V. George Shillington: Luke’s Reliance on Mark

V. George Shillington, An Introduction to the Study of Luke-Acts, second edition) T&T Clark Approaches to Biblical Studies (T&T Clark, 2015), 17.

For the Gospel of Luke, it is reasonably safe to say that the author relied on Mark, although less so than Matthew did. The sequence of events in Luke 1:1 to 22:53 is essentially the sequence of Mark – even though Luke has only about seven-tenths of the material of Mark. Yet the author of Luke is not bound slavishly to Mark’s sequence. Mark 6:1-6 (the rejection of Jesus at Nazareth) is moved forward in Luke (4:16-30); Mark 1:16-20 (Jesus’ call o the first disciples) is moved back (5:1-11); the sequence of Mark 3:7-12 (a large crowd by the Sea of Galilee) followed by Mark 3:13-19 (Jesus appointing the Twelve) is switched in Luke (6:12-19); and Mark 3:31-35 (the true family of Jesus) is moved back in Luke (8:19-20). Of course, the author of Luke interrupts the sequence at points to insert other material pertinent to his purpose, most significantly a large block of Lukan material set in a circuitous ‘travel narrative’ of Jesus en route to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51-19:27). Similarly, Luke’s birth, infancy, and genealogy narratives (1:5-3:38) are the work of the Luke-Acts redactor quite apart from Mark. Finally, Luke’s passion narrative (22:54-23:49) exhibits limited reliance on Mark’s passion.