The Gospels and Acts In the Biblical Story
Jesus of Nazareth is the unmistakable centerpiece of the biblical story. The Gospels make it clear that his significance lies not simply in his death, but also especially in his person, life, and teaching. Nonetheless, each evangelist (Gospel writer) in his own way demonstrates by way of narrative that the death and resurrection of Jesus are the high points of his story (fully one-fourth to one-third of each Gospel is given over to the events of the final week).
Our interest in each of the Gospels is in their narrative about Jesus. Even though the first three are “synoptic” (seeing Jesus through common eyes), and Matthew and Luke use Mark in their telling of the story, they strike out on their own individual paths — all telling the same story, but each with his own concerns and emphases for the sake of his implied readers. Luke’s Gospel is unique in yet another way, because he narrates the story of Jesus in two aspects: First, his Gospel, as do the others, tells about what Jesus “began to do and to teach” (Acts 1:1); second, in the book of Acts, he tells how the story of Jesus continues, now through the power of the Spirit, in the ministry of the early church.
The evangelists make it especially clear that you cannot understand Jesus without seeing how he fits into the Old Testament story that has preceded him — as the climax and fulfillment of the hopes expressed almost from the beginning of the story. On the one hand, they all see Jesus as clearly fitting into the prophetic tradition — by his mighty words, mighty deeds, and symbolic actions (e.g., cleansing the temple; cursing the fig tree) — and so he is perceived by the crowds (Matt 21:46; Luke 7:16; 13:13). At the same time, all of them are writing from this side of the resurrection and know that he is none other than the expected “Son of David” (Mark 10:47 – 48), God’s “Son” (Ps 2:7; Matt 3:17; 17:5; and parallels), who comes to his people as their King.
One key to this aspect of their narratives lies with the Old Testament understanding of the role of the king in Israel, who is often seen both to represent God to the people and to embody the people of Israel in his own person. This can be seen especially in the book of Psalms and in the suffering servant songs in Isaiah 42 – 53. It will be helpful for you as you read the Gospels to note how the evangelists tell the story of Jesus from this perspective. Take, for example, his baptism and the testing in the desert, where Jesus succeeds at the very places where Israel failed, as his own citations from Deuteronomy 6 – 8 make plain. Or take the discourse in John 15:1 – 8, where Jesus, picking up an image of Israel from the Old Testament (Ps 80:8 – 19; Isa 5:1 – 7; Jer 2:21), speaks of himself as the true vine and his disciples as the branches. And his death is clearly seen in light of Isaiah’s suffering servant (Isa 52:13 – 53:12), as the one who bears the sins of the people, thus both representing the people and drawing them into the story themselves.
For each Gospel (and the book of Acts, too), therefore, we will also try to help you to see how the evangelist ties the story of Jesus to the story of Israel as the “fulfillment” of Jewish messianic hopes and expectations. Related to this, we also need to point out that each Gospel was written at a time when Gentile inclusion in the grand story (see comments on Gen 11:27 – 25:11, p. 30) was in full swing; we will therefore point out how each deals with this issue, especially in light of the rejection of Jesus by many of the Jews.
On other matters related to their composition and relationships to one another, as well as their essential message about the coming of the kingdom (as “already” and “not yet”), we point you to chapter 7 in How to 1.