Mark and Luke Compare Contrast

Mark and Luke Compare Contrast

Within biblical literary study there is a strong desire to understand the writings of the New Testament through comparisons and contrasts associated with the different gospels. Each gospel, by virtue was created by a different author (all having been challenged over the years) as works that would stand alone to create a complete picture of the foundation of the story of Jesus and his message to the world. Yet, as was seen fit they were compiled to create a more complete and cohesive picture of the days of the lords life and his message. In so doing the compilers of the old and new testaments, of whom there were to many to count, created a situation of contrast where questions and answers can be found and on which a rich history of religious studies is based.

Though this may seem a simple fact, known by all it is not always a fact that is understood by the modern world, Christian or otherwise. It is for this and many other edifying reasons that the works are frequently compared for clarity, style and content. Two of the works, which are the most compelling to compare in the New Testament, are the Gospels according to Mark and Luke. Following one another in the order of the accepted text they obviously bring the reader and the researcher to see their differences and similarities.

In the works there is a different tone, writing style and allegorical content, though the analogous nature of the message cannot be denied. This work will compare and contrast the gospels of Mark and Luke in the area of literal rather than allegorical content through the development of the similarities and differences of the messages in the works. The main focus of the contrast and comparison will be the humanity of the messages. As in general Mark expresses the humanity and the miraculous of Jesus, but only the humanity of others, and especially John, Mary and Elisabeth (John's Mother).

The first and possibly the most profound difference between the gospels of mark and Luke can be found within the very first pages o the works. They both tell the story of John the Babtist, but Mark begins his life in the work as he is during the life of Jesus, while Luke introduces John through an introduction to this fantastic family history, in some ways as fantastic as the conception and history of Jesus himself. In Mark nearly the first passage indicates that John has come upon the scene as a man, whole and with no history, Mark 1:4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

While in Luke the entrance into the world of John is one where his mother is barren, and his father is old, but one day when he goes to temple the angel Gabriel comes to him and tells him that his wife will have a son, and his son will be a great man. To prove this to Zacharias (John's Father) Gabriel bids him mute, until the deed comes to pass. Luke 1: 13: But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. It is no until much later in Luke Chapter 3 that the gospel mentions the nature of John's calling, that of the baptism for the repentance of sins, Luke: 3:3 And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. This may not seem a significant difference but connectivity of John and Jesus is different in each gospel, an important factor in the humanization of the characters in the work is more rounded, in the message of Luke, than there is in the gospel of Mark, lending the texts two completely different tenors. The story of John's birth, and conception as well as its proximity to Jesus' birth shows that the two are both miraculous in nature, while Mark does not send this message immediately, as if he either assumes that the reader already knows or that the message is of no importance. The allegorical, assimilation of this message is that the two are in a sense, reflections of the same miracle, a miracle that is reflective in the messages of their conceptions, births and deaths. Yet, the two gospels are comparative in their message of the importance of John, for it is John who tells of the coming a better man, Jesus. Luke 3:16 John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire and in Mark 1:7And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.

1:8: I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost. John the Baptist is one of the most fundamental characters of the work, as he is, in a sense the founder of the faith. He was the man who baptized Jesus, according to Mark, allowing the word of God to flow through him for the first time.

Another, point of difference between the two is the representation of the birth of Jesus. Within Mark there is no mention of how Jesus came to be. It would seem a travesty, if it were not information so readily available in Luke. Yet, once again we must be reminded of the fact that the works were written by different people at different times to serve as independent messages to the world. Why would Mark leave out the miracle of both John and Jesus' conceptions and entrances into the world of men? Luke tells the rich and miraculous human story of both, the miraculous conception of John (as a foreshadowing of the miraculous conception and life of Jesus) and Mark mentions nothing of John or Jesus' lives before they are men preaching the good news of the lord. While Luke speaks of the miracle, as if the reader is in need of seeing it in his minds eye, to understand the whole miracle of Jesus' existence and life. 2:7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. It is me belief from the evidence of Luke's gospel as compared to that of mark that the message was sent through omission in Mark that the women in the lives of these two, very importat men were not as important as others would have us believe. Though this may seem controversial, it is not an unheard of question. Within Luke the message of the following passage, illuminating the connection between not only John and Jesus but Mary and Elisabeth (John's mother) and the transmission between these two women the message of a miracle, or some would say the first true gospel.

Luke 1: 35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

1: 36: And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.

1: 37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.

1: 38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

1: 39 And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda;

1: 40: And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth.

1: 41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:

1: 42 And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

1:43 And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?