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Problem: In Mark 14:51-52, there is a reference to someone who ran away naked after being seized by a large crowd (Matt. 26:47; Luke 47-53). The large crowd appeared to be a Roman cohort that worked with the chief priests and Pharisees (John 18:3-11). So, who was this naked man in Mark? It doesn’t say. Therefore, we can’t say who it was for sure. Though the other Gospels contain the account of Jesus’ arrest, this particular event is found only in Mark. This might be significant. Let’s take a look.
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Problem: In what many consider to be the most well-known prophecy concerning the coming of the Messiah, the prophet Isaiah foretold of the sufferings that Christ would endure amid His trial and crucifixion, saying (as if it had already happened):

But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed…. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth (53:5,7, emp. added).

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Problem: How can we resolve the apparent differences among the Gospels regarding the number of times the rooster would crow? A passage that sheds light on this question is Mark 13:35, which states the following:

“Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning.”
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Problem: Matthew and John (13:38) say before the rooster crows once, Peter will have denied the Lord three times. But Mark affirms that before the rooster crows twice Peter will deny Christ three times. Which account is right?
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Problem: In Matthew (26:26-27) and Mark’s (14:22-23) record of the institution of the Lord’s Supper, Jesus blessed the bread first and then the cup. However, Luke seems to give the opposite order with the cup mentioned first (22:17-19). Is this difference a discrepancy in which the inspired writers contradict each other?
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Problem: When we hear of alleged Bible contradictions, and then carefully examine the passages in question, we find that they are not really contradictions at all. One such supposed contradiction is that the Gospel accounts seem to indicate that Jesus was anointed before and after the Triumphal Entry. If the Gospels are recording a single event, then this would indeed be problematic, but that is not the case. In this article, we’ll examine the four accounts in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and demonstrate that there was not a single anointing of Jesus for his burial, but two or even three separate occasions of a woman anointing Jesus, and the first one was not done as a memorial for his burial.
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Problem: How can we resolve the apparent differences among the Gospels regarding the number of times the rooster would crow? A passage that sheds light on this question is Mark 13:35, which states the following:

Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning.
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Problem: If the Holy Spirit is God (Acts 5:3-4) and thus omniscient (Psalm 139), why did Jesus say about His return, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Mark 13:32, emp. added)? Why would the “Father alone” (Matthew 24:36, NASB) be aware of the time of Jesus’ Second Coming? Does this awareness exclude the Holy Spirit?
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Problem: If Jesus is God (John 1, Colossians 1, Hebrews 1, Philippians 2:5–8), then why was the Father greater than Jesus in John 14:28?
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Problem: If the Holy Spirit is God, why didn’t he know the time of Christ’s return? Matthew 24:36; Mark 13:32. The answer lies in two possibilities, the hypostatic union and also the wedding ceremony with its idiomatic phraseology about the wedding feast and the phrase “no one knows the time except the father.”

Matt. 24:36, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.”
Mark 13:32, “But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.”
There are two possible answers here. First, Jesus is both God and man (John 1:1, 14; 20:28; Col. 2:9), and during His ministry in Jerusalem, He was cooperating with the limitations of being a man.  As a man, Jesus walked and talked.  As God, He was worshipped (Matt. 14:33; 28:9; Heb. 1:6), prayed to (Zech. 13:9; 1 Cor. 1:2), etc.  This is called the Hypostatic Union.
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Problem: The genealogies of Jesus in Matthew 1:1-16 and Luke 3:23-38 testify that Jesus was the “Son of David.” In fact, the book of Matthew begins with these words: “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham” (1:1, emp. added). The New Testament is also abundantly clear that this Son of David is “the Christ” or “the Messiah.” When the Samaritan woman at the well said to Jesus, “‘I know that Messiah is coming’ (who is called Christ). ‘When He comes, He will tell us all things.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I who speak to you am He’” (John 4:25-26, emp. added). What’s more, just before Jesus’ crucifixion, when the Jewish high priest asked Him directly, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” Jesus said, “I am.” (Mark 14:61-62, emp. added). Thus, the New Testament clearly affirms that Jesus was both “Christ” and the “Son of David.” [NOTE: The term “Christ” is transliterated from the Greek term Christos, while “Messiah” is transliterated from the Hebrew/Aramaic term Meshiach. Both have as their meaning, “the anointed One.”]
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Problem: At the conclusion of Jesus’ parable of the wicked vinedressers, Jesus asked His audience, “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?” (Matthew 21:40). According to Matthew, Jesus’ hearers responded: “They said to Him, He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons” (Matthew 21:41). However, according to Mark and Luke, Jesus answered His own question, saying, “He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others” (Luke 20:16; Mark 12:9). Luke then added: “And when they heard it they said, ‘Certainly not!’” (Luke 20:16). How is the Bible reader to understand these differing responses? Did Jesus answer His own question or did others? And how did those who reacted to Jesus’ teaching actually respond?
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Problem: When Jesus cursed the fig tree, did it whither immediately or the next day?

The following passages give us some of the context for this supposed contradiction.

And seeing a fig tree by the road, He [Jesus] came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, “Let no fruit grow on you ever again!” Immediately the fig tree withered away. (Matthew 21:19)
Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter, remembering, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.” (Mark 11:20–21)
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