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12 - From the last supper to the crucifixion: a new analysis of the gospel accounts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 May 2011

Colin J. Humphreys
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
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Summary

They bound him [Jesus] and brought him first to Annas.

(John 18:12–13)

At daybreak the council of the elders of the people, both the chief priests and teachers of the law, met together, and Jesus was led before them.

(Luke 22:66)

Very early in the morning, the chief priest, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, reached a decision. They bound Jesus, led him away and turned him over to Pilate.

(Mark 15:1)

In this chapter we will consider the sequence of events recorded in the gospels, from the last supper to the crucifixion, paying particular attention to their timing.

THE CONDENSED NATURE OF THE GOSPELS

Let us start by reminding ourselves that all biographies are compressed versions of history. In a biography a person's rich and varied life is condensed into a few hundred pages, with only the highlights usually recorded. The gospels are of necessity similarly selective, and as John writes at the very end of his gospel: ‘Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written’ (John 21:25).

Our study of the gospels in this book has shown that they each compress events differently: they are four separate narratives telling the story of the same person.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Mystery of the Last Supper
Reconstructing the Final Days of Jesus
, pp. 169 - 190
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

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