WHERE WE ARE

In Part 1 of this series, I showed that NT and Jesus scholars usually date the Gospel of Mark to around 70 C.E (range: 65-75 C.E.), and date the Fourth Gospel or the Gospel of John to around 100 C.E. (range: 90-110 C.E.). The Gospel of Mark was probably the first of the NT Gospels to have been written, and the Gospel of John was probably the last of the NT Gospels to have been written. Thus, if the Gospel of Mark conflicts with the Gospel of John in how they characterize Jesus’ beliefs or practices or events in the life of Jesus, then we should give preference to the characterization in the Gospel of Mark over that of the Gospel of John, other things being equal.

THE CONFLICT OVER A CENTRAL FOCUS OF THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS

There are some significant conflicts between the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of John. One of those conflicts concerns this question:

Was “the kingdom of God” a central focus of the teachings of Jesus?

According to the Gospel of Mark, “the kingdom of God” was a central focus of the teachings of Jesus, but accoring to the Gospel of John, “the kingdom of God” was not a central focus of the teachings of Jesus. Scholars who study the historical Jesus have concluded that “the kingdom of God” was a central focus of the teachings of Jesus, which implies that the Gospel of John provides an incorrect characterization of the teachings of Jesus.

In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus utters the phrase “the kingdom of God” 13 times. In the Gospel of John, Jesus utters the phrase “the kingdom of God” only twice. Clearly, Jesus refers to “the kingdom of God” significantly more often in the Gospel of Mark compared to the Gospel of John. Furthermore, the Gospel of Mark is shorter than the Gospel of John, so for Jesus to utter this phrase with equal frequency in the Gospel of John as in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus would need to utter this phrase MORE than 13 times in the Gospel of John.

In my New American Standard Bible, the Gospel of Mark runs for 32 pages, but the Gospel of John runs for 41 pages. The rate at which Jesus refers to “the kingdom of God” in the Gospel of Mark is thus 13 times/32 pages, which is about 8.1 times/20 pages. The rate at which Jesus refers to “the kingdom of God” in the Gospel of John is 2 times/41 pages, which is a little less than 1.0 time/20 pages. So, Jesus refers to “the kingdom of God” in the Gospel of Mark with about eight times the frequency of the Gospel of John. That is nearly an order of magnitude greater frequency.

The phrase “the kingdom of God” occurs in only one chapter out of the twenty-one chapters in the Gospel of John, but it occurs in seven different chapters out of the sixteen chapters in the Gospel of Mark. Thus, the phrase “the kingdom of God” occurs in only about 5% of the chapters in the Gospel of John, but it occurs in about 44% of the chapters in the Gospel of Mark.

One reason that NT and Jesus scholars view the Gospel of Mark as being more historically accurate and reliable than the Gospel of John on this issue is that the Gospel of Mark was the first of the NT Gospels to be written, while the Gospel of John was the last of the NT Gospels to be written (see my previous post: “The Unreliability of the 4th Gospel – Part 1: The Last Gospel to be Written“).

Another reason why NT and Jesus scholars view the Gospel of Mark as being more historically accurate and reliable than the Gospel of John on this issue is that the other two Gospels agree with the Gospel of Mark that “the kingdom of God” was a central focus of the teachings of Jesus, and because those two Gospels were probably also written before the Gospel of John.

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus refers to “the kingdom of God” 25 times. Jesus utters that phrase significantly more times in the Gospel of Luke than in the Gospel of Mark. However, the Gospel of Luke is longer than the Gospel of Mark, so the rate of these utterances by Jesus may be closer than it might seem based on the sheer number of utterances of the key phrase.

In my New American Standard Bible, the Gospel of Luke occupies 55 pages, so Jesus utters this phrase 25 times/55 pages. That is a rate of 9.1 times/20 pages, which is close to the rate of 8.1 times/20 pages in the Gospel of Mark. The Gospel of Luke thus agrees with the Gospel of Mark that “the kingdom of God” was a central focus of the teachings of Jesus:

Jesus utters the phrase “the kingdom of God” only five times in the Gospel of Matthew. So, it might at first seem that this Gospel does not corroborate the view of the Gospel of Mark that “the kingdom of God” was a central focus of the teachings of Jesus.

However, that is because the author of the Gospel of Matthew generally prefers an alternative wording for this phrase: “the kingdom of heaven”. (Note that the phrase “the kingdom of heaven” never occurs in the Gospel of John).

The Gospel of Matthew relies heavily on the Gospel of Mark for information about Jesus, including information about what Jesus said and taught. It is easy to see that the author of the Gospel of Matthew has borrowed sayings and teachings of Jesus from the Gospel of Mark, but sometimes revises the phrase “the kingdom of God” by substituting the phrase “the kingdom of heaven”:

EXAMPLE #1

14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the good news of God 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” (Mark 1:14-15, New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, emphasis added)

12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. …17 From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” (Matthew 4:12&17, New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, emphasis added)

EXAMPLE #2

30 He also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, 32 yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.” (Mark 4:30-32, New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, emphasis added)

31 He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; 32 it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” (Matthew 13:31-32, New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, emphasis added)

EXAMPLE #3

23 Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” (Mark 10:23, New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, emphasis added)

23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 19:23, New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, emphasis added)

It should be noted that the Gospel of Matthew does in five instances put the phrase “the kingdom of God” into the mouth of Jesus (Matthew 6:33, 12:28, 19:24, 21:31, and 21:43).

The author of the Gospel of Matthew uses the phrase “the kingdom of heaven” as an equivalent to the phrase “the kingdom of God”, as the NT scholar M. Eugene Boring explains:

These two phrases mean exactly the same thing for Matthew, being used interchangeably in 19:23-24. In this phrase, “heaven” does not refer to the place of God’s dwelling but is a reverential circumlocution used in Jewish circles to avoid pronouncing the sacred name of God. Since “kingdom” is a verbal noun whose primary connotation is not territory but ruling power, “reign” or “rule” often being the best translation, both “kingdom of heaven” and “kingdom of God” mean primarily “God’s reign,” “the sovereign power of God functioning as king.”[1]

Because the phrase “the kingdom of heaven” in the Gospel of Matthew means the same thing as the phrase “the kingdom of God”, we may add the instances in the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus utters the phrase “the kingdom of heaven” to the instances in that Gospel where Jesus utters the phrase “the kingdom of God”. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus utters the phrase “the kingdom of heaven” 30 times, and utters the phrase “the kingdom of God” 5 times. So, Jesus utters either “the kingdom of heaven” or “the kingdom of God” 35 times in the Gospel of Matthew!

The Gospel of Matthew is longer than the Gospel of Mark, so we should compare the rates at which Jesus utters these phrases in both Gospels. The Gospel of Matthew covers 51 pages in my New American Standard Bible, so Jesus utters the key phrases 35 times/51 pages. That is a rate of 13.7 times/ 20 pages, an even higher rate than in the Gospel of Mark or the Gospel of Luke. Thus, the Gospel of Matthew also confirms the view of the Gospel of Mark that “the kingdom of God” was a central focus of the teachings of Jesus.

CONCLUSION

There is clearly a significant conflict between the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of John about whether “the kingdom of God” was a central focus of the teachings of Jesus. N.T. and Jesus scholars agree with the Gospel of Mark on this issue, for the reasons given above (among other reasons). This is one important reason why the Gospel of John is viewed as providing a historically unreliable account of the life and ministry of Jesus.

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END NOTES

1. M. Eugene Boring, “The Gospel of Matthew” in The New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume VIII (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1995), p.289.