The Churches' Gospels

Memories of Jesus
The NT letters vary in their attention to the details of Jesus' life.

Some letters suggest a deeper knowledge and teaching than they reveal (Phil 2:8, Rom 14:14 || Matt 15:11, Rom 14:17, 1 Cor 2:8 || Thomas 17, Hebrews, James, Revelation).
Some draw on traditions of Jesus, but not consistently (1 Cor 7:10 || Matt 5:31-32, 1 Cor 9:14 || Matt 10:10, 1 Thess 4:15).
Others draw more consistently on material about or from Jesus' life (1 Pet 2:20-25).

Almost all are grounded in Jesus' death and resurrection as determinative.
These letters are evidence of the earliest churches attending to Jesus' story through each other's witness, interpretations, and contexts.
The Gospels focus on that story.

Ask not, "What really happened?" ...

but ask "Are the narrators trustworthy?"

An Embarrassment of Riches: The "Synoptic Problem"
The four canonical gospels both resemble and differ from one another:

Mark	John	Matthew	Luke-Acts
written for Gentiles	written "so you may believe"	written for Jews	written for educated, cosmopolitan audiences "so you would know the truth of your catechesis"
surprise and irony suggest that it is counter-cultural	emphasizes deeper significance of words and events	affirming and critical	emphasizes reversal of social status
thesis: "Jesus is [apocalyptic] Messiah, Son of God"	affirms Mark's thesis, content, structure, and moral ...	affirms Mark ...	affirms Mark and Matthew ...
content: Jesus' post-baptismal ministry announces the approach of "the Kingdom of God"	+ adds monologues from Jesus	+ adds infancy narratives	+ adds 'travel narrative' to Jerusalem
structure: its reception culminates in his misunderstanding, rejection, crucifixion, and resurrection	+ two-part structure of "Signs" and "Glory"	+ five blocks of Jesus' teaching	+ locates the gospel in world history and context
moral: this story is "good news": the key to all life, history, and meaning	+ theme of growing separation of darkness from light	+ locates the gospel in Jewish history and context	+ continues the story in the similar story of the early church

All the overlaps and differences listed above create consistent effects in each Gospel.

Each Gospel has its own literary character and goal (see each Gospel's prologue).
Audiences are distinct within a broader fellowship rooted in the apostolic witnesses.

The church circulated and soon, universally, canonized these four Gospels.

Some Themes in the Gospels
The content of the OT and its apocalyptic perspective are affirmed, even intensified.

Yet they have been widely, even universally, misconstrued.
Jesus does not just affirm them, but 'fulfills' them.

Jesus' life, death, and resurrection are a fulcrum in God's saving action for Israel and the world.

Jesus' person, not just his work, reveals God and makes God's salvation newly available.

Jesus' church is the new central locus of God's commissioned people in the world and for its sake.
The church displays Israel's distinguishing qualities of

belonging to God and vice versa,
enjoying visible but unconventional power and prominence, and
manifesting God's wisdom,
all transformed through Jesus' fulfillments.

These points are (and should be) communicated in different ways by different ways to different audiences.