Matthew and Luke’s Modifications

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’zebul, 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’zebul, 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.

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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.

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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’zebul, 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…”.