Mark hasn’t received enough credit. Mark is the earliest gospel and thus likely more accurate. Written in the 1st century by someone alive during Jesus’ ministry, Mark’s tale had less time to become embellished by history.
It’s important to remember that Mark is not written by today’s standards. Early historians were less concerned about relating detailed imagery and more concerned with conveying what they believed was the point of documenting it to begin with. This can explain some discrepancies between the synoptic gospels and should also help us to be mindful of the larger picture. Whether or not Jesus stood on a rock or a log would have been of little importance to our gospel authors, except in situations where they are meant to draw parallel with another Biblical character.
That said, this does not mean we cannot derive historical information from gospel texts. We need, simply, to be mindful of the differences between modern and 1st century scholarship, as well as the intentions and motives of the early writers. Whatever the early Jesus movement experienced with Jesus’ ministry had lasting effects because of the devotion of his followers. What did these people see that made them give up their wealth, their lives? Early followers faced persecution and death. If they were willing to risk this, Jesus’ ministry must have been profoundly affecting.
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