In Which the Four Gospels Are Collated and Arranged in Chronological Order, so They Compose One Narrative of the Life of Christ

Christ's Infancy, Adolescence and Youth

Christ’s deeds from His conception until the completion of His thirtieth year, when He was baptized by John.

The Word, which was with God in the beginning, and which was therefore the light and the life of the world in created time, became flesh; that is, the Son of God became man, in order to make men sons of God, in the year 3950 from the creation of the world, which was the 2293rd year since the flood, the 2001st since Abraham, the 751st from the founding of Rome, the 591st from the Babylonian captivity, the 453rd from the weeks of Daniel, the 165th from the Machabees, the 43rd from the end of Julius Cæsar’s reign, about the 42nd since Augustus Cæsar (John 1); this took place in the following manner and order.

The Archangel Gabriel, sent by God, announces to Zacharias the conception of S. John the Baptist, the future precursor and herald of Christ; hence Elizabeth, his wife, conceived S. John. The same Gabriel, six months later, on March 25 of the year just mentioned, announces to the Blessed Virgin the conception of the Son of God; she consents and conceives, and in her the Word was made flesh. The Blessed Virgin visits Elizabeth and fills her, as well as John, with the Holy Spirit. John is born on June 24. Christ is born in Bethlehem on December 25 of the same year, and on the eighth day, i.e., the first of January, is circumcised and is called Jesus, that is, Savior. (Luke ch. 1 & 2). The Genealogy of Christ from the patriarchs and kings is recorded by Matthew (ch. 1) and Luke (ch. 3).

On the thirteenth day from Christ’s birth, that is, on January 6 of the following year, the Magi, led by a guiding star, come to Bethlehem, adore Christ and offer Him gold, frankincense, and myrrh; fleeing Herod, they return by another route to their country. (Matth. 2:1 ff.).

On the 40th day from the birth of Christ, i.e., on February 2, it being the day prescribed by the law for the purification of a childbearing woman, the Blessed Virgin offers the Infant Jesus in the temple. S. Simeon takes Him in his arms, and foretells that He shall be the Messias; so does Anna the prophetess. (Luke 2:22).

Herod, seeing that he had been deceived by the Magi, kills all the infants in Bethlehem, with the intention of killing Christ together with them. But at the angel’s warning, He had already been carried off by Joseph and Mary to Egypt. Upon the death of Herod, He is brought back on January 7 and stays in Nazareth; hence He is called a Nazarene (Matth. 2:23).

When He was twelve years old, Christ went up with His parents to Jerusalem, and was lost by them. After three days they found Him in the temple among the doctors, and He returned with them to Nazareth and was subject to them, and grew in age and wisdom and grace with God and men.

From His twelfth to His thirtieth year, Christ led a hidden life and practiced the carpenter’s trade. (Luke 3:23, Mark 6:3, Matth. 13:55).

Christ’s Manhood

Christ’s deeds from His Baptism until the next Passover, that is, His deeds during the next three months, from the beginning of January in the year of our Lord 31, until March 25.

In the 15th year of Tiberius Cæsar, S. John the Baptist, at God’s command, began to preach repentance and baptize in the desert near the Jordan River, and to prepare the way for Christ. (Luke 3:1).

In that same year Christ, having completed His thirtieth year and begun His thirty-first by thirteen days, was baptized by John on January 6, the same day on which as a child he had been adored by the Magi thirty years before (Luke 3:21, Matth. 3:13, Mark 1:9). On that occasion God declared who He was: not the son of Joseph, but the Son of God; for the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove, and the voice of the Father was heard, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (Matth. 3:16, Luke 3:21, John 1:23). On the basis of that voice, John testified that He was the Messias promised to the patriarchs, that is, the Redeemer and Savior of the world(Ibid.).

Immediately after His baptism, i.e., on that same day, January 6, Christ withdrew to the desert, where He spent forty days in prayer and fasting, in order to prepare Himself for the work of preaching. Afterward He was hungry, and He was tempted by the devil but overcame him, and angels ministered to Him as their Lord. (Matth. 4:1, Luke 4:1, Mark 1:12). Christ, therefore, began His forty-day fast on January 7 and finished it on the 40th day, which was February 15, on which day, having conquered the tempter, He returned to Galilee and spent fifteen days in Nazareth, according to S. Epiphanius (haeresi 15).

On the 56th day from His baptism, says S. Epiphanius (heresi 51), i.e., on March 1 (for that year was a leap year and consequently February had 29 days), the Jews sent ambassadors to John to ask whether he was the Messias. He denied it, and the following day, March 2, when John saw Christ coming, he pointed Him out, saying, Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who taketh away the sin of the world. John did and said the same thing the following day, on March 3; when two of his disciples heard this, they immediately followed Jesus, and on the next day one of them, Andrew, brought his brother Simon to Jesus. On that following day, March 4, Jesus called Philip, who brought Nathanael. S. John relates these things day by day and testifies to them (ch. 1, v. 19, 29, 35, 43, 45).

Thereupon, on the third day from the call of Peter and Andrew, March 5, which was the sixtieth day from Christ’s baptism, according to S. Epiphanius (haeresi 51), Christ was invited to the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee, and changed water into wine; this was the first miracle by which He revealed to the world who He was. (John 2:1). Soon He went down to Capharnaum (Ibid. v. 12).

The First Year of Christ's Preaching

Consisting of the deeds of Christ from the first Passover after His baptism until the second Passover, that is, His deeds from March 25 of the year of our Lord 31 until the end of March in A.D. 32.

As the Passover approached, Christ went up from the city of Capharnaum to Jerusalem, where with a whip He drove out those who were buying and selling in the temple. He preached and worked several miracles, and He won many over to believe in Him (John 2:13–14). All these things took place in March of the same year, which was A.D. 31.

One of these was Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews, to whom Christ demonstrated the necessity of a spiritual rebirth by baptism and faith in Christ, who was to be crucified (John 3:1).

Christ therefore began His thirty-first year, before Passover, with preaching (by Himself) and baptizing (by the Apostles) towards the beginning of April in Judea. As a result many disciples went over from John, with his approval and urging, to Christ. Hence John—relieved, as it were, of his office—rebuked Herod for his adultery and was thrown into prison by him around December. (John 3:22–23, Matth. 14:3, Mark 6:17, Luke 3:19). Consequently Christ, fleeing from Herod at the beginning of the year 32 (as is clear from what He says, There are yet four months, and then the harvest cometh, John 4:35), went over into Galilee. Along the way, traveling through Samaria, He converted the Samaritan adulteress, and through her other Samaritans. After two days He made His way into Galilee and was favorably received by the Galileans. Therefore at the beginning of February He came again into Cana of Galilee, and there, at the request of a ruler whose son was sick, freed the boy from the fever. This was Christ’s second miracle there, and several others followed, whereby He confirmed His preaching in Capharnaum. (Matth. 4:12–13, Mark 1:14, John 3:22 and 4:1, 4, 45–46).

Then, walking along the Sea of Galilee, by means of a miraculous catch of fish, He called Peter and Andrew to follow Him, and then James and John as well, and He made them fishers of men (Matth. 4:18, Luke 5:1, Mark 1:16).

Going with them into a synagogue at Capharnaum, He preached and delivered a possessed man from the demon. After entering Peter’s house, He healed his mother-in-law of a fever and many others of various illnesses. The next day He withdrew to the desert to pray, where He was found by Peter, and soon after by the crowds. To avoid the latter, He commanded the disciples to cross the lake, and fell asleep in the boat. A storm arose, and, awakened by the disciples, He commanded the winds and the sea. (Mark 1:21, 29, 32, 42; Luke 4:23, 31, 38, 40, 42; Matth. 8:14, 16, 18, 24). These things and the following events seem to have taken place at the beginning of March in the year of our Lord 32, before the Passover.

After crossing the sea, then, He came to the region of the Gerasenes, where He cured two possessed men; when the demons asked, He permitted them to enter into the swine, and when they did so they drowned two thousand of them in the sea. Therefore He was asked by the inhabitants to leave. Crossing the sea again He returned to Capharnaum, where He cured a paralytic who was lowered to Him through the roof. (Matth. 8:28 and 9:1; Mark 5:1 and 2:1; Luke 8:26 and 5:18).

Then, walking along the sea, He saw Matthew sitting in the customhouse and called him to be His follower. Soon afterward He raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead, and, on the way, cured the woman of her flow of blood, gave sight to two blind men, and drove out a mute spirit. (Matth. 9:9, 18, 27; Mark 2:14 and 5:22; Luke 5:27 and 8:41).

The Second Year of Christ's Preaching

Containing His deeds from the second Passover after His baptism until the third, that is, from the end of March in the year of our Lord 32 until the end of March in the year A.D. 33.

From Galilee Christ went to Jerusalem for the second Passover, and there cured a sick man who had lain for 38 years beside the pool of Probatica [Bethsaida], and commanded him to carry his bed on the Sabbath. Therefore the Jews accused him of performing a work that violated the Sabbath, but Christ defended it with many arguments (John 5:2 ff.). He also refuted the Pharisees who reproached His disciples, because they plucked ears of grain when they were hungry on the Sabbath (around the end of April in A.D. 32. ) (Luke 6:1; Matth. 12:2; Mark 2:23). The same thing occurred when on another Sabbath He restored the withered hand of a certain man. Therefore, avoiding the wrath of the Jews, He went to the seaside, where He taught the crowd and cured several who were sick or possessed by a devil (Matth. 12:9 and 15; Mark 3:1, Luke 6:6).

Then around the middle of May He withdrew to the mountain, and after spending the night in prayer, in the morning He chose twelve Apostles, to whom He gave a sermon in the presence of an enormous multitude of people, which is known as The Sermon on the Mount and comprises a summary of the Christian life and of evangelical perfection (Mark 3:13; Luke 6:12, 17; Matth. 5:1 ff.).

Coming down from the mountain to the plain of Capharnaum, He cleansed a leper. After entering the city He freed the centurion’s servant from his paralysis. As He entered Naim He raised a widow’s son from the dead (Matth. 8:1, 5; Mark 1; Luke 5 and ch. 7:1, 11).

When John heard these things in prison, he sent two disciples to Him to ask Him whether He was the Messias. As they go back to John, Christ praises John and rebukes the scribes and Pharisees for believing neither John nor Himself; therefore to them He prefers the publicans and the prostitutes who repent (Luke 7:18, 24; Matth. 11:2, 7).

For example, while dining at the house of Simon the Pharisee, He forgives the sins of the penitent Mary Magdalen, and praises her more than Simon (Luke 7:36). On other occasions while in Capharnaum He cures a demoniac, a blind man and a mute. He also refutes the Pharisees, who slanderously claimed that He had worked these miracles by magic (Matth. 12:22, 24; Luke 11:14–15; Mark 3:21).

His relatives arrive, to restrain Him as if He were mad (Mark 3:21). To the person who announces that His relatives are there, He replies that His brethren and relatives are those who hear and keep the Word of God (Matth. 12:48, Mark 3:31, Luke 8:19).

Leaving the house to walk along the sea, He taught the crowd there by means of various parables (of the seed, the weeds, the mustard seed, the leaven), which He explained to the disciples in the house, adding other parables of the buried treasure, the pearl and the net cast into the sea (Matth. 13:1, Luke 8:4, Mark 4:1).

Arriving in Nazareth, His home town, and preaching there, He was not heard by His own people; indeed, He was expelled from the city and almost thrown off a cliff. Therefore He goes about the neighboring cities and other villages and towns of Galilee, proclaiming the gospel (Mark 6:6, Luke 8:1).

He sends the twelve Apostles by twos to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. They preach everywhere, expel demons, and heal the sick by anointing them with oil. Jesus does the same, traveling about Galilee (Matth. 10:1 and 11:1; Mark 6:7, 12).

Herod, hearing about these things, suspects that Jesus is John, whom he had killed shortly before, now risen from the dead (Luke 9:7, Matth. 14:1, Mark 6:14). Therefore Jesus, avoiding his snares, withdrew with His followers across the Sea of Galilee to the desert. There He taught and cured the crowds that gathered, and fed 5,000 men with five barley loaves and two fishes. When the crowd wanted to make Him king on that account, He commanded His disciples to cross the sea, while He fled to the mountain alone to spend the evening in prayer. His disciples being in danger upon the sea, He walked toward them on the water; Peter walked towards Him, but when his faith wavered, he almost sank. Christ raised him and calmed the storm. Landing at Genesareth, He cured the sick when they merely touched the hem of His garment (Matth. 14:13, 22, 24, 34; Mark 6:30, 45, 48, 53; Luke 9:10; John 6:1, 15, 18).

The next day many followed Him because of the multiplication of the loaves. He directed them to seek the spiritual and heavenly bread which gives life to the world, and without which no one can live; and He states that He Himself is this Bread, for His flesh is food, and His blood is drink, which bestows eternal life (John 6:24).

The Third Year of Christ's Preaching

Containing His deeds from the third Passover until just before the fourth Passover, or until the raising of Lazarus, that is, Christ’s deeds from the end of March in the year of our Lord 33 until the beginning of March in A.D. 34.

At this third Passover, Jesus did not go up to Jerusalem, as was the custom according to the law, because the Jews were plotting His death. He withdrew therefore into Galilee, where the scribes rebuked His disciples for eating with unwashed hands; He taught them that it is not what enters a man that makes a man unclean, but rather what comes out of the heart (John 7, Matth. 15:1, Mark 7:1).

Around the beginning of May, as it seems, He left Galilee and went into the regions of Tyre and Sidon, where, conquered by the mother’s prayers, He freed the daughter of a Canaanite woman from a demon. Then, having returned to Galilee, He healed many infirmities and cured a man who was deaf and mute by placing His fingers in his ears and, spitting, touching his tongue. (Matth. 15:21, 29; Mark 7:32).

Thereupon, having pity on the crowd that was following Him and growing hungry, He again fed four thousand people with seven loaves and a few little fish; then, getting into a boat, He came to the coasts of Magedan (Matth. 15:32, 39; Mark 8:1, 10).

There He checks the curiosity of the Pharisees, who demand a sign from heaven. Crossing the sea again, He warns the disciples to beware of the leaven, that is, the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. Arriving in Bethsaida He gives sight to a blind man outside the village. Then, going into the region of Cæsarea Philippi, He promises to make Peter the future rock of the Church, because of the faith with which he says, Thou art the Son of the living God. Thereupon He predicts that He will suffer death on a cross in Jerusalem. When Peter is horrified, Jesus corrects him and teaches that whoever wishes to be saved must carry his cross. (Matth. 16:1, 13, 21; Mark 8:11, 22, 27, 31; Luke 9:18, 22). This seems to have taken place at the end of July, for on the eighth day afterward, which was August 6 (for on this day the Church commemorates Christ’s transfiguration), He was transfigured in the presence of Peter, James, and John, and shining like the sun, He spoke with Elias and Enoch about His death. Then the voice of the Father was heard: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear Him.

The following day, on August 7, He came down from the mountain to the crowds and cured a demoniac, whom the disciples had been unable to cure, because this kind of demon is not expelled except by prayer and fasting. Traveling through Galilee, He again predicts His death and resurrection. Entering Capharnaum, He commanded that the didrachma [tribute] be paid to the publicans, one for Himself and the other for Peter (Matth. 7:14, 22, 24; Mark 9:13, 29; Luke 9:37, 44).

There He detected and rebuked the ambition of the Apostles, who along the way had argued about the primacy. He also taught them to be very wary of giving scandal, and also the manner in which a neighbor who sins should be corrected, and that if anyone should sin against them, they should grant forgiveness. He proves this with the parable of the unmerciful servant from whom the master required again the entire debt that he had remitted (Matth. 18:1, 6; Mark 9:32, 41; Luke 9:46 and 17:1).

Then in September He went up to Jerusalem for the feast of Tabernacles (which is celebrated on the 15th day of the month of Tisri, which in that year seems to have fallen on September 29), but in secret. Along the way He was not welcomed by the Samaritans, and when John and James wished to destroy them with fire from heaven, He taught them that His Spirit is not one of revenge, but of charity. And so He cured a Samaritan leper, and praised him above all the rest because he gave thanks. He entered Jerusalem on the last day of the feast of Tabernacles, that is, on October 6. He preached with such grace, that the ministers who had been sent to capture Him were themselves captivated. But that evening He went out to the Mount of Olives (Matth. 19:1; John 7:2, 14 and 8:1; Luke 9:51 and 17:11).

From Mount Olivet He returned to the temple the following day and forgave the adulteress, when the scribes accused her of indecency. Then He taught that He is the Son of God, and when the Jews tried to stone Him as a blasphemer, He left the temple secretly. Then on the Sabbath He gave sight to a man who had been blind from birth, by smearing mud and spittle upon his eyes. Then He declared that He is the Good Shepherd, and spoke at length on that theme and about the hireling and the sheep. (John 8:2, 12 and 9:1 and 10:1).

Departing from Jerusalem, He went about the villages and towns of Judea, and appointing 72 disciples, sent them two by two with instructions as His apostles to every place which He was going to visit. When they returned to Him rejoicing, He admonished them to practice modesty and predicted the success of their mission, and rejoicing in the Holy Spirit, He praised the wisdom of God, which reveals its mysteries to little ones, while it remains hidden from the proud and the wise (Luke 10:1, 17; Matth. 11:25). Thus far the order of events is certain. The order of the remaining events, which follow, is probable, but not entirely certain.

Jesus, tested by a doctor of the law as to what is the way to eternal life, declares the commandment of love of God and love of neighbor. When the doctor persists, asking who is my neighbor, He explains it by the parable about the Good Samaritan, who took care of the wounded man (Luke 10:25).

During the month of November He is the guest of Martha and Mary Magdalen, and He prefers the pious inactivity of the latter to the anxious service of the former (Luke 10:38).

After praying, He teaches the disciples the rule of prayer: Our Father, etc., and admonishes them to persevere in prayer. He demonstrates its power by the parable of the importunate man who asks at night for bread for a friend who has arrived as a guest (Luke 10:15 and 18:1).

Invited by a Pharisee to the Pharisees’ table, He rebukes their washings, their pride, their hypocrisy, etc. (Luke 11:37).

Interrupted by someone who says: Tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me, He warns against avarice and care for worldly things, and exhorts them with many examples to seek the things that are eternal, and to hope in divine providence, demonstrating the brevity of this life and the uncertainty as to when the Lord will come (Luke 12:13).

Hearing that Pilate has killed several Galileans, He urges all to repentance, lest they perish as well, like the barren fig tree (Luke 13:1).

On the Sabbath He heals a crippled woman, and when the leader of the Synagogue rebukes Him for this, He refutes his preposterous religion. By means of the parable of the mustard seed, and another about the leaven, He shows that the preaching of the gospel proceeds from small beginnings to a great increase. (Luke 13:10).

Asked whether few will be saved, He said yes; therefore everyone must set out upon the narrow way of virtue, and promptly, lest we knock in vain when the gates of heaven are closed. Warned that same day that He should beware of Herod, He replies that He will not be killed by Herod, but by the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and that they would therefore be destroyed by Titus (Luke 13:22, 31).

In the month of December He is invited by a leader of the Pharisees to dine, and on the Sabbath He heals a man with dropsy, and proves that it is lawful, and teaches the guests humility, that they should seek the lowest place, and that those who invite others should have mercy on the poor. Hence He tells the parable about a man who invited his friends to a banquet and, when the rich ones excused themselves, called together instead the poor from everywhere; this signifies that when the Jews are rejected for their pride, the humble gentiles will be called to Christ’s celestial banquet (Luke 14:1).

He teaches the crowd that anyone who wishes to become His disciple must renounce worldly affections and take up his cross; hence, like a builder or a warrior he must first calculate his resources, whether they are sufficient for such an arduous task (Luke 14:25).

Having returned to Jerusalem for the feast of the Dedication, which was celebrated on the 25th day of the month of Casleu (which mathematicians think occurred that year on December 7), He was asked by the Jews to proclaim clearly whether He was the Christ. He replied that His works proved it, but that they did not believe, because they were not His sheep. Therefore, eluding their wrath and treachery, He went to Bethabara, where John had baptized, and with Him gathered many sinners and publicans, and He taught them as was His custom and cured them. When the Pharisees murmured that He welcomed sinners, He refuted them with three parables: the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son (John 10:22, 40–41; Matth. 19:2 Mark 10:1, Luke 15:1).

He then urges them to give alms, citing the examples of the unjust steward and the rich man [and Lazarus], whereby He tacitly reproaches the avarice of the Pharisees (Luke 16:1 ff.). On that same occasion He disputes with the Pharisees about divorce, and sets celibacy above marriage (Matth. 19:3, Mark 10:2).

As January begins, He tells the disciples to beware of giving scandal, and admonishes them about faith and the mustard seed, about the sower, etc. (Luke 17:1, 5, 7). Then in February He rebukes the pride of the Pharisees by the parable of the Pharisee and the publican, who humbly confesses that he is a sinner and was justified, in contrast to the other. He does the same, by the example of the little children who were presented to Him and whom He blessed by imposing His hands on them, saying, Suffer the little children to come to Me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven. (Luke 18:9, 15; Matth. 19:13; Mark 10:13).

He exhorts the rich young man, who kept God’s commandments, to follow the evangelical counsel of poverty; but he, discouraged by such a difficult thing, turns back. Then Christ shows how difficult it is for a rich man to be saved, and how wise they are who leave everything for the love of God, to follow Christ; to them He promises that they shall have a hundred-fold, and eternal life (Matth. 19:23; Mark 10:17, 23; Luke 18:18, 24).

Finally, by means of the parable of the laborers who were brought at various times to work in the vineyard, He teaches that in heaven the first shall be last, and the last first; for many are called, but few are chosen (Matth. 20:1).

The Fourth Year of Christ's Preaching
His Passion and Resurrection

Containing His deeds from the raising of Lazarus
until His ascension into heaven.

This raising of Lazarus took place shortly before the fourth and final Passover, during which Christ was crucified; indeed it was the reason, or rather the occasion for Christ’s death, as I will explain presently. For Christ had lived 33 years and the three months that elapse from His birthday to the Passover. Therefore this fourth year of Christ’s preaching and passion was only begun and not completed; indeed, it includes just two months, namely March and April and the beginning of May, in which He suffered and did all those things that are narrated in the gospels from the raising of Lazarus to the ascension. For Christ raised Lazarus after the beginning of March, and was crucified on March 25; He rose from the dead on March 27, ascended into heaven on May 5, in the first four months of the 34th year of His life.

Christ raised from the dead Lazarus, who had been dead for four days in Bethania; because of this miracle many were convinced to believe in Christ. Therefore the envious chief priests and the Pharisees, in a council at which Caiphas presided, decreed that He should be killed. Knowing this, Jesus withdrew to the country of Judea to the city of Ephrem; then, as Passover approached, He went up to Jerusalem, and along the way declared to the Apostles that His death by crucifixion was imminent, and that He was going voluntarily to meet it (John 11:17, 46, 54, 56; Matth. 20:17; Mark 10:32; Luke 18:31).

John and James, thinking that Christ was going up to Jerusalem in order to inaugurate His kingdom, through their mother ask to obtain the first places in this kingdom after Him; but instead of a kingdom, Jesus offers them to drink from the chalice of His passion (Matth. 20:20; Mark 10:35; Luke 19:11).

As Jesus was going through Jericho, He converted Zachaeus, a publican who invited Him to dine. Then, while traveling toward Jerusalem, He gave sight to two blind men, one of whom was named Bartimaeus. Then six days before Passover, on the Friday before Palm Sunday, He arrived in Bethania (Luke 18:35 and 19:1; Matth. 20:29; Mark 10:46; John 12:1).

There, the following day, Saturday, He dines with Lazarus in the house of Simon the Leper; Martha serves and Mary Magdalen pours out a precious ointment of spikenard upon His head. When this distresses the avaricious Judas, Jesus rebukes him (Matth. 26:6, 8; Mark 14:3–4; John 12:2–3).

The following day, Palm Sunday, which in that year fell on March 20, He left Bethania for Bethphage, carried there by an ass that was covered by His disciples’ cloaks, while the people greeted Him with palm branches, exclaiming Hosanna to the Son of David, as if the Messias was about to enter Jerusalem in triumph. As He approached the city, He wept and predicted its destruction (Matth. 21:1; Mark 11:1; Luke 19:29, 41; John 12:12).

Upon entering the city, He first went to the temple and drove from it those who were buying and selling, and He healed many that were sick, while the Pharisees gnashed their teeth. The gentiles were eager to see and know Him. Then a voice sent from heaven glorified Jesus
(Matth. 21:12, 15; Mark 11:15; Luke 19:45, 48; John 12:20).

On the same day, or rather on the evening of Palm Sunday, He left the city and went to Bethania; the following morning, Monday, March 21, while returning to the city, He cursed a fig tree that bore no fruit, and drove the vendors from the temple. Then, after He had taught the entire day in the temple, He again went out to Bethania in the evening
(Matth. 21:17; Mark 11:11).

The following morning, which was Tuesday, March 22, He was returning to the city, when His disciples marveled that the fig tree which Jesus had cursed was withered; this showed how great is the power of a living faith and prayer. While He was teaching in the temple, as was His custom, He refuted the Pharisees who clamored against Him and threatened them with destruction. In order to catch Him in His speech, they proposed deceitful questions about tribute, the resurrection, and the greatest commandment, all of which He most wisely answered. He in turn posed to them a question about the deity of the Messias, thus silencing them, and He rebuked their hypocrisy, pride, avarice and other vices (Matth. 21:20, 23 and 22:15, 41 and 23:1; Mark 11:20, 27 and 12:13, 15, 38; Luke 20:1, 20, 41, 45).

Then, sitting across from the treasury, He placed before all the rest a poor widow who was offering two small coins. When He left the temple and His disciples were admiring the construction of the temple building, He predicted its complete ruin (Mark 12:41 and 13:1; Luke 21:5;
Matth. 24:1).

Having left the temple and gone to Mount Olivet, when the disciples asked, When shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the consummation of the world?, He announced the signs of the consummation, both of the city and of the world (tum urbis, tum orbis); He declared, nevertheless, that the day of His coming and of the judgment was uncertain, and that therefore everyone should be vigilant so as to prepare himself for it. This He taught by means of various parables: of the wise and foolish virgins, of the indolent servant, of the thief, of the deluge of Noe (Matth. 24:3, 36; Mark 13:3, 32; Luke 21:7, 34). Finally, He graphically depicts the form that the Last Judgment will take (Matth. 25:31).

On Wednesday, March 23, Jesus predicts that in two days, that is, on the day of Passover, He will be crucified. Hence Judas makes a bargain with the Jews to sell Jesus to them for a price of thirty pieces of silver (Matth. 26:1, 3, 14; Mark 14:1, 10; Luke 22:1).

On Thursday, March 24, He sends Peter and John ahead into the city to prepare the Passover, that is, the things necessary for the supper of the Paschal Lamb. He then followed them and celebrated the supper of the Lamb with His disciples, and afterward washed the feet of the disciples and instituted the Eucharist and distributed It to His disciples. Then He predicted Judas’ betrayal and pointed out the betrayer to John by the sign of a morsel offered to Judas. Judas, thinking that he had been detected, went out to commit his crime. With a commandment about humility He restrained His disciples, who were again arguing about the primacy, and He gave them a new commandment of love, and foretold His imminent arrest and the flight of the disciples; when Peter interjected that he would remain faithful, He predicted his three-fold denial. Then, bidding farewell to His grieving disciples, He gave a long sermon inflamed with love and spirit, which S. John has recorded in detail in ch. 14 to 18. Finally, commending them to the Father, He ends His sermon and says farewell. (Matth. 26:17, 20, 26; Mark 14:12, 17, 22, 28; Luke 22:7, 14, 19, 21, 24, 26, 31; John 13:21, 30, 34, 36 and chs. 14, 15, 16, and 17)

The Sequence of Events in Christ's Passion

Then on the same night, after singing a hymn of thanksgiving, He left the Cenacle and the city and withdrew to the garden on Mount Olivet to pray. Having gone aside with Peter, James, and John, He began to experience fear, disgust, sorrow, and grief on account of His vivid awareness of His impending passion. Hence He prayed: My Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me. Nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. At length undergoing an agony, He sweated water and blood, and so He was comforted by an angel. Then He willingly offered Himself to be kissed by Judas and bound by the Jews, and He restrained Peter, who was brandishing a sword. (Matth. 26:31, 36–37, 39, 41, 51; Mark 14:27, 32–33, 35, 44, 47; Luke 22:39–40, 42, 47, 50; John 18:1, 3, 7, 10)

Jesus, bound, was therefore led first before Annas, then to Caiphas, who was high priest that year; when He answered the latter freely, He was slapped by one of the attendants. After false witnesses were produced and rejected as unreliable, Jesus Himself was asked whether He was the Messias, the Son of God. When He answered in the affirmative, He was condemned and mocked as a blasphemer. Meanwhile Peter was asked by the servant girl and the Jews, whether he was one of Christ’s disciples. He denied it three times; but when Christ looked at him, he repented and went out to weep bitterly. These things occurred on Thursday night after the supper (John 18:13, 19, 16; Matth. 26:59, 63, 69, 67; Mark 14:55, 61, 66, 65; Luke 22:56, 63)

On Friday, March 25, the council called by Caiphas condemned Jesus again and delivered Him up to Pilate, the governor of the Romans, to be punished. Seeing this and despairing, Judas hanged himself with a noose, having previously thrown into the temple the pieces of silver, with which the Jews bought a field in which to bury travelers. (Luke 22:66 and 23:1–2; Matth. 27:1, 3, 6; Mark 15:1; John 18:28)

Although the high priests had condemned Jesus and handed Him over to him, Pilate refused to condemn Him without hearing His case. Therefore they accuse Him of making Himself the king of the Jews and of inciting unrest from Judea as far as Galilee. Pilate therefore asks Jesus whether He really is the king of the Jews. He affirms it, but adds that His kingdom is a heavenly, not an earthly kingdom, and so Tiberius Cæsarand his governor, Pilate, have nothing to fear from it. That is why Pilate acknowledges that Jesus is innocent and holy and tries by various means to acquit and release Him. When he first hears the name Galilee mentioned, he asks whether Jesus is a Galilean. Discovering that He is, he sends Him away to Herod, king of Galilee, as his subject and, in honor of this exchange, is reconciled with him. Herod expects to see Jesus work signs and wonders; when he sees nothing of the sort, he scorns Him, clad now in a white garment, and sends Him back to Pilate. (John 18:29, 33; Luke 23:23, 46, 8; Matth. 27:11; Mark 15:2)

When Jesus is sent back to him, Pilate endeavors a second time to free Him. He places Him with Barabbas, a seditious murderer, so that those Jews who were supposed to free someone from the death penalty, as was the custom at the Passover, might choose and free Jesus. They, however, at the suggestion of the high priests, demand that Barabbas be released, and Jesus crucified. (Matth. 27:15; Mark 15:6; Luke 23:17; John 18:39)

A third time, Pilate, seeing the fury of the Jews at Christ, tries to calm it by commanding that He be scourged. Then he presents Him—disfigured by the scourging, and wearing a crown of thorns and a purple robe, and mocked like a make-believe king—to the Jews to see, so that they might pity a man so afflicted; but they, contented and hardened in their cruelty, demand that He be crucified, and they threaten to say that Pilate is not a friend of Cæsar if he releases Jesus as an innocent man, when He made Himself a king. That is why Pilate washed his hands, in witness to Jesus’ innocence; but he handed Him over to the Jews—who shouted His blood be upon us and upon our children—to be crucified, even though shortly before he had been warned by his wife not to become involved in the death of such a just man. (Matth. 27:28, 19, 23; Mark 15:17, 14; Luke 23:15, 20; John 19:1, 7, 13, 15)

Jesus, therefore, is led out from the praetorium to Mount Calvary, carrying His Cross upon His shoulders. As He goes out of the gate, the Jews, fearing that Jesus will collapse under the Cross, compel Simon of Cyrene to carry it after Jesus. Pious women follow Him weeping; Jesus commands them to weep for themselves and for their children, because of the imminent destruction of the Deicidal city. (Matth. 27:31–32; Luke 23:25–27; Mark 15:21)

Upon His arrival on Mount Calvary, the Jews offer Christ wine mixed with gall, and then a wine drugged with myrrh; He did not want to drink either. Then, stripped of His garments and stretched out on the ground upon the Cross, He was fastened to it with nails at the sixth hour, i.e., at midday. Then the Cross was lifted high with a title upon which was written the cause [charge], and two thieves were crucified, one on either side of Him, as though He were a prince. Finally, in His sight, the soldiers divided His garments among themselves. (Matth. 27:34–35, 37–39; Mark 15:23, 26–27, 24; Luke 33:33, 38, 23, 34; John 19:17-19, 23)

The leaders and the people insult and revile Jesus, while He prays for them to the Father. The thief hanging on His left reviles Him, too, but the other rebukes him, professes that Jesus is the Messias, and earnestly beseeches Him; and so he hears Jesus say, This day thou shalt be with Me in paradise (Matth. 27:39; Mark 15:29; Luke 23:35, 39).

He then commends His mother to S. John. He laments that He has been abandoned by the Father. He exclaims, I thirst; and so they give Him vinegar to drink. At length He cries out, It is consummated. Finally, at about the ninth hour, He gives up His spirit, commending it into the hands of His Father. Meanwhile the sun is darkened, the earth is shaken, the rocks are cleaved, the tombs are opened, the veil of the temple is torn, and all creatures seem to mourn and bewail the death of their creator. The Centurion was moved by these things, and many of the people watching were struck by them, and beating their breasts, they returned to their houses. (John 19:25, 28, 30; Matth. 27:45–46, 49, 51; Mark 15:33–34, 37–38; Luke 23:44, 46–47)

After Jesus died, the Jews broke the legs of the thieves, who were still living, so that they would die more quickly. They did not break Jesus’ bones, however, but one of the soldiers opened His side with a lance, and from it flowed blood and water. Then, when Christ’s body is taken down from the cross and anointed, it is buried in an honorable manner by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. Finally, Pilate [sic] posts guards at the sepulcher, and the opening to the tomb is closed and sealed. (John 19:31, 38; Matth. 27:57, 62; Mark 15:42; Luke 23:50)

The Sequence of Events in
Christ's Resurrection

On the third day from His death, that is, Sunday, March 27, Jesus rose glorious from the tomb before dawn and went out, by the property of “subtility” penetrating the stone which closed off the sepulcher. Then an angel removed the stone and terrified the guards and put them to flight, so that the women who were coming to the sepulcher could enter. That is why the women, who had bought and prepared ointments with which to anoint Jesus’ body, found the sepulcher open when they came to it on Sunday early in the morning, and the body of Christ gone, with only the linen cloths remaining, and they heard from the angels that Christ had risen. The women immediately announced this to the Apostles, and then Peter and John ran to the sepulcher; the women, with Mary Magdalen, followed them. Peter and John, when they saw nothing but Christ’s linen wrappings, returned home in astonishment; the women followed them again; only Mary Magdalen remained weeping at the sepulcher, and she merited to be the first to see Jesus in the form of a gardener, and she did not recognize Him. But hearing Him say Mary, she knew Him immediately. Then she followed the women and told them that she had seen Jesus, and behold, Jesus met them, saying All hail. This is the first apparition of the risen Christ that is recorded in scripture, and it was to Mary Magdalen and the women. (Matth. 28:1–3, 5, 9; Mark 16:5; Luke 24:1, 3–4; John 20:1)

When the women testified that Jesus had risen, the Apostles did not believe them. Jesus appeared a second time, and it was to Peter (Luke 24:34)

A third time, that same day, on the Sunday when He arose, Christ appeared to two disciples who were going to Emmaus, and that evening at table He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread (Luke 24:13, Mark 16:12)

Fourth, that same day in the evening, He appeared to the eleven disciples in the Cenacle (except Thomas, who was not present) and showed Himself to them to touch, and He ate with them and gave them the power to forgive sins (Mark 16:14; Luke 24:36; John 20:19).

Fifth, He appeared to the same disciples on the eighth day, that is, April 3, with Thomas present this time, and presented His wounds and scars for him to see and touch; thereupon Thomas, believing now that He had risen, exclaims: My Lord and my God (John 20:24).

Sixth, He appeared on the shore to seven disciples who were fishing in the Sea of Tiberias, and He was recognized by them on account of an enormous catch of fish. There, too, He told Peter, Feed my sheep (John 21:1)

Seventh, He appeared to the Apostles and to other believers on a mountain in Galilee, which He had already designated to them previously, and there He commanded them to evangelize all nations, and to confirm the gospel with miracles (Matth. 28:19)

Finally, on the fortieth day after His resurrection, that is, May 5, He led them out to Mount Olivet, teaching and instructing them and promising to send them the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. After giving them His blessing, He ascends glorious into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, and from thence He governs His Church and gradually harvests it [carpit] and gathers it to Himself. (Mark 16:19; Luke 24:50)