The Harmony of the Gospels

I went to a private Christian school in my youth. One project we did in junior high was what is called “The Harmony of the Gospels.” They gave us each two books that contained the entire four gospels. (You need two for this.) We cut out stories from each gospel and put them in a column, then pasted the parallel story from the other gospels. We got to see the parallels, the overlaps, the retellings, and the unique texts. I was struck by the effect of the parallels because it seemed to be a form of emphasis. For instance, with the exception of the Resurrection, the only miracle what was told in all four accounts was the feeding of the 5,000. Jesus’s baptism, His entry into Jerusalem, the Last Supper, His betrayal by Judas along with His death and resurrection are all told in all accounts, to name a few. You can find claims in all four gospels that Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus is the Son of God, Jesus died for sinners, and that Jesus rose from the dead. These appear to be important.

The first three Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, are called the Synoptic Gospels because they can be viewed "with the same eye." They often report the same events, sometimes in remarkably similar wording. John, on the other hand, is quite different in both content and style.

While exact percentages vary somewhat depending on how they're measured, the broad picture looks something like this:

• About 93% of Mark appears somewhere in Matthew or Luke.
• About half of Matthew is found elsewhere and half is unique.
• About half of Luke is found elsewhere and half is unique.
• John stands largely alone, with most of his material not found in the Synoptic Gospels.

There is material shared by all three Synoptics. These include:

• John the Baptist's ministry
• Jesus' baptism
• The temptation in the wilderness
• The feeding of the 5,000
• The Parable of the Sower
• Peter's confession of Christ
• The Transfiguration
• The Last Supper
• The arrest, trial, crucifixion, and resurrection

These events form much of the backbone of Jesus' public ministry.

On the other hand, Matthew alone gives us:

• The visit of the Magi
• The flight into Egypt
• The parable of the Ten Virgins
• The parable of the Sheep and Goats
• The temple tax coin in the fish's mouth

Matthew also contains many teaching sections aimed at showing Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.

Luke, on the other hand, uniquely records:

• The annunciation to Mary
• The shepherds at Jesus' birth
• Jesus at the temple at age twelve
• The Good Samaritan
• The Prodigal Son
• The Rich Man and Lazarus
• The ten lepers

Luke especially emphasizes God's compassion for outsiders, women, Gentiles, and the poor.

John is a standout. His gospel is a different style and message. John alone includes:

• The wedding at Cana
• Nicodemus
• The woman at the well
• The man born blind
• The raising of Lazarus
• The Upper Room Discourse (John 13-17)
• Most of the explicit "I Am" statements

John focuses less on parables and more on extended conversations and theological reflection.

What does this tell us?

One remarkable thing is that the Gospel writers seem less interested in providing a comprehensive biography of Jesus than in providing a trustworthy witness to who He is.

If you put the four Gospels together, there is overlap enough to confirm the core events from multiple witnesses, yet enough uniqueness to show that the writers were not merely copying one another wholesale. Each writer selected material for a particular purpose:

• Matthew presents Jesus as the promised Messiah and King.
• Mark presents Jesus as the Servant and Son of God.
• Luke presents Jesus as the Savior of all people.
• John presents Jesus as the eternal Son of God so that readers may believe (John 20:31).

In a way, the overlap gives us confidence in the historical core, while the unique material gives us a richer, fuller portrait of Christ than any single Gospel could provide. The Parable of the Sower appearing in Matthew, Mark, and Luke is a good example of a teaching that was evidently so important to the early church that all three writers chose to include it. In fact, Mark records Jesus saying, "Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables?" (Mark 4:13), suggesting that it may have been regarded as a foundational parable for understanding many of Jesus' teachings.