John

     As we have seen in our previous studies, Matthew, Mark and Luke all draw from a common body of material:  the events of Jesus’ life, the teaching and preaching of the early church and the stories that developed and took shape between A.D. 30 through the mid 70s, the first generation of the church.  Hence, we refer to Matthew, Mark and Luke as the synoptic Gospels (Greek, syn, “same” and optic, “eye”).  Although drawing on a common body of material, we have also seen that Matthew, Mark and Luke each has his own unique narrative strategy, shaping his material to suit his purpose and audience...

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