Whatever solution we adopt, Mark occupies the crucial position, because of its close relationship with the other two, in both wording and ordering of the material. The possibilities are: The vast majority of scholars still believe that (c) is the most likely explanation, on the grounds that Matthew and Luke frequently appear to ‘correct’ Mark, expressing things more carefully, more elegantly, more grammatically and more succinctly: but the arguments used in the heyday of source criticism