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    Similarities and Differences Between Matthew

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    interregnum. ro
    The document summarizes the key similarities and differences between the birth narratives found in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. Both gospels mention Mary and Joseph and the conception by the Holy Spirit in Bethlehem. However, Matthew's account focuses more on Joseph and political figures like Herod, while Luke's focuses more on Mary, angels, and shepherds. The two gospels also have some differences in details like the location of Jesus' conception and birth.

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    Similarities and Differences Between Matthew

    Uploaded by

    interregnum. ro
    64 views2 pages
    The document summarizes the key similarities and differences between the birth narratives found in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. Both gospels mention Mary and Joseph and the conception by the Holy Spirit in Bethlehem. However, Matthew's account focuses more on Joseph and political figures like Herod, while Luke's focuses more on Mary, angels, and shepherds. The two gospels also have some differences in details like the location of Jesus' conception and birth.

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    Similarities and Differences Between Matthew

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    The document summarizes the key similarities and differences between the birth narratives found in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. Both gospels mention Mary and Joseph and the conception by the Holy Spirit in Bethlehem. However, Matthew's account focuses more on Joseph and political figures like Herod, while Luke's focuses more on Mary, angels, and shepherds. The two gospels also have some differences in details like the location of Jesus' conception and birth.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    64 views2 pages

    Similarities and Differences Between Matthew

    Uploaded by

    interregnum. ro
    The document summarizes the key similarities and differences between the birth narratives found in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. Both gospels mention Mary and Joseph and the conception by the Holy Spirit in Bethlehem. However, Matthew's account focuses more on Joseph and political figures like Herod, while Luke's focuses more on Mary, angels, and shepherds. The two gospels also have some differences in details like the location of Jesus' conception and birth.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Similarities and Differences Between Matthew's & Luke's Birth Stories

    Similarities:
    Mary & Joseph Conception by Spirit of God No Donkey
    Herod the Great is Mentioned Birth in Bethlehem
    Differences:
    Matthew (75-90CE) Luke (80-95CE)
    Main Characters: Joseph, Angel, Magi, Herod the Main Characters: Zechariah, Gabriel, Elizabeth,
    Great Mary, Angels, Shepherds, Simeon, Anna
    Secondary Characters: Mary, Chief Priests & Secondary Characters: Herod the Great, Joseph,
    Scribes, Archelaus Caesar Augustus, Quirinius
    Location of Conception: Bethlehem (after a trip to Location of Conception: Nazareth (they go to
    Egypt, they plan to go back to Bethlehem Bethlehem only for a census and return after the
    (apparently have a house), but with Herod’s son 8-days wait and rituals required by the Torah, see
    not being a nice guy, either, they are warned in 2:21 and 2:39)
    a dream to move to Galilee / Nazareth, 2:19-31)
    Location of Birth: House (2:11) Location of Birth: Stable (2:7)
    Adoration: Magi (Gentile Philosophers) Adoration: Shepherds (Lowly)
    – How many? The text does NOT say! – How many? The text does NOT say!
    Star No Star
    No angels in night sky Angels in night sky
    Murder of the innocents & trip to Egypt No murder of the innocents & no trip to Egypt
    Move to Nazareth instead of back to Bethlehem Return to Nazareth since they live there already
    for fear of Herod’s son, Archelaus (2:19-23) (2:39-40)
    Less detail More detail
    Genealogies are different between the two!
    Dating the Story: Dating the Story:
    Includes Herod the Great who died in 4BCE Mentions Herod the Great who died in 4BCE
    (vs. 1:5) BUT it also mentions a census under
    Quirinius who does not come to power until
    6CE (vss. 2:1-2)
    Themes of the Book: Themes of the Book:
    1. Conflict of Kingdoms (i.e. the Kingdom of 1. God's redemptive purposes.
    God / Heaven vs. the kingdoms of this age / 2. Salvation for all alike. Perhaps Luke's most
    Caesar / Satan / etc.) dramatic insight is his perception that Jesus
    2. Jesus is the new and better Moses who announced salvation for all people alike.
    brings the “new law.” [Thus, it is important [sinners, tax collectors, Samaritans, women,
    for Matthew to note the similarities in Jesus’ the poor, etc.]
    & Moses’ birth stories with killing of babies] 3. The blessings of poverty and the dangers of
    3. The Church / Community (Matthew is the wealth. . . Popular theology held that the
    only Gospel with the word eklesia – i.e. rich were blessed by God, but Jesus turned
    Church / assembly in Greek) that popular theology on its head,
    4. How to continue now that there is maintaining that God would lift up the poor
    separation between Judaism & Christianity. and cast out the rich.
    5. Discipleship. 4. Table fellowship.
    5. The Role of a Disciple. (Culpepper)

    Culpepper, R. Alan, “The Gospel of Luke” in The New Interpreter's Bible (Nashville: Abingdon, 2002), CD-Rom.
    Similarities and Differences Between Matthew's & Luke's Birth Stories
    Galatians 4:4 – Paul, writing BEFORE any of our gospels only say Jesus was born of a woman, nothing
    miraculous.
    Mark 3:20-21 – Mark has no story of a miraculous birth of Jesus. So, Mark is not surprised by the story of
    Jesus' mother and family coming to restrain Jesus as they think he has gone out of his mind by doing his
    ministry.
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
    In trying to make Luke's genealogy (Ch. 3:23-38) not contradict Matthew's genealogy (Ch.1:1-17), some
    use the logic that Joseph was Heli's son-in-law. However, the SAME Greek word is used throughout
    Luke's genealogy (as seen below), so one could even say that Nathan was David's son-in-law or Adam is
    God's son-in-law. It just isn't in the biblical text that Luke is deriving the genealogy through Mary.

    In the Greek, here is what we have throughout Luke's genealogy (TOY is "of the" in Greek):
    ● nameTOYnameTOYnameTOYname. . .nameTOYname
    for instance:
    ● JosephTOYHeliTOYMatthatTOYLevi. . .AdamTOYGod
    translated literally as:
    ● Joseph of the Heli of the Matthat of the Levi. . .Adam of the God
    translated in the NRSV as:
    ● Joseph son of Heli son of Matthat son of Levi. . .Adam son of God

    I did come across some interesting commentary, though, in researching it:


    ● In THE LAYMAN'S BIBLE COMMENTARY: LUKE written by Donald G. Miller in 1959 for John
    Knox Press (pages 49-50): "Several ingenious attempts have been made to solve this problem [of
    discrepancies between Matthew's & Luke's genealogies], but none of them has more than
    conjectural value. The wisdom of John Wesley on this point could well be followed. He
    remarked that if there were any discrepancies in the two lists, it merely meant that there were
    errors in the public documents from which they were taken, and that the Holy Spirit did not see fit
    to inspire the Gospel writers to correct the court records of their day!" Miller similarly points out 1
    Timothy 1:4 saying: "to avoid 'endless genealogies which promote speculations rather than the
    divine training that is in the faith.'"
    ● Fred Craddock & Gene Boring in THE PEOPLE'S NEW TESTAMENT COMMENTARY of 2004 from
    Westminster John Knox Press note: "Neither genealogy represents precisely accurate historical
    information based on research in family archives or interviews with family members; each is
    constructed from Old Testament lists and historical imagination to express the respective author's
    theological convictions." (pages 13-14)
    ● Also from Craddock & Boring: "Only Matthew and Luke portray Jesus as miraculously conceived
    without a human father; only Matthew and Luke include genealogies, in both cases of Joseph. . . .
    Like their respective birth and infancy narratives, the genealogies of Matt. 1:2-17 and Luke 3:23-38
    are not to be harmonized. Both have been constructed from traditional sources with some
    freedom and imagination. . . . It is clear that theological confession and not biological accuracy is
    the concern in both cases." Page 188.
    It would be nice if both agreed, but individually, I believe this is the point each is trying to make:
    ● Matthew - Jesus is the son David (for necessary messiah-ship) through Solomon (the "richest,"
    wisest, and most powerful of the Jewish kings). Similarly, Jesus is the son of Abraham, the "father"
    of faith. Matthew will declare Jesus' being son of God elsewhere. Matthew has a concern for
    disenfranchised women, thus he includes several women.
    ● Luke - Jesus is the: son of God (as seen through Adam son of God); son of Abraham (as above);
    son of David (as above); but son of Nathan the prophet (son of David) - and since many priests &
    prophets are listed in his line, Jesus is the ultimate priest and prophet.

    Culpepper, R. Alan, “The Gospel of Luke” in The New Interpreter's Bible (Nashville: Abingdon, 2002), CD-Rom.

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