Matthew, unlike Mark, focused the beginning of his account on
the ancestry of Jesus, which is a primary concern for Jewish- Christian
readers, hinting at his possible audience. The opening “title” βιβλος γενεσως (book of genealogy) corresponds to תולדת ספר in Gen.
2:4, 5:1 (The book of the genealogy of Adam, of Noah etc.). Matthew intends to
demonstrate the genealogical legitimacy of Jesus of Nazareth to be the Messiah
of Israel.
This interest in the genealogy suggest that Jewish concerns will be
a primary interest in the Gospel. Therefore, Matthew builds on the concept of
prophetic fulfillment in the stream of Jewish tradition. For example, Matthew's
usage of the phrase: "ίνα πληρωθη" (that it might be fulfilled)
through out his account, asserts a concentrated effort to the conclusive fact
that Jesus is the long awaited Messiah.
Thus we can conclude that the purpose of Matthew's writing is to demonstrate to
the reader that Jesus of Nazareth is truly the expected Messiah. He is
qualified to be the King of the Jew by his family line and by the many
instances in which he had fulfilled the words of the prophets.
Whereas Luke's emphasis and intention was to
provide Theophilus a "certainty of the things he was
taught" concerning Christianity and Jesus Christ, Mark's
emphasis and intention in writing his account is quite different. Where Luke's account
provides for a historical narration of the life and ministry of Jesus, Mark's
Gospel, especially from its opening statement, is in a kerygmatic form.
Kerygmatic means Mark's account may have been a transcription of a sermon. It
is sermonic in nature.
"The beginning of the gospel of Jesus
Christ, the Son of God. It is written in Isaiah the prophet: "I will send
my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way. A voice in the desert
crying, 'prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'" And so
John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching" (Mark. 1:1-4).
Mark waste no time in establishing the
identity of his subject. He abruptly and bluntly asserts that Jesus is the
"Christ" and the "Son of God" (Keller). The word beginning
(αρχη) here denotes the beginning of the Gospel story. The same word is used in
the opening verses in Luke and John but with slightly different but related
meaning in each. Luke uses the word to refer to the beginning of the apostle’s
witness to Jesus and John is referring to the beginning of creation (Wyatt). So
Mark began his account with the intention that he wants to convey the beginning
of the Gospel message.
The phrase “of the gospel”
(ευαγγελιου) occurs more times in the Gospel of Mark than in any of the other
Gospel accounts. This, points to the conclusion that Mark’s account is
sermonic. His purpose and intention is to present the Gospel message. And here
in his opening statement, by his choice of words, he is making that intention
clear.
Therefore, Mark waste no
time in presenting the identity of Jesus. He wants to get the message out in
the clearest way possible, and what better way than to be blunt and straight to
the point? Perhaps not in the most creative of introductions and certainly not
poetic, but we get the message. This is the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son
of God.
Jesus the Chosen One, the
Son of God has come to earth. That is indeed Good News of the highest caliber.
In fact, no other news can be its equivalence: God the Son, in human flesh. In
other words, this is Immanuel (Matthew’s description). This is Mark’s intention
and purpose for writing. He wants to present an account of the Good News of
Christ. This is not so much an emphasis on a historical chronology as it is in
delivering what the Gospel is.
Now ancient tradition, from the Church Father
Papias, through Eusebius, tells us that “Mark, an interpreter of Peter, wrote
down carefully all that he had recollected, though he did not record in order
the that which was said or done by Christ. For he neither heard the Lord nor
followed him, but as I said, attached himself to Peter, who used to frame his
teaching to meet the demands of his listeners and not making a connected
narrative of the Lord’s discourse...” Hence, the reason why Mark’s account appeared
sermonic or kerygmatic.
This is a list of the books I am breaking my brain with in case anybody is interested:
1. Hagar, Sarah, and their Children by Phyllis Trible and Letty M. Russel.
2. Story of Christianity: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation by Justo. Gonzalez.
3. From Paradise to the Promise Land by T. Desmond Alexander.
4. The Untold Story of the New Testament Church by Frank Viola.
A word of caution on the first book. It is written unashamedly from a liberal feminist perspective. So read it with a grain of salt. Trible and Russel are very much liberal feminist theologians.