God’s Plan reaches its fulfillment in Jesus

In the past God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets but in these last days he

spoke to us through a son. Hebrews 1:1

We pray Psalm 131

A Benedictine Abbot said, “Pray the way you can, not the way you can’t.”

The story so far (Salvation History Catch-up) … God’s Chosen People God makes a Covenant with them God’s faithfulness God ruled history and guided and

protected his people. Living in the Covenant: Belief in one

God- faith- reverence- worship

SHARING:

Having completed the sessions on the Old Testament, how do I feel about the story of God and His Chosen People?

What is my image of God at this point in time?

The Stories…

The Stories…

St Augustine:

“The New Testament is concealed in the Old and the Old Testament is revealed in the New.”

And we need to know all this because… We need the Old Testament to understand

the New Testament. The Old Testament was a reflection of

human life If God sent someone with a vitally important

message it would seem reasonable that he would first let us know about it.

And God did. God told us when His Son was coming, where He would be born, where He would live, the doctrine He would teach, the enemies He would make, how He would die.

The time of the promise goes on….

Let’s read at our tables: Micah 5:1-5

Psalms 89:3-4

Isaiah 11.2

Jer 23: 5 – 6

Genesis 3:15

Isaiah 7:14

Zechariah 9:9

Isaiah 53:3 – 7

Psalms 118:22

The setting

The New Testament Comprises 27 different books divided into 4 sections

Section Name of book DescriptionA) The Gospels

1. Matthew2. Mark3. Luke

4. John Most important books for Christians.Convey the meaning of Christ Jesus’ life and teachings as their central message.

B) The Acts of the Apostles

5. Acts A continuation of the Gospel of Luke and tells the stories of how the early Church was spread.

C) The Epistles (Letters)

6. Romans 7. 1 Corinthians8. 2 Corinthians9. Galatians10. Ephesians11. Philippians12. Colossians13. 1 Thessalonians14. 2 Thessalonians15. 1 Timothy

16. 2 Timothy17. Titus18. Philemon19. Hebrews20. James21. 1 Peter22. 2 Peter23. 1 John24. 2 John25. 3 John26. Jude

21 letters written by St. Paul and other early Church leaders, that give teaching and guidance to individuals and the first Christian churches.

D) The Book of Revelation

27. Revelation This book records the visions of an early Christian named John.

“Gospel” from the ancient Anglo-Saxon “godspell”, meaning good news.

Originally from the Greek “euangelion”, meaning good news.

What is this good news? Good news preached by Jesus. Good news about Jesus.

The Gospels are the 4 books about Jesus in the New Testament.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE GOSPELS IN 4 STAGES

THE JESUS EVENT / THE MINISTRY OF JESUS

THE PROCLAMATION OR PREACHING OF FAITH

(KERYGMA) BY WITNESSES

THE WRITING OF THE GOSPELS BY THE

EVANGELISTS

30 AD– 33 AD

33 AD – 65 AD

65 AD – 100 AD

AUTHORIZING THE LISTBy the

4th Century

OVERVIEW Of The GOSPELS

Synoptic GospelsMatthew• 85 – 90 AD• for Greek speaking Christians, mostly Jewish in origin

Mark• 65 – 70 AD• for Greek speaking Christians in Rome

Luke• 85 – 95 AD • for Greek speaking Gentile converts (non-Jewish Christians)

John• 90 – 100 AD• for the Johannine

commmunity deriving its tradition from “the beloved disciple”.

What the Gospels are

Documents of Salvation History

Documents of Faith

Documents from the Church

Documents for the Church

What the Gospels are notThey are not

A Biography of Jesus An exact historical account of Jesus’ life. “Open to interpretation”

The task of authentically interpreting the Word of God has been entrusted exclusively to the living teaching office of the Church whose authority is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ.

“To be continued…”There will be no further new public revelation before the glorious manifestation of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

John, the last of the OT prophets & the precursor of the Messiah.Miraculous birth Luke 1: 5 – 23; 57 - 80

Matthew 3: 1 – 12

For next week please read…

The Gospel of Luke Chapter 1 – 4

“We speak to God when we pray, we listen to God when we read Holy Scripture”.

Let us pray:Accept, Lord, my inner brokeness and turn it into wholeness.Accept my fears and change them into trust.Accept my suffering and change it into growth.Accept my tension and change it into interior peace.Accept my tears and change them into prayer.Accept my sins and change them into forgiveness.

Accept my doubts and change them into faith.Accept my loneliness and change it into self-acceptance.Accept my expectations and change them into hope.Accept my death and change it into resurrection.Accept, Lord, all of me, and change me into You. Amen.