Interview about Greater Love Hath No Man

In this video, I describe our 2023 book, Greater Love Hath No Man: A Latter-day Saint Guide to Celebrating the Easter Season.

Readings for Easter Sunday

 

Episodes

• The Women and the Empty Tomb (Mark 16:1–8; parallels Matthew 28:1–10; Luke 24:1–11)
• Mary Magdalene, Peter, and the Beloved Disciple at the Tomb (Luke 24:12; John 20:1–10)
• Mary Magdalene and the Risen Lord (John 20:11–18; Mark 16:9–11^{[Longer Ending]})
• Two Disciples on the Road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13–35; Mark 16:12–13^{[Longer Ending]})
• First Appearances to the Disciples in Jerusalem (Luke 24:36–48; parallel Mark 16:14^{[Longer Ending]}; John 20:20–25)
• Jesus Later Appears to Thomas (John 20:26–29)
• The Purpose of the Gospel according to John (John 20:30–31)

 

 William-Adolphe Bouguereau, "Women at the Tomb"

The Women at the Tomb: Mark 16:1–8; Matthew 28:1–15; Luke 24:1–11

Because of the important contributions of each of the Synoptic accounts of the empty tomb, we have included all three here. The earliest account from Mark is also—at least in the most secure manuscript traditions—the shortest, leaving the women who came to the tomb fleeing it amazement. Matthew’s version provides the additional detail of an angel descending to remove the stone that blocked the tomb’s entrance, frightening the guards. It also records an appearance of the Risen Lord as the women went to tell the other disciples that the tomb was empty. In many ways Luke’s is the most refined, and it also includes an element that we will see is common to John’s account, that of Peter’s visit to the empty tomb.

See the discussion in Greater Love Hath No Man, 212–218.

Mark

16

¹Now when the Sabbath was over, Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go and anoint him. ²Then very early in the morning on the first day of the week, after the sun had risen, they came to the tomb. ³They began to say to each other, “Who will remove the stone from the entrance of the tomb for us?” ⁴Yet when they looked up, they saw that the stone—which was very large—had already been dislodged. ⁵Then after they had gone into the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a long white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. ⁶But he said to them, “Don’t be alarmed! You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen and is not here! See the place where they laid him. ⁷Now go, tell his disciples, and Peter, that he is going ahead of you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” ⁸Then, having gone out of the tomb, they fled, for they were out of their wits with amazement, and they did not say anything to anyone, because they were afraid.

 

Matthew

28

 ¹After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week dawned, Mary of Magdala and the other Mary came to see the tomb. ²Then look, a great earthquake occurred! For an angel of the Lord, who had descended from heaven and come to the tomb, dislodged the stone and sat on top of it. ³Now his face was like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. ⁴The men who were on guard were shaken out of fear of him, and they became like dead men. In response, the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid! I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶He is not here, for he has risen just as he said. Come, see the place where he lay! ⁷Now go quickly and tell his disciples that he has been raised from the dead, and look, he is going ahead of you into Galilee! There you will see him. Look, I have told you!”

⁸Then after they had quickly left the tomb, with both fear and great joy they ran to make the proclamation to his disciples. ⁹Then look, Jesus met them, saying “Rejoice!” When they came up to him, they took hold of his feet and worshipped him. ¹⁰Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go, proclaim to my brothers that they should go to Galilee. There they will see me.”

¹¹Now as they were going, look, when some of the guard had gone into the city, they reported to the chief priests all that had happened. ¹²After the chief priests had gathered with the elders and made a plan, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, ¹³saying, “This is what you should say: When his disciples came during the night, they stole him while we were sleeping,’ ¹⁴and if this is heard by the governor, we will reassure him and keep you out of trouble.” ¹⁵So after they had taken the money, they did as they had been directed, and this story has been spread widely among the Jews until today.

 

Luke

24

 ¹On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came to the tomb, bringing the spices that they had prepared. ²Then they found that the stone had been dislodged from the tomb. ³Yet when they entered it, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴While they were uncertain as to what this meant, look, two men in gleaming clothing suddenly stood near them. ⁵Now while the women were afraid and were bowing their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why are you looking for one who is alive among the dead? ⁶He is not here but has risen! Remember what he said to you when he was still in Galilee, ⁷saying, ‘The Son of Man must be handed over into the power of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.’” ⁸Then they remembered his predictions.

⁹When they had returned from the tomb, they proclaimed all these things to the Eleven and all the others. ¹⁰Now they were Mary of Magdala, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them—they told the apostles, ¹¹but these reports seemed to them to be nonsense, and they refused to believe them. ¹²Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb, but when he stooped down to look, he only saw the linen wrappings. Then he went home, wondering to himself about what had happened.

 

Harry Anderson, "Mary Magdalene and the Risen Lord"

Mary Magdalene, the Empty Tomb, and the Risen Lord: John 20:1–18

John’s account of the events at the empty tomb that first Easter morning is different enough to warrant particular attention. First, it portrays Mary of Magdala coming to the tomb alone, without the other women. She informs the male disciples, which leads Peter and the Beloved Disciple to come to the tomb (although we have seen that Luke preserves an independent memory of Peter visiting the burial site). Second, it records the moving encounter of Mary with the Risen Lord, a unique scene with particular power and significant interpretive potential.

See the discussion in Greater Love Hath No Man, 218–224.

John

20

¹On the first day of the week, early in the morning Mary of Magdala came to the tomb when it was yet dark, and she saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. ²She ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”

³So Peter and the other disciple set out and came to the tomb. ⁴Now the two had been running together, but the other disciple ran more quickly than Peter and arrived at the tomb first. ⁵After he had stooped down to look, he saw the linen wrappings lying there, though he did not go in. ⁶Then Simon Peter, who had been following him, arrived, went into the tomb, and saw the linen wrappings lying there ⁷as well as the face cloth, which had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. ⁸Then the other disciple, who had arrived at the tomb first, also went in, and he both saw and believed, ⁹for they had not known before this time the scripture that he must rise again from the dead. ¹⁰Then the disciples went back to where they had been staying.

¹¹Mary, however, remained standing there outside the tomb, mourning. As she mourned, she stooped to look into the tomb ¹²and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. ¹³They said to her, “Woman, why are you mourning?” She said to them, “They have taken my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”

¹⁴After she had said these things, she turned herself around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you mourning? Whom are you looking for?” She, thinking that he was the gardener, said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him.” ¹⁶Jesus said to her, “Mary!” After she turned towards him, she said in Aramaic, “Rabbouni!” that is to say, “My Master!” ¹⁷Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to me! I have not yet ascended to my Father. Go to my brothers and sisters and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and to your God.’

¹⁸Mary of Magdala went, proclaiming to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord” and the things he had said to her.

 

 J. Kirk Richards, "Road to Emmaus"

Two Disciples on the Road to Emmaus: Luke 24:13‒35

Unique to Luke is the episode about two disciples who encounter the Risen Lord on the road to Emmaus. This account is significant because, like the story about Mary of Magdala, it emphasizes the witness of everyday disciples rather than just the special apostolic witnesses of the remaining members of the Twelve.

See the discussion in Greater Love Hath No Man, 224–28.

Luke

24

¹³Now look, that same day two of them were traveling to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem, ¹⁴and they were talking together about all these things that had happened. ¹⁵Then it came about that while they were talking together and discussing it, Jesus himself, after he had come up to them, started walking with them. ¹⁶But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. ¹⁷He said to them, “What are these things that you are discussing as you walk along?” Then they stood still, looking downcast. ¹⁸One of them, Cleopas by name, said to him in response, “Are you only a visitor in Jerusalem, one who does not even know what has happened these past days?”

¹⁹Then he asked them, “What sort of things?” They answered him, “All about Jesus from Nazareth, who was a prophet powerful in deed and in word before God and all the people. ²⁰Also, how our chief priests and rulers handed him over to a death sentence and crucified him, ²¹but we had been hoping that he himself was about to redeem Israel. Yet as it happens, it is now the third day since all these things happened. ²²But now, some women from our group have confused us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning ²³and did not find his body there, they came back, telling us they had even seen a vision of angels, who told them that he was alive! ²⁴And some of those who were with us went to the tomb, and they found it just as they women had described, but they did not see him.”

²⁵Then he himself said to them, “O, how foolish you are and slow in heart to believe all the things that the prophets have declared! ²⁶Didn’t the Christ need to suffer these things to enter into his glory?” ²⁷Then, beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he began to explain everything about himself in the scriptures.

²⁸Then they came up to the village where they had been heading, but he walked as if he would go farther. ²⁹But they prevailed upon him, saying, “Please stay with us, because it is nearly evening and the day is waning.” So he went inside to stay with them. ³⁰And it came about that while he was reclining at dinner with them, after he took some bread, he blessed it, and after he broke it, he gave it to them. ³¹Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. ³²So they said to each other, “Weren’t our hearts burning within us as he spoke to us along the road, and as he opened up the meaning of the scriptures to us?”

³³Getting up that very hour, they returned to Jerusalem and found the Eleven and those who were with them gathered together, ³⁴who told them, “The Lord has arisen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” ³⁵And these men, for their part, related all the things that had transpired along the road, and especially how he was recognized by them in the breaking of bread.

 

Carl Bloch, "The Doubting Thomas"

First Appearances to the Disciples in Jerusalem: Luke 24:36–49; John 20:19–31

Only Luke and John provide accounts of a visit later that day to the disciples. In both versions he gives them tangible proof that he has bodily risen from the dead.

See the discussion in Greater Love Hath No Man, 228–232.

Luke

24

³⁶Then, while they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood in the middle of them and said to them, “Peace be with you!” ³⁷But they, alarmed and frightened, thought they were seeing a spirit. ³⁸He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why are doubts arising in your hearts? ³⁹Look at my hands and my feet, how it is really me! Touch me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” ⁴⁰After he had said this, he presented his hands and feet to them.

⁴¹While they could hardly believe it because of their joy and were still marveling, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” ⁴²So they gave him a piece of broiled fish. ⁴³After he picked it up, he ate it in front of them. ⁴⁴Next he said to them, “This is the meaning of the sayings that I spoke to you while I was still with you, how all that was written about me in the law of Moses, in the prophets, and in the psalms must be fulfilled.” ⁴⁵Then he opened up their minds so that they could understand the scriptures. ⁴⁶He told them, “Thus it was written that the Christ must suffer and rise again on the third day ⁴⁷and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins must be preached in his name to all nations, starting in Jerusalem. ⁴⁸You are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹Look, I am sending what my Father has promised to you, but stay here in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

 

John

20

 ¹⁹When it was evening on that same day, the first day of the week, and when the doors of the room were shut where the disciples were because of fear of “the Jews,” Jesus came, stood among them, and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁰After he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy because they had seen the Lord! ²¹So he said to them again, “Peace be with you. Just as the Father sent me, I also am sending you.” ²²After he had said this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³Whosever sins you forgive will be forgiven for them; whosever sins you retain will be retained.”

²⁴Yet Thomas, one of the Twelve, who was called “the Twin,” was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord!” He said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand in his side, I will never believe.”

²⁶Then eight days later the disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Even though the doors were shut, Jesus came, stood in the middle of them, and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁷Then he said to Thomas, “Bring your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand here and put it in my side. Stop being unbelieving but be believing!” ²⁸Thomas responded and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” ²⁹Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Fortunate are those who do not see yet believe.”

³⁰Now there were many other signs that Jesus performed in the presence of his disciples, which have not been written in this book. ³¹But these have been written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Readings for Good Friday

Episodes

• Jesus in the Hands of the Romans (Mark 15:1–20; parallels Matt 27:1–31; Luke 23:1–25. John 18:29–19:16)
• Jesus Is Crucified; Activities on the Cross (Mark 15:21–32; parallels Matthew 27:32–44; Luke 23:26‒43. John 19:17‒24)
• Jesus’ Last Moments and Words (Mark 15:33–36; parallels Matthew 27:45–49; Luke 23:44. John 19:25‒29)
• The Death of Jesus (Mark 15:37–41; parallels Matthew 27:50–56; Luke 23:45–49. John 19:30‒37)
• The Burial of Jesus (Mark 15:42–47; parallels Matthew 27:57–66; Luke 23:50–56. John 19:38–42)

 

Jesus Tried and Condemned: Mark 15:1–15; Matthew 27:3–10; Luke 23:4–12; John 18:28–19:16

Mark’s account of Jesus’ trial before the Roman governor Pontius Pilate is supplemented by the other Synoptics, each of which adds episodes lacking in the Marcan original. Matthew adds an account of the remorse and suicide of Judas Iscariot. Luke provides the story of Jesus’ examination by Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee who was in Jerusalem for Passover. John provides a longer account of the Roman trial, which includes an important exchange between Pilate and Jesus.

See the discussion in Greater Love Hath No Man, 148–165.

Remains of the "Hidden Gate," which led from Herod's Palace, where Pilate was headquartered, to outside the city walls

Mark

15

¹Then first thing in the morning, when the chief priests had reached a decision together with the elders, the experts at the law, and the whole Sanhedrin, after they had bound Jesus, they led him away and handed him over to Pilate. ²Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” In response he said, “That is what you say.” ³The chief priests then began accusing him of many things. ⁴So Pilate asked him again, “Are you not giving any response? Look at how many accusations they are making against you!” ⁵Yet Jesus gave no further response, which astonished Pilate.

⁶At each festival Pilate used to release a prisoner, whomever they requested. ⁷Now a man called Barabbas was in prison with revolutionaries who had committed murder during an uprising. ⁸When the crowd had arrived, they began asking that he do what he had always done for them. ⁹Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the king of the Jews?” ¹⁰for he understood that the chief priests had handed Jesus over out of envy. ¹¹The chief priests, however, incited the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas to them instead.

¹²So in response Pilate said to them again, “What, then, do you want me to do with him whom you call the king of the Jews?” ¹³They cried out in turn, “Crucify him!” ¹⁴Pilate said, “Why, what crime has he committed?” Yet they cried out even more loudly, “Crucify him!” ¹⁵Then Pilate, because he wanted to offer a favor to the crowd, released Barabbas to them, and after having Jesus scourged, he handed him over to be crucified.

 

Matthew

27

³When Judas, who had handed Jesus over, saw that he was condemned, he returned the thirty silver pieces to the chief priests and elders, because he regretted it, ⁴saying, “I have sinned by handing over innocent blood!” They said to him, “What concern is that to us? See to it yourself!” ⁵After he had thrown the silver pieces into the temple, he withdrew, and after he had gone out, he hanged himself. ⁶Then the chief priests, when they had picked up the silver pieces, said, “Putting these into the temple treasury is not permitted, for they are the reward for a bloody deed.” ⁷So they reached the decision to buy the potter’s field with the money to use as a burial place for foreigners. ⁸Because of this, that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. ⁹Then was that which was said through Jeremiah the prophet fulfilled, when he said, “And they took thirty silver pieces, the price set upon him by the children of Israel, ¹⁰and they used them to buy the potter’s field, just as the Lord had directed me.”

 

Luke

23

 ⁴Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I do not find any grounds for legal action against this man.” ⁵But they insisted, saying, “He has been inciting the people with his teaching throughout all Judea, beginning in Galilee even to right here.” ⁶When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. ⁷After he learned that he was from Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem during those days.

⁸When Herod saw Jesus, he was delighted, for he had wanted to see him for a long time because he had heard about him and wanted to see some miraculous sign performed by him. ⁹He questioned him at length, but Jesus did not give him any answer. ¹⁰But the chief priests and the experts at the law had arrayed themselves against Jesus, accusing him vehemently. ¹¹After Herod, together with his guards, had treated him with disdain, ridiculed him, and dressed him in brightly shining clothing, they sent him back to Pilate. ¹²Now Pilate and Herod became friendly with each other that day, for they had been in a state of enmity with each other before this.

 

Mihály Munkácsy, "Christ in Front of Pilate"

John

18

²⁸Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor’s official residence. It was morning, and they themselves did not want to go into the governor’s residence so they could avoid making themselves ritually impure and still eat the Passover. ²⁹Therefore, Pilate went out to them and said, “What charge are you bringing against this man? ³⁰They answered and said to him, “If he were not someone who had done something wrong, we would not have handed him over to you.” ³¹And so Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law.” “The Jews” said, “We are not permitted to put anyone to death,” ³²so that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled that he spoke to indicate by what kind of death he was going to die.

³³Then Pilate went back into the governor’s residence, summoned Jesus, and said to him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” ³⁴Jesus answered, “Are you saying this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” ³⁵Pilate responded, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own people and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?” ³⁶Jesus replied, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my retainers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to ‘the Jews.’ Yet in truth my kingdom is not from here.” ³⁷Pilate said to him, “So you are a king, then?” Jesus responded, “You are saying that I am a king. I was born for this, and for this I came into the world: to bear witness to the truth. Every person who is on the side of truth hears my voice.” ³⁸Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”

After he had said this, he went back to “the Jews” and said to them, “I do not find any grounds for legal complaint against him. ³⁹Yet you have a custom that I release one person to you during the Passover. Do you want me, then, to release to you the king of the Jews?” ⁴⁰They shouted back, saying, “Not this man! Barabbas instead!” Now Barabbas was an insurgent.

 

Antonio Ciseri, "Ecce Homo"

19

¹So Pilate took Jesus and had him whipped. ²Then the soldiers, after they had woven a crown out of thorns, put it on his head and dressed him in a purple robe. ³They kept coming up to him and saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” and slapping him in the face. ⁴Pilate came back out and said to them, “Look, I am bringing him back out to you so that you may know that I have found no grounds for complaint against him.” ⁵Jesus came out, wearing the thorny crown and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Look at the man!”

⁶When the chief priests and their retainers saw him, they cried out, saying, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “You take him and crucify him. I find no grounds for complaint against him.” ⁷“The Jews” responded to him, “We have a law, and according to our law, he ought to die because he pretended to be the Son of God.” ⁸When Pilate heard this, he grew more afraid.

⁹Then he went back into the governor’s residence and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus did not give him an answer. ¹⁰So Pilate said to him, “Are you not speaking to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” ¹¹Jesus responded,

“You do not have any authority over me

except what was given to you from above.

For this reason, the one who handed me over to you

has the greater sin.”

¹²From that point on, Pilate kept trying to release Jesus, but “the Jews” shouted, saying, “If you release him, you are not a friend of Caesar. Everyone who pretends to be a king acts in opposition to Caesar.” ¹³When Pilate had heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the tribunal platform in a place called “Strewn Stones,” or in Aramaic Gabbatha. ¹⁴Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover, about noon, and he said to “the Jews,” “Look at your king!” ¹⁵They shouted, “Take him away, take him away! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Should I crucify your king?” The chief priests responded, “We have no king except for Caesar.” ¹⁶So he handed him over to them to be crucified, and they took charge of Jesus.

 

The Crucifixion: Mark 15:16–37; Luke 23:27‒46; John 19:17–37

Mark’s concise account of Jesus’ crucifixion serves as the foundation for the Synoptic portrayal of the episode, yet while Matthew largely follows the Marcan prototype, Luke makes important additions. As always, the Johannine account stands apart, largely because of its high Christology and the symbolism that it marshals.

See the discussion in Greater Love Hath No Man, 165–178.

Mark

15

 

¹⁶Then the soldiers led him into the courtyard of the governor’s residence, and they called together the entire cohort. ¹⁷Next they clothed him in purple and, after weaving a crown out of thorns, they put it on him ¹⁸and began to salute him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” ¹⁹They kept striking him on the head with a staff and spitting on him, and, kneeling down, they bowed before him. ²⁰After they had mocked him, they stripped the purple off of him and dressed him in his own clothes. Then they led him out to crucify him.

²¹They pressed into service a certain man passing by who was coming in from the country, Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. ²²Then they brought him to the place Golgotha, which is translated “The Place of the Skull.” ²³Next they gave him some wine mixed with myrrh, but he would not take it. ²⁴So they crucified him, and they divided his articles of clothing, casting lots for them to see who would take what.

²⁵It was at nine o’clock when they crucified him. ²⁶The inscription of the charge against him that had been written was “The King of the Jews.” ²⁷And with him they crucified two insurgents, one on his right hand and one on his left. ²⁸[So the scripture was fulfilled that read, “And he was counted among the criminals.] ²⁹Then those who were passing by demeaned him, shaking their heads and saying, “Ha! You who would destroy the temple and build it within three days! ³⁰Save yourself by coming down from the cross!” ³¹In the same way the chief priests and the experts of the law, mocking him among themselves, said, “He saved others. He cannot save himself!” ³²Let this Christ, the king of Israel, now come down from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Even those who had been crucified with him started insulting him.

³³When it was noon, darkness arose over the whole earth and lasted until three o’clock. ³⁴At three o’clock, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani,” which translated is, “My God, my God, why have you deserted me?” ³⁵Some of those who were standing nearby, when they heard this, said, “Look! He is calling Elijah!” ³⁶And someone, running to fill a sponge with wine vinegar, by putting it on a reed, gave him a drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah comes to take him down.” ³⁷Then Jesus, after letting out a great cry, drew his last breath.

³⁸And the veil of the temple was torn into two, from the top to the bottom. ³⁹Now a centurion who was facing him, when he saw how he had drawn his last breath, said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” ⁴⁰There were also women watching at a distance, among whom were Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of the younger James and Joses, and Salome. ⁴¹They had followed and served him when he was in Galilee. Indeed, many other women had accompanied him to Jerusalem.

 

Luke

23

²⁷A great crowd followed him, including women who beat their breasts and bewailed him. ²⁸But Jesus, when he turned to them, said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not mourn for me, only mourn for yourselves and for your children! ²⁹For look, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that have not given birth, and the breasts that have not nursed.’ ³⁰At that time they will begin saying to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us up!’ ³¹for if they do these things to a green tree, what will happen to a dry one?”

³²Two other criminals were also led there to be executed with him. ³³When they came to the place that was called “The Skull,” there they crucified him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. ³⁴[Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”] And they cast lots to divide his clothing. ³⁵The people stood by, watching, but the leaders ridiculed him, saying, “He saved others, let him save himself if he is the Anointed of God, the Chosen One!” ³⁶The soldiers also mocked him by coming up to him and offering him wine vinegar ³⁷and saying, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself!” ³⁸There was a superscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”

³⁹One of the criminals who had been hung there insulted him, saying, “You are not the Christ, are you? Save yourself and us!” ⁴⁰But the other, rebuking him in response, said, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same condemnation? ⁴¹We have been condemned justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for what we have done, but this man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴²Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” ⁴³Jesus said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

⁴⁴By this time it was about noon, and darkness arose over the whole earth until three o’clock. ⁴⁵When the sun ceased shining, the veil of the temple was torn in the middle. ⁴⁶Jesus, after he had cried out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.” After he had said this, he drew his last breath.

Skull Hill or "Gordon's Calvary" near the Garden Tomb

John

19

¹⁷Carrying his own cross, Jesus came to what is called The Place of the Skull, which is called Golgotha in Aramaic. ¹⁸There they crucified him and with him two others, one on each side and Jesus in the middle. ¹⁹Then Pilate wrote a notice and put it on the cross. That which was written was, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” ²⁰Many of “the Jews” read this notice, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek. ²¹So the chief priests of “the Jews” started to say to Pilate, “Do not write ‘the King of the Jews’ but ‘This man said, I am the King of the Jews.’” ²²Pilate responded, “What I have written, I have written.”

²³Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier. Likewise, they took his inner tunic, and the tunic was seamless, woven from the top all the way through. ²⁴Therefore they said to each other, “Let’s not tear it. Rather, let us cast lots for it to decide whose it shall be.” This was so the scripture could be fulfilled, which says, “They divided my clothing for themselves, and they cast lots for my apparel.” These are the things that the soldiers did.

²⁵Next to the cross stood the mother of Jesus, the sister of his mother, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. ²⁶When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, look, your son!” ²⁷Then he said to the disciple, “Look, your mother!” From that hour the disciple took her into his own household.

²⁸After this, because Jesus knew that everything had been completed, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I am thirsty.” ²⁹A vessel of wine vinegar was standing there, so after they put a sponge full of wine vinegar on a hyssop, they held it to his mouth. ³⁰When Jesus had taken the wine vinegar, he said, “It is completed!” and, after bowing his head, he handed over his spirit.

³¹Then “the Jews,” because it was a preparation day, to avoid having the bodies remain on the cross during the Sabbath—for the day was an especially important Sabbath—asked Pilate that their legs be broken and their bodies removed. ³²So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. ³³But after they came to Jesus, and when they saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. ³⁴Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out. ³⁵The one who saw this has borne witness, and his witness is trustworthy. He knows that he speaks the truth so that you, too, may continue to believe. ³⁶These things happened so that the scripture might be fulfilled, “No bone of his shall be broken.” ³⁷And another scripture reads, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.”

 

The Herodian Family Tomb west of Jerusalem, an example of a rich Second Temple tomb with a rolling stone

The Burial: Mark 15:42‒47; John 19:38‒42

See the discussion in Greater Love Hath No Man, 178–182.

Mark

15

⁴²Now as it was already evening, because it was the day of preparation, which is the day before the Sabbath, ⁴³Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the council, who was himself anticipating the Kingdom of God, came and, mustering his courage, went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. ⁴⁴Now Pilate was amazed that he was already dead, so after summoning the centurion, he asked whether Jesus had been dead for long. ⁴⁵When he learned from the centurion that he had been, he granted the corpse to Joseph.

⁴⁶After he had bought a piece of linen cloth and taken the body down from the cross, Joseph wrapped it in the cloth and placed it in a tomb that had been hewn from the rock. Then he rolled a stone in front of the tomb’s entrance. ⁴⁷Mary of Magdala and Mary the mother of Joses were watching where he was laid.

 

Carl Bloch, "The Burial"

John

19

³⁸After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple, although secretly due to his fear of “the Jews,” asked Pilate to allow him to take the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave his permission. And so he came and removed his body. ³⁹Nicodemus, who was the one who first came to Jesus by night, came too, bringing an ointment compounded from myrrh and aloes weighing about one hundred pounds. ⁴⁰So they took the body of Jesus and bound it with linen cloths together with spices as was the custom for “the Jews” to prepare a body for burial.

⁴¹There was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. ⁴²So they laid Jesus there on account of the preparation day of “the Jews,” because the tomb was close by.