Passages: Luke 1:1-4; John 1:1-18; Luke 1:5-25; Luke 1:26-56; Luke 1:57-80

John reaches back before Luke's own account begins, tracing Jesus back to the eternal Word who was with God, and was God, before Luke picks up his careful, orderly narrative with the temple priest Zechariah, told by an angel that his barren wife Elisabeth will bear a son. Six months later the same angel, Gabriel, appears to a young woman in Nazareth named Mary with news harder still to believe. Mary hurries to visit Elisabeth, and the two women's unborn sons — one who will prepare the way, one who is the way — seem to recognize each other before either is born. Elisabeth's child arrives first, and Zechariah, silent since he doubted the angel, finds his voice again the moment he names the boy John.

We are in a Luke-John Harmony. Today's episode covers: Luke 1:1-4; John 1:1-18; Luke 1:5-25; Luke 1:26-56; Luke 1:57-80 (Luke's Preface; The Word Was God; The Angel Gabriel Appears to Zechariah; The Angel Gabriel Appears to Mary; Mary Visits Elisabeth; The Birth of John the Baptist).

John 20:11–21:25; Matthew 28:9–20

Mary Magdalene stays behind at the empty tomb, weeping, until someone she takes for the gardener says her name. That evening, with the doors locked, Jesus stands among his disciples and says, peace be unto you — but Thomas wasn't there, and won't believe secondhand. A week later, he does. Later still, seven of them go fishing and catch nothing all night, until a stranger on the shore fills their net — and on the beach, over a charcoal fire, Jesus asks Peter the same question three times, and gives him work to do for the rest of his life. On a mountain in Galilee, Jesus gives his eleven remaining disciples their final instructions, and John tells us plainly why he wrote all of this down.

We are in a Matthew-John Harmony. Today's episode covers: John 20:11–21:25; Matthew 28:9–20 (the appearances to Mary Magdalene, the disciples, and Thomas, the miraculous catch of fish, the restoration of Peter, and the Great Commission — the concluding episode of Season Two).

Matthew 27:48–66; John 19:28–20:2

Jesus speaks two more times from the cross — and the second time, his work is done. The earth itself seems to answer as he gives up his spirit, and a soldier pierces his side to confirm he's already dead. Joseph of Arimathaea asks Pilate for the body and lays Jesus in a new tomb before nightfall, and the chief priests, remembering Jesus once said he would rise again, ask for a guard to be posted. As the first day of the week dawns, the women come to the tomb and find the stone already rolled away.

We are in a Matthew-John Harmony. Today's episode covers: Matthew 27:48–66; John 19:28–20:2 ("It is finished," the death of Jesus, the piercing of his side, the burial, the guard at the tomb, and the discovery of the empty tomb).

John 19:4–15; Matthew 27:24–47; John 19:16–24

Pilate brings Jesus before the crowd one more time, looking for any way to let him go, before finally washing his hands of the matter. Jesus is led away carrying his own cross, until a man named Simon is pulled from the crowd to carry it for him. At a place called Golgotha, he's crucified between two others, a sign naming the charge against him fastened above his head, while those passing by hurl insults at all three men. At noon, darkness falls over the whole land.

We are in a Matthew-John Harmony. Today's episode covers: John 19:4–15; Matthew 27:24–47; John 19:16–24 (Pilate's final attempt to release Jesus, the crucifixion, the notice above his head, and the darkness over the land).

Matthew 26:69–27:26; John 18:25–19:3

Twice more, Peter is asked if he knows Jesus, and twice more he says no, before the rooster crows. As morning comes, the Sanhedrin formally condemns Jesus, and Judas, overcome with remorse, tries to undo what he's already done. Jesus is handed to Pontius Pilate, who can find no fault in him but offers the crowd a choice anyway — Jesus, or a convicted criminal named Barabbas. When Pilate asks what he should do with Jesus, the crowd gives him an answer he can't ignore, and Roman soldiers mock their prisoner with a crown of thorns.

We are in a Matthew-John Harmony. Today's episode covers: Matthew 26:69–27:26; John 18:25–19:3 (Peter's remaining denials, the Sanhedrin's condemnation, Judas's suicide, the trial before Pilate, and the choice of Barabbas).

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).