Parallel Passage

As you may have known I have been doing a study in the gospels comparing the different versions presented by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. In doing this I have discovered that they kinda jump around a bit and aren't always chronologically identical.

This has added to the time it takes me to study, and to be honest without the help of the Gospelcom bible and it's search tool I wouldn't have been able to stick with it as easily.

So just in case you are interested I decided to put together some of the passages as I go along to make it easier for you to try it for yourself.

One thing you will notice is that due to John's Gospel focusing more on statements and relationships between Jesus and His disciples, events that occur are often only mentioned in the first three Gospels and are not included in John.

Finally if you don't like the translation that I used (the New Living Translation) then after you have gone to the page you can use "see this passage in" pull down box at the top of the page, change it to the translation of your choice, and click go. NIV - New International Version, or KJV - King James Version, are probably two that are the most popular or well known. Do bear in mind that as this is an American website though it will have spelling mistakes (honour, and colour for example).

Jesus Trial before Pilate

Okay now this one can be pretty complex and too be honest I'm not sure if I have it all figured out. The Jewish Sanhedrin had to get rid of Jesus without it looking like it was their fault (as Jesus was very popular amongst the people). So they went to the Roman governor to have him carry out the punishment. When he was told what Jesus was accused of (claiming he was the King of the Jews) he asked Jesus if that was true, Jesus said it was and then Pilate found him innocent, he thought just to be on the safe side and to appease the Sanhedrin he would have Jesus flogged and be done with it. Of course if you have seen the passion then you know that 'just a flogging' is a little bit of an understatement, and doesn't really express what exactly a flogging was back then.
However this wasn't good enough for the Sanhedrin, they needed to shut Jesus up if they wanted to continue to run things their way. So they get the crowd all roiled up so that they ask for Jesus to be crucified, and ask for the release of Barabas - who was known as a murderer, and definitely guilty of the crimes he had committed against the Jews and Romans. Pilate wanting to avoid a lot of bloodshed as Jerusalem was probably pretty full at the time due to everyone visiting for Passover (think Thanksgiving/Christmas type family gatherings) decides it's a lot easier to give in to the crowd and have just one man die instead of many. He tries to offset this decision back on the people by washing his hands (literally) of the problem in front of the people, who gladly accept the responsibility. He then sends Jesus off for flogging and crucifixion.

This passage shows me the following things:
  • Following public opinion doesn't result in the right thing being done.
  • The people called for Jesus blood to be on there heads - they didn't realise that it was going to be that that washed them clean.
  • Crowds are stoooooopid, they will chant whatever someone else starts.
  • Washing your hands is pretty ineffective at removing the guilt of have an innocent man put to death.

    I also have the following questions:
  • Was Pilate guilty or not? (probably - he could have said no protected an innocent man and taken on the resulting issues from that)
  • Why was Jesus silent - could he have spoken more about himself and salvation in front of a large crowd? (I believe this may be due to prophecy, and him being led like a quiet lamb to the slaughter)
  • What is the relevance of Herod and Pilate becoming friends because of this issue?

    • posted by Tim @ 9/14/2004 08:42:00 AM

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