In the cursing of the fig tree (Mk xi, 12-14; Mt xxi, 18-19), the statement of Mark, “For it was not the time for figs,” may have been omitted by Matthew because seeming to imply an unreasonable expectation on the part of Jesus. Or it may be a later addition to Mark. Matthew says that the disciples noticed “immediately” that the tree had withered, whereas Mark says they observed this the next day. Matthew’s change may have been in the interest of heightening the miracle. Upon his observation here he has hung his statement about the wonder of the disciples in his vs. 20. Luke omits this miracle; probably because he considers the parable of the Fig Tree which he gives in xxi, 29-31 (taking it from Mk xiii, 28-29 = Mt xxiv, 32-33) a variant of, or an improvement upon, the same story.
The speech about the withered fig tree (Mk xi, 20-25; Mt xxi, 20-22) Luke omits because he has omitted the miracle upon which it depends. The saying about faith apparently stood in both Mark and Q, since Matthew has a doublet upon it. This may have been an additional reason for Luke’s omission of it here, since he has incorporated it in his xvii, 6.[42]
In the question about authority (Mk xi, 27-33; Mt xxi, 23-27; Lk xx, 1-8) the intervention of the fig tree story in Mark (and Matthew) obscures the point of the question about Jesus’ authority, which was directed toward his action in cleansing the temple. There is very close agreement among the three in the question of Jesus to his questioners (Mk xi, 30; Mt xxi, 25; Lk xx, 4), tho both Matthew and Luke avoid Mark’s anacoluthon at the beginning of the following verse.
In the parable of the Evil Husbandmen (Mk xii, 1-12; Mt xxi, 33-46; Lk xx, 9-19) Mark says, “They took him and killed him and cast him out”; Matthew and Luke say, “They cast him outside the vineyard and killed him,” presumably influenced in this correction by the fact of Jesus’ crucifixion outside the city.[43] Matthew puts into the mouth of the questioners one saying which Mark ascribes to Jesus; the questioners are thus convicted by their own testimony.
In the question of the Sadducees about the resurrection (Mk xii, 18-27; Mt xxii, 23-33; Lk xx, 27-40) Mark says, quite correctly, “The Sadducees, who (as is well known) say there is no resurrection”;[44] Matthew not so happily represents them as making this statement to Jesus; Luke corrects still further, being apparently unacquainted with the tenets of the Sadducees as a class, and so says, “Certain of the Sadducees came, denying that there is any resurrection.” It is one of the instances, perhaps comparatively few, where Mark would better have been left as he was. To make the contrast between this world and the next stronger Luke adds in his vs. 34, “the sons of this world marry and are given in marriage.” He also attempts to explain the apparently incomplete statement, “God is not of the dead but of the living,” by adding “for all live to him.”[45]
In the question about the great commandment (Mk xii, 28-34; Mt xxii, 34-40; Lk x, 25-28), Matthew’s addition, “Upon these two commandments hang all the law, and the prophets,” is perhaps an old Christian formula, which seems to fit remarkably well in this place.
In the question about David’s son (Mk xii, 35-37; Mt xxii, 41-46; Lk xx, 41-44), Luke corrects Mark’s statement, “David said in the Holy Spirit,” with “David says in the book of Psalms”; Mark is nearer to Jesus, Luke writes for the convenience of his readers who might wish to look up the reference.
In the speech against the Pharisees (Mk xii, 38-40; Mt xxiii, 1-7; Lk xx, 45-47), Mark’s “Beware of the Pharisees, who love to walk about in robes, and greetings in the market” is not positively ungrammatical, since the infinitive and the noun may both be the object of the verb. But it is a loose construction; Luke corrects it by the insertion of a second verb governing the noun.
In the predictions of distress (Mk xiii, 9-13; Mt xxiv, 9-14; Lk xxi, 12-19), Mark’s προμεριμνᾶτε, a word not found elsewhere in the New Testament or Septuagint, is avoided by Matthew and Luke. Matthew’s passage (xxiv, 10-12) about the false prophets who shall deceive many, and the love of many growing cold, whether attributed to the evangelist, or to the tradition lying just behind him, reflects the conditions of his times.
In the saying about the distress in Judaea (Mk xiii, 14-20; Mt xxiv, 15-22; Lk xxi, 20-24), Mark’s construction of a neuter noun with a masculine participle, a construction according to the sense (βδέλυγμα ... ἑστηκότα), his unusual construction of εἰς τὸν ἀγρὸν meaning “in the field,” and his equally strange combination of words ἔσονται γὰρ αἱ ἡμέραι εκεῖναι θλίψις, οἵα οὐ γέγονεν τοιαύτη, are all replaced by Matthew and Luke. Luke omits ὁ ἀναγινώσκων νοείτω, because it is not applicable to his readers. He adds “until the times of the nations are fulfilled,” apparently upon Paul’s hypothesis that the end could not come till the gospel had first been preached to all the nations (Rom xi, 11, 15, 31). This is Luke’s substitute for the explanation which Matthew has copied from Mark, that the Lord has shortened the days for the sake of the Christians. In the speech about the parousia (Mk xiii, 24-27; Mt xxiv, 29-31; Lk xxi, 25-28), Matthew has added εὐθέως. This is Mark’s favorite adverb, and its addition by Matthew where it is lacking in Mark is hard to understand. Perhaps, as Bacon says, Matthew the Palestinian wishes to encourage the hope of the speedy coming of Jesus, while Mark the Roman wishes to discourage it; but the reasons for this are not perfectly clear. Schmiedel considers the omission of the εὐθέως in Mark as a sign of his secondary character at this point.