Cross & salvation
The four Gospel accounts side by side
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all tell the story of the crucifixion. Read one after another, they agree on the outline but differ on many details. This topic puts the accounts side by side.
1The question
How do the four Gospels tell the crucifixion, and where do they differ?
2What Christians believe
Christians answer that differences in detail are what we expect from several witnesses. Each Gospel writer chose what to include for his own readers, and the accounts agree on the central facts: Jesus was condemned by Pilate, crucified outside Jerusalem, died and was buried, and his tomb was found empty.
Many apparent conflicts can be explained. The different last words may be different sayings, all spoken on the cross. Some Christians suggest that John counts the hours differently from Mark. On this view the differences show honest, independent testimony rather than invention.
3What the texts say
The hour
And it was the third hour, and they crucified him.
And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!
Who carried the cross
And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross.
And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:
The last words
And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.
When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
Who came to the tomb
In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.
The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.
4What scholars say
Raymond E. Brown (The Death of the Messiah, 1994) compares the four passion accounts line by line. He treats the difference in the hour between Mark and John as real, and suggests that John places the sentence at noon on the day of preparation, when the Passover lambs were killed, for a theological reason.
Bart D. Ehrman (Jesus, Interrupted, 2009) lists these differences for general readers and argues that they cannot all be harmonised. Most scholars also hold that Matthew and Luke used Mark as a source, so the first three Gospels are not fully independent witnesses.
Scholars broadly agree that Jesus was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and that the Gospels differ on details such as the hour, the last words and who first came to the tomb.
5The Islamic perspective
The Qur’an says the crucifixion of Jesus only appeared to happen, and that those who argue about it are in doubt:
And because of their saying: We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, Allah's messenger - they slew him not nor crucified him, but it appeared so unto them; and lo! those who disagree concerning it are in doubt thereof; they have no knowledge thereof save pursuit of a conjecture; they slew him not for certain.
But Allah took him up unto Himself. Allah was ever Mighty, Wise.
Muslims do not build their belief on the differences between the Gospels; it rests on the Qur’an. But they note that the accounts of this central event disagree on what happened, when, and what Jesus said, which fits the Qur’an’s words: “those who disagree concerning it are in doubt thereof”.
6Objections and responses
“Differences in detail show the accounts are independent and honest.”
Response: Small differences can show that. But Matthew and Luke copy much of Mark, so they are not fully independent, and the differences here are not small: the hour of the crucifixion, and whether Jesus’s last words were a cry of abandonment (Mark 15:34) or calm trust (Luke 23:46).
“Almost all historians agree Jesus was crucified.”
Response: Muslims accept that this is the majority view among historians. Historians work from the sources available, which are the Christian accounts written decades later. Muslims accept the Qur’an as revelation from God about what truly happened.
7Conclusion
Both sides agree that the four Gospels tell the same outline with real differences in detail. Christians see several honest witnesses to one event. Muslims see accounts that disagree on central points, as the Qur’an says those who disagree about it are in doubt.
Read Mark 15, Luke 23 and John 19 side by side and note every difference you find.
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Related topics
Sources
- Bible, King James Version:Mark 15:25John 19:14Mark 15:21John 19:17Mark 15:34Luke 23:46John 19:30Matthew 28:1Mark 16:1John 20:1
- Qur’an, translated by M. Pickthall:Qur’an 4:157Qur’an 4:158
- Raymond E. Brown, The Death of the Messiah (1994)
- Bart D. Ehrman, Jesus, Interrupted (2009)