Jesus Before Pilate
They bring Jesus to Pilate and Pilate asks Jesus if he is king of the Jews, Jesus says "You have said so." Pilate says he sees no guilt in Jesus and they complain that he stirs up the people.
This seems to demonstrate that the people who are trying to kill Jesus are just in a frenzy, good to establish that I guess.
Jesus Before Herod
Pilate sent him to Herod, who was glad to see the man he heard so much about. He asked Jesus many questions and got no answers. Then he sent Jesus back to Pilate in nice clothes. The agreed that Jesus hadn't done anything deserving of death, they said he would be punished and released.
Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified
They cried out to have Jesus crucified and instead have Barabbas release, who was a guy who committed murder and insurrection.
In this version of the story it doesn't mention that the chief priests are seeding doubt in the crowd. It certainly doesn't contradict this version of the story, but it seemed like an important detail in Mark.
The Crucifixion
Jesus gets crucified with a criminal on either side. The soldiers make fun of him and ask him why he doesn't save himself. One of the prisoners also makes fun of him. The other prisoner says that they are up their because of their deeds but Jesus did nothing wrong.
Neither of the interactions with the prisoners sounds reasonable to me. Maybe that is supposed to be the point.
The Death of Jesus
It was dark from noon to 3 and the curtain of the temple was torn. Then with his last breath Jesus said "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit".
What, no zombies?
Jesus Is Buried
Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus, they took it, wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone. The Sabbath was beginning so they rested for a day.
Jesus Before Herod. What amazes me is that I didn't notice until it was pointed out, that here, its Herod's soldiers.. but if you compare it with the other Gospels its actually Pilate's soldiers. This is easier to establish in some translations than others.
ReplyDeleteThe Crucifixion.When it comes to the gospels, there are a lot of minor differences in the accounts of what I think are the most important events from the point of view of Christianity. To me, they just add up. Again, depending on the translation, there are and “aren't” differences. Offering Jesus sour wine. One of the criminals mocking him, or both? Its also interesting to note that he tells the criminals that they will be in paradise with him, but isn't he going to ascend into heaven three days later? I think tradition has it that Jesus descended into hell and then rose again.
The Death of Jesus. Why is there no account of darkness covering the land anywhere else? If that happened today, there would be headlines. You'd think historians would document that kind of thing. Especially if it happened. I am having trouble locating it, but there was a historian that is discredited because he said that one of the roman emperors ascended into heaven, and that obviously didn't happen. It's mysterious that this was missing.
Did that crazy stuff happen before, or after Jesus died. Jesus' last words? The words of the centurion?
Jesus Is Buried.. Who buried Jesus? I've heard this one explained away by stating that all these people were there, each author chose to focus on different people.
You make a really good point about the small differences adding up. Even if any single one of them doesn't seem like a big deal, the sheer volume of minor errors is hard to rationalize.
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