Passages: John 3:1-21; John 3:22-36; Matthew 4:12 & Luke 3:19-20 & John 4:1-4; John 4:5-42

By night, a Pharisee and member of the Jewish ruling council named Nicodemus comes to Jesus, unwilling to be seen doing so in daylight, and is told that no one can see the kingdom of God without being born again — born not of flesh, but of the Spirit. Jesus and his disciples spend time baptizing in the Judean countryside, working alongside John the Baptist for a season before John points his own remaining disciples toward the one who must increase while he himself decreases. Learning that the Pharisees have heard of his growing following, and with John now imprisoned by Herod, Jesus leaves Judea for Galilee, passing necessarily through Samaria on the way. At Jacob's well near the town of Sychar, tired from the journey, Jesus asks a Samaritan woman for water in the heat of the day — and by the end of the conversation, she has left her water pot behind to tell the whole town about a man who told her everything she ever did.

We are in a complete Four-Gospel Harmony. Today's episode covers: John 3:1-21; John 3:22-36; Matthew 4:12 & Luke 3:19-20 & John 4:1-4; John 4:5-42 (Jesus Talks with Nicodemus; First Ministry in Judaea; Reasons for Retiring to Galilee; At Jacob's Well and Sychar).

Passages: Matthew 4:1-11 & Mark 1:12-13 & Luke 4:1-13; John 1:19-34; John 1:35-51; John 2:1-11; John 2:12; John 2:13-25

Led by the Spirit into the wilderness, Jesus fasts forty days and is tempted three times by the devil — to turn stones to bread, to throw himself from the temple, to bow down and worship in exchange for all the kingdoms of the world — and answers each temptation with scripture until the devil leaves him. Back at the Jordan, priests and Levites sent from Jerusalem ask John the Baptist plainly who he is, and he tells them just as plainly who he is not — not the Christ, not Elijah, not the Prophet — before pointing to Jesus walking by the next day and calling him the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. Two of John's own disciples, Andrew among them, follow Jesus that same day; Andrew brings his brother Simon, and within another day Philip and Nathanael join them as well. At a wedding in Cana of Galilee, Jesus turns water into wine at his mother's request — his first miracle, and the first time his disciples believe on him. After a short stay in Capernaum, Jesus goes up to Jerusalem for the Passover and finds the temple courts turned into a marketplace of moneychangers and animal sellers — and drives them all out with a whip of cords, overturning their tables.

We are in a complete Four-Gospel Harmony. Today's episode covers: Matthew 4:1-11 & Mark 1:12-13 & Luke 4:1-13; John 1:19-34; John 1:35-51; John 2:1-11; John 2:12; John 2:13-25 (Temptation of Jesus; John's Introduction; Jesus Makes First Disciples; First Miracle at Cana; First Residence at Capernaum; Jesus Cleanses the Temple).

Passages: Matthew 2:13-18; Matthew 2:19-23 & Luke 2:39; Luke 2:40-52; Matthew 3:1-12 & Mark 1:1-8 & Luke 3:1-18; Matthew 3:13-17 & Mark 1:9-11 & Luke 3:21-22

Warned in a dream that Herod means to kill the child, Joseph flees with Mary and Jesus to Egypt, and only returns to Nazareth after Herod's death, still wary enough of Herod's son to settle in Galilee rather than Judea. Luke passes over most of Jesus's childhood in a single line — he grew, and waxed strong in spirit — before pausing at age twelve, when Jesus stays behind in Jerusalem without his parents' knowledge, and is found three days later in the temple, sitting among the teachers, astonishing them with his understanding. Some eighteen years pass in that same pause, until a wilderness preacher named John — Zacharias and Elisabeth's son, grown now, clothed in camel's hair — begins baptizing crowds by the Jordan and calling them to repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Jesus himself comes to be baptized, and though John tries to prevent him, sensing it should be the other way around, Jesus insists — and as he comes up out of the water, the heavens open, the Spirit descends like a dove, and a voice from heaven declares, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

We are in a complete Four-Gospel Harmony. Today's episode covers: Matthew 2:13-18; Matthew 2:19-23 & Luke 2:39; Luke 2:40-52; Matthew 3:1-12 & Mark 1:1-8 & Luke 3:1-18; Matthew 3:13-17 & Mark 1:9-11 & Luke 3:21-22 (Flight into Egypt; Return to Nazareth; Jesus Living at Nazareth; John Begins His Ministry; Baptism of Jesus).

Passages: Luke 1:39-56; Luke 1:57-80; Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 2:1-7; Luke 2:8-20; Luke 2:21-38; Matthew 2:1-12

Mary hurries to the hill country to see her cousin Elisabeth, and the moment she arrives, the unborn John leaps in his mother's womb — Mary answers with a song of her own, praising God for lifting up the lowly. Elisabeth's son is born, and when Zacharias, still unable to speak, writes down the name John rather than naming the boy after himself, his voice returns at once. Joseph, troubled to learn Mary is with child, is told in a dream not to fear taking her as his wife, for the child is of the Holy Ghost. In Bethlehem, where a Roman census has brought them, Mary gives birth and lays her son in a manger — and it's shepherds in the fields, not anyone of standing, who hear the news first from an angel and a multitude of the heavenly host. Eight days later the child is named Jesus, and in the temple an old man named Simeon, told by the Spirit he would not die before seeing the Lord's Christ, finally does — followed by a prophetess named Anna, who has lived in the temple for decades. Sometime after, wise men from the East arrive in Jerusalem asking where the newborn king of the Jews can be found, and a star leads them the rest of the way to Bethlehem.

We are in a complete Four-Gospel Harmony. Today's episode covers: Luke 1:39-56; Luke 1:57-80; Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 2:1-7; Luke 2:8-20; Luke 2:21-38; Matthew 2:1-12 (Mary Visits Elisabeth; Birth and Early Life of John; Annunciation to Joseph; The Birth of Jesus; Angels Proclaim to Shepherds; Circumcision, Temple Service, Naming; Eastern Wise-Men Visit).

Passages: Luke 1:1-4; John 1:1-18; Matthew 1:1-17; Luke 3:23-38; Luke 1:5-25; Luke 1:26-38

Before any Gospel writer begins his own story, Luke explains why he's writing at all — an orderly account, for a reader named Theophilus, of things most surely believed. John reaches back further still, past any beginning we could name, to the Word who was with God, and was God, before that Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Matthew then traces Jesus's line forward from Abraham through David to Joseph, while Luke traces it backward from Jesus all the way to Adam, son of God. In the temple, an aging priest named Zacharias is struck silent by the angel Gabriel for doubting that his barren wife Elisabeth would bear a son — and six months later, the same angel appears to a young woman in Nazareth with news harder still to believe: that she, a virgin, will conceive by the Holy Ghost and bear the Son of the Highest.

We are in a complete Four-Gospel Harmony. Today's episode covers: Luke 1:1-4; John 1:1-18; Matthew 1:1-17; Luke 3:23-38; Luke 1:5-25; Luke 1:26-38 (Luke's Preface and Dedication; John's Introduction; Genealogy of Jesus According to Matthew; Genealogy According to Luke; Annunciation to Zacharias of Birth of John; Annunciation to Mary).

Passages: Luke 24:13-35; Luke 24:36-49 & John 20:19-23; John 20:24-31; John 21:1-25; Luke 24:50-53

That same day, two of Jesus' followers walk to a village called Emmaus, grieving over everything that had happened, and a stranger joins them on the road, opening the scriptures to them — until, at supper, they recognize him in the breaking of bread, and he vanishes. That same evening, both Luke and John record Jesus appearing to the gathered disciples, showing them his hands and side, and breathing peace on them. Thomas, absent that night, refuses to believe secondhand — until a week later, when Jesus invites him to touch the wounds himself. Later still, by the Sea of Tiberias, a night of empty nets turns into a miraculous catch at a stranger's word from the shore, and over a charcoal fire, Jesus asks Peter three times whether he loves him, restoring him and giving him work to do. Leading his disciples out as far as Bethany, Jesus lifts his hands to bless them, and is carried up into heaven.

We are in a Luke-John Harmony. Today's episode covers: Luke 24:13-35; Luke 24:36-49 & John 20:19-23; John 20:24-31; John 21:1-25; Luke 24:50-53 (The Road to Emmaus; Jesus Appears to the Eleven; The Doubt of Thomas; Breakfast by the Sea; Peter Restored; The Ascension).

Passages: Luke 23:26-49 & John 19:17-37; Luke 23:50-56 & John 19:38-42; Luke 24:1-12 & John 20:1-18

Jesus is led away to a place called Golgotha and crucified between two criminals, a sign above his head naming the charge against him, while soldiers cast lots for his clothing below. From the cross he speaks to his mother, to a dying thief beside him, and at the end cries out that it is finished before giving up his spirit — and a soldier pierces his side to be certain he is dead. As evening falls, a council member named Joseph who had not agreed with the plot against Jesus asks Pilate for the body, and with Nicodemus wraps it in linen and spices and lays it in a new tomb. Very early on the first day of the week, while it is still dark, a group of women find the stone rolled away and the tomb empty.

We are in a Luke-John Harmony. Today's episode covers: Luke 23:26-49 & John 19:17-37; Luke 23:50-56 & John 19:38-42; Luke 24:1-12 & John 20:1-18 (The Crucifixion; The Burial; The Empty Tomb).

Passages: Luke 22:54-71 & John 18:12-27; Luke 23:1-25 & John 18:28-19:16

Jesus is led first to the house of the high priest, where Peter follows at a distance and warms himself by a fire in the courtyard below — and three times before the night is over, denies ever knowing him, just as Jesus had said he would. As morning comes, the whole assembly leads Jesus to Pilate, the Roman governor, who finds no fault in him and sends him to Herod, who mocks him and sends him back — until Pilate, unable to move the crowd, hands Jesus over to be crucified and releases a convicted insurrectionist named Barabbas in his place.

We are in a Luke-John Harmony. Today's episode covers: Luke 22:54-71 & John 18:12-27; Luke 23:1-25 & John 18:28-19:16 (Before Annas and Caiaphas; Peter's Denial; Before Pilate and Herod).