Read the Passion and Resurrection in All Four Gospels

Read each Gospel’s account in sequence before combining details from different books. This eight-session plan moves through the final chapters of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Some sessions are longer than others; split them when you need more time.

The eight readings

1. Matthew 26–27: read the events leading to Jesus’ death and burial.
2. Matthew 28: continue to the resurrection account and the Gospel’s conclusion.
3. Mark 14–15: read Mark’s sequence through the burial.
4. Mark 16: read the ending and any textual notes in your edition.
5. Luke 22–23: follow Luke’s account through the burial.
6. Luke 24: read the resurrection encounters and conclusion.
7. John 18–19: follow the arrest, trial, death and burial.
8. John 20–21: read the resurrection encounters and final chapter.

Keep a separate page for each Gospel

Write down the people, locations and sequence of events as that Gospel presents them. Note a detail that receives attention and a question raised by the account. If you remember something from another Gospel, mark it as a comparison rather than silently adding it to the passage you are reading.

Only after completing the readings, place the notes beside each other. Which events appear in more than one account? Which conversations or encounters belong to a particular account? Differences deserve careful reading rather than an invented explanation offered as certainty.

Read the people in their narrative setting

These passages describe particular people and authorities in particular scenes. Do not turn them into collective blame against Jewish people. Jesus, his disciples and many other figures in the accounts are Jewish. Attend to the actions named in the text rather than assigning guilt to a modern group.

Leave time for the endings

The resurrection chapters are not an optional summary after the Passion readings. Read the conversations and responses in full. Ask what the ending of each Gospel asks its readers to notice.

Our printed Black and White editions contain all four complete Gospels in the English WEB New Testament. Use the sample to check the layout before choosing a printed copy for this plan.