The Trials of Jesus

by David Lasseter


 

The table below is a "harmony" of the four gospels with regards to the events recorded concerning the trials of Jesus.  Every effort has been made to identify like events in each gospel and accurately develop a progression of events from the earliest to the latest.  If you study the four accounts together I believe you'll develop a greater appreciation of the suffering our Lord experienced after his arrest in Gethsemane.  Naturally, developing such a table has limitations, the greatest (in my opinion) being the incomplete record found in each individual gospel.  However, identifying like events in each gospel and building the events recorded in only one or two gospels around them allows one to develop such a table.  As I was putting this work together I came to realize a few things I'd never considered before.  This was presented to my Sunday morning Bible class, and one of the strongest reactions I received regarded the events recorded in John 19:1-5 and their placement within the table.  I will briefly summarize my reasoning concerning this passage.  Please notice Luke 23:22.  When Jesus returned from his visit with Herod, he had not yet been chastised.  For this reason I placed John 19:1-5 after Luke 23:22.  In John 19:1-5 we see the chastisement Jesus received at the hands of Pilate:  He was scourged, had a crown of thorns placed upon His head, mocked and struck.  After this, Pilate took him before the Jews wearing the robe and crown of thorns.  However, Pilate had not yet released Jesus and, according to John 19:5-15 it would be a little while before he did so.  John records the delivery of Jesus to the soldiers in 19:16.  Now lets look at the accounts in Matthew and Mark.  In both we see Jesus was scourged after Barabbas was released and shortly before Jesus was delivered to the soldiers.  After being delivered to the soldiers, what did they do?  We see in Matthew 27:27-31 and Mark 15:16-20 that they again placed a crown of thorns on His head, a symbolic robe on His shoulders and mocked Him.  What can we learn from these three accounts?  According to John 19, Jesus was crowned with thorns and scourged well before being released to the soldiers.  However, in Matthew and Mark we see He was scourged around the time of his release to the soldiers and had the crown of thorns placed by the soldiers after His delivery to them.  No record of His returning before Pilate after the crown of thorns was placed is made in either Matthew or Mark.  I believe the three accounts record two separate scourgings and two separate mockings with the placement of the thorny crown and symbolic robe.  For me, this is even more sobering as I consider the sufferings He experienced for each of us.

I would also like to briefly comment on the placement of Matthew 27:19 and John 19:13.  I placed these two verses together because they both show Pilate sitting on the judgment seat.  When Pilate's wife came to him in Matthew 27:19, we have recorded Pilate's sitting on the jugment seat.  The other account in the gospels also showing Pilate in this posture is John 19:13.  Imagine the pressure Pilate experienced during this short period of time.  The Jews had just warned Pilate that he would not be considered a friend of Caesar should he release Jesus (John 19:12).  He goes and sits down on the judgment seat.  While there his wife comes to him with an account of a dream she had experienced concerning Jesus.  He was already frightened by the claim Jesus had made that He was the Son of God (John 19:7,8).  Now his wife tells him of her dream.  Despite all of this he gives in to the wishes of the Jewish leaders and their followers and delivers Jesus for crucifixion.   Please carefully consider the four accounts of Jesus' trials as you go through the table below.

Matthew Mark Luke John
     

18:12-14

26:57-75

14:53-72

22:54-71

18:15-27

27:1,2

15:1,2

23:1

18:28

 

 

 

18:29

 

 

23:2

18:30-32

 

 

 

18:33-36

27:11

15:2

23:3

18:37

 

 

 

18:38

 

 

 

18:38

27:12-14

15:3-5

 

 

 

 

23:4

18:38

27:15-18

15:6-10

 

18:39,40

   

23:5

 
   

23:6-12

 
   

23:13-16

 
   

23:17

 
   

23:18,19

 
   

23:20

 
   

23:21

 
   

23:22

 

 

 

 

19:1-5

 

 

 

19:6

 

 

 

19:6

 

 

 

19:7

 

 

 

19:8-11

 

 

 

19:12

27:19

 

 

19:13

27:19

 

 

 

27:20

15:11

 

 

 

 

 

19:14

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