41. The consideration of the one-sidedness of Mark's narrative simplifies
the problem of harmony, but it does not solve all of the perplexities.
Matthew and Luke have much matter, some of it narrative, which Mark has
not, and for which he suggests no place. Where shall we put, for instance,
the cure of the centurion's servant (Matt. viii. 5-13; Luke vii. 1-10), or
John the Baptist's last message (Matt. xi. 2-19; Luke vii. 18-35)? It
would simplify matters if we could take Luke's statement that he had
"traced the course of all things accurately from the first" (Luke i. 3),
as indicating that he had arrived at exact certainty concerning the order
of events of Jesus' life. It is probable, however, that his statement was
simply a claim that he had carefully gathered material for a record of the
whole life of Jesus, from the annunciation of his birth to his ascension.
While we may believe that some trustworthy tradition led him to give the
place he has to many of the incidents which he adds to Mark's story, it
seems impossible to follow him in all respects; for instance, in severing
the account of the blasphemy of the Pharisees (xi. 14-36) from the place
which it holds in Mark (iii. 19-30).
42. Still more uncertainty exists concerning the historic connection of
teachings of Jesus to which Matthew and Luke give different settings; for
example, the Lord's Prayer (Matt. vi. 9-15; Luke xi. 1-4), and the
exhortations against anxiety (Matt. vi. 25-34; Luke xii. 22-31). We have
seen that much of the teaching common to these gospels is probably derived
from the collection of the "oracles" of the Lord made by the apostle
Matthew. Everything that we can infer concerning such a collection of
oracles indicates that, while some of the teachings may have been
connected with particular historic situations (compare Luke xi. 1), many
would altogether lack such introductory words. A later example of what
such a collection may have been has come to light recently in the
so-called "Sayings of Jesus," discovered in Egypt and published in 1897.
In these the occasion for the teaching has been quite lost; the sole
interest centres in the fact that Jesus is supposed to have said the
things recorded. If Matthew's book contained such "logia" or "oracles," it
is probable that the original connection in which most of them were spoken
was a matter of no concern to the apostle, and consequently has been lost
This in no way compromises the genuineness of these sayings of Jesus. The
treatment of Luke ix. 51 to xviii. 14 is much simplified by this
consideration. To Luke's industry (i. 1-4) we owe the preservation of some
events and very many teachings which no other evangelist has recorded.
Some of this new material (for instance, vii. 11-17, 36-50) he has
assigned a place in the midst of Mark's narrative. Most of it, however,
he has gathered together in what seems to be a sort of appendix, which he
has inserted between the close of the ministry in Galilee and the final
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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