Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

18 And Jesus rebuked him,
and the demon came out of him,
and the boy was cured from that
hour.
FROM THE GOSPELS TO JESUS §8.4
25 And when Jesus saw that a
crowd came running together,
he rebuked the unclean spirit,
saying to it, 'You dumb and
deaf spirit, I command you,
come out of him, and never
enter him again'. 26 And after
crying out and convulsing him
terribly, it came out, and the boy
was like a corpse; so that most
of them said, 'He is dead'. 27
But Jesus took him by the hand
and lifted him up, and he arose.
But Jesus rebuked the unclean
spirit,
and healed the boy, and gave
him back to his father. 43 And
all were astonished at the
majesty of God.
Here again we find what is clearly the same story — the healing, as is generally
recognized from the description, of an epileptic boy. 207 And here again the verbal
agreement across the three accounts is very modest, hardly inviting the explanation
that Matthew and Luke derived their versions solely as an exercise in literary
editing of Mark's account. If indeed Mark's long version was the only version
they knew, then they have severely abbreviated it by retelling it in oral mode,
feeling free to vary introduction, description of the boy's condition and cure, and
conclusion, and holding constant only the core of Jesus' verbal rebuke. Alternatively,
the degree of verbal agreement between Matt. 17.16b-17/Luke 9.40b-
41 208 could indicate that Matthew and Luke happened to know another (oral)
version which they echoed at that point.
iv. The Dispute about Greatness
Matt. 18.1-5 Mark 9.33-37 Luke 9.46-48
1 At that time the disciples
came to Jesus and asked, "Who
is greater in the kingdom of
heaven?"
2 He called a little child,
and put it among them,
3 and said,
"Truly 1 tell you, unless you
turn and become like little
children, you will never enter
the kingdom of heaven. 4
Whoever humbles himself like
33 Then they came to
Capernaum; and when he was in
the house he asked them, "What
were you arguing about on the
way?" 34 But they were silent,
for on the way they had argued
with one another about who was
greater. 35 He sat down, called
the twelve, and said to them,
"Whoever wants to be first must
be last of all and servant of all".
36 Then he took a little child
and put it among them; and
taking it in his arms, he said to
them,
46 An argument arose among
them as to who of them was
greater.
47 But Jesus, aware of their
inner thoughts, took a little child
and put it by his side,
48 and said to
them,
207. See below chapter 15 n. 278.
208. One of the famous 'minor agreements' between Matthew and Luke over against Mark.
220