Notes

THE ANOINTING AT BETHANY
The anointing is covered in three gospels-- Matthew, Mark and John. The gospel of Luke doesn’t record this event. The account of the anointing is quite similarly depicted in Matthew, Mark and John. In the gospels of Mark and Matthew, the texts say that Jesus was in the house of Simon the leper when a women came to him with an expensive perfume and pour it on his head. The disciples thought it was a waste, but Jesus defended her and said to the disciples, “Let her alone. Why do you make trouble for her? She has done a good thing for me. The poor you will always have with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them, but you will not always have me. She has done what she could. She has anticipated anointing my body for burial. Amen, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed to the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her” (Mark 14:6-9). The gospel of John does a much better job on detailedly record the anointing. In John, the texts say that Jesus was anointed by Mary, Lazarus’s sister, and the only person who objected Mary’s act of devotion was Judas. The texts in John also give a reason for Judas’s act later when they comment about Judas that “he said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief and held the money bag and used to steal the contributions” (John 12:6).
THE PLOT AGAINST JESUS
The plot against Jesus is cover through the gospels of Matthew chapter 26, Mark chapter 14, John chapter 13, and Luke chapter 22. In essence, Judas’s betrayal and plans of the chief priests and scribes are all cover in four gospels; however, each gospel has different minor details. The gospels supplement each others by these minor differences.
Jesus’s Prediction on His Death. In all four gospels, Jesus predicts His own death several times; however, only in two gospels of Matthew and John, the texts mention the last time-- the most important time-- He says or thinks about His impending crucifixion. In the beginning of Matthew chapter 26, Jesus anticipates His crucifixion and tells his disciples the exact time He’d be taken away. He informs, “You know that in two days’ time it will be Passover, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified” (Matthew 26:2). In the gospel of John chapter 12, Jesus says to the Jews, “The hour is come for the Son of Man to be glorified” (John 12:23). He doesn’t specify the time then, and still doesn’t include it the next time he thinks of his crucifixion in John chapter 13 for the text says “Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father” (John 13:1). Despite the significance of the event and the short period of time between when Jesus speaks to his disciples about his death in Matthew and when He thinks of it in John, none of the gospels was successful to thoroughly record this event, or record it at all.
The Plan to Capture Jesus. Not the same as Jesus’s prediction about his death, the actual plan to capture Jesus of the chief priests and scribes, and Judas’s betrayal are comprehensively covered in three gospels Matthew, Mark and Luke while the gospel of John doesn’t have a record of the consultation, but has record of Judas’s unfaithfulness. Three gospels Matthew, Mark and Luke mention that the chief priests and the elders gathered to conspire a plan to catch Jesus, and that they agreed to not execute their plan during the festival of Passover because people may cause riots. The gospel of Matthew covers this event slightly more detailed, for it mentions the location where the consultation occurred-- the palace of the high priest Caiaphas.
Judas’s Betrayal. When it comes to Judas’s betrayal, Luke and John agree on the fact that Judas was induced by Satan, for it says “the devil has already induced Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand him over” (John 13:2) and “then Satan entered into Judas, the one surnamed Iscariot, who was counted among the Twelve, and he went to the chief priests and temple guards to discuss a plan for handing him over to them” (Luke 22:3). In John, this detail is somewhat explained in chapter 12 when the texts say “he was a thief” (John 12:6). Judas’s faithlessness was not entirely because of Satan-- it had always been inside him since he had a lot of possessions. The texts depict Judas’s betrayal differently in Mark and Matthew. Satan didn’t enter Judas. Judas betrayed Jesus for money. Interestingly it mentions in Matthew that Judas was paid by thirty pieces of silver, which was the original price of a slave.