Bible Mastery
Crucifixion Contradictions
How can we know Jesus was not crucified, as the Bible claims? First, I will point out the contradictions in the Bible claims, then I will point out the contradictions between the inconsistent Bible narrative and known history. Since the Bible claims are inconsistent with itself and known history, we can be certain the crucifixion of Jesus was a mythical story with a specific agenda. I will provide the motive for the Christian lies in my conclusion.
Matthew's Crucifixion
What does Matthew say about the crucifixion of Jesus? Beginning in Matthew 26, I will provide the details with commentary in the order they appear. In Matthew 26:2, Jesus said, “you know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the son of man will be delivered up to be crucified.” Matthew 26:3-5 says the Jewish leaders were plotting to kill Jesus, but they said in verse 5, “not during the feast, lest a riot occur among the people.” The upcoming feast was an 8-day feast that began with the Passover Day, immediately followed by a 7-day Feast of Unleavened Bread. If the Jewish leaders were going to kill Jesus before the feast, they would have to do it within 2 days prior to Passover, but according to Matthew, they kill Jesus after the feast started. Matthew 26:6-9 says Jesus was in Bethany at Simon the leper’s house and a woman poured an alabaster jar of very expensive ointment on Jesus’ head as he sat at the table. The disciples of Jesus were “indignant” at the waste of expensive oil which could have been sold to help the poor. Jesus rebukes his disciples in Matthew 26:10-13 and says, “you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me,” and “this woman has prepared me for burial with this ointment.” In no way does pouring oil on a living human prepare a body for burial before it is beaten and crucified. So, Jesus is actually arguing that wasting expensive oil for a useless ceremonial purpose is far better than helping the poor. Matthew 26:14-16, Judas Iscariot goes to the chief priests and ask them, “what are you willing to give me if I deliver him to you?” They weighed out 30 pieces of silver, and from that time, Judas sought an opportunity to betray Jesus. Matthew 26:17 is a critical misunderstanding of Jewish feast days. This is proof that no Jew wrote the Gospel attributed to Matthew. It erroneously says, “on the first day of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover.’” Passover was the first day of the feast and the first day of unleavened bread would be AFTER Passover. The author erroneously places the first day of unleavened bread BEFORE Passover. In Matthew 26:18, Jesus tells them to find a “certain person” in the city and tell him the teacher will keep the Passover at his house. In verse 19, the disciples prepare the Passover at the certain man’s house in the city, then in verse 20, Jesus is reclining at the table with his disciples in the evening. The Passover meal was required to be eaten at sundown in the evening, so at least the author got that part right. In verse 21, while they are eating the Passover meal, Jesus tells his disciples that one of them will betray him. They get upset and ask Jesus, “it isn’t me, is it, Lord?” As if they didn’t know if they would betray him or not. In verse 23, Jesus said, “He who dipped his hand with me in the dish will betray me.” In verse 25, Judas asks, “It isn’t me is it, Rabbi” but Jesus responds, “You said it.” In verse 26, as they were eating the Passover meal, Jesus takes bread and says, “Take, eat, this is my body”, then he takes the cup and says, “All of you drink it, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the remission of sins.” In verse 30, they sing a song, then go out to the mount of Olives. This would be immediately after they ate the Passover meal in the same evening, after the sun set. In verses 31-32, Jesus tells his disciples that they will all stumble “because of me, tonight”, but after he is raised up he (Jesus) would go before them to Galilee. They are in Jerusalem for Passover, but Jesus told them he was going to appear to them after he resurrected from the dead in Galilee, which is at least a 3-day journey from Jerusalem. They didn’t have cars back then. In verse 33, Peter says he would rather die than deny Jesus, but Jesus says Peter will deny him three times before the rooster crows this very night. Peter and all the disciples said they would rather die than deny Jesus in verse 35. In verse 36, Jesus takes them to Gethsemane and told his disciples to sit while he prays, but he takes Peter, James, and John aside while he prays in agony. Jesus said, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with me.” Jesus went a little further, fell on his face and prayed, “My father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from me, nevertheless, not my will but thy will be done.” In verse 40, Jesus finds his disciples sleeping and rebukes Peter by saying, “Can’t you watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you don’t enter into temptation.” Peter had a full stomach and didn’t seem concerned about anything, LOL. In verse 42, Jesus prays a second time to his father to let the cup pass. In verse 43, Jesus finds the disciples sleeping again. In verse 44, Jesus prays a third time, saying the same words. In verse 45, the disciples are sleeping again. In verse 47, while Jesus was still speaking, Judas shows up with a great multitude with swords and clubs. Verses 48-49 discuss the previous plan to arrest whoever Judas kisses, and it says he greeted Jesus with a kiss. In verse 51, some unnamed person cuts off the ear of the servant of the High Priest. In verse 52, Jesus tells the unnamed disciple to put his sword away, and in verse 53 Jesus says, “I could ask my father, and he would even now send me more than twelve legions of angels,” but we are supposed to ignore the fact that we just read Jesus begging his father in agony to let this cup pass three times and his father only sent a mob to arrest Jesus. How are we so gullible to believe God answers prayer, when he doesn’t? How can we believe God would send angels to protect us, when he doesn’t? He didn’t even answer Jesus prayers. In verse 55, we have another time statement to indicate we are still in the same hour, and in verse 56 Matthew says all the disciples left him and fled. In verse 57, they led Jesus to the High Priest, Caiphas, where the scribes and elders were gathered together. This is another royal blunder. The Jews would not assemble the Sanhedrin of Jewish judges, in the middle of the night, on a High Holy day, after they ate the Passover meal. They were forbidden (by God) from doing any work on this High Holy day of memorial. Jews must not read the New Testament at all, because they should have exposed all these obvious errors by now. In verse 58, Peter followed at a distance and watched the trial in secret. In verse 59, the whole Jewish Council sought false testimony against Jesus, so they could put him to death. The author of Matthew wants to make sure you understand they sought “false” testimony, but verse 60 says they found none. This is actually a grammatical error. If they sought false testimony, but found none, that would mean they either heard no testimony at all or the testimony they heard was true. The author is just over-emphasizing his perspective that Jesus was innocent of all charges and only liars would have a problem with Jesus. In verse 61, two false witnesses accused Jesus of saying, “I am able to destroy the temple of God and build it in three days.” Matthew does not mention this claim of Jesus prior to this occasion, which indicates Matthew was just making a reference to another claim, most likely Mark 14:58. Eye witnesses don’t need to copy claims from people who were not witnesses. In verse 63, Jesus gives no response to the accusation of rebuilding the Temple in three days, but the high priest says, “I adjure you by the living God that you tell us whether you are the Christ, the son of God.” This is another non-Jewish argument. The Jews did not consider a Messiah or Christ to be the literal son of God. The Jewish Messiah could be a king or priest or military general who would lead Israel to victory, but literal sons of gods were Greek and Roman concepts. Perseus, Hercules, Dionysus, Apollo, and Hermes were all mythical sons of gods. The Jewish concept of a Messiah was not a superhuman, but a regular human who would lead Israel to victory. This shift in understanding of a Messiah, indicates Roman authorship, rather than the Jewish authorship. In verse 64, rather than explain the Jewish concept of a Messiah, Jesus admits he is the Greco-Roman version of a son of God-Christ. Jesus says Caiphas would see the son of man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming on the clouds of the sky. This is a reference to Daniel 7:13, but the son of man is not God in Daniel 7. One like a son of man comes before the ancient of days and is awarded a kingdom by God. A son of man is not God, nor a son of God. A son of man is a human, but in verse 65, the Chief Priest tears his robe and cries out that Jesus just committed blasphemy. If Jesus claimed to be a son of man who was going to receive a kingdom from God, that is not blasphemy. Maybe Jesus was delusional, but claiming to be a human who will receive a kingdom from God is not blasphemy. In verse 66, the Sanhedrin of Jewish judges say he is worthy of death. In verse 67 they spit in his face and hit him with their fists and tell him to prophesy, “you Christ” who hit you? In no way, is a Jewish Christ supposed to be able to prophecy or be all-knowing. This is just a Roman mockery of Jewish concepts. In verse 69-75, we have the story of Peter denying Jesus three times, then immediately the cock crowed and Peter remembered Jesus said he would deny him three times before the cock crowed that night. So, all these events supposedly happened in the same night, immediately after they ate the Passover meal. In Matthew 27:1, the sun rises but we are still in the same 24-hour period as in chapter 26. The Jewish leaders take Jesus to Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor. In Matthew 27:3-5, Judas feels guilty about betraying innocent blood, throws the 30 pieces of silver at the Jewish leaders then went away to hang himself. In Matthew 27:6-10 we have another blunder, where the author misquotes and misapplies a Hebrew scripture as a prophecy concerning the 30 pieces of silver. In verse 11, Pilate asks Jesus if he is king of the Jews, and Jesus says, “so you say.” Now, the real king of the Jews was Herod who was appointed by the Romans, so a Roman governor would not ignore an unauthorized claim to being king of the Jews. This would be viewed as rebellion against Rome. This is evidence that we are not reading a true story. It does not match with reality. Matthew 27:15 says Pilate was accustomed to release a prisoner to the Jews at the Passover, and this is another lie. It is not logical or historical that the Roman Governor would release a prisoner to the Jews on Passover. Verse 16 says Barabbas was a notable prisoner, but there is no historical record of a notable prisoner named Barabbas. This is why it is far more likely that Barabbas is a fictional character based on a word-play associated with “bar Abba”, which means son of the father. So we have a mythical scapegoat ceremony between two sons of the father. In verse 19, Pilate’s wife sent to Pilate and told him not to have anything to do with that righteous man, Jesus, because she suffered many things in a dream because of him. Now we have the Roman governor and his wife taking the side of the righteous Jesus. The Jews demand the release of Barabbas and the crucifixion of Jesus, but in verse 23, Pilate asks, “Why, what evil has Jesus done?” The Jews gave no answer, they only demanded Pilate crucify Jesus. This is irrational! The Jews did not push Pilate around and control Pilate. Pilate was a ruthless governor and we have historical records from Philo and Josephus of his ruthless tactics. The Bible is nonsense. In verse 24, Pilate washes his hands and says he is innocent of Jesus blood, then the Jews say may his blood be on us and on our children. Matthew is clearly placing the blame on the Jews and exonerating Rome of responsibility. This is evidence of Roman authorship and anti-Jewish sentiment. In Matthew 27:27, Jesus is taken into the Praetorium, where there would only be Roman witnesses, and the author tells us many details of what only a Roman would see. I believe it is all mythology, but people don’t seem to ask rational questions like how could we know what happened in the private Roman quarters. In verses 28-31, Matthew says they stripped him of his clothes, gave him a scarlot robe and a crown of thorns, placed a reed in his right hand, then they knelt down and mocked him as the king of the Jews. They spat on him and struck him with the reed on his head, then they put his clothes back on him and led him out to be crucified. Notice, he did not get scourged (whipped with leather straps full of sharp objects until his skin was falling off his bones), according to Matthew. In verse 32, they compel Simon of Cyrene to carry his cross, but Matthew doesn’t even say Jesus was too weak to do it himself. When they arrive at Golgotha (the place of the skull), they gave Jesus sour wine mixed with gall, but he would not drink it. They hung Jesus up on the cross, cast lots for his clothing, and watched as he died. They hung a sign that said, “This is Jesus, King of the Jews.” Verse 38 says there were two robbers crucified on Jesus right and left, but crucifixion was reserved for the most egregious crimes like rebellion against Rome or a slave killing his master. This is further evidence that this story is mythology and not history. Verse 39-44 is a repeat of foolish claims already discussed. Verse 45 says there was darkness over all the land from the sixth hour to the ninth hour, which would be 12 noon to 3 PM, and at 3 PM Jesus calls out in Aramaic, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Matthew doesn’t say what time it was when Jesus was initially put on the cross, but it does say he went through the Jewish trial while it was still dark, and he was brought to Pilate after the sun rose on the same day. It would have to be close to noon by the time they could get him on the cross, so Jesus could only be on the cross a few hours before he was taken down. In verse 48, someone puts vinegar in a sponge on a reed to give Jesus a drink, but others say leave Jesus alone. In verse 50, Jesus cries out again and “gives up his spirit.” That is presumably his death. Matthew does not say they nailed his hands or feet, or that he was pierced in the side, or that he was beaten with whips and chains. Matthew’s account is not very violent or deadly at all. They gave Jesus a couple bad tasting drinks, but he refused them, LOL. In verse 51, the veil of the Temple was torn from top to bottom, the earth quaked, rocks split, and dead bodies came out of their tombs and walked around Jerusalem. Verse 53 adds a clarification that the dead bodies only came out after Jesus resurrected, because otherwise Jesus could not claim to be the first resurrected man. I believe someone realized this error and added the clarifying statement when they realized their mythology was not consistent. In verse 54, a Roman Centurion sees all the miracles and proclaims, “surely this was the son of God.” Verse 55 says many women, including Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee watched from afar. That means there were not close enough to talk to Jesus on the cross, as they do in John’s gospel. If Mary the mother of James and Joses was supposed to be the mother of Jesus, whey doesn’t it say the mother of Jesus? Verse 57 says, when evening came, a rich man from Arimathaea named Joseph, who was a follower of Jesus, came in the evening and asked Pilate for Jesus body and Pilate commanded the body be given up. This is irrational. If a man was crucified by Romans, a follower of the criminal could not take the body down after it was only up for a few hours. The purpose for crucifixion was to demonstrate the brutal death of traitors and to leave their bodies on display as the birds ate their flesh. There is one final blunder in Matthew’s crucifixion narrative. Verse 62 says, “now on the next day, which was the day after Preparation Day” the Jews asked Pilate to secure the tomb to prevent a theft of the body. The blunder is related to the identification of days. Matthew clearly states that Jesus observed the Passover meal with his disciples BEFORE he was arrested, tried, and crucified the next day. The Jews had to remove all leaven from their houses before Passover, so they could observe the 7-day feast of unleavened bread, immediately following Passover. It is impossible to have a preparation day after the feast already started. Whoever wrote Matthew was a writer or lies and contradictions and uneducated in Jewish customs. Some scholars claim that Matthew is the most Jewish of all the gospels. Some scholars are not very intelligent.
Mark's Crucifixion
Mark 14 begins just like Matthew 26, two days before the feast of Passover and unleavened bread. The Jewish leaders are plotting to kill Jesus, but they say, “not during the feast, because there might be a riot among the people.” In verse 3, Jesus is at the house of Simon the leper in Bethany, and a woman came with an alabaster jar of oinment of pure nard-very costly. She broke the jar and poured it on his head, but some of the disciples were indignant about this waste of expensive oil. They said the oil could have been sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor, but Jesus said, “leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for me. You always have the poor with you and you can help them whenever you want, but you will not always have me. She has anointed my body beforehand for burial.” In verse 10, Judas Iscariot went to the Chief Priests in order to deliver Jesus to them. The Jewish leaders were glad Judas volunteered to betray Jesus and offered to give him money. There is no mention of 30 pieces of silver. Verse 12 demonstrates a mistake from someone who was not a Jewish author. It says, on the first day of unleavened bread, when they sacrificed the Passover, the disciples asked Jesus where to prepare to eat the Passover. The first day of unleavened bread was actually the day after Passover. The author of Mark, like the author of Matthew doesn’t understand Jewish feast days. That shouldn’t be a surprise since the New Testament is written in Greek and was pushed on the world by the Roman Empire, after the Jews were eradicated from the Roman Empire. In verse 13, Jesus tells them to find a man in the city carrying a pitcher of water. Follow him and tell the master of the house the “teacher” needs to observe Passover in your guest room. He will show you a large upper room furnished and ready. Mark adds more detail than Matthew, but I think Mark was written first, and Matthew used Mark as a source, so that would mean Matthew cut out some details. Verse 17 says when it was evening, they were sitting and eating (the Passover) and Jesus said one of you will betray me, he who eats with me. They get confused just like in Matthew, then Jesus clarifies and says, “It is one of the twelve, he who dips with me in the dish.” In verse 22, Jesus took bread and said, “Take eat, this is my body.” Then he took the cup and said, “This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many.” In verse 26, they sang a song and went to the Mount of Olives. Mark 14:27-28 is just like Matthew. Jesus tells them they will all stumble tonight, and after he is raised up he will go before them to Galilee. Verse 29 Peter says he will never be offended by Jesus, even if everyone else is. In Mark 14:30, Jesus told Peter, “Before the rooster crows twice tonight, you will deny me three times.” Peter and all the disciples say they will never deny Jesus in verse 31. They come to a place called Gethsemane and Jesus told his disciples to sit and pray. He took Peter, James, and John aside and told them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch.” In verse 35, Jesus went forward, fell on the ground and prayed, if it were possible the hour might pass away from him. He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible to you. Please remove this cup from me. However, not what I desire, but what you desire.” In verses 37-41, Jesus prays the same thing three times and the disciples keep falling asleep, just like in Matthew. In verse 43, Judas shows up with a multitude with swords and clubs from the chief priest. Verse 44 mentions the plan to arrest whoever Judas kisses, but Judas tells them to Seize Jesus and take him away safely. In verse 47, a certain one drew his sword and cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest. Jesus questions the mob in verses 48-49 concerning why they didn’t arrest him when he was with them in the temple, but Jesus says it had to happen this way to fulfill scripture, but there is no scripture that predicts this scene. In verse 50 all Jesus disciples fled. In verse 51, there was a certain young man who followed Jesus who was only wearing a linen cloth around his naked body. When the mob grabbed him, the linen cloth came off and he fled naked, LOL. What was a naked boy doing with them in the middle of the night? Matthew decided that was not relevant and cut it out. In verse 53, Jesus is led to the Sanhedrin of Jewish judges in the middle of the night after they all supposedly ate the Passover. Matthew just copies this foolish assertion without understanding it was illegal for the Jewish Sanhedrin to assemble to work on the High Holy day of Passover. In 54, Peter is following at a distance and in 55, the chief priests sought witnesses against Jesus but found none. This line in Mark makes more sense than this line in Matthew. In verse 58, Mark includes additional details by saying Jesus said he would destroy the temple made with hands and build another without hands. Matthew left out the part about hands and no hands. Verses 60-65 are very similar to Matthew’s version. They are almost identical with slight word choice variation. Jesus makes his reference to the son of man coming on the clouds of the sky in Daniel 7, then the Jewish leaders accuse him of blasphemy. I wrote about this in more detail under Matthew on this page. Verses 66-72 are the three denials from Peter, but Mark specifically points out that the rooster crowed once after the first denial, then a second time after the third denial. Matthew said Peter denied Jesus three times, then the rooster crowed, but Mark’s version is different. Mark 15:1 says the Jews delivered Jesus to Pilate immediately in the morning, just like Matthew says. Pilate asked Jesus if he was king of the Jews, and Jesus said, “so you say.” In the Matthew section, I wrote about how Pilate would not ignore an unauthorized claim to be King of the Jews. The Romans appointed Jewish kings, so an unauthorized claim would cause problems. Jesus didn’t respond to other Jewish accusations and Pilate marveled. Mark 15:6 begins the ridiculous claim that Pilate had a custom to release a Jewish prisoner on Jewish Passover. Verse 7 says Barabbas was bound with his fellow insurgents, men who in the insurrection had committed murder. Matthew cut this part out, most likely because it is most outrageous that Pilate would release an insurrectionist murderer in the place of a man that wasn’t provoking insurrection. In verse 13, Pilate asks what he should do with Jesus and they scream, “Crucify him.” Pilate asks, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they just cried, “Crucify him!” In verse 15, Pilate releases Barabbas and obeys the Jewish demands to have Jesus crucified. The Biblical Pilate was a stooge of the Jews, but that is not who Pilate was according to actual history and reason. Mark says they flogged Jesus, took him into the Praetorium, clothed him in purple, weaved a crown of thorns, mocked him as King of the Jews, struck his head with a reed, spat on him, bowed their knees and did homage to him (in mockery), then they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes back on him and led him out to be crucified. In verse 21, they compel Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus to bear his cross. They came to Golgotha (place of the skull) and offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he didn’t take it. In verse 24, they cast lots for Jesus garments, as if Romans would argue over who would get to keep a poor, dead, Jewish carpenters clothes. This casting lots for garments is a reference to Psalm 22:18. Christians believe Psalm 22 is a prophecy about Jesus, but Psalm 22 is just one of the reference materials the New Testament authors used to create their mythology. Verse 25 says it was the third hour (9 AM) when they put Jesus on the cross. This means Pilate was crucifying a man that he knew nothing about no more than three hours prior, simply because the Jews demanded it. Roman crucifixion was reserved for the most egregious crimes against the Roman Empire. The Bible claims are ludicrous. Verse 26 says the sign above Jesus said, “The King of the Jews.” Matthew said the sign said, “This is Jesus, King of the Jews.” Verse 28 is most likely a verse that was added later because it does not appear in the critical text. This verse associates Jesus crucifixion between two thieves with Isaiah 53:12 that says, “he was counted with the transgressors.” Isaiah 53 is not about Jesus, but like Psalm 22, it was a text used as a reference in writing the Jesus mythology. Verses 29-32 is about people mocking Jesus on the cross. Mark 15:33 says there was darkness over the whole land from the 6th to the 9th hour and at the 9th hour Jesus said with a loud voice, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” This section is just like Matthew. In verse 37, Jesus cried out with a loud voice again and gave up the spirit. This is his presumed death, just as it is in Matthew. In verse 38, the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom, as if anyone could see what was going on inside the temple at the time. Verse 39 says when the centurion saw that Jesus cried out like this and breathed his last, he said, “Truly this was the son of God.” Mark doesn’t mention earthquakes and zombies like Matthew, but says the Centurion believed anyway. Verse 40 says women were watching from afar, among them were Mary Magdelene, Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses and Salome, who followed him in Galilee. This is very similar to Matthew, and they both suspiciously leave out Jesus’ mother. Verse 42 says when evening came, because it was Preparation Day, that is the day before Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathaea, a prominent council member who also himself was looking for God’s Kingdom boldly asked Pilate for Jesus body. Mark adds a clarifier that the Preparation day was the day before Sabbath, not the day before Passover, or the day before the feast of unleavened bread. The weekly Sabbath is Saturday and the day before Saturday is Friday, but Mark seems to be forgetting that we are dealing with a High Holy day, not just a weekly Sabbath. In verse 44, Pilate marvels that Jesus was already dead and asks the Centurion if he had been dead long. Pilate takes the Centurions word that Jesus was dead and gives Joseph authority to take the body. According to Mark, Jesus was on the cross from 9 AM to 3 PM (about 6 hours). Also, the body of Jesus was removed from the cross by a Jesus follower, according to the word of a Jesus believing Centurion, under the authority of a Roman Governor who didn’t want to crucify Jesus in the first place. Verse 46 says Joseph wound Jesus in a linen cloth and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of a rock. If you wind a dead body in a linen cloth, it seems like you would have to wind it around the body side to side, instead of head to toe, like the shroud of Turin suggests. Verse 47 says Mary Magdelene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where the body was laid.
Luke's Crucifixion
Luke is unique in that the author actually has a prologue or introduction explaining his purpose for writing. The author opens chapter 1 saying he is just writing things that many people have written before him and he has investigated all of it carefully and determined what he thinks is true. He doesn’t claim to be an eyewitness, nor does he claim to be divinely inspired by God to tell infallible truth. Luke is just one man’s opinion after reading what many other people wrote. It is utter foolishness to assume Luke (or anything ever written) is divine infallible truth. Luke 22:1 says the feast of unleavened bread, which is called Passover was approaching. Luke does not give a specific number of days before Passover like Matthew and Mark. Technically, Luke is incorrect in conflating the feast of unleavened bread and Passover. They are not the same thing. They are two distinctly different feasts, but they combine to form an 8 consecutive day feast. Verse 3 says Satan entered Judas Iscariot and he went to the Jewish leaders about how he could deliver Jesus to them. They were glad and offered to give him money (no mention of 30 pieces of silver). Verse 7 says “the day of unleavened bread came on which the Passover must be sacrificed”, but this is an error in Jewish understanding. The Passover day is the first day of the 8-day feast, but the first day of the feast of unleavened bread was the day after Passover. The author of Luke is also confused about Jewish feast days (because he is a Greek speaking Roman). When multiple people get the same wrong answer, we should consider an increased likelihood of plagiarism. The Gospel accounts are not independent eyewitness testimonies, they are anonymously written traditions that were changed and modified over time by different people. There is nothing holy or reliable in anonymously written traditions that changed over time. In verse 8, Jesus sends Peter and John to prepare for the Passover. Luke’s story matches Mark’s account of finding a man carrying a pitcher of water in the city, then follow him to tell the master of the house the teacher needs to use your guest room to eat the Passover. Verse 15 has Jesus telling his twelve apostles he has earnestly desired to eat this Passover with them before he suffers. Verse 17 has Jesus telling them to all share the drink from the same cup, as he says he will not drink of the fruit of the vine until God’s kingdom comes. Luke provides the basis for the Holy Grail, the one magic cup at the last supper. In verse 19, Jesus takes bread and says, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in memory of me. In 20, he says, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” Jesus did not say, in any gospel, his blood was poured out for everyone or for whoever believes in him, but it was for his 12 apostles. There were 13 people in a room observing a Jewish Passover meal. It is amazing that people today think Jesus was talking to them. In 21, Jesus said, “But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table.” They must have all had their hands on the table, because they all begin to ask who he was talking about. In 24, Luke adds a new story about a dispute among the twelve about which of them is the greatest. Jesus rebukes them and says Kings lord it over others but you should be like me, one who serves. Yet, Jesus is not serving anybody. He is walking around with twelve followers calling him Lord. Verse 29 says Jesus conferred on them a Kingdom, even as his father conferred on him, that they may eat and drink at his table in his Kingdom. Verse 30 says they will sit on thrones, judging twelve tribes of Israel. So, right after Jesus says they should be servants, he tells them they will be given thrones to judge Israel. Notice, they were not told they would judge the whole world, but just Israel. In verse 31, Jesus tells Simon that Satan asked for him, but Jesus said he prayed for Simon (Peter) that his faith would not fail. This is another example of how God did not answer Jesus prayer, because Peter will deny Jesus three times in the same night. Verse 32 provides an escape pod for Christian apologists. They would say Jesus was only asking that Peter would not fall away from faith for good, because after he falls, he becomes the leader of his brothers. In 33, Peter says he is ready to go to prison and death for Jesus, but in 34, Jesus says, “the rooster will by no means crow today until you deny that you know me three times.” When Luke says, “by no means crow”, it seems like he is expressly saying Mark was wrong about the rooster crowing twice. Luke 22:35-37 is interesting. Jesus asks if they lacked anything when he sent them out without purse, wallet, or sandals and they say no, we lacked nothing. Then Jesus says, but now it is different, if you have a purse or wallet or cloak, go sell it and buy as sword, for the scripture must be fulfilled that says “he was counted with transgressors (Isaiah 53:12). Mark 15:28 added this Isaiah reference in association with being crucified between two thieves, but Luke is associating Isaiah with carrying swords, as if they are instigating a rebellion. Luke 22:38 says, “Lord, here are two swords” and Jesus says that is enough. Two swords is not going to win many battles, but Luke seems to think they needed to be carrying swords just so they could be counted with the transgressors in order to fulfill a prophecy. Luke makes it appear that Jesus was plotting to fulfill prophecy, not that there was a divine prediction of the future. In verse 39, Jesus went to the Mount of Olives and the disciples followed him. Verse 40 says he told them to pray that they do not enter temptation. If they prayed, God didn’t answer because they all fail. Luke does not say he took Peter, James, and John a little further, but that he withdrew from them all about a stones throw away to ask his father to remove this cup from him, if it is his will. Think about how anyone could know what Jesus prayed for if he was by himself. In 43, an angel appeared to Jesus to strengthen him, but in 44 he was in agony and prayed more earnestly and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling to the ground. So, the angel didn’t seem to help. Luke doesn’t say he prayed three times, but it does say he found his disciples sleeping, then he told them to pray again that they do not enter temptation, but while he was still speaking (v.47) Judas shows up with a crowd of people. In 48, Judas comes near to kiss Jesus, but Jesus asks, do you betray the son of man with a kiss? In 50, a certain follower of Jesus struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. In 51, Jesus healed the man’s ear (Matthew and Mark do not include this healing). In 54, they sieze Jesus and take him to the high priest’s house, but Peter followed at a distance. Luke does not say they all fled. Verse 55-62 we have the three denials of Peter and the rooster crowing. In 61, Jesus makes eye contact with Peter, then Peter went out and wept bitterly. At this point, Peter is gone but somehow we still now what happened. None of the apostles are there to witness anything, but we still get a detailed story. Don’t be suspicious. In 63-65 the men who held Jesus beat him and mocked him. It is also interesting that Luke does not say the Jewish elders were assembled. Luke just says the mob carried Jesus to the chief priests house in them middle of the night. In 66, Luke says the Jewish elders assembled as soon as it was day, but this would still be the morning after they ate the Passover meal at sunset. The Council asked Jesus if he was the Christ. Jesus doesn’t answer them directly, but says from now on, the son of man will be seated at the right hand of God. In 70, they ask are you the son of God? Jesus said, “You say it, because I am.” In 71, they say we have heard it from his own mouth, we don’t need more witnesses. In Luke 23:1, they bring Jesus to Pilate. In 23:2, the Jews accuse Jesus of perverting the nation, forbidding paying taxes to Caesar, and calling himself Christ or King. Pilate asks Jesus if he is King of the Jews and Jesus says, “so you say.” In 23:4, Pilate says I find no basis for a charge against this man. This is LUDICROUS! Pilate would absolutely have a problem with an unauthorized claim to be King of the Jews. The Romans appointed Herod as king of the Jews, and any other claim would be a sign of rebellion against Rome. This is a critical reveal of dishonest writing. In verse 5 the Jews mention problems in Galilee, so Pilate sends him to Herod to be judged since Rome appointed Herod King in Galilee. Herod was already in Jerusalem for the feast. In 23:8, Herod was excited to meet Jesus because he had heard about him but never met him, and Herod wanted to see a miracle. We are supposed to believe Jesus was healing multitudes of sick people of all kinds of diseases in Galilee, but the ruler of Galilee only heard stories and never met him, and had never seen a miracle. In 23:9 Herod questions Jesus with “many words” but Jesus gave no answers. Imagine, hearing all these stories about a miracle man, then finally meeting him and he has no power, he won’t perform miracles, and he won’t even answer questions. Any of us would assume he was just a con-man. In 23:11, Herods men mock him and humiliate him, but it doesn’t say they beat him. 23:12 says Herod and Pilate became friends that day. When Jesus is returned to Pilate, Pilate says a second time, “I find no basis for a charge against this man, and neither has Herod.” Pilate says in 23:16, I will chastise him and release him. Luke 23:17 says Pilate had to release one prisoner to them at the feast. This is an absolute lie. The Roman governor did not have to release a prisoner to the Jews at Passover. Pilate didn’t even have a custom or tradition to release a prisoner at Passover. The only relevant tradition was the Jewish scapegoat tradition, and the Romans would have no part to play in a Jewish tradition, especially if it required them to release violent, insurgent prisoners. Luke 23:19 says the Jews demanded Pilate release Barabbas, one who was thrown in prison for a certain revolt in the city and for murder. When Luke uses the word “certain” in reference to a revolt, that is an indication to me, that he is being evasive or nebulous about which revolt. The most prominent revolt in Jerusalem was in the 60’s, and it resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE. Luke had just made reference to this revolt in chapter 21, but it is in the form of a future prediction. I do not believe we can rely on any Biblical text for actual historical events. The Bible is deliberately conflating history with mythology. Luke 23:22 has Pilate asking the Jews again, why he should crucify Jesus, what evil has he done? Pilate reiterates, I will chastise him and release him. In verse 24, Pilate gives in to the Jewish leaders demands. In 25, Pilate releases Barabbas (the insurgent murderer) and delivered Jesus up to the Jewish demands, against his own desires. Verse 26 says they grabbed Simon of Cyrene and laid on him the cross to carry for Jesus, but there is no mention of Jesus being beaten or tortured yet in Luke. Verses 27-31 have Jesus telling women to mourn for themselves and their children because great wrath is coming, such that they will ask the mountains to fall on them, in reference to Hosea 10:8, which again is not a prediction of events in the first century, but Christians just quoted older scriptures in reference to current events in an attempt to scam people into believing in prophecy. Verse 32, interestingly says the other two criminals were led with Jesus to be put to death. It is strange that they led two other people out to be crucified next to Jesus if they were not followers of Jesus. It would make more sense if these two crucified“criminals” were Peter and John or some followers of Jesus, but Luke presents it as if crucifixions were so common, everyone had to share the stage of death. I do not think this is accurate and I will discuss that in the “reality” section on this page. Luke 23:34 has Jesus saying, “father forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing.” Luke does not clarify who Jesus was talking about. Did he want to forgive the criminals, the crowds, the Romans, or the Jews? In 34, they cast lots for his garments in reference to Psalm 22, but there is no mention of fulfilling prophecy. Luke could be just repeating what someone else had written down, not understanding it is a reference to Psalm 22. Verses 35-37 have people and soldiers mocking Jesus and telling him to save himself if he is the chosen one of God. Verse 38 says the inscription was written in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew that said, “This is the King of the Jews.” In 39, one of the crucified criminals told Jesus to save yourself and us if you are the Christ, but the other criminal rebukes him and says we are guilty, but Jesus is innocent. Now, how could a random criminal know Jesus was innocent? Luke, most likely, just thought it would be cool to have a condemned criminal vouch for Jesus innocence. In 23:43 Jesus told that criminal “today you will be with me in paradise.” In verse 44 it was about the sixth hour (noon) and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour (3 PM). Remember, Luke says Jesus went to the Chief Priests house in the middle of the night, then he was brought before the Jewish Council at sun rise, then taken to Pilate for questioning, then to Herod for questioning, then back to Pilate before he was put on the cross. Luke doesn’t even mention any beatings or floggings of Jesus. It is not reasonable that Jesus could have been on the cross by the third hour (9 AM) like Mark said. Luke only has Jesus on the cross (alive) for about three hours, from noon to 3 PM. Verse 45 says the veil of the temple was torn in two, but it doesn’t say from top to bottom. In verse 46, Jesus says, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” then he breathed his last breath. In verse 47, the Centurion says surely this was a righteous man, not surely this was the son of God. In verse 48, all the multitudes returned home beating their breasts and in verse 49 all his followers watched from a distance. None were close enough to talk to Jesus as in John’s gospel. Verses 50-53 have Joseph of Arimathea ask Pilate for Jesus body and Pilate just allows it with no questions. Joseph wraps Jesus body in a linen cloth and laid him in a tomb cut in stone where no one had even been laid. That is mighty convenient to have an unused freshly cut tomb, just waiting for Jesus, don’t you think? Luke does not say Joseph owned the tomb, but even if he did, why did he go through all the trouble to cut a new tomb before the crucifixion of Jesus just so he could put Jesus in it. This is not logical. I suppose a Christian might believe God cut the tomb out and miraculous sent Joseph to the special Divine tomb. Verse 54 says it was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was drawing near. Again, it is like Luke totally forgot we are in Passover season. Luke says Jesus observed the Passover meal, then he was arrested and crucified within the next 24 hours (just like Mark and Matthew say), but all three synoptic gospel authors take the position that Jesus died on Friday, because the women could not anoint the body of Jesus until Saturday/Sabbath was completed. Luke 23:55 says the women who came with him from Galilee followed Joseph, saw the tomb and how his body was laid, then they went home to prepare spices and ointments then rested on the Sabbath.
John's Crucifixion
The last supper, trial, and crucifixion of Jesus begins differently in John. John 12:1 says, “Six days before Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, who had been dead, whom he raised from the dead.” Matthew and Mark also begin in Bethany, but at Simon the Lepers house, not Lazarus’ house. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all say Jesus identified Judas as the betrayer and instituted the bread and wine sacrament at the Passover meal, but John is different. John says this meal was six days before Passover at Lazarus house, not at a certain man’s furnished upper guest room in Jerusalem. John says Mary was the “certain woman” who anointed Jesus with a pound of ointment of pure nard, very precious, but she anointed Jesus’ feet and wiped her feet with her hair. John 12:4 says Judas Iscariot was the one who complained about the waste of 300 denarii, which could have helped the poor. Verse 6 says Judas didn’t care about the poor but he was just a thief. Jesus says to leave Mary alone, because she has kept this for the day of my burial, and you always have the poor, but you don’t always have me. This is definitely a contradictory story to the other gospels. Verses 9-11 says a large crowd of people came to see not just Jesus but also Lazarus, because of his famous resurrection. Verse 12 says the next day (5 days before Passover) a great multitude had come to the feast and they took palm branches to welcome Jesus into Jerusalem and to say Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel. Notice they were calling Jesus a King and not the Lord (Yahweh), but Christians are not capable of recognizing plain language. In verse 14, Jesus finds a young donkey and sat on it, then verse 15 quotes Zechariah 9:9, behold your king comes to you riding on a donkey’s colt. Verse 16 says, “His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered these things were written about him and that they had done these things to him.” John 12:16 is proof that no disciple wrote this gospel. If John wrote it, he would say we forgot we did these things until later, but again Christians are not capable of understanding plain language. Luke 12:19 says the Jewish leaders were concerned about the multitudes following Jesus based on the miraculous resurrection of Lazarus. John 12:20-26 is a unique story where Jesus says the time has come for the son of man to be glorified. By glorified, he means in death. Even clarifies this by saying a seed can’t bear fruit unless it first dies, and then he tells his followers if they love their life they will lose it, but if they hate their life they will keep it, and if they serve him, they will follow him (rather than deny him like they did in the other gospels). Jesus said, “where I am, there my servant will also be.” So, Jesus is threatening them not to deny him or forsake him. John 12:27 has Jesus saying, “What shall I say? Father, save me from this time? But I came to this time for this cause. Father, glorify your name.” This is in direct contrast and opposition with the other gospels which report Jesus asking the father to let this cup pass from him. In John, Jesus says he would not ask God to do that. In verse 28 a voice comes from the sky and says, “I have glorified it and will glorify it again.” Don’t be suspicious, don’t be suspicious. Jesus said in John 12:32, “now the prince of this world will be cast out.” It’s funny how Christians still think Satan is causing havoc on earth. In verse 36, Jesus left them and hid from them. He did not go to the garden to get arrested in John, like he did in the other gospels. John 12:37 says his own disciples did not believe in Jesus, but in verse 42 it says many rulers believed in Jesus but were too scared to admit it. John says the reason the disciples didn’t believe was to fulfill prophecy, “who has believed our report” and “he has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart.” In verse 44, Jesus cries out, “whoever believes in me, believes no in me but in him who sent me.” We last heard Jesus left them and hid, but then he cries this saying out from the bushes maybe, LOL. John 13:1 says we are still before the feast of Passover. Chapter 12 was 5-6 days before Passover. John 13:2 says they were eating supper, but this is not the Passover meal. John is disagreeing with the other gospels. John is actually trying to correct a mistake in the previous gospel narratives. It is not possible that Jesus would be judged by the Jews on Passover day, as required from the other gospels, so John is putting the supper and crucifixion BEFORE Passover. Verse 2 says the devil had already put it in Judas Iscariot’s heart to betray Jesus. Remember the naked man/boy in Mark that ran out of the garden naked? Matthew and Luke cut that out completely, and John tells a story about Jesus taking off all his clothes and only having a towel around his waist. Jesus washed the disciples feet then dried their feet with the towel wrapped around him. John 13:11 has Jesus saying not all of you are clean, because he knew Judas was going to betray him. John 13:15 has Jesus explaining why he washed their feet and says they should wash each other’s feet too. The main lesson is likely service to others, not necessarily feet washing. John 13:18 tells us why they told a story about a betrayer who eats bread with him. He quotes Psalm 41:9 which says, “who ate bread with me has lifted up his heel against me.” This is how they created the Jesus narrative. They found a Hebrew scripture and manufactured a story to associate Jesus with it. In John 13:21, Jesus says, “one of you will betray me.” Keep in mind, we are not at the Passover meal like we were in the other gospels. This is just a regular supper before Passover. After Jesus’ “cuddle-buddy” asks him who will betray him, Jesus answered, “it is he to whom I give this piece of bread after I dip it.” Then he dipped the bread and handed it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. Josephus talks extensively about a rebel named Simon who was a Zealot or Sicarii, who was instrumental in the Jewish revolt in the 60’s. I think there is a connection with these names. John 13:27 says Satan entered Judas after Jesus identified him, but John already said Satan was in Judas. Jesus tells Judas to do it quickly. Verse 28-29 says the disciples didn’t understand, even after Jesus was blatantly obvious about identifying his betrayer, but we are supposed to believe the disciples were too dumb to understand. Jesus said he is going away and they can’t follow, but Peter says he will follow anywhere, even to death, but Jesus says before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times. Keep in mind, this was after a supper, at night, and before Passover. Jesus told Peter he would deny him before the rooster crows the next morning. John 14, 15, and 16 are like a farewell speech to his disciples, but it is packed with lots of things to debate. John 16:16 is noteworthy, Jesus said, “a little while and you will not see me, then a little while and you will see me.” The little while cannot refer to 2,000 years, nor is he telling people today they will see him. In verse 22, Jesus says their current sorrow will be turned into joy. John 16:24 says they can ask anything in Jesus name and receive it so their joy may be full. I guess they asked to be tortured to death, because that is what Christians think happened to them. John 16:30 says the disciples say they believe he came from God (not that he was God). John 17 is a prayer to God from Jesus about self-glorification and unity among believers. After Jesus long speech and prayer after supper, John 18:1 says Jesus went over the brook Kidron to a garden. John never tells of a prayer or three prayed in agony in the garden to let this cup pass. John cut that embarrassing story out altogether. Judas shows up in the garden with a detachment of soldiers and officers from the chief priest and Pharisees. Jesus asks who are you looking for and they say Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said, “I am he.” When Jesus said this the soldiers went backward and fell to the ground (18:6). Jesus asked a second time, “who are you looking for?” They said Jesus of Nazareth. Then Jesus said, “I told you I am he, now let these go away to fulfill my word which says ‘of those you gave me, I have lost none.’” See how John completely changes the narrative? The other gospels say all forsook Jesus and fled, in order to fulfil prophecy, but John says all the disciples were allowed to leave at Jesus request to fulfil his own word. John 18:10 says Simon Peter drew his sword and cut off Malchus ear who was the high priest’s servant. The other gospels do not name Peter or Malchus. John added the names. John 18:11 has Jesus rebuking Peter and saying I must drink the cup my father has given me. See how Jesus never asks to let the cup pass in John? John 18:12 says they led Jesus to Annas first who was the father-in-law to Caiaphas who was High Priest that year. John 18:15 has Peter and another unnamed disciple following Jesus to the High Priest court. The unnamed disciple gets in easily because he is known to the High Priest, then he tells someone to open the door to let Peter in, but Peter has to deny Jesus to get in. In John 18:24 Annas sends Jesus to Caiaphas and Peter denies Jesus a second time. In verse 27, Peter denies Jesus a third time and the rooster crows. In John 18:28, they led Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate in the Roman Praetorium, but the Jews would not enter because it would defile them before Passover. Verse 28 says it was early, but no mention of whether the sun rose yet. It seems unlikely that the Jews would wake Pilate up in the middle of the night. The Jews say they need Pilate to put him to death because they couldn’t do it. Pilate asks Jesus if he is King of the Jews. Jesus does not say yes like the other gospels, but he says my kingdom is not of this world. Pilate says, so you are a king then, and Jesus says yes of another kingdom. In John 18:38 Pilate announces to the Jews, “I find no basis for a charge against him, but you have a custom that I release someone at Passover, so should I release the King of the Jews?” They say no, release Barabbas. John 18:40 says Barabbas was a robber (not insurrectionist murderer). There is a big difference between a common thief and an insurrectionist murderer. In John 19:1 Pilate took Jesus, flogged him, twisted a crown of thorns and put it on his head and dressed him in a purple garment. Then in verse 4, Pilate brings Jesus out and announces publicly that he finds no basis for a charge against Jesus. In verse 6, after the chief priest and officers say crucify him, Pilate says, “you take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no basis for a charge against him.” In verse 8, Pilate takes Jesus back inside and questions him again. Verse 12 says Pilate sought to release Jesus again, but the Jews said, “if you release this man, you aren’t Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king speaks against Caesar.” John 19:14 says it was about the sixth hour (noon) on the Preparation day before Passover. Pilate asks (v.15), “Shall I crucify your king?” But the Jews said they have no king but Caesar. Verse 16 says Pilate delivered Jesus to them to be crucified, but did he deliver Jesus to the Jews or to his Roman soldiers? There is no mention of Simon of Cyrene carrying his cross, in fact verse 17 says Jesus bore his own cross. Pilate wrote a title saying, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” It was supposedly written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. In verse 24 the soldiers cast lots for Jesus coat that was without seam and woven from the top throughout in order to “fulfill” Psalm 22:18. John 19:25 says standing near Jesus cross was his mother (Mary), his mother’s sister (never heard of her before), another Mary who was the wife of Clopas (whoever that is), and Mary Magdalene. Now that is a lot of Mary’s. Did you know the name Mary means bitter or rebellious? Also take note that only John says any follower of Jesus was close to the cross. The other gospels say the followers watched from afar. John19:26 says the male disciple whom Jesus loved was also standing near the cross and Jesus said, “Behold your mother.” Then that disciple took Mary home to live with him after that. In verse 28 Jesus said, “I am thirsty” and in verse 30 Jesus bowed his head and gave up his spirit. Verse 31 says the Jews didn’t want the bodies to remain on the cross for their special Passover Sabbath, so they asked Pilate to break their legs and take the bodies down. Of course Pilate did whatever the Jews demanded, because that is just what Roman governors do, right? WRONG! Pilate would not have obeyed the commands of the Jews in reality. This is not a historically accurate story. The soldiers break the legs of the two criminals, but they see Jesus is already dead so they pierce his side with a spear, supposedly to fulfil prophecy that his bones were not broken and they will look on him whom they pierced. More prophecy shenanigans. So John also only has Jesus on the cross a few hours. In verse 38, Joseph of Arimathaea shows up as a secret disciple of Jesus along with Nicodemus who brought 72 pounds of myrrh and aloes in order to give Jesus a proper burial. In verse 40, they wrap Jesus in linen cloths (plural) and give Jesus a proper burial. Crucified victims did not receive proper burials. Verse 41 says in the garden where he was crucified was a tomb where no man had ever been laid and they laid Jesus there.
Real Crucifixions
I want to keep this section short and to the point. I listed the detailed accounts of the last supper and crucifixion of Jesus according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John above. There are many contradictions between the four gospel accounts, but I want to direct your attention to the main problems with the crucifixion of Jesus. If you research Roman crucifixions, you will find out execution by crucifixion was not a common sentence and it was reserved for specific crimes for a specific reason. Crucifixion was the method of death for a Roman traitor or for someone who would encourage rebellion or insurrection against Rome. The main point of crucifixion was not to cause death, because there were much more efficient ways to kill people, preferably the sword. Crucifixion was designed with the intended purpose of displaying the dead body publicly for many days while the birds ate their flesh. This would serve as a deterrent to anyone else who might be thinking about insurrection or rebellion. The Romans would crucify military generals who betrayed Rome or failed Rome or fought against Rome. Also, if a slave killed his owner, they would crucify every slave that belonged to that dead owner as a deterrent for any other slave who might be thinking about killing his owner. The Biblical account of the crucifixion of Jesus is not compatible with real historical accounts of Roman crucifixions. The Romans did not obey the Jews demands and the Romans would not allow a crucified victim to be taken off the cross in the same day they put him on it. They certainly would not allow a crucified victim to be given a proper burial in a new tomb either. The Biblical account of the crucifixion of Jesus is NOT a historical event. On the contrary, the entire Christian narrative is a Roman propaganda campaign against the Jews.
Conclusion
Since the four Bible gospels either copy from each other or deliberately oppose each other, we can know they are using each other as reference material. I believe Mark was the first gospel, then Luke was written to change some specific things Mark said, but Matthew was written to side with Mark over Luke, then John was written to correct mistakes in all three. None of the gospels were written by eye witnesses. They just show how the story changed over time and they show specifically which parts of the narrative were offensive to some believers. For example, the author of John refuses to admit that Jesus asked God in agony to let this cup pass from him. When you combine the evidence of the changing gospel narrative with the knowledge of what crucifixions were really like, you come to the unavoidable conclusion that whoever told this story is not telling the truth. So, who would have a reason to lie and create a world religion built on lies? Isn't it obvious? The Romans fought multiple wars with the Jews because the Jews rebelled against Rome. Rome destroyed Jerusalem and the Jewish Temple in 70 CE, then a new religion appears in the Roman Empire centered around a crucified Jewish Messiah. Gospel means good news (of military victory) and the good news of the Bible is that the Jewish Law has been made obsolete. Who made the law obsolete? It wasn't Jesus. It was the Romans, when they destroyed Jerusalem. When the Jews lost the war, their "god" was crucified (symbolically) and Christianity became the required religion for Jews first, then to the whole Roman Empire (Gentiles). All four gospels agree that Pontius Pilate found no fault with Jesus, but Pilate gave in to the Jewish demands to crucify Jesus. Pilate was a real governor of Judea and we have historical accounts of his ruthless leadership. The Jews did oppose Pilate on several occasions, but Pilate would rather kill the Jews than give them what they wanted. The fictional Bible story is overtly saying the Romans were innocent of the blood of Jesus and the Jews were entirely to blame. This tells you which side the authors were on in the war between the Romans and Jews. I also pointed out above how the authors of the gospels did not understand the Jewish feast days, which is another dead giveaway that the authors were not Jewish. The Greek New Testament (GNT) was written in Greek because Greek was the most common language in the Roman Empire. The Jews are the enemies in the GNT, because the real authors were Romans.