The Synoptic Gospels: A Journey Into the Kingdom

Matthew 2:1-12 (RCL and BCP)

The Feast of the Epiphany offers an annual taste of one of the richest, most poignant stories in the New Testament. It celebrates the visitation to the Holy Family by wise men from the East. While they are not identified as royalty in the biblical story itself, they are nonetheless the Three Kings of the Orient celebrated in hymn and carol.

The term “epiphany” means spiritual revelation. On this occasion, the term commemorates the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. Here, at the beginning of Matthew, we see the Hebrew Messiah draw unto himself those who, though far away, possess a profound insight that enables them to realize that something of singular importance is happening in faraway Bethlehem.

In the Journey text, we explore this story from wide and varying angles. We ask, “why Bethlehem?” “Why these men?” “Why this trip to see a baby?”

We also examine how the religious traditions of the wise men prior to the time of their trek to Bethlehem informed their understanding. Where are they from? In what or whom do they place their faith?

We look at the signs given to them, the strange gifts they bear, and the future they imagine.

Click here to view what Volume I of the Journey has to say about Matthew 2:1-12. The text is located at pages 116-127.

Click here to download the actual page excerpts from Volume I in PDF format.

As with some of our other seasonal readings, the lectionary for the First Sunday after Christmas is the same each year.

John 1:1-18
The gospel offering is John 1:1-18. Though John is not among the synoptic Gospels, it does occasionally receive some commentary in the Journey series. In fact, it was a subject of our blog entry of Monday, December 24, 2007, as Christmas selection III.

Click here to view what Volume I of the Journey has to say about John 1:1-18. The text is located at pages 208-212.

Click here to download the actual page excerpts from Volume I in PDF format.

Galatians 3:23-35; 5:4-7
The First Sunday after Christmas features an important reading from one of the letters of Paul. The Letter to the Galatians contains his most powerful declaration about how freedom in Christ liberates the people of the way from what Paul by now considers to be the shackles of Judaic law. Paul focuses on faith working through love, rather than obedience to ritual requirements, as the center of one’s relationship with God.

Paul’s view about the relationship of the Christian believer to the Hebrew law was far from unanimous. Other early Christian leaders, including James the brother of Jesus, adhered to the notion that the law was still operative, and that gentile converts to even this Christian expression of Judaism were required to accept all the burdens of the law, including circumcision and dietary restrictions.

In fact, the experience of the early church coming to grips with a mission that embraced gentile converts was among the most important developments in first-century Christianity. It opened the richness of life in relationship to the God if Israel to those who were previously outside that fellowship.

Among the Gospels, Matthew is the one most focused on connections between Jewish tradition and the growing church. For that reason, we considered the text from Galatians in light of statements that Matthew’s Jesus makes about the law in the Sermon on the Mount. The sermon itself receives the lion’s share of our attention in Volume II of the Journey.

Click here to view what Volume II of the Journey has to say about Galatians 3:23-25 and 5:4-7. The text is located at pages 255-264.

Click here to download the actual page excerpts from Volume II in a PDF format.

Matthew 2:13-18

The Christmas season lectionary takes us quickly from the joy of Jesus’ birth to the brutality of King Herod’s Slaughter of the Holy Innocents, remembered annually on 28 December. This passage reminds us how, even as we bask in the warm light of God among us, darkness and depravity of the worst sort remain.

Our Journey commentary on this passage begins with a consideration of life under King Herod. Despite considerable deeds benefiting his people as a younger man, the aging Herod has become so consumed by the desire to preserve his power that he is willing to kill the weakest among his people to hold onto his might.

The commentary also considers how this passage fits into Matthew’s theological and literary patterns of connecting Old Testament prophecy with New Covenant fulfillment. Matthew’s skill is not found so much in making concrete connections between prophecy and fulfillment, as in remembering the communal history of Israel and hearing it echo in his own time. He also does this indirectly, as the story of the flight into Egypt echoes Moses being delivered from Pharaoh’s grasp.

Perhaps most importantly, we grapple with theological problems that the story presents as we consider how the innocent die even as one among their number is spared through divine guidance.

Finally, our text considers the role of dreams in scripture. How do we experience dreams today?

Click here to view what Volume I of the Journey has to say about Matthew 2:13-18. The text is located at pages 139-149.

Click here to download the actual page excerpts from Volume I in a PDF format.

The gospel readings are identical in the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) and the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL). The epistle readings differ, though, as we will see below.

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Luke 2:15-21

The gospel for today is spread across two segments of commentary in the Journey series. The first portion contains Luke’s story of the birth of Jesus. Luke places the Holy Family in its long trek from Nazareth in Galilee to Bethlehem in Judea, an eighty-mile stretch of often difficult and dangerous terrain. At the beginning of this passage, Joseph and Mary have found temporary shelter among the animals because there was no room in the inn.

Yet, the family is not alone. The birth of Jesus is heralded by angels. One would think that heavenly messengers making a monumental announcement would appear to the priestly classes, or to the highborn, wealthy, and powerful. Instead, the message is delivered to shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night. God’s ways are not the world’s ways.

It is tempting to view this pastoral scene as a biblical affirmation of God’s special affinity for the solid peasantry, the people of the land who work with crops and herds. But if we were to think this way, we would be wrong. Shepherds worked out in the elements. Their tasks often required them to be ceremonially unclean, as they had to protect the flocks from whatever risks arose, regardless of where that led them. Moreover, with easy “confusion” among flocks and animals, shepherds were often regarded as thieves. The result: in first-century Judaism, shepherds were virtual outcasts.

So it is to the ruffians—not the kings or the priests or even the solid, law-abiding peasant stock—that the announcement of the birth of the Savior is made. What might that mean for the way we think about conventional morality and piety?

Click here to view what Volume I of the Journey has to say about Luke 2:5–20. The text is located at pages 111–115.

Click here to download the actual page excerpts from Volume I in PDF format.

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However, the above section does not complete our reading from Luke. The Feast of the Holy Name, as the title suggests, involves the actual naming of the Savior. We pick up that strand in verse 21, where the evangelist reports that the child has been given the name that the angel directed before he was conceived in the womb.Because our Journey series divides the material differently from the lectionary reading, we will include an additional section of commentary regarding the rites of circumcision and purification. Mary and Joseph, as observant Jews, follow the requirements of these rites. Luke’s descriptions of them depict an evangelist who possesses less-than-a-comprehensive understanding of the Mosaic law. Perhaps this trait is a byproduct of his Gentile identity. However, the fact that he shows Mary and Joseph undertaking the considerable efforts to observe the rites (even if Luke is wrong about their precise details) demonstrates a high regard for Jewish tradition. Luke shows how, from the beginning, the new Jesus movement remains in continuity with ancient Judaism.

Click here to view what Volume I of the Journey has to say about Luke 2:21–24. The text is located at pages 130–133.

Click here to download the actual page excerpts from Volume I in PDF format.

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Romans 1:1-7 (BCP)

The BCP and RCL readings from the epistles diverge for the Feast of the Holy Name. Since we provided commentary on the BCP’s epistle in the Journey series, we will include that here as well.

The introductory material to Paul’s Letter to the Romans states that the ancestry of Jesus “according to the flesh” follows the Davidic line. It reports God’s declaration that Jesus is his son “according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead.”

The concept of how Jesus stands in sonship toward God is easily glossed over, as if its meaning were readily apparent. In fact, it is not. We considered this idea in Volume I of the Journey when studying Luke’s version of the baptism of Jesus. That event served as a springboard to address the broader questions of what we mean when we say that Jesus is the Son of God.

Click here to view what Volume I of the Journey has to say about Romans 1:1–7. The text is located at pages 208–212.

Click here to download the actual page excerpts from Volume I in a PDF format.

The RCL and the BCP are virtually identical for the Second Sunday in Advent, Year B, with only slight variations around the optional portions of the readings.

Mark 1:1–8 and Isaiah 40:1–11

The Gospel and Old Testament lessons today contain two interesting features. The first is that the gospel text contains a paraphrase of the Old Testament lesson. Consequently, the pages from the Journey, which comment on one reading also comment on the other. The second feature is that the Journey breaks down today’s gospel reading into two parts, with intervening parallels and separate segments from Matthew and Luke falling between the book’s study of Mark. Of course, that is why the books themselves offer more than this blog! But we should still be able to make something worthwhile out of this format.

Mark 1:1–6 contains the powerful opening of the oldest gospel. It proclaims the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The opening goes on to quote Old Testament prophecy and to declare the arrival of John the Baptist on the banks of the River Jordan.

Click here to view what Volume I of the Journey has to say about Mark 1:1–6 and Isaiah 40:1–11.  The text is located at pages 172–176.

The Journey commentary on today’s gospel continues later in Volume I. John the Baptist describes the coming One, with a promise of baptism by the Holy Spirit exceeding John’s own baptism by water. In this preaching, John connects back to the Old Testament and foresees that all will be fulfilled.

Click here to view what Volume I of the Journey has to say about Mark 1:6–8. The text is located at pages 193–196.

As shown in our most recent blog entry, Christmas Day offers the same three selections for lectionary reading each year. That means we depart from the Year B path that follows the Gospel According to Saint Matthew. The third Christmas selection actually contains no readings from the synoptic Gospels at all. Instead, it offers a theologically profound contribution to Christian thought from the Gospel According to St. John. The text is John 1:1-14.

This passage contains one of the many important scriptural lenses through which to view Jesus’ relationship with God as son to father. It offers a different perspective from what we typically see in the Synoptics.

Below is the link to the section from Volume I of the Journey which includes a discussion of John 1:1-14. The core Journey text is Luke 3:21-22, where the Holy Spirit descends on Jesus in bodily form like a dove, and a heavenly voice proclaims him to be the Son, the beloved.

On Christmas day, we celebrate Jesus’ sonship to God. The heavenly voice proclaims that relationship in Luke. The prologue serves a similar function in John.

The linked text draws on these and other sources. They include Mark’s Gospel and Paul’s letter to the Romans. We offer all of this as food for your Christmas thoughts.

Click here to view what Volume I of the Journey has to say about John 1:1-14. The text is located at pages 208-212.

Click here to download the actual page excerpts from Volume I in PDF format.

Luke 2:1–20

Christmas Day offers three selections for lectionary reading. Because the selections are the same each year, we depart for now from the specific Year B path tethered to the Gospel According to Saint Matthew, and immerse ourselves in Luke’s historical, literary, theological, and communal world.

Selections I and II, from both the RCL and the BCP lectionaries, have Luke 2:1–20 as their gospel readings. The two selections break the text out into standard and optional parts at different verses. Selection II divides the material into Luke 2:1–7 (standard) and Luke 2:8–20 (optional). This division compares closely to our own division in the Journey series.

Luke 2:1–20 is the heart of the Christmas story. The first seven verses speak of the universal census, requiring Mary and Joseph to go from Nazareth to Bethlehem to be enrolled. Our Journey commentary on this passage considers the historical circumstances around Jesus’ birth. What Luke tells us about it differs from what we know of the precise chronology of Roman rule and administration. It also differs from what Matthew tells us. Even so, Luke places the reader in a world where a Roman decree can impose hardship on struggling young people who find themselves on a long and difficult journey, with all the risks attendant to pregnancy and ancient travel assumed in order to comply with the imperial demand. At the end of the trip, our pair is met, not with welcome, but with disinterest and were shuffled aside to a place fit for animals. The experience of Mary and Joseph at Christmas prefigures the encounter between the mature Jesus and the Roman power structure at Holy Week.

Verses 8–20 describe how the birth of God’s anointed is announced by heavenly visitors. Ironically, it is proclaimed not to the high and mighty, but to the meek and lowly. As our Journey commentary describes, the shepherds of first-century Judea are not to be considered among the solid, salt of the earth peasantry. They exist at the fringe of society, considered unclean because of the requirements of their trade. At best, they were low-class workers. At worst, they were like petty criminals, often accused of grazing their sheep on other people’s land.

It is to these ruffians that the arrival of the Messiah is announced. They go to behold him on the occasion of his birth, and soon tell others about him. By their actions they become the first witnesses, and the first evangelists, of the Christ.

Click here to view what Volume I of the Journey has to say about Luke 2:1–20. The text is located at pages 105–115.

Click here to download the actual page excerpts from Volume I in a PDF format.

Isaiah 9:2–7

We also receive a little bonus from the Old Testament with the Christmas lectionary. Selection I—from both the RCL and the BCP—contains excerpts from Isaiah 9:2–7. The OT passage offers a familiar promise that Christians associate with the coming of Jesus. To us a child is born and a son is given, upon whose shoulders the government will rest (see Isa. 9:6).

We studied a few words from this passage in Volume II of the Journey as we explored how Matthew 4:12–17 considers the onset of Jesus’ ministry as a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. Isaiah promises that those dwelling in the Galilean lands of gentile darkness will see a great light. Matthew considers the prophecy fulfilled with the commencement of Jesus’ ministry. It begins in darkest Galilee—which, in truth, was an incredibly vital land by the time that Jesus walked; a place where cross-cultural currents carried forward, even to this day, the first words that Jesus preached.

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Click here to view what Volume II of the Journey has to say about Isaiah 9:1–2. The text is located at pages 90–95.

Click here to download the actual page excerpts from Volume II in a PDF format.

Year B

We are, on November 30, starting Year B with the first Sunday in Advent, the year we focus of the Gospel According to St. Mark. While I have not yet published on the gospel for the day, I have preached on it. Following please find a link to the sermon I delivered three years ago to the congregation of Grace Episcopal Church, Chattanooga TN.

Wishing you and yours a blessed, rich, and meaningful Advent season.

Sermon on Mark 13:24-37

Year A

The Easter Season continues with no readings from the synoptic Gospels. The other readings for the Sixth Sunday, though, do touch on our studies.

Acts 17:22–31(RCL and BCP) In a New Testament lesson, the Apostle Paul visits the seat of learning in Antiquity—the City of Athens—and addresses the gathered intellectuals while standing before the Areopagus. In English, the term is translated as “Mars Hill,” so we might think of it as the public square.

This scene, written by the author of Luke-Acts (the only gentile writer in the Bible), places Paul in a scene reminiscent of Socrates on trial. To the knowledgeable Greek reader of Luke’s day, the passage preserves undertones of risk and confrontation over matters concerning the divine. Well might they have known the history of what happened to Socrates some centuries earlier, and on first encounter with this text, worry about what might happen to Paul, hero of Acts of the Apostles.

We cited this passage in a footnote to Volume I of the Journey, while studying the Epiphany. The term “epiphany” means spiritual revelation. In Matthew, the wise men from the East represent the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ to the Gentiles at the time of his birth. Paul continues that course decades later as he proclaims the Christian message to the men of Athens.

Click here to go to Volume I, pages 121–127 of the Journey.

1 Peter 3:8–18 (BCP) The second lesson comes from the first letter of Peter. It calls on the reader not to repay evil for evil, nor abuse for abuse. We cited this passage when studying the Great Antitheses from Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount. These admonitions begin by reciting conventional pearls of wisdom, then expand upon them exponentially, revolutionizing the disciples’ roles and moving them from compliance with established standards to a radicalized set of kingdom values. It is not always our role to assert our “rights” as we understand them, but sometimes to respond to a higher, more sacrificial calling. As the commentary shows, it is not something that is even possible to do all the time. But, we must try.

Click here to go to Volume II, pages 287–298 of the Journey.

As through most of the season, the Fifth Sunday in Easter does not offer a text from the synoptic Gospels. Even so, the Journey series has commented on the gospel for the day, found in both the RCL and BCP lectionaries.

John 14:1-14

The gospel is from John’s account of Jesus’ last meal with his disciples. The disciples, in distress and confusion about what is approaching, ask Jesus where he is going and what will occur. He responds with metaphor, so often the case in the Fourth Gospel.

We quoted this passage in an appendix to Volume II and invited the reader to consider whether God’s saving action is universal or limited. As you can see, how we answer that question could well affect the way we live.

Click here to view what Volume II has to say about the last meal with the disciples. The text is located at pages 436-440.