The purpose of the synoptic Gospels is to spread the good news of Jesus Christ to as many people as possible. The writers of the Gospels do this by targeting specific audiences in each of their writings and by also presenting a very specific image of who Jesus Christ was. The Gospel of Mark, thought to be the first Gospel written, spreads the message of Jesus by presenting him as a mysterious man. Mark’s intended audience was mainly the Gentile people who would have been hearing about Jesus for the first time. The Gospel of Matthew, which is thought to have been written second and probably used Mark as a source, is primarily focused on the Jewish people. This is seen through Matthew’s continued references to famous Jewish people and practices.
…show more content…
The parable tells the story of a wealthy and moral man who asked Jesus what more he had to do in order to gain eternal life. Jesus replies that the man must also give up his possessions and follow him. Unable to part with his many riches and possessions, the man leaves dejected. From this parable comes the famous saying, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God,” which means that it is hard for the rich to give up their material possessions, hold God above all other things, and in turn gain eternal life (New American Standard Bible, Matt. 19.24). Unfortunately, in an effort to engage their specific audiences into the story of the rich young ruler, the authors of the synoptic gospels fall short of their mission to make sure that there is complete harmony in all their writings. Entitling the parable, The Parable of the Rich Young Ruler, is therefore problematic because of the separate agendas and phrasing each of the synoptic gospels writers …show more content…
All three of the synoptic gospel righters have a target audience in mind when righting their gospels, Mark has the Gentile people, Matthew the Jewish people, and Luke the poor. However, the audience directly called upon in the title of the parable would be only rulers who were rich and young. While there may very well have been rich young men reading this parable, it still would have only been applicable to a very small category of men. Because of the specificity in audience, many of the other people reading this who may have not fit into any every category mentioned in the title might think that Jesus’ lesson in this parable would not apply to them. Jesus’ main point through this parable is that there should be nothing between a person and God. A man can live his life by every moral standard there is but as long as there is something between him and God, be it money, a person, or some other thing, he will not be able to experience eternal life. An audience reading this, however, might simply interpret it has having too much money can corrupt a man, but those with a modest amount or even very little are
The parable tells the story of a wealthy and moral man who asked Jesus what more he had to do in order to gain eternal life. Jesus replies that the man must also give up his possessions and follow him. Unable to part with his many riches and possessions, the man leaves dejected. From this parable comes the famous saying, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God,” which means that it is hard for the rich to give up their material possessions, hold God above all other things, and in turn gain eternal life (New American Standard Bible, Matt. 19.24). Unfortunately, in an effort to engage their specific audiences into the story of the rich young ruler, the authors of the synoptic gospels fall short of their mission to make sure that there is complete harmony in all their writings. Entitling the parable, The Parable of the Rich Young Ruler, is therefore problematic because of the separate agendas and phrasing each of the synoptic gospels writers …show more content…
All three of the synoptic gospel righters have a target audience in mind when righting their gospels, Mark has the Gentile people, Matthew the Jewish people, and Luke the poor. However, the audience directly called upon in the title of the parable would be only rulers who were rich and young. While there may very well have been rich young men reading this parable, it still would have only been applicable to a very small category of men. Because of the specificity in audience, many of the other people reading this who may have not fit into any every category mentioned in the title might think that Jesus’ lesson in this parable would not apply to them. Jesus’ main point through this parable is that there should be nothing between a person and God. A man can live his life by every moral standard there is but as long as there is something between him and God, be it money, a person, or some other thing, he will not be able to experience eternal life. An audience reading this, however, might simply interpret it has having too much money can corrupt a man, but those with a modest amount or even very little are