Pass it on
The four Gospels were not written by a committee coordinating their stories. They contain what scholars call "undesigned coincidences"; small details in one account that accidentally explain a mystery in another.
In John’s Gospel, Jesus asks Philip where to buy bread to feed the five thousand. The question seems odd; why ask Philip specifically? John does not explain. But Luke, in a different passage entirely, mentions that Jesus was near Bethsaida, "the town of Philip." A small detail in one Gospel explains a small mystery in another, without either author seeming to notice the connection. This is not the work of collusion. It is the mark of independent witnesses describing the same event.
Consider another example. In Mark’s account of the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus instructs the crowd to sit on the "green grass"; an odd detail to include unless it was observed. John tells us that this occurred near the time of Passover, which falls in the spring; precisely when grass in that region would be green. Mark does not mention the Passover timing. John does not mention the green grass. The details interlock without either author apparently realizing they are doing so.
These undesigned coincidences are the fingerprint of genuine testimony. Fabricated accounts, or accounts carefully coordinated by a committee, smooth over such rough edges. They make sure every detail is consistent and every connection is explicit. Independent witnesses, by contrast, include details that only make sense when cross-referenced with other witnesses. The Gospels contain dozens of such interlocking details; a web of corroboration that would be extraordinarily difficult to fabricate and that bears the unmistakable texture of people describing something that actually happened.