Jesus Chapter 3 Analysis

In chapter three, Paula Fredriksen elaborates on her sources of Paul and the Gospels on the historical Jesus. She starts with Paul, as his writing were the earliest accounts of Jesus which were written about 15-25 centuries before the first Gospel. Paul’s strongest argument was how non-Jewish followers of Jesus had Jewish laws. Since Paul relied on early Jesus traditions. Fredriksen compared Paul and Mark, due to Mark being the next earliest source on Jesus. While describing who Jesus was, Paul stated Jesus as God’s Son, while in Mark, only the demons knew Jesus was God’s Son and Mark’s usage of the motif of secrecy. The kingdom of God has similarities between the two writers. The Kingdom will arrive within the time period of Jesus’ life.
They both agree an end is coming in a more apocalyptic manner, while later writers have less of an apocalyptic style of writing. All of the writers agree that Jesus had his 12 disciples.
They all have similar stories on how the 12 were chosen. They also agree upon the disciples traveled to spread the message of Jesus, even after Jesus’ death. It is odd how Paul and the Gospel writers said the Kingdom was coming during their writing. Even though it did not occur during Paul and Mark, the later writers of Matthew and Luke still incorporated this aspect into their own writings. All of this assumptions were brought together by how everyone from the writers to Jesus’ followers believed the Kingdom was at hand. This could possibly explain how the disciples were sent out with minimal supplies during their travels, as Jesus could have thought the Kingdom was coming sooner. Main themes of Jesus from Paul and the Gospels were how Jesus helped the poor, his commitment to his followers is stronger than his family, evil is met with nonresistance and sinners do not need to be afraid of being excluded from the Kingdom. Each writer had their own notion of the context of referring Jesus as Christ. Paul, who doesn’t state a clear reasoning for his claim, but says how Jesus inline with the descendants from God. Mark has his motif of secrecy, Matthew and Luke have their
genealogy. While following those major themes, Jesus made different etiquettes for his followers. Paul reiterates Jesus’s saying in eating, how the bread and wine signifies the coming of the Lord. Mark adds his own similar story too, it has lines closely related to Paul’s writing. In chapter three, it seems Fredriksen relied heavily on the two earliest writers of Paul and Mark. Their writing style nearly resembles each other. It would be the case, if Paul wrote before Mark and Mark needed information he would have gathered some information from Paul.