Which gospel reports that Jesus said, "The kingdom of God is among you"?

The statement attributed to Jesus answers a question raised by Pharisees about when the kingdom of God is coming. Later in this gospel the author will repeat the statement in the gospel of Mark that "this generation will not pass away till all [the coming of the kingdom of God] has taken place." (Lk. 21:30, see Mk. 13:30) By inserting a comment earlier in the narrative that the kingdom of God is already among the people, the gospel writer anticipates problem arising after the generation living at the time of Jesus has passed away. When Pharisees in the mid 80's asked Christian advocates why the kingdom of God had not come, as Jesus seemed to prophesy in the gospel of Mark, the author of the gospel of Luke could reply that the questioners had misunderstood what Jesus meant by the kingdom of God. And, after writing the gospel of Luke, the community of faith for which it was written could point to a saying by Jesus that suggested the kingdom had begun during his lifetime and thus well within the lifetime of all those of his generation.

The author of the gospel of Luke begins his two-volume story of the church (the gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles) with a story of two women, Mary and Elizabeth. (Lk. 1:39-56) Both women have become pregnant in miraculous ways that suggest a plan by God of immense importance. When Mary visits Elizabeth, Elizabeth feels her baby move in her womb, and she is filled with the Holy Spirit. Then Mary replies with words of praise that have been known through the ages in the church as the Magnificat, because Mary begins by saying her soul "magnifies the Lord." Her song promises the fulfillment of God's salvation for the poor and for those that fear and trust in God.

It is remarkable that this gospel, or any religious writing of the first century, should begin with a story of two women being blessed and exalting God. Clearly, in the early church there were women among the leadership, at least in communities of faith in Roman cities, as is verified in the Acts of the Apostles. It seems, therefore, that the author of the gospel of Luke was writing an account of the church for one or more of these congregations. The gospel of Matthew, in contrast, begins with a story about Joseph, the Jewish father of Jesus, and because this gospel tells us that Jesus is the fulfillment of Jewish prophecy we see that it was written for a largely Jewish church. The gospel of Luke, on the other hand, begins in a way that gives less emphasis to Jewish prophecy in order to communicate to the urban and largely Gentile churches that are growing in the Roman Empire.

The birth of the church was told in stories about the birth of Jesus. Faith in Christ, however, does not require that we believe in these stories as literal truth. Only two of the gospels in the New Testament have birth stories, so not all Christian congregations in the first century thought such a story was a necessary part of the gospel. Moreover, the birth stories in the gospels of Matthew and Luke are distinct, which makes it hard to avoid concluding that they were created within different communities of faith to express the belief that the origin of the Jesus Christ was a miracle. The truth of the birth stories in the New Testament is not to be found in a literal interpretation of the events each describes. The truth is to be found in their meaning for early churches, which were witnessing to the miraculous community of faith involving Jews and Gentiles as well as rich and poor. How else were these churches to understand the creation of communities that overcame the ancient divisions of traditional society? The authors of these birth stories believed only God could have created such a church, and so they began their narratives with accounts of the miraculous birth of Jesus.

John the Baptist. All four gospels in the New Testament record that the ministry of Jesus began with a blessing by John the Baptist. Only the gospel of Luke, however, relates this teaching. (Lk. 3:11) As the author of the gospel is writing decades after the encounter between John and Jesus took place, it seems unlikely that he alone is aware of this story. Probably the author created this statement by John, for it is central to the theme of the gospel of Luke. 

In the gospel of Matthew, John the Baptist condemns the Pharisees and Sadducees, who have come to him, for their hypocrisy. This is evidence that the gospel of Matthew was written for a largely Jewish church, which is presenting itself to Jews as the fulfillment of the hope that has been tainted in the hands of corrupt Jewish leaders. In the gospel of Luke, however, John the Baptist speaks with "the multitudes" and not with Pharisees and Sadducees. Moreover, he does not condemn them for hypocrisy, but encourages them to share what they have with the poor. The gospel of Luke relates that tax collectors and soldiers also asked John how they should prepare for the coming of the day of the Lord. John's answer was that they should exercise their authority with justice and compassion. Unlike the gospel of Matthew, the gospel of Luke is written for a largely Gentile church. Therefore, it begins with the story of John the Baptist reaching out even to Gentile soldiers.

The emphasis in the gospel of Luke on being merciful and fair to the poor reminds us that sharing was a problem in the early church. The division between those with wealth and power and those without either was great then as now. One of the miracles of the church is that rich and poor were able to share in a community of faith, which affirmed their equality and unity in Christ. The gospel of Luke suggests this was a struggle from the beginning, and it remains one of the great challenges of the church. 

Which disciple says Jesus is the Christ?

Peter said to Jesus, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by any human, but by my Father in heaven." (Mt. 16:16)

In the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke we find the account in which Peter names Jesus as the Christ, but only in the gospel of Matthew does Jesus call Peter "son of Jonah" and say that the true identity of Jesus was revealed to Peter by God. The tradition that Peter was the disciple who first identified Jesus as the Christ must have been deeply embedded in the memory of the early churches, but the gospels reveal some controversy about his role in the life of the first century church. The contrast between the gospels of Matthew and Mark are particularly striking. In the gospel of Mark, Peter and the other disciples are always depicted as shallow in their faith and without understanding. In the gospel of Matthew, however, Peter and the other disciples are criticized but also praised for their understanding. In addition, the gospel of Matthew ends with the commissioning of the eleven in Galilee to lead the church into the world. The gospel of Mark does not even report an appearance of the risen Jesus to the disciples.

Why these differences? The gospel of Matthew was written for a largely Jewish congregation of faith, and so it was important for these Jews to trace their lineage back to the disciples of Jesus. The gospel of Mark, on the other hand, was written for a largely Gentile church. It expresses the teachings of Paul to the Gentiles in the way that it presents Jesus as a teacher and miracle worker. Moreover, it ends without an appearance of the risen Christ to the disciples. In this way the gospel of Mark undermines the authority of the disciples and, at least implicitly, points to the apostolic leadership of Paul. The gospel of Matthew presents teachings by Jesus about keeping Jewish law (Mt. 5:17-20) that are contrary to the teachings of Paul, but in the gospel of Mark we find Jesus setting aside the requirements of the law (Mk. 7:19) in a way that supports the teachings of Paul.

What are we to make of these differences today? The gospels and the letters of Paul reflect the beliefs of the communities of faith for which they were written, and these beliefs are not the same. This fact demonstrates that those who have faith in Jesus as the Christ may nonetheless have different beliefs about him and their faith. Faith is not the same as belief, and the test of faith is not holding certain beliefs but trusting in God. The good news of the gospel is that we are saved by the love of God, not by our beliefs about God. God's forgiveness for our sins is revealed in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, which is why he is the Christ, and this is the saving act of God. If we trust in the loving God who redeems humanity, we will find salvation no matter what our beliefs.

In which gospel do we find the teaching, "Judge not, that you be not judged"?

In the gospel of Matthew we read: "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get." (Mt. 7:1-2) The gospel of Luke has taken this teaching and modified it to emphasize forgiveness rather than judgment. The verse preceding the statement about not judging says: "Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful." (Lk. 6:36) And then after saying, "Judge not, and you will not be judged," the author of the gospel of Luke has Jesus repeat this teaching with a parallel statement: "condemn not, and you will not be condemned." Then the teaching concludes: "forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you." (Lk. 6:37-38) The shift from not judging to forgiving and giving reflects the distinctive purpose of the gospel of Luke.

This, of course, is a variation on the theme of the Golden Rule: "do unto others as you would have them do unto you." In the gospel of Luke, Jesus says: "Do to others as you would like them to do to you." Lk. 6:31) In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus adds, "for this is the law and the prophets." (Mt. 7:12) Both Jews and Christians in the first century referred to "the law and the prophets" as "scripture." The letters of Paul and the gospels written after them did not officially become "scripture" until the fourth century, when they were included in the canon of the Christian Bible. The gospel of Matthew emphasizes that the teachings of Jesus sum up the Jewish scriptures, because this gospel was written for a primarily Jewish Christian church. The gospel of Luke does not identify the Golden Rule with the Jewish scriptures, because it was written for a largely Gentile church.

In 40-10 BCE Hillel was the leader of the dominant school of Pharisees in Palestine. A story is told that once a Gentile came and said to Hillel, "I will convert, if you can teach me Judaism while standing on one foot." Hillel replied, rephrasing Leviticus 19:18, "What is hateful to you do not do to anyone else." When this same man went to Shammai, the leader of a school of Pharisees that interpreted the Jewish law more strictly, the man was physically pushed away. The conflict among Pharisees, between the followers of Hillel and the followers of Shannai, is reflected in the gospels of the New Testament. The teachings of Jesus in the first three gospels of the New Testament are often consistent with what was taught by the Pharisees who followed the teachings of Hillel about the law and the prophets, and thus would have been opposed by the Pharisees who followed the teachings of Shammai.

In which gospel does Jesus say, "When two or three are gathered in my name, I am there"?

In 1 Corinthians 6:1-6 Paul similarly instructs members of the church in Corinth to resolve their grievances without resorting to the courts. If the gospel of Matthew had been written before Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, surely he would have referred to the passage quoted from the gospel as presenting the authoritative words of Jesus on this subject. Paul does not, however, and thus we can only conclude that Paul wrote his letter to Corinth without any knowledge of the gospel of Matthew. It is possible, of course, that the gospel of Matthew had been written earlier and Paul simply did not know about it.  But it seems unlikely that in his travels and correspondence Paul would have been ignorant of such a gospel, if it existed at the time he was writing.

Surely, Paul would have agreed with the gospel passage quoted above. He, too, felt the presence of the risen Christ when followers of the Way gathered for prayer. In fact, it may be that the gospel of Matthew is presenting the teaching of Paul to the early church in Corinth (and elsewhere, we may presume) as the teaching of Jesus. The reference in the gospel account to "the church" (v. 17) reveals that the gospel was written during the life of the church and was intended to resolve conflicts within the church. The gospel of Matthew (and the other gospels as well) are not biographies of Jesus written shortly after his death, but are testimonies that present the experiences of the risen Christ within the churches in the middle and latter part of the first century CE. 

For Paul, the mystical body of Christ was the source of the unity of the church, and he spent his life trying to resolve the conflicts between Gentile and Jewish Christians that continued to undermine the unity of the church. He died without any assurance that he had succeeded.  But the growth of the church among Gentiles and the dispersion of the Jerusalem church after the Romans destroyed the temple in 70 CE in putting down a Jewish rebellion meant that the unity of the church would no longer be threatened by Gentile and Jewish differences. An almost entirely Gentile Christian church soon looked to Paul's writings for guidance in facing other differences. Once Paul's letters were included in the New Testament in the fourth century, his words of counsel were preserved for the centuries to come. They might well encourage and guide us even today, for differences among Christians continue to plague the promise of the church to be the body of Christ.

In the gospel of Matthew this teaching is followed by the parable of the unjust servant, who is forgiven his debt to a king but who fails to forgive a debt owed him. The moral of the teaching is clearly spelled out at the end of chapter 17. God will punish those who do not forgive their brothers (and sisters). The word "brothers" refers to those who are part of the same community, not to members of the same family. This is a teaching for the church that draws on words attributed to Jesus to preach forgiveness to Christians. The same teaching is incorporated in the Lord's Prayer, where we pray: "and forgive us our debts (trespasses), as we forgive our debtors (trespasses)." (Mt. 6:12) The whole prayer attributed to Jesus is found in verses 9-13 of Matthew 6, but Protestant readers will be surprised that the ending of the prayer - "for the kingdom and the power and the glory are yours, for ever and ever..." - is not included in the gospel. This ending, which uses words from David's prayer in 1 Chronicles 29:11-13, was added by the early church. In the Roman Catholic mass these words are included but are separated from the Our Father, so Roman Catholic readers do not think of these words as part of the prayer taught by Jesus to his followers.