It is not necessary to show that the first three chapters of Luke present very many differences from the other Synoptics. Mark omits them altogether, and they do not even agree with the account in Matthew. Some of the oldest Gospels of which we have any knowledge, such as the Gospel according to the Hebrews, are said not to have had the narrative of the first two chapters at all,(4) and there is much more than doubt as to their originality. The mere omission of the history of {131} the infancy, &c., from Mark, however, renders it unnecessary to show that the absence of these chapters from Marcion's Gospel has the strongest support and justification. Now Luke's account of the early events and geography of the Gospel history is briefly as follows: Nazareth is the permanent dwelling-place of Joseph and Mary,(1) but on account of the census they travel to Bethlehem, where Jesus is born;(2) and after visiting Jerusalem to present him at the Temple,(3) they return "to their own city Nazareth."(4) After the baptism and temptation Jesus comes to Nazareth "where he had been brought up,"(5) and in the course of his address to the people he says: "Ye will surely say unto me this proverb: Physician heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum do also here in thy country."(6) No mention, however, has before this been made of Capernaum, and no account has been given of any works done there; but, on the contrary, after escaping from the angry mob at Nazareth, Jesus goes for the first time to Capernaum, which, on being thus first mentioned, is particularized as "a city of Galilee,"(7) where he heals a man who had an unclean spirit, in the synagogue, who addresses him as "Jesus of Nazareth;"(8) and the fame of him goes throughout the country.(9) He cures Simon's wife's mother of a fever(10) and when the sun is set they bring the sick and he heals them.(11) The account in Matthew contradicts this in many points, some of which had better be indicated here. Jesus is born in Bethlehem, which is the ordinary {132} dwelling-place of the family;(1) his parents fly thence with him into Egypt,(2) and on their return, they dwell "in a city called Nazareth; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets: He shall be called a Nazarene."(3) After John's imprisonment, Jesus leaves Nazareth, and goes to dwell in Capernaum.(4) From that time he begins to preach.(5) Here then, he commences his public career in Capernaum. In Mark, Jesus comes from Nazareth to be baptized,(6) and after the imprisonment of John, he comes into Galilee preaching.(7) In Capernaum, he heals the man of the unclean spirit, and Simon's wife's mother,(8) and then retires to a solitary place,(9) returns after some days to Capernaum(10) without going to Nazareth at all, and it is only at a later period that he comes to his own country, and quotes the proverb regarding a prophet.(11)