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, and each reveals something about Christ's work that the others do not. When we read these accounts side by side, we do not find contradictions. We find a richer, deeper portrait of what God accomplished for us on the cross.
Six sessions
Week one — February 22
Gethsemane: the agony begins
Mark 14:32–52 · Matthew 26:36–56 · Luke 22:39–53 · John 18:1–11
Mark's raw account of emotional distress set against Matthew's emphasis on scriptural fulfillment, Luke's record of the bloody struggle and angelic intervention, and John's portrait of Jesus as the sovereign "I AM" who remains in complete control of his arrest.
Week two
The Jewish trial and Peter's denial
Mark 14:53–72 · Matthew 26:57–75 · Luke 22:54–71 · John 18:12–27
The contrast between the faithful witness of Jesus and the faithless denial of Peter. The formal proceedings before the Sanhedrin and the narrative structure that sets Jesus' confession directly alongside Peter's collapse.
Week three
The Roman trial: the interrogation
Mark 15:1–5 · Matthew 27:1–14 · Luke 23:1–12 · John 18:28–38
The shift from religious condemnation to political interrogation before Pontius Pilate. The hearing before Herod Antipas found only in Luke, and John's dialogue on the nature of truth and a kingdom not of this world.
Week 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. The journey to Golgotha and the "Ecce Homo" scene in which the leaders formally choose Caesar over their divine King.
Week 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: atoning agony in Mark, apocalyptic climax in Matthew, royal mercy in Luke, and divine glorification in John where the work is declared finished.
Week six
The burial and the Sabbath rest
Mark 15:42–47 · Matthew 27:57–66 · Luke 23:50–56 · John 19:38–42
The accounts of burial that verify Christ's death. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus provide royal honor to the body, and John's garden setting suggests a return to Eden during the Great Sabbath rest before resurrection.
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