Many believe the New Testament scholar and critic Dr Bart Ehrman when he says that the differences in the accounts of the Crucifixion in the four gospels are irreconcilable. But the truth is that each Gospel records different events that complement each other and do not contradict them.
The Gospel accounts
We encourage you to read all the accounts of the Crucifixion for yourself and can find them at the links below:
- Matthew 27:1-56
- Mark 15:1-41
- Luke 23:1-49
- John 18:28-40 which continues in 19:1-37
The Argument:
Bart Ehrman, argues that the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ crucifixion contain contradictions and are not meant to be reconciled. Here are some of his main points:
- The day and time of Jesus’s crucifixion.
- The accounts differ because the authors Mark and John each gave a different message. They shouldn’t be reconciled because the point each author is trying to make will be void if one does. “To understand what each author is trying to say, we have to look at the details of each account—and by no means treat one account as if it were saying the same thing as another. John is different from Mark on a key, if seemingly minor, point. If we want to understand what John is saying about Jesus, we cannot reconcile the discrepancy, or we miss his point.” [Jesus, Interrupted p. 29]
- Jesus’s trial with Pontius Pilate – Mark’s is short, whereas John’s is long with so many extra details. Jesus’s discussions with Pilate, Pilate’s activities during the proceedings, when Jesus is flogged, etc.
- When the temple curtain is ripped. Mark 15:38 says it happened after Jesus breathed his last. Luke 23:45-46 says it was while Jesus was alive.
- What the Centurion said when Jesus died. Mark 15:39 and Luke 23:47 say different things. “Did the centurion say both things? One could say yes if one’s goal were to reconcile the Gospels, and thereby create yet a third version of the scene, unlike either Mark or Luke.” [Jesus, Interrupted p. 52]
Before looking at the Scriptures, some points must be made about Dr Ehrman’s concerns about the Crucifixion:
The question about “Contradictions in the manuscripts” isn’t about whether the authors of the Gospels were giving the same message (see Dr Ehrman’s argument above in points 2 and 5), but whether or not the four accounts given of the same event give contradicting details. The fact that each author had a different perspective of the events that occurred during Jesus’s lifetime is exactly the point as to why we reconcile the Gospels. The authors all described the same events from their unique viewpoints, without giving contradicting facts. Each author understood his audience well and so would have emphasised different parts of the events to communicate more meaningfully with his readers. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were not aiming to create verbatim copies of each other’s gospels. They were recording history from their perspectives as led by the Holy Spirit.
The accounts may seem different, but each tells a part of the same story, and only through reconciliation does one get the bigger picture.
One thing to note before we get started is that the Romans and Jews had different ways of telling time. For the Jews, the daytime began at 6 am, making that the 1st hour, 9 am the 3rd hour, 12 pm the 6th, and 3 pm the 9th. The Romans counted the hours starting from midnight, meaning that 6 am was the 6th hour etc. We have another article that explains this concept, answering the question: At what time was Jesus crucified? Is There a Biblical Discrepancy Regarding the Time of Jesus’ Crucifixion?
Below is one possible scenario that combines the Crucifixion accounts in the four gospels into one coherent story.
Thursday Night
After Jesus and the disciples had the Last Supper, they went to the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed there. This is where Judas led the authorities to have Jesus arrested and jailed for the night.
6 AM – 9 AM Friday Morning
At 6 am Jesus was taken before a council with Caiaphas where they all concurred that he was guilty, and so bound him up to take him to the Governor, Pontius Pilate. When Judas saw Jesus being led away, he was filled with regret, tried to return the coins to the chief priests at the temple, and then went to kill himself.
Within the same hour, Jesus and the mob arrived at the Praetorium to meet with Pilate; and so, his trial began.
When Pilate questioned Jesus to hear his side of the story, Jesus didn’t defend himself. Pilate’s first question was: “Are you the king of the Jews?” when Jesus replied, “It is as you say.” The chief priests and elders threw accusations, and yet Jesus didn’t respond to them. When Pilate addressed the Jewish authorities again, saying he found no fault with Jesus, they tried a different angle saying he was stirring up trouble throughout the region, including Galilee.
Then Pilate sent Jesus to Herod Agrippa who had jurisdiction over Galilee. He was excited to finally meet Jesus, whom he had heard so much about, but when Jesus didn’t answer his questions, he became frustrated and sent him back to Pilate. (Luke 23:6—12)
Pilate interviewed Jesus the second time, again starting with his initial question. “Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” (John 18:33). NOTE: We’re not told why, but this time, Jesus engaged with Pilate, as recorded in verses 34 to 37.
Again, Pilate went outside to speak to the Jewish authorities to say he found no fault in Jesus. As governor, he had a tradition of releasing one prisoner because of the Passover Feast (Matt 27:15, Mark 15:6, Luke 23:17, John 18:39), so he addressed the rest of the crowd that had gathered there and asked them if they would like him to release Jesus to them.
“But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus.” (Matthew 27:20). The crowd was loud in asking for Barabbas’ release and Pilate relented. He asked them what punishment they wanted for Jesus and they demanded that he be crucified (Matthew 27:22—23, Mark 15:12—14, Luke 23:20—23, John 19:15).
And so, Pilate condemned Jesus to death by crucifixion and had Jesus flogged.
9 AM Friday
“When he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified.” (Matthew 27:26, Mark 15:15, John 19:1). His crucifixion sentence started with a torture session before the condemned had to take his cross to the final location.
“Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around Him. And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand. And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head.” (Matthew 27:27—30)
This account is also covered in Mark 15:16—20 and John 19:1—3.
When they had finished mocking him, they took the robe off him, put His own clothes back on Him, and then led Him away to be crucified. (Matthew 27:31, Mark 15:20) On the path, Jesus was weak from torture and the soldiers accompanying him saw Simon of Cyrene and forced him to help Jesus carry the cross, and together they reached Golgotha. Jesus is nailed to the cross and placed between two thieves. Pilate had made a sign to be hung above Jesus’ head identifying him as “King of the Jews”.
With Jesus on the cross, the soldiers tried to give him sour wine (vinegar) to drink, which he refused, while they cast lots to divide up his clothing. People were still mocking him, including the two criminals crucified with him. However, one had a change of heart when the other blasphemed against Jesus, “But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” 43 And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:40—43)
Noon on Friday – the 6th hour
Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour, there was darkness over all the land. (Matthew 27:45, Mark 15:33, Luke 23:44) This “darkness” was recorded in Roman literature and they tried to explain it by saying there was a lunar eclipse. However, this is an impossibility. The Jewish Passover occurred on a full moon, meaning the moon was fully visible and thus not in the right position to come between the sun and the earth to cause an eclipse.
3 PM Friday – the 9th hour
At about 3 pm Jesus cried out to God in pain and exhaustion “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Someone immediately ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on the end of a reed, and lifted it to offer Jesus a drink. (Matthew 27:46, 48; Mark 15:34, 36)
John 19:30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
Matthew 27:50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.
Luke 23:46 And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’” Having said this, He breathed His last.
Mark 15:37 And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last.
NOTE: It is plausible that his last words were “It is finished! Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit,” (or vice versa), and the four authors didn’t record it as such. We don’t know why, however, it doesn’t indicate a contradiction.
Then the “Veil of the Temple” was torn in two from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51, Mark 15:38). Matthew even recorded an earthquake.
Luke 23:44—46 seems to say something different.
44 Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. 45 Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. 46 And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’” Having said this, He breathed His last.
Verse 45 seems out of place. We know from Matthew and Mark that the veil tore just after Jesus died, but Luke seems to say it happened before. It’s plausible to say that Luke used verse 45 to describe what was happening in the area when Jesus was dying, without specifying the order in which it occurred. The darkness started at noon, Jesus died at 3 pm, the curtain tore, and in verse 46, Luke recorded Jesus’ last words. If you read carefully, verses 45 and 46 were not necessarily meant to be in chronological order.
When the centurion standing at the cross heard what Jesus said and saw him die, he said “Truly this Man was the Son of God!” and “Certainly this was a righteous Man!”
Sometime before 6 PM Friday Evening
John 19:31 Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
However, Jesus had already died before the soldiers arrived to break his legs. To make sure, one of the soldiers stuck his spear into Jesus’ torso and what looked like both blood and water flowed from the wound.
Conclusion
This scenario is reasonable and plausible and shows no contradictions, which is enough to assert that the four accounts of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion can be harmonised. We cannot explain why the authors wrote down some facts and not others, but we can see that their facts don’t contradict each other.
For other supposed contradictions in the Bible, follow this link:
Category: Bible Difficulties
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