Gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke

The four gospels begin at different times in the ministry of Jesus Christ, and at different places. While John, which won't be considered here, begins the story of Jesus as God with eternity, Mark begins the story of the servant of God with John the Baptist and Jesus' baptism (1:1-13). Both Matthew and Luke, scholars at heart, begin with Jesus' lineage, a matter of much more importance to the educated person in those days than it is now (Matt. 1:1-17 and Luke 3:23-38). Matthew, seeking to show Jesus as the Son of David and fulfillment of prophecy, traces him through Joseph to establish his legal possession of the Davidic kingdom and then to Abraham, which is all that would matter to a Hebrew. (At this point, that Joseph was Jesus' step-father is important, since Matt. 1:11 "Jeconiah" is Jehoiachin of 2 Kings 24:10-15 of whom God said none of his descendants would again sit on the throne of David Jer. 22:28-30.) Luke, on the other hand, takes Jesus' lineage through Mary all the way to Adam in order to establish him before the Gentiles as the "Son of God" (Luke 3:38).

John the Baptist and Jesus' baptism is one of three or four events included in all four gospels, for that is where Jesus' ministry of salvation began. Since Luke as a doctor was more in

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ve, openly antagonizing the Pharisees and laying claim to the power and perogatives of God Himself. All three (Matt. 9:9-13, Mark 2:13-17, Luke 5:27-32) record Matthew's call as a disciple. Again, since this was a close friend as well as a person important to the early church, omitting this event would have been noticeable. Additionally, for purposes of doctrine, Matthew was a tax-collector. In that day such a call amounted to a statement that if he could make it, anyone could. In each of the three gospels, the verses following record Jesus' defense of His disciples against the Pharisees' accusation that the disciples didn't do what the Pharisees said they should do. This also was important for doctrinal purposes, establishing that they followed Jesus, not any other person or a person's traditions. Luke 6:1-5 and Mark 2:23-28 record the disciples plucking grain on the Sabbath immediately following this scene, whereas Matthew writes it three chapters later (12:1-8). Matthew interposes his record of the healing of the hemorrhaging woman and the raising of Jairus' daughter, which Mark places three chapters after the grain plucking (5:21-43) and Luke places two chapters later (8:41-56). This is the first chronolgical discrepancy a
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Approximate Word count = 1740
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

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