Summary Teachings of the Galilean Ministry

Matthew seems much more excited about this than Mark or Luke. The Holy Spirit kept the writers on target, but let each express himself in his own way. No one knows which was written first, Matthew or Mark. Mark is generally credited as the earlier, but here, Mark seems more likely an edited copy of Matthew than Matthew being an expansion of Mark’s account. (Mark may have been credited by the church in Rome as the first gospel written, in an attempt to elevate Peter.)

Matthew goes ahead after reporting the expansiveness of Jesus’s fame to give us examples of his teaching in this period. Matthew gathered a large body of teachings and placed them all together. He wasn’t as concerned as to where and when these were taught as he was to capture the teachings. Some equate the Beatitudes listed here with similar teaching in Luke 6:17-49, but these subjects were probably taught often.

Little is recorded of the first eighteen months of Jesus’ ministry compared to his last two years. That should not lead us to assume that it was less active. It may have just been less significant for us to know. Jesus did much that was not recorded. John comments that books wouldn’t hold it all.