5), and Leviticus to loving the neighbour as oneself (Lev 19:18). The prophets denounce a cult severed from social justice: “I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice” (Hos 6:6; cf. Amos 5:21-24; Mic 6:6-8).
Gospel appropriation
Jesus likewise reduces the Law to the double commandment (Mark 12:29-31, citing Deut 6:4-5 and Lev 19:18) and cites Hos 6:6 twice in the First Gospel (Matt 9:13; 12:7). The Sermon on the Mount does not abolish the Law but radicalises it, carrying the demand from act to intention (Matt 5:21-48). The programmatic statement of Matt 5:17, coming not to abolish but to fulfil, has been read in opposing ways, and the debate over Jesus’ relation to Torah remains open.
Messianism
Old Testament elaboration
Messianic expectation was not unified. A royal line runs from Nathan’s oracle (2 Sam 7) through the royal psalms (Pss 2; 110) to Isaiah (9:1-7; 11:1-10). A priestly line attaches to Melchizedek (Gen 14:18-20; Ps 110:4) and takes form at Qumran in the expectation of two messiahs, of Aaron and of Israel. A prophetic line takes up Deut 18:15-18. An apocalyptic line, finally, centres on the one like a son of man in Dan 7:13-14. The Suffering Servant of Isa 52:13–53:12 was not read messianically in Second Temple Judaism.
Gospel appropriation
The Christian novelty lies precisely in the fusion of these separate lines, and above all in the integration of the Suffering Servant into the messianic figure, a combination without attested precedent. Mark 8:29-31 gives the pattern: Peter confesses the Messiah, and Jesus immediately corrects him by announcing the suffering of the Son of Man. The debate at Mark 12:35-37 on Ps 110:1 subordinates Davidic sonship to a higher lordship.
Sacrifice and atonement
Old Testament elaboration
Two institutions dominate. Passover (Exod 12) is a sacrifice of deliverance: the lamb’s blood on the doorposts preserves from the destroyer. Yom Kippur (Lev 16) is a rite of annual purification: blood is sprinkled on the כַּפֹּרֶת, the mercy seat, and a second goat carries the people’s iniquities into the wilderness. The fourth Servant Song (Isa 53) transposes the sacrificial category onto a person whose life is offered as אָשָׁם, a guilt offering (53:10).
Gospel appropriation
The Passion is dated to Passover in all four Gospels, but John shifts the chronology so that Jesus dies at the hour the lambs are slaughtered (John 19:14, 31, 36, citing Exod 12:46). The Baptist designates him “the Lamb of God” (John 1:29). Mark 10:45 takes up the ransom category and the “for many” of Isa 53:12. The rending of the Temple veil (Mark 15:38) points to the Holy of Holies of the Kippur rite.
Temple and presence
Old Testament elaboration
Divine presence is expressed first through the Tent and the cloud covering it (Exod 40:34-35), then through Solomon’s Temple filled with the glory (1 Kgs 8:10-11). The exile imposes a crisis: Ezekiel sees the glory depart from the Temple (Ezek 10) before returning in a vision of restoration (Ezek 43:1-5). Malachi announces the sudden coming of the Lord to his temple (Mal 3:1).
Gospel appropriation
The Johannine prologue uses the verb ἐσκήνωσεν, “he pitched his tent” (John 1:14), pointing to the מִשְׁכָּן of the wilderness: divine presence now lodges in flesh. The cleansing of the Temple is a prophetic act (Mark 11:15-17), and the saying on its destruction and rebuilding in three days (John 2:19-21) effects the decisive transfer, from sanctuary to the body of Christ.
The Spirit
Old Testament elaboration
The רוּחַ is first creative breath (Gen 1:2; Ps 104:30), then a power given occasionally to judges, kings and prophets. Prophetic hope universalises the gift: Moses wishes that all the people were prophets (Num 11:29), Joel announces an outpouring on all flesh (Joel 2:28-29), Ezekiel promises the Spirit given with a new heart (Ezek 36:27), and Isaiah rests it on the shoot from Jesse (Isa 11:2) and on the one sent to bring good news to the poor (Isa 61:1).
Gospel appropriation
The baptism of Jesus stages the descent of the Spirit (Mark 1:10), and Luke opens the ministry with the reading of Isa 61:1-2 at Nazareth, followed by the declaration that the Scripture is fulfilled today (Luke 4:18-21). The Fourth Gospel develops the figure of the Paraclete (John 14–16), who continues Christ’s teaching among the disciples.
Eschatology and resurrection
Old Testament elaboration
The Day of YHWH is first announced as judgement against Israel itself, against popular expectation: “woe to you who desire the day of the Lord” (Amos 5:18-20; cf. Joel 2; Zeph 1). Individual resurrection appears only late: the vision of the dry bones (Ezek 37) concerns national restoration, but Isa 26:19 and above all Dan 12:2 state an awakening of the dead, “some to everlasting life, and some to shame”.
Gospel appropriation
The eschatological discourse (Mark 13 and parallels) weaves together Daniel, Isaiah and Zechariah. The controversy with the Sadducees (Mark 12:18-27) shows that resurrection remained disputed, and Jesus grounds it there not on Dan 12 but on Exod 3:6, by an argument on the tense of the verb: God is, not was, the God of Abraham.
Continuity and displacement
| Theme | What is taken up | What is displaced |
|---|---|---|
| Kingdom | God’s kingship as the horizon of history | Its present irruption in a ministry, and its address to the poor |
| Covenant | The structure of promise and blood poured out | Its concentration on one person and its opening to the nations |
| Law | The double commandment and the primacy of mercy | The move from act to intention, and an authority set over against Torah |
| Messianism | The royal, priestly, prophetic and apocalyptic lines | Their fusion, and the unprecedented integration of the Suffering Servant |
| Sacrifice | Passover and Kippur as interpretive grids | A victim who is also the priest, and the singularity of the offering |
| Temple | The glory dwelling in a place | The transfer from sanctuary to body |
| Spirit | Creative and prophetic breath | Its permanent resting on one person, then on the community |
| Eschatology | The Day of the Lord and the awakening of the dead | The tension of the already and the not yet |
Bibliography
- von Rad, Gerhard. Old Testament Theology. 2 vols. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1962-1965.
- Childs, Brevard S. Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1992.
- Dodd, C. H. According to the Scriptures. London: Nisbet, 1952.
- Hays, Richard B. Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels. Waco: Baylor University Press, 2016.
- Beale, G. K. and D. A. Carson, eds. Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007.
Quiz — The Gospels
What does the two-source hypothesis propose?
- That Matthew and Luke depend on Mark and on a sayings source designated Q
- That Mark is an abridgement of Matthew and Luke
- That all four gospels derive from a single Aramaic proto-gospel
- That John is the common source of the three Synoptics