How is it that the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke have so much in common?

While there is an obvious degree of commonality between the Gospels we hear in Ordinary Time each year, each also has its own unique characteristics that offer us a deeper insight into the person of Jesus and his teaching.

You may have heard the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke referred to as “synoptic” gospels, reflecting the high degree of commonality between them.  This “collective” or “single view” of Jesus’ life is evident in the large amount of content that is similar across two (eg the Sermon on the Mount/Sermon on the Plain), or sometimes all three Gospels (eg the Proclamation of John the Baptist).

But was this commonality simply coincidental?  After all, each Gospel recounts the same life of Jesus?  Biblical scholars have come to find over time that the similarities between the synoptic gospels are a result of two factors.  First, it’s believed that the Matthean and Lukan communities had access to the Gospel of Mark as their own Gospels developed.  Second, it’s also believed that each community possessed a (now lost) single written collection of Jesus’ sayings that was used as material across the three gospels.sus and his teaching.

Published in our parish bulletin, Carmel, 15 February 2026