Recent Study of the New Testament Gospels has given prominence to the individual message of the separate accounts of Jesus' ministry and their purpose in the early church. Until the onset of the period after World War II, it was customary to speak of the synoptic gospels in a way that showed that the assumption of a common teaching was being made. While there is an obvious truth in this blanket description, it has more recently become clear that each individual gospel must be allowed to stand on its own and its characteristic contribution to our study the origin and development of New Testament Christianity must be allowed to stand out.