John 17:1–26; Matthew 26:36–68; John 18:1–24

Before leaving the upper room, Jesus lifts his eyes to heaven and prays — for himself, for his disciples, and for everyone who will one day believe because of them. Then, in a garden called Gethsemane, he prays in agony while his closest friends can't stay awake, before Judas arrives with an armed crowd and a kiss. He's taken first to Annas, then to Caiaphas and the whole council, while Peter follows at a distance and warms himself by a fire in the courtyard below — the first of three times that night he'll deny knowing Jesus at all.

We are in a Matthew-John Harmony. Today's episode covers: John 17:1–26; Matthew 26:36–68; John 18:1–24 (the High Priestly Prayer, Gethsemane, the betrayal and arrest, and the trials before Annas and Caiaphas).

John 14:15–16:33; Matthew 26:30–35

Still at the table, Jesus promises his troubled disciples a Helper who will never leave them. Walking out toward the Mount of Olives, he compares himself to a vine and his disciples to the branches, warning them that the same hatred the world has shown him will fall on them too — before telling them plainly that their grief is only for a little while, because he has already overcome the world.

We are in a Matthew-John Harmony. Today's episode covers: John 14:15–16:33; Matthew 26:30–35 (the promise of the Holy Spirit, "I am the true vine," and Jesus' final words to his disciples before Gethsemane — closing Week Four).

Matthew 25:31–26:29; John 13:1–14:14

Jesus closes his teaching with a picture of final judgment, then tells his disciples plainly, two days before Passover, that he will be crucified — even as Judas is already on his way to the chief priests. That evening, at the table, Jesus gets up, takes a towel, and washes his disciples' feet, then tells them one of them will betray him before the night is out. After Judas slips into the darkness, Jesus gives the rest of them a new commandment to love one another, takes bread and wine and gives them a meaning they won't fully grasp until later, and tells a shaken Peter exactly how his promise of loyalty will fail before morning.

We are in a Matthew-John Harmony. Today's episode covers: Matthew 25:31–26:29; John 13:1–14:14 (the third prediction of his death, the foot washing, the identification of the betrayer, the Lord's Supper, and "I am the way, the truth, and the life").

Matthew 24:1–25:30

Leaving the temple, Jesus tells his disciples that not one stone will be left on another — and when they ask him privately when that will happen, he describes wars, false prophets, and signs in the sky, warning them to stay watchful because no one knows the day or the hour. He tells two parables to drive the point home: ten bridesmaids waiting for a bridegroom, only half of them ready when he finally comes, and a master who entrusts his servants with money before a long journey and calls them to account when he returns.

We are in a Matthew-John Harmony. Today's episode covers: Matthew 24:1–25:30 (the Olivet Discourse, the Parable of the Ten Virgins, and the Parable of the Talents).

Matthew 22:34–23:39; John 12:20–50

A lawyer asks Jesus which commandment is greatest, and Jesus turns a question of his own back on the Pharisees that leaves them with nothing to say. Then, in the hearing of the crowds, he pronounces a series of woes against the scribes and Pharisees' hypocrisy, closing with a lament over the city of Jerusalem itself. Some Greeks at the feast send word that they'd like to see him, and his answer turns toward the death waiting for him in just a few days — the last public words Jesus speaks in the Gospel of John.

We are in a Matthew-John Harmony. Today's episode covers: Matthew 22:34–23:39; John 12:20–50 (the Greatest Commandment, the Seven Woes, and Jesus' final public teaching).

Matthew 21:1–22:33; John 12:12–19

Jesus enters Jerusalem riding a donkey's colt, and the crowds greet him with shouts of Hosanna, spreading their cloaks and palm branches in the road. The next morning, he curses a fig tree with no fruit and clears the temple courts for the second time in this harmony, even as children keep crying out the same praise that unsettled the chief priests the day before. When the religious leaders demand to know by what authority he's doing all this, he answers with three parables — about two sons, wicked tenants, and a wedding banquet no one wants to attend — before Pharisees and Sadducees take turns trying to trap him with questions about taxes and resurrection.

We are in a Matthew-John Harmony. Today's episode covers: Matthew 21:1–22:33; John 12:12–19 (the Triumphal Entry, the cleansing of the temple, three parables of judgment, and questions about taxes and the resurrection).

John 11:17–12:11; Matthew 20:17–34; 26:6–13

Jesus arrives in Bethany four days after Lazarus died — too late, by every human measure — and does something no one there has ever seen. On the road up to Jerusalem, he tells the twelve plainly, for the third time, exactly what waits for him in the city, while the mother of two disciples asks him for a favor that shows how little they've understood. Leaving Jericho, two blind men refuse to be silenced until Jesus stops and heals them. As Passover approaches and the chief priests plot his arrest, Jesus returns to Bethany for a dinner, where a woman does something extravagant that not everyone at the table approves of.

We are in a Matthew-John Harmony. Today's episode covers: John 11:17–12:11; Matthew 20:17–34; 26:6–13 (the raising of Lazarus, the third prediction of his death, blind Bartimaeus, and the anointing at Bethany — the concluding episode of Week Three).

Matthew 19:1–20:16; John 10:40–11:16

Jesus leaves Galilee for the last time and crosses beyond the Jordan, where the crowds find him again. Pharisees test him with a question about divorce, and he points them back to the beginning of creation. Parents bring their children for a blessing, and when the disciples try to turn them away, Jesus tells them to let the children come. A rich young man asks what good thing he must do to inherit eternal life, and walks away sorrowful when Jesus tells him to sell everything he has — leaving the disciples to ask who, then, can possibly be saved. Jesus tells a hard parable about a landowner who pays every worker the same wage no matter how long they labored. Then word reaches him that his friend Lazarus, in Bethany, is sick — and he waits two more days before doing anything about it.

We are in a Matthew-John Harmony. Today's episode covers: Matthew 19:1–20:16; John 10:40–11:16 (teaching on divorce, the rich young man, the workers in the vineyard, and the news of Lazarus' illness).

John 9:1–10:39; Matthew 11:20–30

Jesus heals a man who has been blind from birth, and the healing itself becomes more controversial than the blindness ever was, as the Pharisees interrogate the man, his parents, and finally throw him out of the synagogue. Jesus finds him afterward and tells the Pharisees who are listening that he is the good shepherd, who lays down his life for the sheep — a shepherd the sheep actually know, unlike a hired hand who runs at the first sign of danger. Jesus pronounces judgment on towns that saw his miracles and still wouldn't repent, then offers rest to anyone weary enough to come to him. Months later, at the winter Feast of Dedication, the crowd surrounds him in the temple and demands a straight answer.

We are in a Matthew-John Harmony. Today's episode covers: John 9:1–10:39; Matthew 11:20–30 ("once I was blind, now I see," the Good Shepherd, and the Feast of Dedication).

John 7:53–8:59

Scribes and Pharisees drag a woman caught in adultery before Jesus, testing him with a question about the law of Moses — and he stoops down to write in the dust before answering. Still in the temple, Jesus tells the crowd that he is the light of the world, and the conversation that follows grows sharper with every exchange, as he tells them the truth will set them free, and makes a claim about himself that leaves some of them reaching for stones.

We are in a Matthew-John Harmony. Today's episode covers: John 7:53–8:59 (the woman caught in adultery and Jesus' extended teaching in the temple, including "I am the light of the world" and "before Abraham was, I am").