The Gospel of Luke contains about twenty-five parables of Jesus, while the Gospel of John contains none. Of Luke’s twenty-five parables, ten appear only in the Gospel of Luke and not in Mark or Matthew, although both of those Gospels contain several parables. In John’s Gospel, Jesus teaches not in parables, but rather in long discourses (speeches).
What might these facts say to us about the ways in which the New Testament Gospels came to be?
What does it tell us about how we should read the Gospels?
For example, what do these facts tell us about whether or not the Gospel writers are trying to present Jesus’ words exactly as he said them?
