Which Came First—Matthew or Mark?

Did Matthew copy Mark or the other way round? Clearly the accounts in both gospels are closely related. In many places, they are identical. One must have copied from the other.

To determine which came first, we must look closely at the significant differences. In each case we must ask which author created the difference by adding or subtracting from the source he was using. This involves weighing probabilities. Certainty may elude us. This might seem a very fragile basis on which to reconstruct the life of Jesus, but it is just the sort of judgment we must make all the time in ordering our lives.

Sometimes the judgment is not too difficult. Compare Mark 14:32 with Matthew 26:36, the introduction to the story. Mark says, “they come.” Matthew says, “Jesus comes with them.” Mark is vague. One has to know that “they” includes Jesus, who is never explicitly mentioned.

In the same verses, Mark has Jesus saying to his disciples, “Sit here,” while Matthew has, “Sit in this place.” The word “here” in Mark is somewhat confusing because it gives the impression that Jesus was to stay close to the disciples, whereas in the next verse he moves away. In Matthew, the disciples are told to “sit in this place until, going away, I will pray there.”

Both the vagueness of “they come” and the slight confusion caused by “sit here” in Mark’s account are rectified in Matthew. Here Jesus is mentioned by name, and Jesus’ move away is announced.

Did Matthew solve a problem by changing Mark, or did Mark create a problem by changing Matthew? The choice is an easy one. Matthew was smoothing out Mark.