Mailbag: Why is stuff repeated in Matthew and Mark?

Not only are Matthew and Mark similar, but they're telling the same story. In fact, all of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) are essentially the same story told from multiple perspectives. The goal of the Bible isn't to provide a textbook for humanity so that we can behave. The point of the Bible is, instead, to tell the story of how God lovingly and graciously interacts with humanity.


Specifically we see in the Gospel four distinct perspective of essentially the same events.

• Matthew: He was a Jew writing to a Jewish audience presenting Christ as the Messiah of the Old Testament (The first 39 books of the Bible). As a tax collector Matthew was considered one of biggest sinners of his day. He tells the story from the perspective of a Jewish extortionist - a.k.a. tax collector.

• Mark: Mark writes for the Roman audience and presents Christ as a servant. He's also a young leader of the early church.

• Luke: Luke is the only Gentile (non-Jew) author in the Bible. He writes to an audience of Gentiles. He was highly educated as a physician and is very detailed in his account of Christ's life. If Adrian Monk were to tell the Gospel story, it would look something like Luke.

• John:  John breaks the mold of the other three Gospel writers and does his own thing. John focuses the picture as he presents Christ as God. In John 20.30.31 the purpose of the book is given: "But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name."

Hope this helps clarify why the Gospels sometimes read like re-runs. However, they are more like one of those episodes of LOST where the plot takes us back in time to the same event multiple times to draw out different details from multiple perspectives.

If you have any questions, send them to Questions@SebastianChurch.com . If I don't know the answer, I'll be happy to muddy the waters of your brain by responding with my own thoughts or questions about the same topic.

This blog post is the response to an anonymous question sent to Pastor Seth Goldsmith of Coastal Community Church in Sebastian, Florida.