The Passion of Our Lord
A comparative study of the four Gospels
The suffering and death of Jesus Christ is the central event in all of human history. It is the place where God's justice and God's mercy meet. Each of the four Evangelists tells this story from a distinct vantage point, revealing something about Christ's work that the others do not. Read side by side, these accounts do not contradict one another. They give us a richer, deeper portrait of what God accomplished on the cross than any single account can carry alone.
How this study works
Each session uses a layered Building Approach. We begin with Mark as our baseline, then add Matthew, Luke, and John one layer at a time, comparing each account directly to what came before. Rather than reading all four Gospels at once and losing earlier details, we build understanding progressively. By the time we reach John, the differences are not confusing. They are illuminating.
Six sessions
Session one
Gethsemane: the agony begins
Mark 14:32–52 · Matthew 26:36–56 · Luke 22:39–53 · John 18:1–11
Mark strips away every comfort to leave the reader face to face with the raw cost of atonement. Matthew shows Jesus fulfilling Scripture even in His darkest hour. Luke records the angel, the bloody sweat, and the healing of the servant's ear. John presents the sovereign "I AM" before whom the soldiers fall to the ground — yet who submits to arrest willingly. Four portraits of the same hour. Four revelations of the same Christ.
Session two
The Jewish trial and Peter's denial
Mark 14:53–72 · Matthew 26:57–75 · Luke 22:54–71 · John 18:12–27
Mark sets the trial and the denial as simultaneous events, forcing the reader to watch Jesus confess faithfully inside the palace while Peter denies cowardly in the courtyard. Matthew turns it into a study of oaths: Jesus speaks truth under adjuration and it leads to His death; Peter swears oaths to tell a lie and preserves his life. Luke alone records the detail that changes everything: the Lord turned and looked at Peter. John gives us the contrast in two phrases — the "I AM" of Jesus against the "I am not" of Peter.
Session three
The Roman trial: the interrogation
Mark 15:1–5 · Matthew 27:1–14 · Luke 23:1–12 · John 18:28–38
The charge changes as Jesus moves from the Sanhedrin to Pilate: from blasphemy to sedition, from "Son of God" to "King of the Jews." Mark shows the silence that astonishes Pilate, fulfilling Isaiah's Suffering Servant. Matthew interrupts the trial with the death of Judas to establish the theme of innocent blood. Luke alone records the hearing before Herod Antipas and three formal declarations of innocence. John gives us the extended dialogue on truth and kingship, ending with Pilate's question that has never stopped echoing: "What is truth?"
Session four
Sentencing and the road to Calvary
Mark 15:6–21 · Matthew 27:15–32 · Luke 23:13–32 · John 18:39–19:16
The exchange of the guilty Barabbas for the innocent Son of God stands at the center of this session. The crowd chooses a revolutionary over the one who came to set them free. Pilate's "Ecce Homo" — behold the man — becomes one of the most theologically loaded moments in the entire Passion: the judge presents the condemned as though he were on display, and the leaders respond by choosing Caesar over their King. The road to Golgotha begins.
Session five
The crucifixion and death
Mark 15:22–41 · Matthew 27:33–56 · Luke 23:33–49 · John 19:17–37
The fourfold portrait of the cross. Mark gives us atoning agony: the cry of dereliction, the darkness, the torn curtain, the centurion's confession. Matthew gives us apocalyptic climax: earthquakes, opened tombs, the dead walking. Luke gives us royal mercy: the pardoning of the thief, the commendation of His spirit into the Father's hands. John gives us divine glorification: the word that ends everything — "It is finished."
Session six
The burial and the Sabbath rest
Mark 15:42–47 · Matthew 27:57–66 · Luke 23:50–56 · John 19:38–42
The burial accounts verify what crucifixion accomplished: Christ is truly dead. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus — both secret disciples, both now acting openly — provide a burial fit for a king. John's garden setting carries the full theological weight: the tomb is in a garden, suggesting a return to Eden, a new creation resting on the Sabbath before the dawn of a new world. The stone is sealed. The guards are posted. Everything waits.
Teaching this series?
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