Texts in Conversation
Mark has Jesus call those who do the will of God his family. Matthew changes this to the will of my Father in heaven, and the Gospel of Thomas has the will of my Father too, siding with Matthew against Mark.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Mark 3:35
New Testament
31 Then Jesus’ mother and his brothers came. Standing outside, they sent word to him, to summon him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him and they said to him, “Look, your mother and your brothers are outside looking for you.” 33 He answered them and said, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And looking at those who were sitting around him in a circle, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
Matthew 12:50
New Testament
46 While Jesus was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and brothers came and stood outside, asking to speak to him. 47 Someone told him, “Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside wanting to speak to you.” 48 To the one who had said this, Jesus replied, “Who is my mother and who are my brothers?” 49 And pointing toward his disciples he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
Gospel of Thomas 1:99
Nag Hammadi
98 Jesus said, “The Father’s kingdom is like a man who wanted to kill a powerful man. In his own house he drew his sword and stabbed it into the wall to find out whether his hand would go in. Then he killed the powerful man.” 99 The disciples said to him, “Your brothers and your mother are standing outside.” He said to them, “Those here who do the will of my Father are my brothers and my mother; they are the ones who will enter the kingdom of my Father.” 100 They showed Jesus a gold coin and said to him, “Caesar’s men demand taxes from us.” He said to them, “Give Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; give God the things that are God’s; and give me what is mine.”
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Notes and References
“... Significant differences between Mark and Matthew include (1) Mark’s Jesus looking around at those sitting in a circle around him, while Matthew has Jesus extend his hand to his disciples; (2) Mark’s Jesus speaking of doing “the will of God” in the climactic statement, while Matthew’s Jesus typically speaks of doing “the will of my Father in heaven.” [...] In fact, another Thomasine tendency observable in CGT 99 likewise mirrors what we will see in the Evil Tenants: even as CGT 99 abbreviates the Synoptic anecdote of Jesus’ mother and brothers in the Lucan manner, it also conflates Matthew and Luke, with perhaps even a touch of Mark. [...] (3) In Thomas, Jesus’ reply, “Those here who do the will of my Father, these are my brothers and my mother,” echoes Matthew’s “he who does the will of my Father” (12:50). [...] The pattern of conflating Matthew and Luke, seen in other units, is thus confirmed. ...”
Meier, John P.
A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus, Volume 5: Probing the Authenticity of the Parables
(pp. 108-111) Yale University Press, 2016
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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