QC and SG accountability (26/1/18)
We addressed the issue of the similarities and differences in these parallel passages in the gospels:
28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[e] 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’[f] 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[g] There is no commandment greater than these.”
32 “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions. (Mark 12:28ff)
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[c] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[d] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matt 22:34ff)
25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’[c]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[d]”
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor? (Luke 10:25ff)
All three passages mention the Great Commandment (and the second greatest commandment). However, in the passage in Mark the questioner is sincere and is commended by Jesus. In the passage in Matthew the questioner aims to test the Lord. This is also the case in the Lucan passage. So it is plausible that the passages in Matthew and Luke refer to the same event, but not the passage in Mark.
We said that the content of the gospels was selected by the authors to fulfill particular aims for particular audiences. We are clearly told (with some hyperbole, Jn 21:25) that Jesus' words and deeds could not be contained in any particular gospel. We noted also that even passages recording His direct teaching on a particular occasion (e.g. the Sermon on the Mount) must necessarily have been compressed. As an itinerant preacher our Lord would have taught the same things at different times to different audiences, most likely with some variation in the exact words and ideas used. And of course, the four Evangelists would have approached the same events from the viewpoints of individual eyewitnesses.
We affirmed again the inerrancy of the Scriptures in their original autographs, remembered the fact that the New Testament documents exist in multiple copies and were written close to the time of their subject matter. So we can have confidence that no significant scribal errors or editions occurred from the original documents to our present day Greek (and Hebrew) manuscripts.
28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[e] 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’[f] 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[g] There is no commandment greater than these.”
32 “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions. (Mark 12:28ff)
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[c] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[d] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matt 22:34ff)
25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’[c]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[d]”
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor? (Luke 10:25ff)
All three passages mention the Great Commandment (and the second greatest commandment). However, in the passage in Mark the questioner is sincere and is commended by Jesus. In the passage in Matthew the questioner aims to test the Lord. This is also the case in the Lucan passage. So it is plausible that the passages in Matthew and Luke refer to the same event, but not the passage in Mark.
We said that the content of the gospels was selected by the authors to fulfill particular aims for particular audiences. We are clearly told (with some hyperbole, Jn 21:25) that Jesus' words and deeds could not be contained in any particular gospel. We noted also that even passages recording His direct teaching on a particular occasion (e.g. the Sermon on the Mount) must necessarily have been compressed. As an itinerant preacher our Lord would have taught the same things at different times to different audiences, most likely with some variation in the exact words and ideas used. And of course, the four Evangelists would have approached the same events from the viewpoints of individual eyewitnesses.
We affirmed again the inerrancy of the Scriptures in their original autographs, remembered the fact that the New Testament documents exist in multiple copies and were written close to the time of their subject matter. So we can have confidence that no significant scribal errors or editions occurred from the original documents to our present day Greek (and Hebrew) manuscripts.
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