Fixing contradictions: the last words of Jesus

4 April 2007

If one reads the four ‘gospels’ of the christian bible, one comes up against the seemingly contradictory last words of Jesus on the cross (or tree if you mistakenly want to believe some reports).

The last words of Jesus on the cross

Of course, these can be reconciled, as demonstrated by the wonderfully lucid mind of J P Holding (AKA “Robert Turkel”):

Matt. 27:46,50 (see also Mark 15:34): “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, eli, lama sabachthani?’ that is to say, ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?’ …Jesus, when he cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.”

Luke 23:46: “And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, ‘Father, unto thy hands I commend my spirit:’ and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.”

John 19:30: “When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, ‘It is finished:’ and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.”

Do we have different and contradictory stories here? We refer the reader as usual to our essays on Harmonization (see sidebar link). Before declaring error or contradiction, there are a number of issues of perspective to consider. What is the effect of oral tradition and/or literary selection? Could John know things the others did not because he was near the cross (John 19:25), and in a position at that time to hear things that people farther away - which would include perhaps Matthew, or people interviewed by Matthew and Luke - did not? Is John supplementing the Synoptics and therefore purposely reporting different things?

Here’s a sensible reconstruction. Matthew is in red, Luke in blue, John in green. Matthew/Luke equities are in maroon. Matthew/John equities are in black. (Mark reports more or less the same thing as Matthew.)

About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.”

Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so (i)mmediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink (MT)/ they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips (JN). The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”

When he had received the drink Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. (JN)/And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice(MT)/ Jesus called out with a loud voice (LK)/“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last(LK)/gave up his spirit(MT).

So by reasonably equating John’s “giving up” of the spirit with total event of the final cry, the problem is resolved. We need only recognize that John is focusing on what Jesus said that was not shouted publicly - the plea of thirst, the statement of completion, and the turning over of responsibility for Jesus’ mother to John. This fits in with his station at the foot of the cross.

While this is a reasonable ~~excuse~~explanation, it does seem a tad contrived. So, in order to show that I can be biblically sensitive, I propose this alternative hypothesis:

After saying “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Matthew and Mark, feeling a bit hungry and not having eaten for fasting so much (and not getting much to eat at the last supper — just some bread and wine) they decide to go off and get ham sandwiches (no relish).

While Matthew and Mark are away feeding their faces, fat-boy John waddles over to Jesus with a vinegar soaked sponge, raises it up to the elevated mangod’s face. After a good drink, and because there’s nothing else in the sponge, Jesus says “It is finished”. His duty done, John goes off to join Matthew and Mark in a snack (extra mustard).

A few minutes later, overcoming his fear at getting too close to someone nailed to a couple of logs, Luke goes over to Jesus, and just as he’s getting close Jesus shouts “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”

It’s then that John, Mark and Matthew return, wiping crumbs/mustard from their faces (John managed his sandwich in half of the time needed by Mark and Matthew because he’s a big guy) just in time to see Jesus sigh one last time and finally die. Then all four of them go off for a cry and a bit of a wake, maybe some wine and dancing late into the night, and then to write in their ~~livejournals~~ ~~deadjournals~~ gospels about the exciting day they’ve all had.

In conclusion, the last words that Matthew, Mark, John and Luke heard from Jesus are reconcilled, and without any need for coloured words!

There, I think mine’s much more compelling. I think the lack of mention of ham sandwiches was simply an oversight. I mean, c’mon, they’ve had a rough day and seen one of their bestest mates stuck on a cross for a couple of hours.

John may not have been as much of a fatty as I make out, but the bible doesn’t say that he’s a thin lad, so I see no reason not to conclude that he’s a bit on the hefty side and use this extra knowledge in my interpretation. I can use this same reasoning for the bacon sandwiches. All is well.

Also, on a slightly related note, this christmas tree decoratation I found particularly amusing…

No other posts are likely to be like this.

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