The Significance of the Temple Incident in the Narratives of the Four Gospels

Deolito Vistar brings a new perspective to the interpretation of the temple incident--a key event in Jesus life--by approaching the subject not from the historical Jesus point of view but from that of the authors of the Gospels. Using composition criticism as a method Vistar sensitively analyzes the four Gospels accounts of the incident and shows areas of commonalities and crucial areas where the four evangelists have their own distinctive understanding of what Jesus meant by his protest in the temple. This book is a helpful example of the use of composition analysis in the exegesis of Gospel texts. It is also a helpful study of what is now generally taken for granted in Gospel scholarship: that the four evangelists were both historians and theologians. In this insightful study Deolito Vistar considers the significance of the temple incident for each of the four Gospels and asks how this event connects to the overall message of each Gospel. Through close attention to the context of the temple incident in each Gospel and through careful exegetical discussions Vistar leads us to deeper understanding not only of each evangelists portrait of Jesus but also of each of the Gospels themselves. This engaging and clearly written account greatly helps us to understand this key incident in Jesus life as well as to see the Gospels themselves from a fresh angle. --Paul Trebilco Professor of New Testament Studies Department of Theology and Religion University of Otago Dunedin New Zealand Deolito V. Vistar Jr. is Pastor at Picton Baptist Church in Picton New Zealand. He obtained his PhD in New Testament from the University of Otago in Dunedin New Zealand in 2018. He is also the author of The Cross-and-Resurrection: The Supreme Sign in Johns Gospel (forthcoming).