First and foremost, the Gospel of Matthew refers to the study of the life and preaching of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The features of the Gospel stem from its intended purpose for the Jewish audience the Gospel often refers to Old Testament Messianic prophecies to show the fulfillment of these prophecies in Christ (Martin 106). Matthew wrote for the Jewish people, and one of his aims was to show from the history of Jesus and the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies that Christ was the long-awaited Messiah and therefore deserved their trust (Gospel of Matthew, 9:27). Like Matthew, Mark was the witness to events in the life of Christ, and also the friend of the apostle Peter. Mark wrote to a Gentile audience, which is evident in the fact that he does not mention events of particular importance to Jewish readers: the genealogy and Christs disagreement with Jewish leaders. Mark stresses the role of
Christ as a suffering servant who did not come into the world to be served, but to help others (Gospel of Mark, 10:45). Fragments of the Gospels reveal a difference in the story told about Jesus ability to walk on water. Mark consciously does not mention the name of Christ in the episode, indicating by an attractive pronoun (Gospel of Mark, 6:45). Unlike Mark, Matthew explicitly says the name of the Messiah. Matthew portrays the story better because he describes more details, while Mark speaks more superficially about the incident. Moreover, in the Gospel of Matthew, more emphasis is placed on the astonishment and defeat experienced by miracle witnesses. The narrator plays on the contrast between faith and unbelief, showing how Jesus disciple, Peter, walked on water. Matthew did not describe this scene by chance: he set out to demonstrate the power of faith and its victory over rational consciousness.