The Gospel According to Whom?
Using Gospel Parallels to Enrich Your Bible Study

by Ken Matthews

Remember Little Red Riding Hood? It was always one of my favorite stories as a young reader. What few probably realize is that there have been numerous renditions of Little Red Riding Hood. Across the ages, the story of Little Red Riding Hood has been told in a way that reflects the attitudes and needs of that period. There is Little Red Riding Hood according to Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm…according to John B. Gruell…according to Mother Goose…and many others.

Why talk about fables? Oddly enough, recognizing how writers cater their words to their audience can help us as we study the Christian Gospels. The New Testament has four Gospels. Each Gospel writer, inspired by God, tells the same story of good news in Jesus Christ, yet in the manner most appropriate for his audience. It’s not by accident that the Gospels are entitled, The Gospel According to Matthew…According to Mark…etc.

This detail is important. When the early church fathers prayerfully considered which Gospels to include in the New Testament, they realized that each of the four they would eventually select captured a distinct portrait of how the early church had come to understand the life of Christ.

In The Church’s Portraits of Jesus, Linda McKinnish Bridges suggests that the Gospel writers and their communities “left us a living dynamic art gallery of Jesus’ portraits not with paint, but with stories, records of conversations with Jesus and a host of folk, sermons preached by the water and on a mountain, and vivid recollections of healings and miracles” (2).

Modern readers have a tendency, however, to blend the various portraits of Jesus. Thus we end up with the Magi and the Shepherds, Mary, Joseph and the farm animals, gathered around the Christ child in Nativity scenes, though no single Gospel text depicts such a scene. As much as we love our Nativity scenes at Christmas, serious students of the Bible should allow each Gospel to stand on its own, as each renders a distinct and fascinating portrait of Jesus.

The most useful resource for comparing the Gospels is a Bible study tool called Gospel parallels. Gospel parallels allow chronological, side by side, comparison of Jesus’ ministry as recorded in Matthew, Mark and Luke. Collectively these three Gospels are referred to as the Synoptic Gospels, literally meaning “with the same point of view,” as each recounts Jesus’ ministry in a similar chronological sequence. Though John’s Gospel is included in a few published parallels, it is excluded from most. Its chronology does not “overlay” well with the synoptic accounts, making a side-by-side comparison difficult.

Using the Transfiguration as our example, let’s take a look at how we might undertake a Gospel parallel study. Below is a small portion of the Transfiguration printed in parallel, similar to how it appears in most Gospel parallels.

Notice how the passage is split in a manner that aligns similar portions across the three accounts, simplifying the comparison.

Here are a few steps you can use when doing a Gospel parallel study as either part of your teacher preparation, or as its own group study.

1) Read each account separately.
Gain familiarity with each writer’s version by reading it several times. The better you understand each one, the easier it’ll be to make comparisons.

In our example, all three writers use the phrase “took with him,” and perhaps more significantly, “dazzling white” when describing the appearance of Jesus’ clothes.

3) Using three different colors, highlight portions that are distinctive to each Gospel.
Choose whatever colors you prefer, only be consistent throughout your parallel studies to avoid confusion.

Now we discover some interesting findings!

Notice how Luke deviates from Matthew and Mark by recording that the event occurs “eight days after these sayings.” Any significance to eight days? And, after what sayings? Luke seems to invite us to recall what took place immediately prior to the Transfiguration. Perhaps the story’s placement following these sayings is an interpretive key for unlocking how Luke understands the Transfiguration. Or maybe not, but it’s worth looking into, isn’t it?

Luke also records that Jesus took Peter, James, and John up on the mountain “to pray.” Perhaps we already know that prayer is a central theme throughout his Gospel, as he depicts Jesus praying at every crucial moment in his ministry; so here it is important that Jesus was transfigured “while he was praying.” If not, his inclusion of it here should signal its significance. Explore other occasions where Luke depicts Jesus praying. Do these events have something in common with the Transfiguration? Why do you think prayer is so important to Luke?

Luke chooses not to use the mysterious verb “transfigured,” opting for more descriptive language, “the appearance of his face changed.” Is this important in Luke’s understanding? And why the focus on Jesus’ face?

How about Mark? In his description of Jesus’ dazzling white clothes, why would the writer include “such as no one on earth could bleach them”? What might this striking imagery symbolize about Mark’s understanding of the event?

These are just a few examples, but do you see how each Gospel’s portrait of Jesus comes alive, even in print, when drawn out, highlighted, and studied with parallels? And we didn’t even look at the whole Transfiguration story—just the first two verses!

The Gospels all tell the same story of Jesus—and each is good news. Yet each paints a unique picture that when displayed in its own light, reveals a compelling portrait of how that biblical writer chronicled the life of Jesus of Nazareth.

Ken Matthews has over tens years experience in Christian education and church leadership. He has a BBA in Computer Information Systems from Georgia State University, and is also a graduate of the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta where he received a Master of Divinity. Ken is an avid reader, and also enjoys cooking, running and writing fiction.


Annotated Bibliography


Bridges, Linda McKinnish. The Churches Portraits of Jesus. Macon: Smyth & Helwys Publishing, 1997.

Click here for more information on The Churches Portraits of Jesus.

Throckmorton, Burton, H. Gospel Parallels: A Comparison of the Synoptic Gospels. Fifth ed. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1992.