Both are Needed Seminar Paper 2 Religion 422 For: Stephane Saulnier By: Mike Bambrick October 27,

2012

The Gospel According to Matthew begins with: The book of genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.(Matt. 1.1) The Gospel According to John opens with: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.(John 1.1) Although both Gospels speak of Jesus Christ, there are marked differences between the Christology of the two. This paper will compare and contrast these differences. By illustrating how each Gospel explores the actions and words of Jesus, this paper will reveal to the reader the contrasts shown between the two Gospels. First this paper will explore some of the similar stories used in both Gospels; this will highlight the points put forward by both gospel writers. Following the similar stories used, this paper will then explore the words and actions of Jesus, which do not appear in both Gospels. Through the above, the clear Christological differences between the two gospels will be revealed. Then this paper will attempt to briefly explain the contrasts by illustrating who the audiences of each gospel might have been. The first similarity found in the two gospels is the mention of John the Baptist and the preparation of the world for the coming of Jesus. In Matthew opens the subject of John the Baptist with: In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2 and saying, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near. This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: (Matt. 3. 1-3) In John, the Baptist is introduced to the reader through his response to Priests and Levites that were sent to question who he was. Both Gospels show John the Baptist as preparing the way with both quoting John to say:

I am a voice crying in the wilderness, (Matt 3.3 & John 1.23). Another story echoed in the two Gospels is the call of the first Disciples. Another story that is parallel in the two gospels is the triumphal entry to Jerusalem. Matthew describes it with: When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, Who is this? And the crowds were saying, This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee. (Matt. 21. 10-11) John describes the entry to Jerusalem as, On the next day the large crowd who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began to shout, Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.(John 12.12-13) Both gospels describe the excitement with Jesus arrival. A clear parallel in the two Gospels is the mention of Mary Magdalene at the tomb. In Matthew it is stated: Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave. (Matt. 28. 1-2) The similarity in John is: Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb. (John 20.1) The above three mentioned highlight the similarities of the two gospels. Now this paper will explore differences between the two. One such difference is seen in the first call of the Disciples. Although both Gospels introduce the Disciples, how and where they join with Jesus is different. In Matthew the first disciples are called with: Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And He said to them, Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.

Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him. (Matt. 4.18-23) In Johns gospel the call of the first disciples is: The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. And Jesus turned and saw them following, and *said to them, What do you seek? They said to Him, Rabbi where are You staying? He said to them, Come, and you will see. So they came and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peters brother. He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, We have found the Messiah He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas (John 1.37-42) . In addition to the above, other differences are found in what is not contained in both Gospels. Many words or actions of Jesus contained within Matthew, and much of the other two: Mark and Luke, but omitted in John begin to highlight to the reader the Christological differences. In Matthew, as mentioned at the beginning of this paper, the lineage of Jesus is described to the reader in great detail, whereas in John the connection to the lineage or genealogy of the Old Testament is briefly mentioned with:Has not the scripture said that the Christ is descended from David and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?(John 7. 42) Other differences include: the Lords Prayer, given to us by Jesus in Matthew is not included in John, the Baptism by John the Baptist while in Matthew, is not included by John. There is even a contrast as to where the majority of Jesus ministry had taken place. In Matthew, and Mark and Luke, much of the ministry of

Jesus had taken place in Galilee. However, through reading John, it appears that much of Jesus ministry took place in Judea, or around Jerusalem. Having laid out both some of the similarities and differences found in the Gospels, this paper will now outline how the above mentioned supports the different Christology of the two. The Christology found in Matthew becomes clear through the above mentioned, Matthews Jesus is the Messiah to come mentioned in the Old Testament. From the opening of his Gospel, to the end, Matthew works hard to reinforce that Jesus is of Royal lineage, as promised from the house of David. In Matthew the references to the Old Testament are clear with the similarities to Moses with the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew enforces Jesus supporting Mosaic Law. Included in this gospel, references to the promised savior from the Old Testament is the suffering servant of Isaiah. Matthews Christology enforces Jesus as the one to bring the Kingdom of God as promised to the chosen people of God. In Matthew, the mission of Jesus is to bring the Kingdom of God to fulfill the hope of Old Testament to the Jewish people. To Paraphrase the above mentioned, the major Christology put forth in Matthew is that Jesus is a continuation of both Jewish tradition and Jewish scripture. The Christology of John differs from Matthew, the omitting of the long lineage, and much of the references to Jewish scripture, point to another face of Jesus. John focuses his approach to Jesus relationship to God. John stresses that Jesus is not just human, but he is Divine with: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and

without him was not anything made that was made. (John 1.1-4) This first encounter with Johns Christology, as mentioned at the beginning of this paper is the opening of his Gospel. John then reinforces this throughout his Gospel with the following example: For Just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in Himself.(John 5. 25) In short, Johns Gospel makes it clear that the Jesus goes beyond his Son of Man existence. John brings to the reader Jesus as the I Am of the Old Testament. As mentioned, this paper will now briefly explain the two approaches to the Christology found in the Gospels of Matthew and John by looking at who the audiences were at the time of writing. By looking at the beginning of Matthews Gospel, the audience becomes apparent. The clear lineage back to David and Abraham illustrates that the readers of this gospel, when it was first conceived, would have knowledge of Jewish scripture and Tradition. Matthew, throughout the Gospel makes reference to the Old testament, as shown above, to give support for Jesus as the Messiah, sent by God, as promised God. The above strongly supports that Matthews audience would have been Jewish, and or, Jewish Christians. The fact that the lineage is not the beginning of Johns gospel, shows one of two possible audiences, first the audience may have already been introduced to the previous gospels, therefore it does not require mentioning again, or the lineage of Jesus was not as important to the audience as the message of Jesus divinity. Based upon the things omitted by John, his audience is most likely Gentile Christians, and the references made in Matthew were not as relevant to them.

Through comparing and contrasting both the differences and similarities of the Gospels of Matthew and John, the differing Faces of Jesus are revealed. Although John and Matthew present differing Christological view, they are both needed to bring the Gospel reader the true face of Jesus.