Picking up on some of Ehrman's observations about how the various gospels portray different stories to different audiences Moss makes this observation about the character of "jesus" in mark and luke.
In mark... jesus is a wuss.
"In Mark's version Jesus is desperate and in need of comfort. He asks the disciples to stay awake with him, because he is grieving. He is described as distressed and agitated and begs God, as his son, using the familial childlike term "Abba." In Luke Jesus feels no distress at all. He instructs the discples to pray for themselves and, although he still asks God to remove the cup, the whole scene has an almost businesslike feel to it."
In Moss' opinion Luke has re-written the story into a more acceptable "noble death" scenario....like Socrates which would appeal to the Greco-Roman concept of honor... whereas "mark" is just a story about some whining little jew who suddenly realizes he is in over his head and the jig is about up!
In mark... jesus is a wuss.
"In Mark's version Jesus is desperate and in need of comfort. He asks the disciples to stay awake with him, because he is grieving. He is described as distressed and agitated and begs God, as his son, using the familial childlike term "Abba." In Luke Jesus feels no distress at all. He instructs the discples to pray for themselves and, although he still asks God to remove the cup, the whole scene has an almost businesslike feel to it."
In Moss' opinion Luke has re-written the story into a more acceptable "noble death" scenario....like Socrates which would appeal to the Greco-Roman concept of honor... whereas "mark" is just a story about some whining little jew who suddenly realizes he is in over his head and the jig is about up!
