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Comparison of the gospels of Matthew and Mark
The account of Jesus'birth
Differences between Mark and Matthew gospels
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Every Christians today knows the story of Jesus birth. The story of how Mary and Joseph travel to Bethlehem for a censes declared by the Roman Empire. While not being able to find an inn to stay in and Mary getting ready to give birth, they stow away in the cave where the animals were kept. While there Mary gave birth to a son and called him Jesus. While Jesus was in a manger a heavenly host of angles came down and also Shepard’s from the field came and rejoiced the savior was born. This is where the typical nativity scene comes from. Unless you have a Doctorate and teach a History of the New testament class and go into fine detail about the story, then story this is what people hear. Well this is for History of the New Testament so the fine details are what we are looking for. Most people do not realize that the story they tell every Christmas is actually a combination of two stories. The birth story is told in the Gospels of Luke and the Gospels of Mathew but each tell a very different version of what actually happened and that is what leads to people questioning the accuracy of the bible today. When it comes to writing historical text, …show more content…
The book focuses on authority, where the birth narrative of Jesus is more focused around Joseph and the baby Jesus. In Matthew, an angel of the Lord visits Joseph and explains to him that a child will be given to his virgin wife and he will be his child. However, in Luke, the Gospel has a greater focus on Mary. Although the Gospel does not point to a feminine audience, it does focus its birth narrative on Mary and the angel not only visiting Joseph, but Mary as well. Where Matthew directs its audience in an authoritative direction, Luke was written towards a passionate audience. By passionate, the authors did not mean a lovey dovey type of direction, but more of a compassionate, emotional, and heart based
The book of Luke, found after the books Matthew and Mark, focuses on the ministry of Jesus Christ but it also gives us a look into His birth and growth in totality. In this chapter we see a historical account of some of the journeys that Christ experienced. It is important to keep in mind that the Bible and all of its books do serve as historical accounts but each book is unique in the fact that they incorporate a theological timeline. The Bible is, conceivably, the most important book that has ever been written. It gives the world eyewitness accounts to historical events that helped not only shaped a region of the world but the whole entire world. It is nearly impossible to go through some formal societal education and have never once read a part of the bible or have heard a story that adapts from the stories within the bible. The bible has helped formed institutions, associations and so much more. By reading the Gospel of Luke we are truly reading what is meant for us to read as Christians. The principal plot in the book of Luke is the life of Jesus Christ, his sacrifice, His ability to beat death and remain perfect as the son of GOD despite being human as well. Jesus is seen as the perfect savior for humans in the book of Luke. Luke not only gives multiple examples of the power of Jesus but also it gives us a look at The Lord’s triumph over temptation. Luke also depicts Jesus as a man/GOD who had a very deep concentration on people and relationships. The book of Luke gives Jesus a loving characteristic but doesn’t shy away from showing that at times Jesus got angry too. Jesus showed a great deal of compassion to the sick, those in pain, the poor, and unambiguously the sinful. Jesus had genuine love for everyone. Throughout this...
In the book “The Art of Biblical Narrative” by Robert Alter, there is one chapter (Chapter 3) titled “Biblical Type-Scenes and the Uses of Convention” (Alter 47). Alter describes several different stories (but similar in some ways) in the Old Testament that can be difficult to interpret in today’s culture. Alter describes how reading any book (more specifically the Bible), requires use of conventions, which he describes as “… an elaborate set of tacit agreements between artist and audience about the ordering of the art work is at all times the enabling context in which the complex communication of art occurs” (Alter 47). In other words, an agreement of how the writing is done; it can be pretty complex as well. He states that there are stories in the Bible that have the same stories of narrative, but there are different characters, they often are told several times in the Bible. Alter uses several of examples, like how patriarch is driven by famine; or where someone is found and is invited to eat with them, or a betrothal (engagement) near a well/body
“In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). This section of a verse from the NRSV started the grand story of the bible. In the beginning the Bible brings two things to focus. The two things that are focused on is the setting and the main characters of the Bible (Professor Smallbones). The Bible opens in Genesis 1 with God creating. God creates light, the earth, the sun, living creatures, and many other things, but most importantly God creates humans. As God is the main character in the grand story he immediately forms a personal relationship with man and woman. God created Adam the first man and Eve the first woman. In the book, The Unfolding Drama of The Bible, Anderson says, “The
The Bible as a Historical Document MARK'S THEOLOGY REFLECTED IN WRITING Mark and the other evangelists used basically five ways to change, edit or enhance Jesus' sayings to reflect their own views of Christianity. According to the Five Gospels Book, plagiarism and changing of writing was not a crime, but actually very common Mark's time. Besides, Mark never knew Jesus first-hand, he somehow had to make a 'story' from basically Hearsay!
The Catholic religion, the most common practiced religion in the world, can be seen as a common setting for the origin of the Bible that is the oldest known book to this day. The Bible tells of many great stories of old that have been somewhat forgotten; In Gabriel Garcia Marquez's ,A Chronicle of a Death Foretold, biblical allusion are used throughout the novel which compares symbolisms and imagery to the Bible and Roman Catholic religion. The main focus of interest in the novel is the murder of Santiago Nasar which can be compared to the murder and acts against Jesus Christ. Acts and imagery of other actions taking place in the novel can be referred to the Bible of the Roman Catholic religion.
Mystery of the New Testament The New Testament is a part of the Christian Canon, which is inclusive of the Old and New Testament. The New Testament consists of twenty-seven books, and is the foundation of the Christian religion. The New Testament has set the bar for Christianity as a religion, but many questions surround the New Testament. These questions surrounding the New Testament have continuously sparked controversy.
The birth narrative of Matthew begins with a long genealogy of Jesus, which basically shows how Jesus is son of Abraham who is the father of the nation of Israel, and David the King of the Jews. This may not seem important but this genealogy shows how Jesus is connected to the Davidic line. Then we have Mary, who just found out she was pregnant and Joseph decides it is best to divorce her because he wanted to break his union with someone who is pregnant, by someone else. But behold the angel comes down and reassures Joseph that Mary was pregnant by the Holy Spirit and that he should take her back into his house. The angel also said to name the child Emmanuel. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, and King Herod heard of this new newborn king of the Jews and he ordered that all boys under the age of 2 be killed. The magi gave Jesus the gifts and left. In a dream, the angel of the lord told Joseph to take the child and go to Egypt and hide, Herod then died, and Jesus was safe.
For example, John begins by introducing Jesus as the Word made flesh, who existed in heaven beside God until coming down to earth (John 1:1,14), immediately making this gospel stand aside from the synoptic gospels, which portray Jesus as a human figure who begins his life the moment he is born. The absence of the nativity scene in John supports the claim of Jesus being the divine Son of God who was sent down from heaven and transformed into the Word incarnate. Birth wouldn’t be important to someone who had previously existed (Harris, 253). The Gospel of Matthew does in fact include the nativity scene, because according to Matthew this is the very beginning of Jesus’ existence. Before the birth, Matthew maps out the genealogy of Jesus, all to support the claim that, “Jesus the Messiah, son of David, the son of Abraham,” (Matt. 1:1) is heir to the Davidic throne, and in fact the Jewish Messiah, King of the Jews. Right off the bat it is evident that John disregards the birth scene because it really isn’t relative to the divine being, and Matthew accentuates Jesus’ lineage, which would make Jesus appear to the audience very human, and rightful to the throne, something many Jews disagreed with during that time. Matthew does, however, also refer to Jesus as the Son of God multiple times similar to John. It is still true that John uses that title to express Jesus as being, “a father’s
Because both authors are primarily interested in establishing the divinity of Christ, they both call Jesus’s birth miraculous, and cite God alone as the creator of Jesus’s life. But Matthew, who is more interested in the Jewish lineage and Judaic traditions of Christ’s teachings focuses more on the social implications of Mary's pregnancy in that specific society and culture more than Luke does. Matthew goes onto talk and praise Joseph for not abandoning his fiancee, even though Jewish law and custom bore shame upon those who were pregnant out of wedlock. During this particular event the regular procedure would involve that of the man leaving his wife to be dealt with by the community. (ex. stoning) “Matthew makes clear that they are products of the perfection of the law and the prophets in the person and teachings of Jesus and they are summoned to follow his will to the end of the age.”(Skinner et al., 2012) On the other side Luke's narrative doesn’t dwell on Christ's relation to the jewish lineage but rather seeks to declare the good news of Christ’s birth to the poor and outcast. He does this clearly by relating and focusing on the humility of his own origins, pointing out that His birth occurs in humble peasant surroundings rather than a palace of gold fit for kings. A great topic was brought to light by Richard Burridge as he says that Luke also exalts Mary for her courage, “making her a
Although it was never celebrated in biblical times, Christmas is celebrated in local churches here in Visalia, California in praise of the fact that God loved us so much; he sent his one and only son to earth. He was wholey god and wholey man. Whereas we have succumbed to the temptations of this earth, Jesus was able to overcome all temptations and live a sinless life. He was then crucified as the perfect sacrifice for our sins. One cannot understand why we celebrate the birth of Christ without seeing the other end of his life. He was crucified for our sins and resurrected.
Luke explain the occasion for Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem, and especially for the circumstances accompanying His birth, namely His being wrapped in strips of cloth and being placed in some cattle feeding trough. Verses 8-14 describe the angelic visitation of the shepherds as the occasion for the visit of the shepherds at the birth sight. Verses 15-20 report the shepherd’s visitation and their testimony after having seen the Savior. It does not appear, Luke to emphasize the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, Luke’s purpose is to show the humble circumstances of the Messiah’s birth.
The biblical narrative is one that is still going on to this day. The biblical narrative tells the story of God and how he reveals himself to us. Rhodes points out that “God comes to each through a historical event or series of events” (2). It is in this way that God reveals himself to us and this maintains the relevance of the biblical narrative in our lives. God reveals himself through formative stories in the bible such as Creation, Adam and Eve, the Fall of Man, The Flood, God’s Covenant with Noah, and the Tower of Babel. From the very beginning of the biblical narrative we see that God relates to us on a personal level. He created us, he formed us, he created the world in which we live, and he has been an active participant in the narrative since before it began.
There are eight other distinguishing features of Luke’s Gospel according to Rhodes (2000): (1) The gospel is for all people, (2) The Samaritans are objects of Jesus’ concern and commendation, (3) Jesus came to save the outcasts of society too, (4) Jesus champions the cause of the poor, (5) Women have a prominent place in Luke’s Gospel, (6) Joy is a recurring theme in the Gospel of Luke, (7) Luke gives special
Have you ever experienced unconditional love, the kind of love that forgives and foresees everything? The Holy Bible is a book written by many Apostles and Jesus himself which features many texts that demonstrates basic principles and standards through stories, testimonies, and especially parables. A parable is a fictitious story designed to teach a lesson through comparison or contrast (Intro to Parable). “The Parable of the Prodigal Son” is a short story about a son who is not satisfied with life and leaves his fathers’s home to seek worldly riches; very shortly he realizes he is a broken man without his family. The text may be interpreted multiple ways based on religious view and may have multiple themes, but the strongest theme of them
As a child, I was raised to know there is a God. Any problems in your life can be solved by praying to "our father '. The Bible to me is a guide through life as a cheat sheet is helpful to a test. In life, you will overcome multiple obstacles and also tests. The only way I know how to get through the laborious times in life is to reach out to God. To me, the Bible is a hands on learning experience about how to get through life itself The Bible teaches you how to get through every season in your life. The Bible has an answer for every issue in your life such as depression, financial hardships, losing a loved one, relationships , and strength. In life, you always have to have faith the size of a mustard seed. When