Bible Students

The passage I chose, which is in all three Gospels, is the baptism of Jesus. This takes place in Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11, and Luke 3:21-22. Even though this story is relatively short (except for Mark, where all the stories are short), there are clear differences between the accounts.

In this account, Jesus goes to John the Baptist and is baptised in the Jordan. The heavens are opened, God speaks to those present about Jesus, and the Spirit comes upon Jesus.

Matthew tells his account by giving the words and interactions between John the Baptist and Jesus. They talk, and give explanation for the baptism through the words of Jesus and John.

Mark tells his account the most short of all three, demonstrating the very base-like nature of the book of Mark. Mark does not go into much detail, but is very quick in his account. This is very Marcen. Additionally, NIV places the heavens as “torn” open, rather than “was opened” (as in NIV Matthew), which seems to add to the fast pace of Mark.

Luke, finally, tells his story by making mention of other people who were baptised, and also made mention of prayer. The mention of other people is key for Luke, as he is often referred to as the most socially-oriented of the Gospel accounts. Adidtionally, Luke made mention of prayer, which is something very akin to Luke, who centers on the work of the Spirit (prayer being a part of this interaction)

This short exercise demonstrates that the Gospel writers shape all of their accounts in their own frameworks, taking the original actions and filtering the details important to the themes presented in their books. Mark’s attitude of fast-paced action cuts many side-details and increases the intensity of the verbiage. Matthew is focused on the conversations of Jesus and His words, and colors His account to match. Luke focuses on the social aspects and the Spirit, and so makes mention of those details.

This is all to say that the differing details in the Gospel accounts should be expected. Each author is pulling from a complex story in order to display the relevant details for their account. When recording an important event, many people will have different details important to the theme they are extrapolating from the event. The Gospels are not in contradiction, but supplement one another.