The Passion and Death of Jesus

Although the Passion Narratives of all four Gospels are similar in many ways, there are also significant differences among them. In many respects, the three Synoptics agree with each other (since Matthew and Luke are almost certainly based on Mark), while John's account is quite different, especially in matters of chronology. In other respects, while Matthew and Mark are nearly identical, Luke may differ from them and be much closer to John's account. Moreover, some well-known details, or even whole episodes, are found in only one of the four Gospels.

OVERALL EMPHASES:  What does each of the four Evangelists STRESS the most in the Passion narrative?

• Mark: the suffering of Jesus, how he was tragically rejected, unfairly condemned, viciously beaten, horribly insulted, and cruelly mistreated by multiple groups
• Matthew: the kingship of Jesus, how the de-facto ruling powers (esp. Pilate & Caiphas) conspired to get rid of someone they saw as a political threat
• Luke: the innocence of Jesus, how Pilate said he did not deserve death, and others (Herod Antipas, centurion, repentant thief) also recognized his innocence
• John: the exaltation of Jesus, how he remains in charge, driving all the action, completing the will of the Father, and being glorified as he is lifted up

OPPOSITION TO JESUS:  WHY did the authorities find Jesus to be such a great threat?

• The Synoptic Gospels:
  • In Matthew’s Infancy Narrative, King Herod already plots to destroy Jesus, the newborn “king of the Jews” (Matt 2:13-18).
  • Opposition against Jesus arises early in the Gospels, mostly since he breaks the Sabbath laws (Mark 3:6; Matt 12:14).
  • Just after the incident in the Jerusalem Temple, the chief priests attempt to kill Jesus (Mark 11:18; Luke 19:47; cf. Matt 21:15).
  • The authorities want to kill Jesus again after tells the parable of the wicked tenants (Mark 12:1-12; Matt 21:33-46; Luke 20:9-20).
  • The chief priests plot how to arrest and kill Jesus secretly before the Passover Feast (Mark 14:1-2; Matt 26:1-5).
     
• The Fourth Gospel:
  • During Jesus’ first visit to Jerusalem, he alludes to how the Jewish authorities will destroy the “temple of his body” (John 2:19).
  • The authorities want to kill Jesus not only for breaking the Sabbath, but also for calling God his own Father (5:18; cf. 7:1, 19-25).
  • The Jews try to stone Jesus when he says, “I am” (applying God’s name to himself; 8:59; cf. 8:37-40) and when he says, “The Father and I are one,” which the authorities consider “blasphemy” (10:31-39; cf. 11:8).
  • The Sanhedrin (high priestly council) opposes Jesus because he performs many “signs,” and they fear the reaction of the Romans; Caiaphas says it is better for one man to die than for the whole people to be destroyed (11:48-53).
  • The chief priests plan to kill Lazarus as well, since many people were believing in Jesus after he raised Lazarus (12:10-11).

EVENTS LEADING UP TO THE PASSOVER FEAST:  What happened shortly BEFORE Jesus died?

• The Plot to Kill Jesus:
  • The Synoptic Gospels all show the Jewish authorities (chief priests, elders and/or scribes) plotting to kill Jesus, but hesitant of people's reactions, esp. due to the nearness of Passover (Mark 14:1-2; Matt 26:1-5; Luke 22:1-2). Mark and Matthew say it was two days before Passover, while Luke less precisely says that the Passover "was near."
  • John's Gospel similarly tells of the authorities' plotting, but highlights the leading role of Caiaphas, the high priest (John 11:47-53).
     
• Jesus is Anointed by a Woman:
• In all four Gospels, a woman anoints Jesus during a meal; but the woman's identity and the time and location of the event are very different.
• In Mark 14:3-9 and Matt 26:6-13, two days before the Passover, in the house of Simon the leper in Bethany (near Jerusalem), an anonymous woman (not called a "sinner") anoints Jesus' head with expensive ointment. Some people complain about the waste, saying the ointment could have been sold and the money given to the poor; but Jesus commends the woman, saying the anointing was a preparation for his burial.
• In John 12:1-8, the anointing also takes place in Bethany, but six days before Passover, and in the house of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. It is this Mary of Bethany (not Mary Magdalene, and again not called a "sinner") who anoints Jesus' feet and wipes them with her hair. Judas Iscariot is singled out as the one who complains about the waste, but Jesus' reaction again makes reference to his upcoming burial.
• The only anointing story in Luke is not part of the Passion Narrative, but much earlier (7:36-50), while Jesus is still up in Galilee. An anonymous but sinful woman anoints Jesus' feet while he is eating in the house of an anonymous Pharisee, who complains not about the waste of the ointment, but that Jesus allows a sinful woman to touch him. In response, Jesus talks about love and forgiveness, not about his own death.
   
• Judas Plans to Betray Jesus:
  • In all three Synoptics, Judas Iscariot agrees to betray Jesus to the chief priests (Mark 14:10-11, par.); but only Matthew specifies that it was for "thirty pieces of silver" (Matt 26:15; cf. 27:3, 9), and only Luke mentions the influence of Satan on Judas (22:3-6).
  • John's Gospel also mentions Satan's influence on Judas (6:70-71; 13:2, 27), but does not say that Judas ever met with the high priests.

THE LAST SUPPER:  WHAT is the significance of Jesus' last meal with his disciples?

• The Synoptic Gospels:
• Jesus sends some disciples (only Luke says it was Peter and John) into Jerusalem to prepare for his last meal; in all three Synoptics, it is clearly a Passover Meal, which commemorates the Exodus of the Jews (Mark 14:12; Matt 26:17; Luke 22:7-8, 15).
• All three Synoptics show Jesus speaking the blessing prayers, and saying the bread and wine is his own body and blood (Mark 14:22-25; Matt 26:26-29; Luke 22:15-20; also 1 Cor 11:23-25).
• Only Luke (and Paul) has Jesus explicitly say, "Do this in remembrance of me" (Luke 22:19b; cf. 1 Cor 11:24, 25).
• Only Luke gives evidence of the Passover tradition of blessing multiple cups of wine (Luke 22:17, 20).
• Luke also has much more dialogue during the Last Supper, including Jesus' prediction of Peter's denial (Luke 22:31-34; cf. John 13:36-38).
• In Mark and Matthew, Jesus' prediction of Peter's denial takes place just after the supper, as they are on their way to Gethsemane (Mark 14:26-31; Matt 26:30-35).
   
• The Fourth Gospel:
• Jesus' Last Supper is not a Passover Meal, but takes place just before the Feast of Passover (John 13:1);
  in John, Jesus will die on the same afternoon that the Passover Lambs are slaughtered (cf. 19:31-37).
• The "Eucharistic" words of Jesus are not recorded in John 13, but were already spoken earlier (6:22-59).
• During this final meal in John's Gospel, Jesus washes all of his disciples' feet (John 13:2-16).
• Then he tells them, "I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you" (13:15).
• During the meal, Jesus foretells Judas' betrayal (John 13:21-30) and Peter's denial (13:36-38).
• During the meal, Jesus also gives a "Farewell Discourse" (13:31—16:33) and addresses a long prayer to God (17:1-26).

THE AGONY AND ARREST IN THE GARDEN:  WHERE and HOW was Jesus captured?

• The Synoptic Gospels:
• After the Passover meal, Jesus and his disciples go out to the "Mount of Olives" (Mark 14:26; Matt 26:30; Luke 22:39).
• The place where Jesus prays is called "Gethsemane" (Mark 14:32; Matt 26:36), but it is not explicitly called a "garden."
• Luke greatly shortens Jesus' prayer and his challenges to the disciples (11 verses in both Mark & Matt; only 6 verses in Luke).
• In all three Synoptics, Judas identifies Jesus with a kiss (Mark 14:43-46; Matt 26:47-50); but in Luke,
  Jesus interrupts this action by asking, "Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?" (Luke 22:48).
   
• The Fourth Gospel:
• After Jesus finishes his discourses and prayer, they go "across the Kidron Valley" and enter a "garden," but this is not explicitly identified as "Gethsemane" (John 18:1).
• There is no "agony" or any prayer of Jesus in this garden; it is only the scene of Jesus' arrest (18:2-12).
• Jesus remains in control of the scene; the soldiers hesitate to arrest Jesus when twice he says, "I am" (18:6, 8).
• All four Gospels say that one of Jesus' disciples cut off the ear of the high priest's slave; but only in John are these two individuals explicitly named: Simon Peter and Malchus (18:10).

THE ACCUSATIONS AND CHARGES:  WHY was Jesus condemned to death, and BY WHOM?

• The Religious Inquest:  The Jewish High Priest and Sanhedrin (council of elders) find Jesus guilty of blaspheming God.
• Mark 14:61-64 and Matt 26:63-66 explicitly use the word "blasphemy," while Luke 22:67-71 and John 18:19-23 use slightly different expressions.
• The word "blasphemy" in ancient Greek literally means "insulting or saying bad things about God."
• The punishment prescribed in the Hebrew Bible for blasphemy is to be stoned to death (Lev 24:10-23).
• Jesus directly admits/agrees that he is "the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One " in Mark (14:61-62),
  while his answer is slightly vaguer in the other Gospels (Matt 26:64; Luke 22:67-68; cf. Mark 15:39; John 19:7).
   
• The Political Trial(s):  The Roman procurator of Judea (Pontius Pilate) finds Jesus guilty of sedition, rebellion, or treason.
• Pilate was the Roman ruler ("prefect" or "governor") of Judea from AD 26 to 36; he is also mentioned by the Roman historian Tacitus, Annals 15.44 (below).
• "Pilate" is named 55 times in the New Testament, but his full name "Pontius Piltate" is given only three times (Luke 3:1; Acts 4:27; 1 Tim 6:13).
• Luke's Gospel describes the nature of the charges against Jesus in the greatest detail (Luke 23:2, 5, 14).
• Jesus is accused of calling himself and/or letting others call him "King of the Jews" (Mark 15:2, 9, 12, 18, 26, 32, and parallels; cf. also John 18:33-37; 19:12-15).
• Only in Luke, Pilate interrupts the trial by sending Jesus to Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee, who was also in Jerusalem for the Passover (Luke 23:6-12).
• In Matthew and Mark, Pilate fairly quickly agrees to the Jewish authorities' request to have Jesus condemned (Mark 15:2-15; Matt 27:24-26).
• In Luke and John, Pilate repeatedly asserts Jesus' innocence (Luke 23:4, 13-15, 22; John 18:38b; 19:4, 6, 12; cf. Matt 27:24-25).

THE CRUCIFIXION AND DEATH:  HOW was Jesus executed?

• Condemnation to Death:
• In lands occupied by the Romans, the death penalty could only be carried out with the approval of the local Roman governor (cf. John 18:31).
• Mark and Matthew explicitly say Jesus was handed over to Roman soldiers to be crucified; but Luke and John (using ambiguous pronouns) make it seem like Pilate handed Jesus over to the Jewish authorities to carry out the crucifixion (Luke 23:25; John 19:16).
   
• Beatings and Scourging:
• Before being crucified, condemned prisoners were often beaten, scourged, mocked, and mistreated in other ways.
• Prisoners might already die from this maltreatment, so Jewish law limited floggings to thirty-nine lashes (cf. 2 Cor 11:24).
• Since Jesus was condemned for claiming to be "King of the Jews," the soldiers mock him with the symbols of royal power and authority, including a scarlet (or purple) cloak, a crown (of thorns), and a reed (instead of a scepter).
   
• Road to Golgotha:
• Condemned persons would usually be forced to carry their own cross beams to the place of their crucifixion (as Jesus does in John 19:17);
  in contrast, Simon of Cyrene is compelled to help carry Jesus' cross in the Synoptics (Mark 15:21; Matt 27:32; Luke 23:26).
• Only Mark 15:21 identifies Simon of Cyrene as "the father of Alexander and Rufus"; the sons were evidently known to Mark's audience (see Rom 16:13 - is it the same "Rufus"?).
• Only Luke tells of Jesus speaking with women along the way to the cross (Luke 23:27-31), but none of the Gospels contains the full fourteen "Stations of the Cross" that later became popular in Christian devotions.
• Golgotha, meaning "Place of the Skull" (Mark 15:22, par.) was probably an abandoned stone quarry just outside of the walled city of Jerusalem; however, the city was enlarged and new walls built to the North and West shortly after the death of Jesus.
• Thus, the site of Jesus' crucifixion and burial has been inside the city of Jerusalem since the late first century (at the location of the 4th-century Church of the Holy Sepulchre); in contrast, some people propose that the actual site of the crucifixion is at the so-called "Garden Tomb" (slightly North of the Damascus Gate).
   
• Manner of Crucifixion:
• The cross was usually T-shaped, with the cross beam placed on top of an upright post already set in the ground.
• The victim might be tied and/or nailed to the cross beam and to the upright post; only John explicitly mentions "nails" and "nail marks" (John 20:25; cf. Col 2:14), while Jesus may well have been tied to the cross, based on the Synoptics (cf. Acts 5:30; 10:39; 13:29; which use the phrase "hang on a tree"; cf. also Deut 21:22; Gal 3:13).
• Crucified persons had to be guarded by soldiers, to prevent family or friends from rescuing them before they died.
• The charge would often be affixed over the head of the condemned criminal, to serve as a warning to any onlookers:
  INRI = Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum, Latin for "Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews" (John 19:19-22; cf. Mark 15:26).
• Only John gives this full inscription, and says it was posted in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek; it is briefer in the Synoptics
  ("This is Jesus the King of the Jews" in Matt 27:37; "This is the King of the Jews" in Luke 23:38; only "The King of the Jews" in Mark 15:26).
   
  
• Cause of Death:
• Some victims might bleed to death fairly quickly, but some could survive for several days before succumbing to a combination of dehydration and asphyxiation.
• To prolong the victims' agony, their feet would be tied or nailed to the post, so that they could push themselves up to breathe.
• To hasten the victims' deaths, their legs might be broken, so that they could no longer breathe (cf. John 19:31-36).
   
• "Seven Last Words of Christ":
• Traditional Good Friday devotions recall the seven "utterances" (Greek logos = "word, phrase, sentence, speech") that Jesus spoke while hanging on the cross; none of the Gospels contain all seven phrases, however, but only one, or at most three of them:
1. Re. those crucifying him: "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." (Luke 23:34)
2. To his mother: "Woman, here is your son"; and to the beloved disciple: "Here is your mother." (John 19:26-27)
3. To the repentant thief: "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise." (Luke 23:43)
4. At the ninth hour:  "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mark 15:34; Matt 27:46)
5. In order to fulfill scripture: "I am thirsty." (John 19:28)
6. After receiving a drink of vinegar: "It is finished." (John 19:30)
7. As Jesus is dying: "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit." (Luke 23:46)
    
• The Witnesses to the Crucifixion:
• In the Synoptics, many women who had followed Jesus from Galilee were "looking on from afar" (Mark 15:40; Matt 27:55; cf. Luke 23:49).
• Mark names three women (Mary Magdalene; Mary the mother of James and Joses; and Salome); Matthew names the same three (?) slightly differently (Mary Magdalene; Mary the mother of James and Joseph; and the mother of the sons of Zebedee); but in Luke the women remain anonymous (until 24:10).
• A Roman centurion who witnessed the scene declares, “Truly this man was the son of God” (Mark 15:39; Matt 27:54), or “…was innocent” (Luke 23:47).
• In John 19:25-26, three or four women (his mother; his mother's sister; Mary the wife of Clopas; and Mary Magdalene--since probably #2 = #3) as well as "the disciple whom Jesus loved" (not named, but called "son") are "standing beside the cross" (i.e., very close to it).

THE  BURIAL:  BY WHOM and WHEN and HOW and WHERE was Jesus buried?

• By Whom?
• A certain Joseph, from the Judean town of Arimathea (exact location unknown); he is called a "respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God" (Mark 15:43); "a rich man" and "also a disciple of Jesus" (Matt 27:57); "a member of the council, a good and righteous man, who had not consented to their purpose and deed " (Luke 23:50); and "a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews" (John 19:38).
• Only John mentions that Nicodemus, who had previously encountered Jesus, also helped with Jesus' burial (19:39; cf. 3:1; 7:50).
   
• When?
• After Joseph secures permission from Pilate to retrieve Jesus' body (Mark 15:43 & par.). After Pilate was assured that Jesus was dead, based on the testimony of a centurion (Mark 15:44-45) and/or the piercing of Jesus' side (John 19:31-37).
• On Friday afternoon just before sundown [when the Sabbath begins], so the burial was done hurriedly (Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54; John 19:42).
   
• How?
• By wrapping Jesus' body in a linen cloth (Mark 15:46 & par.), placing it in a rock-hewn tomb, and rolling a large stone against the entrance (Mark 15:46 & par.).
• In John 19:40, they also wrap the body with a large mixture of spices (myrrh & aloes), according to Jewish burial customs.
• But in the Synoptics, they do not use spices right away (evidently for lack of time before sunset); rather, the women prepare spices after going home (Luke 23:56) and intend to embalm the body properly after the Sabbath (Mark 16:1).
   
• Where?
• The Synoptics do not mention the location of the tomb, but only say that it was hewn out of rock (Mark 15:46 & par.).
• Luke 23:53 and John 19:41 add that no one else had been buried in this tomb before, while Matt 27:60 claims that it was Joseph of Arimathea's own new tomb.
• Only John 19:41-42 says that the tomb was in a "garden" near the place where Jesus had been crucified.
• Only Matt 27:62-66 says that some soldiers were stationed to guard Jesus' tomb, lest the disciples steal his body (cf. 28:11-15).
  

A Comparative Overview of the Events of the Passion:

Note: Scripture references in square brackets indicate passages out of chronological sequence, in contrast to the other Gospels.

References to Jesus' Passion and Death in Non-Christian Sources:

Possible Old Testament Allusions:

• Deuteronomy 21:22-23 - "When someone is convicted of a crime punishable by death and is executed, and you hang him on a tree, / his corpse must not remain all night upon the tree; you shall bury him that same day, for anyone hung on a tree is under God's curse. You must not defile the land that the LORD your God is giving you for possession." (cf. Acts 5:30; 10:39; Gal 3:13-14)
   
• Psalm 2:1-2, 6-7 - "Why do the nations protest and the peoples conspire in vain? / Kings on earth rise up and princes plot together against the LORD and against his anointed one:
  6 “I myself have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.” / I will proclaim the decree of the LORD, he said to me, “You are my son; today I have begotten you." (quoted in Acts 4:25-26)
   
• Psalm 22:1-31 - "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (v. 1; also read the entire Psalm 22)
   
• Psalm 31:1-24 - "Into your hands I commend my spirit" (v. 6; also read the entire Psalm 31)
   
• Lamentations 4:19-20 - "Our pursuers were swifter than eagles in the sky, In the mountains they were hot on our trail, they ambushed us in the wilderness. /
  The LORD's anointed—our very lifebreath!—was caught in their snares, He in whose shade we thought to live among the nations."
   
• The four "Suffering Servant Songs" of Isaiah:
  • Isa 42:1-7 - "Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased..." (quoted in Matthew 12:18-21)
     
  • Isa 49:1-6 - "Hear me, coastlands, listen, distant peoples. Before birth the LORD called me, from my mother’s womb he gave me my name..." (cf. Acts 13:47)
     
  • Isa 50:4-9a - "The Lord GOD has given me a well-trained tongue..."
     
  • Isa 52:13—53:12 - "See, my servant shall prosper, he shall be raised high and greatly exalted..."
     
• Daniel 9:25-26 – "Know and understand: From the utterance of the word that Jerusalem was to be rebuilt until there is an anointed ruler, there shall be seven weeks. In the course of sixty-two weeks it shall be rebuilt, with squares and trenches, in time of affliction. / After the sixty-two weeks an anointed one shall be cut down with no one to help him. And the people of a leader who will come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. His end shall come in a flood; until the end of the war, which is decreed, there will be desolation."

Early Jewish Sources:

• Josephus, Antiquities 18.63-64:
  "About this time arose Jesus, a wise man, [if indeed it be lawful to call him a man, for] he was a doer of wonderful deeds and a teacher of men who gladly received the truth. He drew to himself many of both Jews and Gentiles. [He was the Christ.] And when Pilate, on the indictment of principal men among us, had condemned him to the cross, those who had loved him at the first did not cease to do so [for he appeared to them alive on the third day, the divine prophets having foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things about him]. And even to this day the race of Christians, who are named from him, has not died out."
  [Note: Most scholars believe the italicized words in brackets above are not originally from Josephus but are later Christian insertions.]

Greco-Roman Sources:

• Tacitus, Annals 15.44:
  After Nero burned a large part of Rome, he blamed the Christians, whose name was linked to Christ:
  "Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilate, and a most mischievous superstition thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their center and become popular."
   

Some Recommended Publications:

• Raymond E. Brown, SS. The Death of the Messiah. 2 Volumes. The Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library. Yale University Press, 1998. – most comprehensive & scholarly work
• Raymond E. Brown, SS. A Crucified Christ in Holy Week: Essays on the Four Gospel Passion Narratives. Liturgical Press, 1986. – in a series of shorter, more popular works
• Raymond E. Brown SS. A Risen Christ in Eastertime: Essays on the Gospel Narratives of the Resurrection. Liturgical Press, 1991. – in a series of shorter, more popular works
   
• Donald Senior, CP. The Passion of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew (or Mark, Luke, John). 4 volumes. Michael Glazier, 1985. – shorter works designed for educated non-specialists
   
• Stephen J. Binz. “Threshold Bible Study” series; from Twenty-Third Publications. – designed for small-group scripture sharing groups, with prayers, discussion questions, etc.
  • People of the Passion. 2004.
• The Tragic and Triumphant Cross. 2005.
• The Resurrection and the Life. 2006.
   
• Amy-Jill Levine. Entering the Passion of Jesus: A Beginner's Guide to Holy Week. Abingdon, 2018.
• Amy-Jill Levine. Witness at the Cross: A Beginner's Guide to Holy Friday. Abingdon, 2021.