Concerning the great omission of Luke (Mk vi, 45-viii, 26), it should be added that his Gospel is now considerably longer than Mark's and even than Matthew's. He had much material of his own to incorporate. Rolls of papyrus were of an average length, and not capable of indefinite extension. Luke could not include all Mark's material without omitting much that he has derived elsewhere. If it was necessary or convenient for him to make an omission amounting in length to the matter he has passed over in Mark, it was much easier and simpler for him to omit an entire section of that length, than to go here and there thru Mark to make his necessary total of eliminations. This consideration, with the character of the material omitted, sufficiently accounts for the "great omission."[20]
THE CHANGES OF MATTHEW AND LUKE IN THE NARRATIVE OF MARK[21]
(Mk i, 9-11; Mt iii, 13-17; Lk iii, 21-22)
Matthew adds to Mark's account the conversation in which John objects to baptizing Jesus, and Jesus quiets his scruples (Mt iii, 14-15). This reflects the later time, when the superiority of Jesus to John had been historically demonstrated, and when the baptism might have given offense by seeming to imply a need of forgiveness. The item approaches the point of view of the similar addition in the Fourth Gospel. Matthew, who has added this item here, is the only evangelist who says that John's baptism was [Greek: eis metanoian] (iii, 11). Matthew's added conversation appears, still more elaborated, in the Gospel of the Hebrews. Luke (iii, 21) adds that Jesus was praying during his baptism, which may be an accommodation to the custom of the early church. Mark says the voice from the sky was addressed to Jesus; Matthew represents it as addressed to the crowd, perhaps to give more public honor to Jesus. The Gospel of the Ebionites adds to Mark's "in thee I am well pleased," the quotation from the Psalms, "this day have I begotten thee"; and certain MSS contain the same words in the text of Luke, omitting "in thee I am well pleased." These variations show the freedom of the early tradition, but its unanimity in the idea that the baptism was Jesus' messianic consecration. Matthew and Luke replace Mark's [Greek: schizomenous], a word not elsewhere found, with a word common in such connections.