A common first reaction is suspicion: if the accounts differ, surely one is wrong. But four independent portraits of the same person, agreeing on the substance and differing in emphasis, are exactly what honest testimony looks like. Four identical accounts would be evidence of copying, not of truth.

Mark

The shortest and probably the earliest, written with urgency. Events follow one another quickly, and the word immediately recurs. It presents Jesus as the servant who acts, and it is unsparing about the failures of the disciples. This is the one to read first.

Matthew

Written with Jewish readers in view. It repeatedly shows how the life of Jesus fulfils what the Hebrew Scriptures promised, and it gathers his teaching into five large blocks, of which the Sermon on the Mount is the first. If you want the teaching organised, this is where it is.

Luke

Written by a careful researcher for a Greek reader, and it says so at the start. Luke gives the most attention to the poor, to women, to outsiders and to prayer. He also wrote Acts, so his two volumes carry the story from the birth of Jesus to the arrival of the gospel in Rome.

John

Written last and differently. Fewer events, examined at length, with long discourses instead of short sayings. John states his purpose plainly near the end: that readers may believe. It is the most reflective of the four and rewards slow reading.

How to use them

Read one all the way through before comparing. Comparing verses across all four at the start produces a blur; reading one complete account gives you a coherent portrait to hold.

Then read a second, and notice what it adds. The differences will begin to look less like discrepancies and more like four people telling you about someone they knew, each remembering what struck them most.

If you want a daily passage without planning your own route, our daily readings supply one, and the questions section is where to ask about anything that puzzles you.