The Synoptic Gospels are the very first three gospels of the New Testament which consist of Matthew, Luke, and Mark. These 3 gospels have been named the Synoptic Gospels because of how noticeably similar that they all are, having many of the same stories often in a similar sequence and with the same wording, and also because of how different they are to the gospel of John. There are many theories that suggest Matthew and Luke used Marks gospel, who supposedly wrote his before theirs, as a major source when writing their gospels. I am going to compare the gospels of Matthew and Mark to find out just how similar they both are and to determine whether or not these theories are true.
Matthew has 28 chapters and it is the first book of the Synoptic
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Mark’s gospel is the shortest of the 4 books about the life of Christ. It is a quick history of Jesus’ life, his teachings, death, and resurrection. Many of the early age Christian writers believe that Mark wrote his Gospel of Christ’s life as he saw it preached by Peter and also believed that he wrote it with the Romans in mind. Mark’s mother Mary who was a Christian let the church met in her house to pray for Peter while he was in prison. While Matthew emphasizes what Jesus taught, Mark emphasizes what He did. Marks Gospel is different to Matthews Gospel because Mark does not have the family line of Jesus and he doesn’t mention birth and childhood of Jesus. Mark starts his Gospel of the life of Jesus with the ministry of John the Baptist. He doesn’t include Jesus’ rebuke of the scribes, Sermon on the Mount, the Pharisees, or the parables of the second coming that can be found in Matthew 25. But Mark does show more detail in the miracles of Jesus than Matthew. In Mark Jesus is presented more like as a servant than a …show more content…
Nearly 90 percent of Mark’s content is found in Matthew 1 and this shows just how easy it is to believe that there must have been some sort of connections during the period when the Gospels were both written. In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus is portrayed as a King while in Mark’s Gospel Jesus is portrayed as a servant. In Matthews Gospel Jesus is presented as the Messiah, Gods chosen one, to deliver the people from their sins. Jesus shares parables, performs miracles, and teaches the ways of God. In Marks Gospel Jesus is portrayed as a wonder worker who is very mysterious and in a hurry. He quickly goes from spot to spot, performs miracles and heals without very much teaching, and constantly urges his apostles not to talk about his works. Matthew and Mark have many similar parables for example in one parable Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho (Matt. 20:29, Mk 10:46), while in Luke they were entering the town (Lk. 18:35). Matthew 9:9-13 and Mark 2:13-17 are almost identical sometimes having the exact same wording “they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”” this comes from Matthew 9:11 and Mark 2:13-17 where there is the exact same wording. Throughout Matthew and Mark there are also many more examples of similar wording
The contents of the Bible have dealt with controversy in regards to its inerrancy since publication, and will surely continue to. Historians progress to learn more about biblical stories in order to provide evidence for the reliability of information. Many believers today understand that not everything in the Bible has been factually proven. An outstanding topic many scholars pay attention to lies within the four gospels. The three synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, replay essentially the same story with minor inconsistencies, while John portrays Jesus in an entirely different way. The differences in each gospel are due to how each gospel entertains different portrayals of the life and understanding of Jesus himself, in order to persuade
The authors of the Gospel According to Matthew, and the Gospel According to Luke made some considerable modifications, deletions, and additions to the Gospel of Mark. To the average reader the changes seem rather significant and one might ask why these changes were made. Well, there are several reasons why these changes were made. For example, the authors wanted to show readers that Jesus was more holy than the original author set him out to be. Also, the authors sought after to express the gospel in, what they thought, were better words to make it appear more authentic. Furthermore the authors of the Gospel According to Matthew and the Gospel According to Luke wanted simply to modify the text because they didn’t see eye to eye with what the original author said.
The beginning and ending of the Gospel of Mark really support the four main themes present within the Gospel. The four main themes in the Gospel are: Jesus as being enigmatic, Jesus as a sufferer, Low Christology and Apocalypticism present within the Gospel. The beginning and ending of this Gospel support Jesus as being misunderstood because in the beginning, there is no birth story of Jesus or any background information presented, Jesus is just there. This makes one question where did he come from and who was he born to? In the end of the Gospel, the tomb is described as empty and the last sentences of the Gospel in Mark 16: 8 says: “So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid” (1743). This ending of the Gospel is enigmatic because there is no mention of Jesus’ resurrection or whether anyone ever found out that Jesus had ascended to Heaven. The beginning and ending, not to mention the entire Gospel, leaves one wondering many things about Jesus, because his whole existence in Mark is very mys...
The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are the origin of nearly everything the Christian Church teaches about Jesus. The Gospels, in turn, serve as the scale or test of truth and authenticity of everything the church teaches about Jesus. It is said that the Gospels are the link between Jesus of Nazareth and the people of every age throughout history who have claimed to be his followers. Although the Gospels teach us about Jesus’ life they may not provide concrete evidence that what they speak of is true there are several other sources.
One of the similarities that is distinct in the synoptic gospels is the fact that all of the writers agreed that the man was demon possessed. Additionally, all three authors agreed that the demonic spirits were sent into the herd of swine. Lastly, they all note that the herd of swine drowned or perished. Some of the differences are geographical location. Matthew list the geographical location as Gadarenes; however, Mark and Luke seem to believe it to be Gerasenes, which was approximately thirty miles inland from the Sea of Galilee. Another difference is the fact that Matthew states, “there were two who were possessed that were coming from the tomb;” but Mark and Luke noted that there was one possessed with a demon. In Mark and Luke the demon possessed man sees Jesus, then falls down and begins to worship him. The authors of Mark and Luke also give a name for the demon possessed man,
One of the main characteristics of the gospel of Mark is it’s length. Mark is much shorter than Matthew and Luke, but what it lacks in quantity, it makes up for in quality. The author of Mark does not slow down the gospel story and makes sure that only important and relevant details are included. When Mark is compared with Matthew and Luke, it becomes obvious to see what Mark has eliminated. The author’s omission of Jesus’ birth, lineage, resurrection, and ascension denote careful planning and purpose in the gospel of Mark.
Compare and contrast the birth narratives in the Gospel of Matthew and that of the Gospel of Luke.
Jesus Christ lived a very full, if short, life. He did and accomplished more in his thirty years than many men do in twice that. The gospels each tell their versions of his life. Of the four, I found the gospel of Mark to be the most interesting. I enjoy the style of writing in this gospel more than the others. I feel it gives a better summary of the events in Christ’s life. Whereas the other gospels tend to get bogged down with parables or spend too much time on specific events, the gospel of Mark moves along at a good pace and adequately gets the message across.
A curious thing that Mark never mentions throughout the entirety of the gospel is Joseph, Jesus’ earthly father. The beginning of Mark continuously reiterates that Jesus is the Son of God, the gospel’s first verse is a clear example, “the beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.” Again towards the end of the gospel in verse 15:39 Jesus is clearly declared as the Son of God, “and when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, ‘Surely this man was the Son of God!’” The beginning of Mark does not have a nativity story and the end does not continue to the resurrection story, so in beginning and ending the gospels with the proclaiming of Jesus as the Son of God the author is saying that Jesus was the promised savior and he was perfect rather than being seen as a simply son of a
The first three gospels are sometimes called the 'synoptic' (same view) gospels. This is because they each cover teaching and miracles by Jesus that are also covered in another account. John, writing later, recounts Jesus' other words and miracles that have a particular spiritual meaning.
Mark’s gospel and John’s gospel contain many differences from the beginning, but both end with Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. The gospels of John and Mark represent Jesus as two different people. The disparity is that Mark represents Jesus as a servant while John portrays Jesus as a divine being. However, one must realize the two texts are meant to read by different audiences during different time periods. Each description presents a particular aspect of the life of Historical Jesus.
The four gospels are detailed accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Each portrays a unique story and angle of Jesus, who is the savior of the Jews and the world. Apostle Matthew’s writings are to prove to the Jews that Jesus is their Messiah. Mark stressed the humanity of Jesus and also his deity. Luke wanted to show that the gentile Christian in God’s kingdom is based on the teachings of Jesus. John speaks of Jesus as one sent from God to reveal His love and grace to man. The four gospels work together to elaborate on the several key themes; salvation, spreading His word, and the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise.
While both the Gospel of Matthew and John tell of the global reordering plan for the world, each does so in a unique way. The Gospel of Matthew is able to show the reordering of the world by focusing on the aspect of Jesus as a teacher and the results of this; while the Gospel of John shows the reordering occurring as God works through Jesus showing signs to the people of who he is, focusing on the belief this brings to people. “But all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God” (John 1:12). Through this verse, we see the reordering in effect, as all who receive him and believe in him have the power to become children of God.
The New Testament is a collection of different spiritual literary works, which includes the Gospels, a history of early church, the epistles of Paul, other epistles and apocalypse. Without deeply thinking or researching of the chronological order of the Gospels, a reader should not have problem to observe that the Gospels begin with the Gospel of Matthew, and to notice that there are many common areas, including content and literary characteristics, among the first three Gospels, the Gospel of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
Many important themes arose while I was reading the Gospel of Mark. In my week 2 group discussion posts, the themes I listed were faith, power of prayer, forgiveness, repentance, optimism, gratitude and mercy. However there are more that I found in the chapter and I read through it again such as the healing power of God and standing for righteousness.