The Revelation in Gospel of Mark: The True Role of Jesus Christ Uncovered

Redaction Criticism

It is generally believed that the Gospel of Mark is the starting point of the Gospels of Luke and Matthew, the two other Biblical books that make up a trio called the Synoptic Gospels. Each gospel contains an important event in the life of Jesus Christ: The Sacrament of Baptism. Mark’s version of the Baptism starts with an introduction of Jesus and also informs the reader of Jesus’ hometown and region (Mark 1:9-1). The author continues by setting the scene in the Jordan River with John the Baptist, and describes how after Jesus arose from the water, God revealed himself to Jesus and Jesus alone through the Holy Spirit and said, “Thou art my beloved son, with thee I am well pleased,” (Mark 1:11). The Baptism of Jesus is a scriptural event known as a Theophany, where God reveals himself to an individual. Mark’s gospel contains three of these revelations, but other gospel authors have added additional Theophanies to their respective texts.

Matthew’s gospel borrows heavily from Mark, almost word for word in several instances. However, there are several main differences between the two gospels and these can be seen within the baptismal narrative. The first and the most obvious is that Matthew’s depiction of the Baptism is in chapter three, which means Matthew added a longer beginning to his gospel that isn’t present in Mark’s gospel. A popular theory, known as the “Four-Source Theory,” suggests that Matthew utilized two other sources for his gospel besides Mark (one of these sources was shared with Luke). Matthew starts his narrative with a nearly identical introduction to Mark, which includes John the Baptist and the Jordan River. He then continues with new dialogue that is only seen in the Gospel of Matthew. John is confused by Jesus’ request for baptism saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” (Matthew 3:14). Jesus then responds with, “…for thus it is fitting to fulfill all righteousness,” (Mark 3:15). This quote is an important addition because it showcases a potential message for the Gospel of Matthew. The author’s emphasis on “fulfillment” and “righteousness” is an important piece in Matthew’s Christology of a “New Moses” — a Messiah who brings a new era to the Jewish people. Matthew then continues to describe the baptism and God’s revelation in a consistent manner to Mark. However, he redacts God’s quote, which impacts who hears God’s voice. The audience changes from Jesus and Jesus alone in Mark’s gospel to everyone who was present in Matthew’s (Matthew 3:17). This edit could possibly be Matthew’s rejection of the Messianic Secret that is seen throughout the Gospel of Mark. Therefore, it is an important change when analyzing the overall takeaway of the gospels.

The Gospel of Luke places Jesus’ baptism in the third chapter as well. The story skips any introduction of Jesus or his home region and dives right into a description of the masses being baptized. Luke makes a major redaction to the original text by removing any mention of John the Baptist in the story, and the narrative skips right to Jesus’ baptism (Luke 3:21). Luke makes another revision after the baptism by mentioning that Jesus was praying. These two redactions could possibly mean that Luke disregarded John as an important prophet, and also thought that the power of prayer was an important theme to relate to his audience. Moreover, the author’s edits to the Theophany could hold clues to Luke’s intentions. Luke’s description of God’s revelation was similar to Mark’s (Luke 3:22). However, he describes the Holy Spirit as coming down in “bodily form.” Perhaps Luke wanted to clear up some confusion among his audience regarding the Theophany. Another redaction to the revelation is the exclusive language seen in Mark’s description isn’t used in Luke’s, which raises the possibility of other witnesses to the Holy Spirit and its dove-like descent. Luke finishes the story by using the same quote from God originally written in Mark’s gospel, which concludes the Synoptic Gospel’s portrayal of the Baptism of Jesus.

The fourth gospel is not based upon Mark’s text, and is therefore not one of the Synoptic Gospels. The author is allegedly the Apostle John, son of Zebedee. His account of the life of Jesus is written in a different genre and narration style. The author writes an interview-esque account of the Baptism of Jesus with John the Baptist as witness. It starts in chapter one with John the Baptist reminiscing about the event. The Baptist talks about recognizing Jesus as the Son of God and redeemer of sins, and also brings up Jesus as a fulfillment to his work as a baptizer (John 1:29-31). The author continues on to describe the baptizer’s perspective of the Theophany, and provides the reader with a message from God to John the Baptist, “I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and borne witness that this is the Son of God,” (John 1:33-34). The two major reveals of Jesus’ true self are a massive difference from Mark’s Messianic Secret. Seeing God’s revelations through the eyes of witnesses (whether real or not) undoubtedly had the effect of persuading even the most close-minded people of Jesus’ identity.