Approaching the Gospels

The Two Usages of “Gospel”

The term gospel (Greek: euangelion, “good news”) has two primary usages—the good news of Jesus Christ, and a literary record called a Gospel. Although these meanings are closely related, it is important to distinguish them in order to avoid confusion.

The first usage is found in the expression the gospel of Jesus Christ. This phrase itself can be understood in two closely related ways. Grammatically, the words of Jesus Christ contain a genitive that may express either content or source. Most often, it is a genitive of content, meaning the good news about Jesus Christ—the message that proclaims his person, his saving work, his death and resurrection, and the salvation he has accomplished for sinners. This is the predominant usage in the New Testament, as seen in passages such as Rom 1:1-3, 9; 16:25; 2 Cor 4:4; and 2 Tim 2:8. In these texts, the gospel is the apostolic proclamation concerning Christ.

Less frequently, however, the phrase functions as a genitive of source, referring to the good news from Jesus Christ—that is, the message that Jesus himself proclaimed during his earthly ministry and later entrusted to his apostles. Examples of this usage include Matt 11:5, Mark 1:15, Luke 4:18, 43; 8:1; and Gal 1:11–12. Here the emphasis is not primarily on Christ as the content of the message but on Christ as its divine herald and authoritative source. The genitive-of-source meaning is even more likely in the phrase “the gospel of God” (e.g., Mark 1:14; Rom 1:1; 15:16; 1 Thess 2:2, 8-9; 1 Pet 4:17). It is called the gospel “of God” because God is its author.

In a few passages, both nuances may be intended simultaneously. Mark 1:1, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God,” is cited as a possible example. The phrase may refer both to the gospel that is about Jesus Christ and to the gospel that comes from Jesus Christ. Since the Gospel of Mark proceeds to narrate both Jesus’ preaching and the story of his saving work, many interpreters see a deliberate richness in the wording, though the interpretation of this verse remains a matter of scholarly debate.

The second usage of gospel refers not to the message itself but to the four canonical books that record the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. From the early centuries of the church these books have been known as the four Gospels:

The Gospel according to Matthew (kata Matthaion)
The Gospel according to Mark (kata Markon)
The Gospel according to Luke (kata Loukan)
The Gospel according to John (kata Iōannēn)

The phrase according to (kata) is significant. It indicates that there is fundamentally one gospel—the one saving message concerning Jesus Christ—but it is presented through four distinct inspired witnesses. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John do not proclaim four different gospels; rather, each presents the one gospel from his own perspective, emphasizing different aspects of the person and work of Christ while remaining fully harmonious with the others.

A simple typographical convention helps distinguish these two meanings in English. When gospel refers to the message - the good news about Christ - it is ordinarily written with a lowercase “g” (e.g., “Paul preached the gospel”). When it refers to one of the four canonical books, it is capitalized (e.g., “The New Testament contains four Gospels”).

We should also bear in mind that the two meanings of “gospel” are related. The four literary documents are called Gospels precisely because they narrate the saving events that lie at the heart of the gospel.

The Origin of the Word “gospel”

Otto Betz, “Jesus’ Gospel of the Kingdom,” pp. 53-74 in The Gospel and the Gospels, ed. Peter Stuhlmacher (Eerdmans, 1991).

Verb: evangelizomai (Greek) = bissar (Hebrew)
Noun: evangelion (Greek) = b^esorah (Hebrew)

Betz makes a convincing case that “gospel” terminology so prominent in the NT is from the prominence of “good news” in Isaiah.

Isa 40:9:

Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!”

Isa 41:27:

I was the first to say to Zion, “Behold, here they are!” and I give to Jerusalem a herald of good news.

Isa 52:7:

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns” (note reference to the Kingdom of God).

Isa 53:5:

“upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace.”

Isa 54:10:

“my covenant of peace shall not be removed.”

Isa 55:12:

“For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace.”

Acts 10:36-37:

“As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), 37 you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed …” (cp. Luke 1:79: “the way of peace”)

Isa 61:1-2:

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor (quoted by Jesus in Luke 4:18-19).

Mark 1:1-4:

“The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way [Mal 3:1], 3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,”’ [Isa 40:3] 4 John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”

Mark 1:14-15:

“Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’”

The Genre of the Gospels

Robert Guelich, “The Gospel Genre,” pp. 173-208 in The Gospel and the Gospels, ed. Peter Stuhlmacher (Eerdmans, 1991).

Proposals

Targum (Bruce Chilton)
Midrash (C. H. Dodd)
Lectionary (R. H. Lightfoot)
Historical memoir (Martin Hengel)

Portions may have these elements, but none work as a genre category for Gospels as entire books

Most scholars today: Greco-Roman virtue-forming biography (bios) (Richard Burridge, Jonathan Pennington)

But there is no exploration of childhood and upbringing or key events in early life that explains what makes the person tick
No inner psychology or personality or growth
No continuous chronological narrative from birth to death
No moralistic purpose
Jesus is not presented as model of virtue to be imitated but as the bringer of Kgdm and fulfillment of Scripture
The call is not “Be like Jesus” but “Believe in Jesus” (Mark 1:15; John 20:31)

What is missing in these proposals is the kerygmatic emphasis

Mark 1:14-15: “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming [kerusson] the gospel of God, 15 and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’”
“The most striking difference is found in what may be called the clear ‘kerygmatic’ or proclamatory dimension of the Gospels … The Gospels intend to witness to and proclaim Jesus as the good news for which Israel and the world have longed” (Hagner, NTI, 61-62).

Also missing in the genre proposals: the strong emphasis in the Gospels on Christology, the setting forth of Jesus as the Messiah.

Representative mighty deeds and authoritative teachings which demonstrate that he is the Messiah.
The Gospels present “Jesus as the fulfillment of prophecy, as the one who brings salvation to the world” (Hagner, NTI, 62).

A better way of thinking about the genre question is to recognize that the Gospels are unique. There is nothing quite like them in all of human literature. The closest comparison is the Book of Exodus. Kline’s “OT Origins of the Gospel Genre” points out that both Exodus and the Gospels have two major parts:

The birth and life of the covenant mediator (Moses, Christ)
The climactic establishment of the covenant by blood (Exod 24:8; the Last Supper)

The Gospels, then, are narratives proclaiming that Jesus is the Messiah who came as the fulfillment of redemptive history.

Main obstacle to understanding the Gospels: The Pre-Resurrection Perspective

Ridderbos: “We should always bear in mind that this kerygma is historically determined, i.e., it is not the theology of the church after Christ’s resurrection and after the descent of the Holy Spirit, but it is Jesus’ proclamation of the gospel before these events” (Coming of Kingdom, p. 257).

The way the gospel is proclaimed sounds so different to our ears

Emphasis on ministry of John the Baptist, “Repent or perish!”
Teaching in veiled form - parables
The miracles of Jesus
Jesus’ indirect Christological claims
The mystery/hidden character of the Kgdm
The passion predictions and the disciples’ lack of understanding

Before the cross, Jesus is hard to understand. After resurrection, looking back - now it makes sense - his death is atoning, saving. As Martin Kahler said, the Gospels are passion narratives with extended introductions.

That is because they contain the mode of gospel proclamation by Jesus himself prior to the saving event (cross/resurrection)

Jesus refers to himself as “the Son of Man” often, almost never as “Christ” - whereas in Acts and Epistles, this is reversed.

In Gospels, Jesus does not preach himself directly but the Kingdom of God - whereas in Acts and Epistles, the apostles preach Jesus directly, and talk much less about the Kingdom.

The Gospels even contain foreshadows of the apostolic preaching as it will be conducted after the saving events of the passion and resurrection:

Matt 3:11: “he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
Matt 24:14: “This gospel of the Kgdm shall be preached in the whole world.”
Matt 26:13: “wherever this gospel is preached throughout the whole world.”
Matt 28:19-20: “teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.”
John 2:22: “When he was raised … the disciples remembered.”
John 14:26: Spirit will bring all that Jesus taught to the remembrance of the disciples.