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The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are referred to as the synoptic chapters because they look so much alike. One of the first differences you will notice between the synoptics is that Mark is much shorter than the other two. You will also notice that Matthew ....

Middle of Essay
.... to the 1999 Grolier Encyclopedia, Saint , a Jewish prophet, was the forerunner of Jesus Christ. He was the son of Zachariah, a priest of the Temple. Little is known of John prior to his public ministry, except that his birth was miraculously foretold (Luke 1:13-20). John achieved recognition as a prophet in the region of the lower Jordan Valley, where he attracted disciples. His public ministry began with the proclamation of a baptism of repentance in preparation for the Messiah. Crowds came to be baptized among them his cousin Jesus of Nazareth, whom John recognized as the Messiah. So the baptism account which is three verses in Mark (1:9-11) ....