Authors Of Matthew And Luke example essay topic

Matthew and Luke's Modifications 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.

Beginning with the author of Matthew we can see in the verse of Mark 3.22. It states, "And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, 'He is possessed by Be-el " zebu l, and by the prince of demons he casts out the demons. ' " However it is stated in Matthew 12.24 "But when the Pharisees heard it they said, 'it is only by Be-el " zebu l, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons. ' " The author made this change to specifically show that it was the Pharisees, not the scribes, who thought that Jesus was possessed by the devil. Although, eventually many people believed that Jesus was possessed, I believe that the author modified the text to show that the Pharisees were the ones who originally stated this. 2 An example of the author portraying Jesus as more holy, or God like, occurs in Matthew 17.22.

It says, "As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, 'The Son of man is to be delivered into the hands of men, 17.23 and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day. ' And they were greatly distressed. On the other hand, Mark mentions in the verses 9.30-9.32 that Jesus is speaking specifically to his disciples. It also states that they were afraid to ask him, and didn't understand what was saying about his death.

Matthew makes the first change to show that Jesus wants other people to know of his death. Most likely they were other believers and followers of Jesus. It almost like saying that Jesus was not selfish in just telling his disciples of his death, and that he wanted to share it with people who believed in him. The second revision that was made suggests that the people, including the disciples, understood what Jesus was saying and were greatly distressed. Moving right along to the next example.

One can furthermore see that in Matthew 12.25 the author is clearly trying to portray Jesus as more divine than he is described in the original text of Mark. It states, "Knowing their thoughts... ". .

Mark does not include anything that would suggest that Jesus knew what they were thinking. Another example that the author of Matthew wanted to show Jesus as more righteous than that of the original text occurs in Matthew 14.31. Just after Peter walks on water and begins to sink, Jesus reached out his hand and said, "14.31 O man of little faith, why did you doubt?" This is almost just like Jesus saying that, "I am God like, and you never doubt that". I think that it is almost overdone, but it is what the author of Matthew is trying to convey to the reader, whether they are believers or nonbelievers.

3 Along with the author of the Gospel According to Matthew, the author of the Gospel According to Luke made significant modifications to that of Mark. I believe that the author of Luke and the author of Matthew share the three main reasons of why they changed the Gospel of Mark. Beginning with the verse Luke 4.2. It states, .".. And he ate nothing in those days... ".

. In Mark, it mentions nothing about fasting for those forty days that Jesus was in the wilderness. Its as if the author of Luke is emphasizing the fact that Jesus was more so tempted by the devil because he couldn't eat for that entire time. This is just another example of portraying Jesus more righteous than does the Gospel of Mark. Moving along to another example. In Mark 3.22 It says, "And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, 'He is possessed by Be-el " zebu l, and by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.

' " On the other hand, in Luke 11.15 it is stated that, "But some of them said... ". . The author of Luke is not specifically naming who said this. I think that this simply establishes that he doesn't agree that it was the scribes that alleged this. Like as in Matthew, the author of Luke tries to represent Jesus as righteous as they think that he should.

In Luke 11.17 it says, "But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them... ". . The author of Luke is suggesting that Jesus is divine and all knowing, whereas Mark doesn't mention this at all. Now we come to the part where Jesus returns home to Nazareth and preaches in the synagogue.

There are several changes that occur in these comparisons. One being that in Mark, the sermon is very short and abrupt. On the other hand, Luke goes into 4 much more detail of the sermon of Jesus. Another example of modification occurs in Luke 4.22. It states, "And all spoke well of him, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth". Whereas in Mark 6.3 it says, ."..

And they took offense at him". This modification is exactly opposite from the original. The author of Luke feels that when Jesus is looked at as being offensive then he can't be looked at as being righteous. Another example of a change occurs in the verse Mark 8.11-8.12. It quotes, "The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven, to test him.

8.12 And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and said, 'Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation. ' " However, in Luke 11.29 it states, "When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, "This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of Jonah". Firstly, the author of Luke takes the focus away from the Pharisees and puts it on the crowd. This is to show that the Pharisees weren't the only ones that were seeking a sign. And secondly, the verse in Luke also uses the description, "evil generation".

And because the author uses that phrase, he uses one example, the sign of Jonah. Its as if Jesus is mocking the crowd by saying that a sign has already occurred. Also, it seems to me that the sign of Jonah might have occurred because the author of Luke portrayed the generation as being evil, whereas Mark does not even mention the sign of Jonah. There are many significant deletions, modifications, and additions that the authors made in Matthew and Luke. While writing this essay I have come to the conclusion that the changes that were made were due to the fact that they did not believe that the author 5 of the Gospel According to Mark represented Jesus as righteous or as holy as they thought that he needed to be.

Because of this the authors of Matthew and Luke did not agree with what was originally said in Mark, and they felt that they needed to make revisions to the Gospel of Mark to make it sound more genuine.