Note 15 — Part I
Reading edition
There may be urged, against this view of Jesus' conception of His mission, certain passages occurring in the different accounts of the resurrection.
Matthew relates that, on the appearance of Jesus on a mountain in Galilee to the eleven apostles, where "some doubted" whether it were He or not, Jesus said, "Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matt. XXVIII:19).
Mark relates that, on Jesus' appearance in Jerusalem "unto the eleven as they sat at meat," He said: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned" (Mark XVI:14, 15, 16).
Luke relates that, when Jesus appeared in Jerusalem to the eleven, He told them that Christ was to suffer and rise the third day "that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem" (Luke XXIV:47).
According to John, who is by many regarded the most reliable authority on the events of Passion Week, and who describes the appearances of Jesus both at Jerusalem and on the sea-shore in Galilee, Jesus said nothing indicating any change in His views about preaching to the Gentiles or the importance of baptism. On the contrary, He three times says to Peter, "Feed my lambs" or "Feed my sheep" (John XXI:15, 16, 17). But His "sheep" were "the lost sheep of the house of Israel," with whom alone His mission lay (Matt. XV:24).
The glaring contradictions on this point between Matthew, Mark and Luke make their evidence of little weight as against the clear and explicit utterances of Jesus, which these same evangelists have recorded in the earlier part of their Gospels. No two of them agree as to just what was said, or when it was said. The use by Matthew of the later formula of baptism—"in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost"—which apparently was never used by John the Baptist or Jesus' disciples, marks his passage with the strongest suspicion.
The account of John is the only one consistent with the previous history of Jesus, and it is more than probable that these passages from Matthew, Mark and Luke were interpolated through the influence of Paul and his followers.