Part 195. A ramble (2)

To follow Jesus, to do his bidding, involves understanding and applying his teaching as set out in the synoptic gospels.  We need look no further. Jesus claimed to have fulfilled all the Law and the Prophets of what we now know as the Old Testament, so (with caveats), no need to dwell there.  Pauline theology need not detain us. No, our focus is on the Sermon on the Mount, the parables and other recorded words and actions ofJesus.

We need to exercise our critical faculties when reading the synoptic gospels. They were written well after the death of Jesus and are drawn from other documents and oral/narrative tradition. How reliable are the records of direct speech? Not very, no tape recorders, stenographers, shorthand writers to publish speech verbatim. The best we can hope for is the accuracy  of the meaning of the message, not the actual words used.

Then we may consider the context and motivation of Matthew, Mark and Luke. What is the relevance of the different content and emphasis of each gospel, to whom were they directed?  Does it matter?  Can we discern principles that are not constrained by context, ones as relevant today as they were then?  The answer of course is in the affirmative.  Whilst our focus should be on understanding the teaching enshrined in the synoptic gospels it is important to understand the Old Testament background referred or alluded to in the gospels.  Such reference should be used to enlighten our understanding of the principles enunciated in the gospels.  The Old Testament should not be used as a primary source to inform our behaviour as followers of Jesus.