The Teaching of The Gospels and Acts
THE TEACHING OF THE GOSPELS & ACTS
DONALD GUTHRIE AND PIETER LALLEMAN
Because the New Testament is a collection of books, written at different times to different people and with different purposes, it does not present the reader with a systematic account of what Christians believe. Together with the Old Testament it is, nevertheless, the only source of Christian doctrine. The unity and coherence of the New Testament can easily be brought to light, and it is the task of theology to investigate its various strands to discover how that unity exists in the midst of diversity. There are two main ways in which such a task can be approached. The first may be called the analytical method which analyzes the emphases of the various groups of books, and the second is the thematic method which classifies the main teaching into categories. In a brief treatment it is clearly impossible to do justice to the former method, but the latter offers the opportunity to present a concise survey of the contents.
Any arrangement of theological ideas must start with God. The most important initial question on this theme is in how far the Old Testament revelation of God differs from that in the New Testament. Much is undoubtedly the same, for the New Testament stresses the love and mercy of God in a similar way to the Old Testament. Moreover, the character of God as righteousness is carried over into New Testament thought. The person of God is basic to a right understanding of the mission of Jesus. He himself taught that God is holy (John 17:11) and cares for his creation (Matthew 6:25-33).
The most distinctive aspect of the New Testament view of God is his fatherhood. Although this idea is not wholly absent from the Old Testament, it is viewed within the covenant relationship. God was seen as Father to his people Israel. He called them collectively “my son” (Hosea 11:1). But Jesus took the idea much further into the realm of personal relationships. God the Father shows providential care for all humanity, but has a special regard for his children (see Matthew 6:32f.). Throughout his life, Jesus shows the importance to him of the Father’s will, so providing a pattern for his followers. However, he drew a distinction between his own filial relationship to God and that of his followers (John 20:17).
Although Jesus serves as a pattern, his own relationship was unique by reason of his person and of his perfect fulfilment of the Father’s will (see Matthew 11:27). The teaching on the personal aspects of fatherhood was addressed by Jesus to his disciples, not to non-believers. And the fatherhood of God constantly recurs throughout the epistles. It comes in the opening greeting to every one of Paul’s letters and there is no New Testament book (except 3 John) in which the title “Father” is not used of God.
Another core idea is the belief that God is king, which is particularly brought out in the teaching of Jesus about the kingdom of God. Here again there is strong influence from the Old Testament idea that God is the true king of Israel, but the distinctive feature of the New Testament is that members of the kingdom of God are those who have committed themselves by faith to Jesus Christ.
The nature of Jesus Christ is the key question in the New Testament. Jesus’ view of himself is best seen in the titles which he used of himself, and of these the most important is “Son of Man”. On many occasions Jesus used this title, and without doubt meant himself. Sometimes it is used when he could have said “I” (as in Matthew 16:13; see Mark 8:27), sometimes when he was making important statements about his death (as Matthew 20:18), and sometimes when he was thinking of events relating to his second coming (as Matthew 19:28). But what did he mean by the term and why did he choose to use it? Not to draw attention to his humanity, as was often thought in the past. The title is derived from Daniel 7:13-14 and marks Jesus out as Israel’s king and special representative. It is also in some way linked to the Servant spoken of by Isaiah. Jesus will have preferred it to “Messiah” because of the militaristic ideas associated with the latter title. It is doubtful whether the people who listened to Jesus understood fully his reason for using it.
Although Jesus hardly ever called himself “Messiah” (Matthew 26:63-68), he undoubtedly regarded himself as the fulfilment of all the noble messianic hopes of the past. The first Christians acknowledged this and the New Testament reflects the strong belief of the early community that many of the Old Testament predictions, including many that the Jews treated as messianic, pointed to Jesus Christ. The fact that throughout the New Testament the title “Christ” (the Greek translation of the Hebrew word Messiah) is used by others when speaking of Jesus, testifies to this strong conviction. His mission was not, however, to deliver Israel from the domination of their enemies as the Jews currently believed, but to save people from their sins. The messianic hope had become spiritual and universal.
On many occasions Jesus spoke of himself as Son, while the title Son of God is frequently used of him in the New Testament. As well as being perfect man, he claimed to be equal with God (John 10:30; 14:8-11). The apostle Paul speaks of him as the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15), in whom the fullness of God lives (Colossians 1:19; Ephesians 1:23), who thought equality with God a prize not to be insisted on for it already belonged to him (Philippians 2:6). The New Testament becomes intelligible only when Jesus is regarded as both human and divine. Luke in particular stresses Jesus’ humanity by reporting on his praying (5:16; 6:12; 11:1). Jesus is also seen as a king in the line of David (Luke 3:22) and his entrance into Jerusalem is royal (Luke 19:29-40). He is called the Savior (Luke 2:11, cf. 19:9-10) who brings God’s “salvation” (Luke 1:71,77; 19:9). The title “Lord” (Luke 7:13; 10:1), easily overlooked, sets him over against the Roman emperors who also claimed lordship.
There is a close link between who Jesus is and what he came to do; this is highlighted by his name, for Jesus, as Matthew points out, means “Savior” (Matthew 1:21). But the aspect of salvation with which Jesus was concerned was not primarily national but spiritual. The fact that he performed countless and various miracles was meant to point his audiences to his real person and to God as the One who had sent him. His ministry had to do with sins, and only by joining the kingdom of God would Israel be restored.
This exalted view of Jesus is at the basis of all New Testament theology. The Christian church was not founded on a mere man, but on the risen Christ. The confession of the resurrection is a key element in almost every book (eg John 20:24-29; 1 Corinthians 15; 1 Peter 1:3; Revelation 1:17-18). Special attention will now be given to the mission of Jesus to bring out his significance.
What Jesus did for humanity may be gathered into the New Testament doctrine of salvation. This, broadly speaking, comprises the doctrine of the atonement and its application. What the New Testament teaches about the atonement is too many-sided to be stated concisely but some general idea may be given. Jesus himself made many significant statements which after his death were seen to reflect his own understanding of the meaning of the cross. He saw the cross as the main purpose of his mission. For him it was no accident. In his first specific mention of his coming sufferings he made it clear that he must suffer death (Matthew 16:21), which shows that he regarded the passion as a divine necessity. This at once disposes of any theories of the atonement which regard the death of Christ as accidental or unforeseen. Closely linked with this are statements which bring out the voluntary nature of his death, of which the most notable is John 10:18, where Jesus the Shepherd says that he will lay down his life for the sheep.
The announcement of John the Baptist that Jesus was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29) is of great importance because it shows that Jesus had come as a sacrifice, and because it is directly related to humanity’s universal sin. This sacrificial idea is developed in the New Testament letters. Another figure of speech which was used by Jesus in describing his mission and which was further developed by the apostles was that of the ransoming of a slave (see Mark 10:45). The central idea is of the deliverance of the slave from a life of bondage to a life of freedom, a vivid illustration of the liberating power of the gospel. In order to bring out the effect of his passion, Jesus also used the picture of a seed of corn which has to be buried in order to become productive. It was left to the apostles once again to bring out the full significance of the illustration. The existence of the Christian church itself was a witness to the basic necessity of Christ’s death. He himself had become the only foundation (1 Corinthians 3:11).
The motive behind the passion, in the mind of Jesus, was love (see John 3:16; 15:13): an aspect of the mission of Jesus which has always fired Christian imagination. This is backed up by the considerable emphasis in the Gospels on the compassion of Jesus, seen most vividly in the healing miracles. In the letters also the love behind the giving of Jesus is brought out (see Romans 5:8; 8:34-39; 2 Corinthians 5:14).
It is noticeable that the testimony of his enemies unwittingly contributed to an understanding of his death, as when Caiaphas declared that it was more fitting for one to die for the people than for the whole people to perish (John 11:50ff.). This substitutionary view of the atonement is developed in various ways in the apostolic understanding of the event. Caiaphas was nearer the truth than he knew. (Compare the testimony of the centurion in Luke 23:47 and that of Pilate in John 18:37-38.) The main focus of Jesus’ thought about the application of his work is found in the Last Supper (Matthew 26:17-30 and parallels) where the words of institution show that the passion is to be central in the continual memory of the Christian community. The bread was broken and the wine poured out, to bring out the sacrificial significance. The coming passion was “for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:28). Moreover, it was viewed by Jesus himself as the inauguration of the new covenant.
Yet Jesus’ life on earth was more than a prelude to his death, it has a value of its own. He shared in the joys (John 2:1-11) and sorrows (John 11, esp. verse 35) of the people around him. He showed particular love to children (Luke 18:15-17) and he was an excellent story teller (eg Matthew 13). His ministry is supported by the activity of the Holy Spirit (eg Mark 1:12; Luke 4:1,14), which then figures as an important subject in the farewell discourses in John’s Gospel (John 14–17). Jesus made it clear that the disciples were to be dependent on the Spirit for knowledge of the truth, for guidance, for convicting the world of sin and for leading people to faith (see John 14:15f.,25f.; 15:26; 16:7f.). The risen Christ breathed on the disciples and exhorted them to receive the Spirit (John 20:22). It was on the Day of Pentecost that the Spirit descended in power on the waiting disciples (Acts 2) and the record of the development of the church in the book of Acts is a record of the special activity of the Holy Spirit (esp. 4:31-33; 5:32; 13:1-3).
The New Testament idea of the church is twofold. Local groups of believers form Christian communities in specific places and the totality of these local groups comprises the universal church. On two occasions Jesus spoke of his church, once in the universal sense (Matthew 16:18) and once in a local sense (Matthew 18:17). The book of Acts gives insight into the formation and operation of many Christian communities such as in Antioch, Corinth, Ephesus and Rome. During the life of Jesus and later in these churches women played important roles, almost beyond what was acceptable in the culture of the time. Women supported Jesus (Luke 8:1-3) and were among his close followers (Luke 10:38-42). Women were the first witnesses to the resurrection (Luke 24:1-11), they were in the first group of believers (Acts 1:14) and received the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:17-18).
A belief in the return of the Lord Jesus and the final consummation of all things is integral to New Testament teaching. The second coming of Christ is basic to the various books, although more apparent in some. Jesus himself predicted his return (see Matthew 24:30-31,42-44; John 14:3). He gave special teaching regarding the end of the present age (see Matthew chapters 24 and 25; Mark 13; Luke 21), while many of the kingdom parables are related to the end-time (eg the “harvest” theme in Mark 13:26-31).