Tradition

• Luke 9:1-16


  The Bible passage talks about the empowerment of Jesus Christ to His disciples to continue the mission
• The Light of Faith (Lumen Fidei) of Pope Francis reminds us that this is how the Church's tradition speaks of the great gift brought by Jesus
• Oral Tradition


  1. Became the way of Jesus' followers to continue His mission of Salvation that is entrusted to them

  2. They went to different places to preach, teach, heal, and even exorcise

  3. They travelled around Roman world preaching the message of Jesus with missionary zeal
• They were uneducated but not illiterate
• Oral tradition


  Came first before the formation of the New Testament
• Main mission of the early Christian communities

  • Preaching the core message of death and resurrection
  • Teaching further instructions and encouragement to recently baptized Christians
  • Defending the beliefs and practices against accusations from outside
• Manner of Preaching in the Oral Tradition by the Early Christians

  1. The disciples did not repeat what Jesus said. They preached in the way they understood them after the resurrection

  2. Disciples and preachers re-interpreted and re-formulated the words and deeds of Jesus Christ in order to relate to their current situations
• God's goodness and divine wisdom were revealed to us through the Lord Jesus
• Through Christ, the world made flesh, we were able to encounter the Father
• Now we encounter the living God through the words written in the Scriptures
• Through the gospels, we receive and experience The Kingdom of God
• Writers of the Gospels

  • Matthew
  • Mark
  • Luke
  • John
• Gospel


  • The Greek word for "gospel" is "euangelion" which means "good news"
  • Good news – salvation (kaligtasan at kaginhawaan)
  • Narrative accounts for the infancy and childhood and public ministry
  • Recital of the historical events of the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus
• The Task of the Evangelists


  • Editors of small independent units of stories, parables, sayings, deeds of Jesus compiled by the Christians – known as pericopes
  • They were especially guided by God's Spirit, an experience called the gift of inspiration
• The Gospel of Matthew


  • Author: Matthew the Apostle
  • Implied Author: Bilingual (Aramaic & Greek) Early Jewish Christians
  • Audience: Better-educated Jews
  • Place of Writing: Galilee
  • Time of Writing: Late 70's or 80's AD
  • Image of Jesus Christ: Jesus, the Emmanuel
  • Chapters: 28
• The Gospel of Mark

  • Author: John Mark of Jerusalem
  • Implied Author: Bilingual (Aramaic & Greek) Christian
  • Audience: Mostly Gentiles (persons who are not Jewish)
  • Place of Writing: Rome
  • Time of Writing: 60's AD or 70's AD
  • Image of Jesus Christ: Jesus, the Suffering Servant
  • Chapters: 16
• The Gospel of Luke


  • Author: Luke, a Physician & Companion of Paul
  • Implied Author: Christian Gentile convert; well educated Greek
  • Audience: Wealthier Gentile Christians
  • Place of Writing: Greece
  • Time of Writing: Mid to late 80's AD
  • Image of Jesus Christ: Jesus, the savior of all humanity
  • Chapters: 24
• The Gospel of John


  • Author: John the Apostle
  • Implied Author: The "Beloved Disciple"
  • Audience: Mostly Jews, some Gentiles, Samaritans, etc.
  • Place of Writing: Galilee or Syria
  • Time of Writing: Main edition 90's AD
  • Image of Jesus Christ: Jesus, the "Word of God"
  • Chapters: 21
• The Gospels are the heart of the Scriptures
• The four Gospels


  • Matthew
  • Mark
  • Luke
  • John
• The Gospels bring the Good News of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ
• Characteristics of the Gospels

  • The Gospels are the main source of information about the life and teachings of Jesus
  • The Gospels are God's Revelation
  • When we encounter Jesus in the Gospels, we encounter God's most definitive and perfect Revelation
• Synoptic Gospels


  • Matthew, Mark, and Luke are called synoptic Gospels
  • Synoptic comes from a Greek word meaning "seeing the whole together"
  • These Gospels are similar in style and share much of the same content
  • They include many of the same stories, often in the same sequence, and sometimes exactly the same wording, in contrast to the very different picture of Jesus presented in the Gospel of John
  • Many scholars also proscholars believe that both Luke and Matthew used Mark as a source when writing their Gospels
  • Luke and Matthew may have used a second source known as the Quelle, or the Q Source
• Synoptic Problem


  • MATTHEW MARK LUKE GOSPEL NARRATIVES
  • / / / THE PARABLE OF THE MUSTARD SEED
  • / X X THE DEATH OF JUDAS
  • / / / JESUS WALKS ON THE WATER
  • / X / THE LORD'S PRAYER
  • X / / THE WIDOW'S OFFERING
  • X / X JESUS GIVES SIGHT TO THE BLIND MAN OF BETHSAIDA
  • X X / THE PARABLE OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN
• Four-Source Theory


  • Mark was the oldest written Gospel, which provided a narrative framework for both Matthew and Luke
  • Aside from Mark, Matthew and Luke used a common source known as Q-Source (first letter of the German "Quelle" meaning "source")
  • Matthew and Luke, however, had their own particular unique sources
• John's Gospel


  • It covers a different time span than the other Gospels
  • It locates much of Jesus' ministry in Judaea
  • It portrays Jesus discoursing at length on theological matters