Matthew and Mark describe the calling of the first disciples in similar accounts. Would Luke be considered a more descriptive version of those accounts? Would John's account be considered to have occurred before the synoptic versions?

Matthew, Mark, and Luke share a common outlook on the life and words of Christ; they are called the "Synoptic" gospels. John is quite different, and there are fewer common links between John and the other three. Luke's is more descriptive in that it is the longest of the four gospels as well as stylistically the finest literary specimen. Luke was apparently a highly educated, and eloquent, physician (Col 4:14). As far as the time of composition of John's account, scholars are divided between those who place it late in the 1st century and those who place it earlier than the synoptics. Either position may be justifiable in light of the evidence we have.

If your question concerns John 1 versus Matthew 4, Mark 1, and Luke 5, then, yes, John is recording a previous encounter with Jesus, which seems fairly clear through even a cursory reading of the accounts. In other words, the calling of the fishermen to become fishers of men (Mark 1) was not a suggestion out of the blue to men Jesus had never met. If we are interpreting it that way, and failing to build relationships (John 1) before issuing the challenge (Mark 1), then we are failing to emulate the example of Jesus, and we will fail to win over the broad spectrum of persons which God wants us to reach with the Gospel.

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