KNOWING THE BIBLE

The New Testament is the name given to the second part of the Christian Bible, which condenses the life and message of Jesus Christ, the accounts of the first communities of Christians, the pastoral letters of the apostles that forged the guiding lines and, for last, the visions.

The word "testament" in the Hebrew language (berith) has the meaning of 'alliance', therefore, new testament means 'new covenant', as opposed to the Old Testament, which means the 'old covenant'.

For Christianity, the Old Testament is interpreted as the "creation story", since it contains the accounts of the creation of the world, the history of the patriarchs and kings and the evolution of Jewish law even before the birth of Jesus. Instead, the New Testament is considered as "salvation history" or "new covenant." This is because, from the Christian point of view, Jesus is the incarnation of the living God who has come to save the human being from sin and eternal death.

As is well known, the Bible is a book of books. Each of the two parts that comprise it, contains in turn a compendium of books. In the case of the New Testament, we find 27 books, which are:

The word gospel means 'good news'. This word is intended to announce the arrival of the kingdom of God, based on mercy, forgiveness and love.

The gospels are the pivotal center of the entire New Testament. They were written at least 70 years after the death of Jesus, and the oldest of them is Mark's.

Each of the canonical (official) gospels was written at different times and for different communities, which explains the differences between them. These are:

The Gospel that bears the name of MATEO - a tax collector who left his job to follow Jesus (9. 9) - was written around 80 AD. C. and is aimed primarily at Christians of Jewish origin.

Given the character of the addressees, Matthew often cites texts from the Old Testament and relies on them to show that the design of God announced by the Prophets reaches its full fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus. He is the "Son of David", the "Sent One" to save his People, the "Son of man" who will manifest himself as the universal Judge, the "King of Israel" and the "Son of God" par excellence. Matthew also explicitly applies to Jesus the oracles of Isaiah about the "Suffering Servant," who carries our weaknesses and infirmities. And by giving him the title of "Lord", reserved only to God in the Old Testament, he implicitly affirms his divine condition.

This evangelist attributes a special importance to the teachings of Jesus and groups them into five discourses, which form the plot of his Gospel and are framed by so many narrative sections. The central theme of these discourses is the Kingdom of God. In them, Christ appears as "the new Moses," which brings to completion the Law of the Old Covenant. He is also the "Teacher", who teaches "as one who has authority" (7. 29) the "justice" of that Kingdom inaugurated and proclaimed by him.

The Gospel of Matthew has rightly been called "the Gospel of the Church", because of the preponderant role occupied in it by the life and organization of the community gathered in the name of Jesus. This community is the new People of God, the place where the risen Lord manifests his presence and radiates it to all men. That is why she is called to live in brotherly love and mutual service, as indispensable conditions to make visible the true face of Jesus Christ.