Anyone that has taken the time to read these scriptures will know that they ever hardly agree on anything at all.
But one would expect that of all the events in the life of Jesus, the crucifixion would be the one single event that they could't confuse. After all, Christianity is built upon the belief in the crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus so how come there are so much inconsistency between these ` eye witness accounts ` concerning such a pinnacle moment in the life of the Christ.
We have a man, nailed in one place, he is not moving around he is static; so anyone standing there simply couldn't get anything wrong about the events that occurred in the short space of time between being "nailed" on the cross and allegedly dying .
Looking first at what led up to this barbaric execution we have Matthew & Mark telling us that Jesus was tried AND sentenced by the Jewish priests of the Sanhedrin.
Luke says that Jesus was tried by the Sanhedrin but not sentenced by them.
Yet according to John Jesus doesn't even appear before the Sanhedrin at all!
Jesus then is is taken to his place of execution to be crucified. Or was it as Paul suggests, a gibbet? Or was it as Peter, the betrayer and denier three times of Christ who says his master was hung on a tree?
The same confusion and inconsistency is there concerning what the Christ had to say with his very last ` dying `breath, too.
The writers of these scriptures who we are expected to believe were also Jesus' close disciples cannot even remember their master and teachers dying words correctly either!
So don't be surprised to read that Mathew & Mark have Jesus quoting psalm 22 as his very last breath slips and wheezes from him.
But Luke has Jesus' last dying breath as quoting psalm 31.
But for you that don't like or accept this as "gospel truth" how about John's account that simply has Jesus saying `I am thirsty ` and ` it is finished `. (why would anyone give vinegar to a thirsty man?)
Then we have Joseph of Arimathea going to ask Pilate for the` body ` of Jesus so he can bury him. Pilate is shocked to learn that Jesus had died so quickly and asks for a second opinion. But why was he surprised? Jesus had by all account had already been beaten to near death before being hung on a cross, gibbet or tree. He had also been the speared in the side. it is also said to be an act of mercy to quicken the death of people crucified by breaking the legs. But Jesus hadn't had his legs broken.
According to Matthew Jesus had foretold that ;
"For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth".
But I'm afraid that Jesus' abacus must have been missing a bead or two and he had got his maths a little askew. Because according to the gospels, Jesus died on Friday and ` rose` on the following Sunday and so spending only TWO nights " in the heart of the earth "/
And there is the fact that Jonah didn't or hadn't died before being "swallowed" .
Marks gospel tells us that when some of the women that Jesus used to mooch and sponge off went to the Tomb that they merely saw a man in a white robe inside.
Luke tells us that it was two men in brilliant cloths that suddenly appeared by their side out of thin air.
Matthew, one shouldn't be surprised, as usual has to go one better adding sound effects and miraculous visuals:
"There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men".
And to think the very foundation of Christianity relies on these confusing inconsistencies.