Author Archives: dscott5

Team 4, Question 2

Posted on by under thomas

The Gospel of Thomas starts by saying this gospel contains the secrets sayings of Jesus and that the purpose is to save people. Jesus tells the disciples that they do not understand his purpose for the world and so he tells them that he will bring salvation. Jesus then starts to tell them that where they will spend the rest of the lives is not like this world. Thomas is trying to stress the importance of faith and says that people were born without it but spend their lives seeking it even if they do not know exactly what it is. Thomas then adds the importance of spreading the gospel of Jesus because he will not be on available to them on earth forever. Jesus wants the disciples to focus on the now and not think about what he is supposed to do until after he is gone. In verse 52 Jesus rebukes the disciples for speaking of the great prophets of Israel and comparing Jesus to them. Jesus’ teaching in the Gospel of Thomas focuses on the spirituality of people and caring for those in your community that are currently living. Jesus continues to stress that he is with God and because of this Jesus is in all things and made all things. Jesus states that whoever believes in him will be like him and have peace knowing that they will be in the Kingdom of God forever. The Gospel of Thomas presents Jesus not as a suffering messiah, but as the person who will bring in the new age — the Kingdom of God.

The readings teach that people should focus on their spirituality and not there bodies. The body will come and go, but spirituality will lead to the Kingdom of God which is nothing like anything on Earth and will last forever. the teachings show us that the Kingdom of God is everywhere and that is defy human understanding. Jesus again stresses the importance of being a good person and accepting him into their hearts so that they will act like him to gain acceptance into heaven. Jesus continues to stress the importance of the spirit and teaches that everyone came from God and he wants them all to gain access to heaven through there hearts and to spread their salvation to others who do not yet know. Jesus wants people to develop their spirituality and move away from the worldly view of how things are currently in the world. Jesus wants to become one with the people he is sharing the good news with people so that they might believe in him and join him to go to heaven together. The insiders of Jesus have the spirit of Jesus inside them and because of this they are asked to be like Jesus. They are to share the good news and help other people find Jesus and gain access into heaven as they have already.

I think that the people who would have been most attracted to this are the people were were not accepted into communities already. Those who fear death and do not currently have very much on earth. Jesus wants to bring them to the heaven where they will not be thirsty or hungry or need to worry about anything. They will not have aliments or suffer they will join Jesus and be like him as well as with him. The Jews and gentiles seemingly would both be attracted to this form of christianity because it shows that everyone can benefit from Jesus and his love for them.

Team 4, Question 2

Posted on by under mark

The Gospel of Mark depicts the disciples of Jesus as people who do not fully understand that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God. In Mark 4:41 the disciples are in awe of what Jesus can do and say “”Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?” Jesus performed the miracle of calming the sea, which historically would be viewed as a divine act by the people of Jesus’ time because only the gods have control over nature. Yet the disciples who have been told by Jesus himself that he is the Son of God do not understand. Then in chapter 6 the disciples are told to share the gospel and do this by healing the sick, performing exorcisms and telling people to repent. Even as they continue their ministry they are still astounded by the actions of Jesus and do not understand how he does all these great things (Mark 4:51). The disciples again do not understand what Jesus is saying in regards to the cleanliness of the sprit rather than the body and the importance thereof. Jesus becomes baffled at the lack of understanding of the disciples and their desire for the physical world when they are in Jesus’ presence. The disciples seem to be overly concerned about their physical needs rather than their spiritual needs. Mark is arguing that the disciples were too focused on the physical world and not their spiritual growth and that is the key to their misunderstanding of who Jesus is and what he was doing for them.

Mark characterizes Bartimaeus as a blind man who has faith in Jesus as the Son of God and that he can do anything because he is God. When Bartimaeus asks Jesus to cure his blindness, Jesus said to him “Go your way; your faith has made you well” (Mark 10:52). The unnamed women who pours oil over Jesus head and anoints him before his burial (Mark 14:8). Both of these people in the Gospel of Mark are very different from the disciples understanding of Jesus. Both of these people realize the divineness of Jesus and that he can do great things. They see his significance had believe in him even without seeing him. The faith in Jesus is different from the disciples who still to not understand who Jesus is.

Based on the parable of the sower I would put the disciples in the category of the rocks. They get behind Jesus quickly leaving all they have behind and like the seeds spring up quickly. They do not fully understand Jesus and his role in the world so they wither away quickly because they do not have the good soil beneath them. The unnamed women and Bartimaeus are the good soil because they believe in their hearts that Jesus is the Son of God and the Messiah. Therefore they are able to yield their understanding and grow spiritually not just physically as the disciples in Mark’s portrayal. Jesus is trying to highlight the importance of faith and believing in him as the Son of God focusing on the heart rather than the body.

Discipleship for Mark is the spiritual following of Jesus. Bartimaeus and the unnamed women excel at this because they believe in Jesus and recognize his importance. The disciples of Jesus do not recognize this and therefore are truly the disciples of Jesus. Instead anyone who believes and shares the good news of Jesus would be considered a true disciple of Jesus.

Team 4, Question 2

Posted on by under oral tradition

White Argues that the Last Supper tradition was circulated orally and was then written down based on the structure of the passage. White states that the formula for oral tradition following “the formulaic quality and close parallelism of the two sayings ‘This is … Do this … in remembrance of me’” (White p. 114). White goes on to compare the symbolism of the bread and the wine that Paul writes about in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26. The use of the Last Supper in the three Synoptic Gospels also hints that these authors shared a common source. White also highlights the difference between using bless and give thanks for describing the bread that Jesus breaks with his disciples (White p. 116). This difference could show the change from a Jewish community to one that is more Greek.

White points out that the gospel writers narrativize the story of the Last Supper by making changes to the oral tradition. White describes on such change as the addition of the phrase ‘Do this in remembrance of me’ to the Gospel of Luke and in 1 Corinthians (White p. 117). The various authors of the gospels and the author of 1 Corinthians use their sources to help build a narrative for their respective audiences. White shows various points in the stories of the gospels and 1 Corinthians where the authors probably changed the oral tradition to fit their story to make it clearer for their audiences (White p. 118). There is evidence that the authors changed the oral history to make it fit with their audience and arguments and shaped the context of the overall stories. These changes can seem minor but also play a larger role in the development of the way that various people understood Jesus and his teachings.

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