Luke 4:31-37
“Notice what you notice.” So again we have back-to-back narratives, this time between Mark and Luke. There are only a few differences to note:
- Mark refers to a man with an unclean spirit (Mark 1:23) while Luke refers to a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon (Luke 4:33), the difference being the naming of the “thing” as a demon.
- Mark’s account says And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him (Mark 1:26), while Luke adds a final qualifier to his account, And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm (Luke 4:35), that the demon had done the man no harm. Is this Luke writing in his role as a physician?
- Both Mark and Luke have the demon and Jesus speaking the exact same words. However, the words from the onlookers are quite different.
- Mark has them saying What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him (Mark 1:27)
- while Luke’s crowd says What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out! (Luke 4:36).
- Mark has Jesus TEACHING with authority while Luke has Jesus ACTING with authority and power. I don’t know what to make of that, if anything. Thoughts?
Slava Bohu!!