A Simplified Harmony of the Gospels

George W. Knight

L A R I D I A N

Marion, Iowa

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A Simplified Harmony of the Gospels

Copyright © 2001

Holman Bible Publishers

All rights reserved

Scripture taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible © 1999, 2000, Holman Bible Publishers

The text of the Holman Christian Standard Bible™ may be quoted in any form (written, visual, electronic, or audio) up to and inclusive of two-hundred-fifty (250) verses without the written permission of the publisher, provided that the verses quoted do not account for more than 20 percent of the work in which they are quoted, and provided that a complete book of the Bible in snot quoted. Other requests for permission must be directed to and approved in writing by Holman Bible Publishers, 127 Ninth Avenue North, Nashville, Tennessee 37234.

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Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations marked HCSB have been taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible, © copyright 1999, 2000 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.

Scripture marked "NIV" is taken form the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Acknowledgments

This book is the fulfillment of a dream I have had for many years. Most dreams are more than solo performances, and I have certainly found this true in the pursuit of this project. My thanks to the following people for their contribution.

Steve Bond, editor at Broadman & Holman Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, encouraged me in this project when I first mentioned it to him more than three years ago. He sold his coworkers on the idea and provided helpful suggestions along the way. Thanks, Steve, for your enthusiasm and support.

Several other people at Broadman & Holman also deserve a special word of thanks. Editor Lawrence Kimbrough kept me on track, helping me polish and refine my approach. David Shepherd, editorial director, also gave me valuable formatting and marketing input. Editor John Landers made a major contribution by reviewing the manuscript and comparing it carefully with other Gospel harmonies, especially A Harmony of the Gospels by A. T. Robertson. My thanks to him for his valuable insights and helpful suggestions. Lloyd Mullens and Kim Overcash also helped out by directing me to resource materials and keeping me informed about issues regarding the Holman Christian Standard Bible.

I'm also grateful to Broadman & Holman for giving me permission to adapt material from Broadman Comments for use in this book. Many of the notes on the Gospels are drawn from the past ten years or so of this popular annual Bible lesson commentary. This material was written originally by Bob Dean and the late Donald Ackland, former colleagues of mine at LifeWay Christian Resources, Nashville. My thanks to these two fine Bible students for their insights into the life and ministry of Jesus as portrayed by the Gospel writers.

A special thanks to my wife Dorothy, who served as word processor, research associate, and general helper on this project. Her computer skills made the impossible doable. And her positive attitude and encouragement kept me focused on the goal. I'm fortunate to have her on my writing and editorial team.

Finally, I'm indebted to a class of senior adult men at Haywood Hills Baptist Church, Nashville, Tennessee, for keeping me excited about studying the Word of God—especially the life of Jesus. Their eager questions and comments have been a constant source of inspiration and motivation to me as their teacher. I have tried to keep everyday Bible students like them in mind as I have worked on this book. I send it forth with the prayer that it may bring people to a greater knowledge and understanding of Him of whom it was said:

“Who can this be? He commands even the winds and the waves, and they obey Him!” (Lk 8:25).

“Who is this man who even forgives sins?” (Lk 7:49).

George W. Knight
Nashville, Tennessee

Expanded Outline: A Simplified Harmony

How to Use This Book

The writer of the Book of Ecclesiastes declared, “There is no end to the making of many books” (Ec 12:12). If this Old Testament writer had been living in the centuries after the New Testament, he might have said the same thing about Gospel harmonies. Many harmonies of the life of Jesus from the four Gospels have been published over the years, so why do we need another?

This book reflects my conviction that there is a need for a simplified harmony directed to a popular audience—laypeople, ministers, Bible teachers, and other nonspecialist Bible students. Most harmonies are designed for scholars and other specialists who know the original Greek language. There is certainly a place for these books. But in my own Bible-teaching ministry, I have often wished for a harmony that was simple, straightforward, and easy to use. I have designed the Simplified Harmony of the Gospels to meet this need.

This book also goes a step beyond most harmonies by including explanatory notes on the Gospel narratives. The purpose of these comments is to help the reader understand and apply the life and teachings of Jesus. Space limitations have kept these notes brief, but they still provide helpful information for general Bible students who do not have access to longer commentaries on the Gospels.

The text of the Gospels that appears in the Simplified Harmony is from the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB). This new and fresh rendering of God's Word is as close as it can be to a literal translation of the actual words of the Greek text. But it is also easy to read and understand at the same time. A translation of this type is especially appropriate for a harmonistic study of the life and ministry of Jesus. See the accompanying introductory comments, “About the Holman Christian Standard Bible,” for a discussion of more distinctives of this new translation.

In the text of the Simplified Harmony, the life and ministry of Jesus is divided into 223 individual segments. These segments are numbered and arranged chronologically for easy comparison and comprehension. These numbers also help the reader find a specific Gospel segment quickly, since the expanded outline of the Harmony at the front of the book is keyed to this numbering system.

A quick glance at the expanded outline (see p. vii) reveals a major benefit of studying the life of Jesus in harmonistic fashion. For example, consider segment 11, “Jesus Born in Bethlehem” (Lk 2:1-7). Only Luke gives any details about the actual birth of Jesus. But Matthew records the visit of the Magi to Jesus when He was about two years old (see segment 15, “The Wise Men Visit Jesus,” Mt 2:1-12). This event is unique to Matthew's Gospel. And so it goes throughout the life of Jesus: each of the Gospels includes events not reported by any other Gospel writer. Neither Matthew, Mark, Luke, nor John alone gives the total story of Jesus’ life and ministry. We get a better picture of who He was and what He did when we organize the information from all four Gospels in chronological order and study His life and ministry in harmonistic fashion.

Most people who have studied the life of Jesus also realize there is duplication and overlap among the Gospels. They often report the same event from His life and teachings. But these individual accounts sometimes emphasize a different part of the story or give different details. For example, look at segment 79, “Jesus Heals a Wild Man among the Tombs” (p. 91)—an event reported by Matthew, Mark, and Luke. These accounts differ slightly from one another. Notice that different details from each of these Gospels have been woven into one single, unified account of this event. The different Gospel passages are identified with superscripts in the text (for example, ^{Mk 5:1-5}Then they came to the other side of the sea).

Note in this example that words in italics within brackets show alternative readings from the various Gospels. For example, [^{Mt 8:28b}two demon-possessed men] means that Matthew reports two men came out of the tombs to meet Jesus, while Mark and Luke mention only one man.

Major differences like this among parallel Gospel accounts are generally pointed out in the accompanying notes as well as highlighted in the Gospel text. All this information should enable Bible students to do careful comparative analysis and detailed study of the life and ministry of Jesus as presented by the individual Gospel writers.

The Simplified Harmony of the Gospels can also be used as a guide for reading through the harmonized life of Jesus. Just follow the suggestions at the back of the book (see “A Systematic Reading Plan,” p. 257).

At the back of this book you will find four indices—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—to help you locate parallel Gospel passages quickly and easily. For example, let's assume you are preparing a Bible study on Luke's account of the feeding of the five thousand (Lk 9:10-17). You would like to know if the other Gospels report this event and what they say about it.

Turn to the “Luke Scripture Index” (see p. 260). Lk 9:10-17 sends you to page 103 in the Simplified Harmony, where you find segment 86, “Feeding of the Five Thousand.” You note that all four Gospels report this event. You can read each Gospel writer's account in its entirety from your own Bible, study the merged account in the Holman Christian Standard Bible translation in the Harmony, or study the notes on this event in the Harmony for insights to use in your Bible class.

Finally, you will find a subject index to the Harmony at the back of the book (p. 263). This index is helpful in locating any person, place, or event covered in the Gospel accounts of the life of Jesus. For example, let's assume you would like to find the account of Jesus’ discussion with Nicodemus about the new birth. You look under Nicodemus in the subject index. This directs you to segment 28, “Jesus Explains the New Birth to Nicodemus.”

The Simplified Harmony of the Gospels is a vast treasury of information for leisurely Bible reading, serious study, and lesson preparation. It should keep you excited for many years about studying the life of Jesus—an inexhaustible subject that is always fresh and new.

Introduction

Jesus and the Four Gospels

Since the four Gospels were not written as formal biographies, they don't tell us everything we would like to know about Jesus. The purpose of the Gospel writers was to show how God revealed Himself uniquely in the life and ministry of His Son. Precise details about His life were not so important to them as the realization by their readers that Jesus was one in whom they could place their faith and trust. They wrote to call people to commitment to Him as Lord and Savior (see Jn 20:31).

Because of this faith orientation of the Gospels, reproducing a precise chronology of Jesus’ days on earth from the information they contain is difficult. But a general outline of His life and ministry emerges from the four Gospels.

Summary of Jesus’ Life

1. Jesus was born in 6/5 B.C. in Bethlehem of Judea, the southernmost province of Palestine. He and His family eventually settled in the northernmost province of Galilee in the village of Nazareth—hometown of His earthly parents Mary and Joseph. In Nazareth Jesus grew to manhood with His brothers and sisters—all born to Mary and Joseph by natural means after His own miraculous conception and birth.

2. When He was “about thirty years old” (Lk 3:23), Jesus announced the beginning of His public ministry by identifying with the message of repentance being preached by John the Baptizer in Judea. He also submitted to baptism at the hands of John, whom He recognized as His forerunner. The Baptizer, a relative of Jesus, was about six months older than Jesus. Their ministries must have overlapped by about six to twelve months. But John's work came to an end when he was arrested by Herod Antipas, Roman governor of Judea. Jesus redirected His ministry away from Herod's territory by moving north into the province of Galilee.

3. Rejected by the people of His hometown, Nazareth, Jesus moved to Capernaum near Lake Galilee. This city served as the headquarters for His great Galilean ministry, which lasted about eighteen months. During these months, He selected His twelve disciples and began to train them for the mission they would assume after His death, resurrection, and ascension. Galilee was the setting for His Sermon on the Mount, other major teachings, and many of His parables and healing miracles.

4. When Jesus learned that John the Baptizer had been executed by Herod Antipas, He began to withdraw from Galilee as the focus of His ministry. His popularity with the Galileans was declining because they realized He was not going to be a political or military Messiah. The Jewish religious leaders grew more and more hostile toward Him because He ignored their cherished traditions and claimed to be the Son of God. He stepped up His training of the disciples as He sensed the time of His death was drawing near. During the final year of Jesus’ earthly life, He concentrated His ministry in Judea, Jerusalem, and a region known as Perea. Situated east of the Jordan River, Perea was populated mostly by Gentiles.

5. Jesus’ earthly ministry came to an end during the Jewish Passover celebration in Jerusalem, probably in A.D. 30. The Jewish ruling council, the Sanhedrin, determined that He must die because of His blasphemous claim to be the Son of God. They convinced Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, that He was a dangerous revolutionary who challenged the authority of Rome.

6. Executed by crucifixion and placed in a borrowed tomb, Jesus was gloriously resurrected, as He had predicted. Before His ascension to the Father, He spent forty days with His followers, proving that He was alive and strengthening them for their mission of proclaiming His gospel to all the world.

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109. Jesus’ Discussion at the Festival of Tabernacles

Jn 7:10-52

¹⁰When His brothers had gone up to the festival, then He also went up, not openly but secretly. ¹¹The Jews were looking for Him at the festival and saying, “Where is He?” ¹²And there was a lot of discussion about Him among the crowds. Some were saying, “He's a good man.” Others were saying, “No, on the contrary, He's deceiving the people.” ¹³Still, nobody was talking publicly about Him because they feared the Jews.

¹⁴When the festival was already half over, Jesus went up into the temple complex and began to teach. ¹⁵Then the Jews were amazed and said, “How does He know the Scriptures, since He hasn't been trained?”

¹⁶Jesus answered them, “My teaching isn't Mine, but is from the One who sent Me. ¹⁷If anyone wants to do His will, he will understand whether the teaching is from God or if I am speaking on My own. ¹⁸The one who speaks for himself seeks his own glory. But He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and unrighteousness is not in Him. ¹⁹Didn't Moses give you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law! Why do you want to kill Me?”

²⁰“You have a demon!” the crowd responded. “Who wants to kill You?”

²¹” I did one work, and you are all amazed,” Jesus answered. ²²“Consider this: Moses has given you circumcision—not that it comes from Moses but from the fathers—and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. ²³If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses won't be broken, are you angry at Me because I made a man entirely well on the Sabbath? ²⁴Stop judging according to outward appearances; rather judge according to righteous judgment.”

The Identity of the Messiah

²⁵Some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Isn't this the man they want to kill? ²⁶Yet, look! He's speaking publicly and they're saying nothing to Him. Can it be true that the authorities know He is the Messiah? ²⁷But we know where this man is from. When the Messiah comes, nobody will know where He is from.”

²⁸As He was teaching in the temple complex, Jesus cried out, “You know Me and you know where I am from. Yet I have not come on My own, but the One who sent Me is true. You don't know Him; ²⁹I know Him because I am from Him, and He sent Me.”

³⁰Therefore they tried to seize Him. Yet no one laid a hand on Him because His hour had not yet come. ³¹However, many from the crowd believed in Him and said, “When the Messiah comes, He won't perform more signs than this man has done, will He?”

³²The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about Him, so the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple police to arrest Him.

³³Therefore Jesus said, “I am only with you for a short time. Then I'm going to the One who sent Me. ³⁴You will look for Me, and you will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.”

³⁵Then the Jews said to one another, “Where does He intend to go so we won't find Him? He doesn't intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, does He? ³⁶What is this remark He made: ‘You will look for Me and you will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come’?”

The Promise of the Spirit

³⁷On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, he should come to Me and drink! ³⁸The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him.” ³⁹He said this about the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were going to receive, for the Spirit had not yet been received, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

⁴⁰When some from the crowd heard these words, they said, “This really is the Prophet!” ⁴¹Others said, “This is the Messiah!” But some said, “Surely the Messiah doesn't come from Galilee, does He? ⁴²Doesn't the Scripture say that the Messiah comes from David's offspring and from the town of Bethlehem, where David once lived?” ⁴³So a division occurred among the crowd because of Him. ⁴⁴Some of them wanted to seize Him, but no one laid hands on Him.

⁴⁵Then the temple police came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why haven't you brought Him?”

⁴⁶The police answered, “No man ever spoke like this!”

⁴⁷Then the Pharisees responded to them: “Are you fooled too? ⁴⁸Have any of the rulers believed in Him? Or any of the Pharisees? ⁴⁹But this crowd, which doesn't know the law, is accursed!”

⁵⁰Nicodemus—the one who came to Him previously, being one of them— said to them, ⁵¹“Our law doesn't judge a man before it hears from him and knows what he's doing, does it?”

⁵²“You aren't from Galilee too, are you?” they replied. “Search and see: no prophet arises from Galilee.”

He also went up… secretly: After his brothers went to the festival, Jesus decided to go. But He went “secretly,” without identifying Himself as the Messiah. Six months later, at the Passover celebration, He would declare Himself and His mission “openly,” for all the people to see.

into the temple complex and began to teach: Jesus’ teaching at the festival produced different reactions. Many believed in Him, but the religious leadership hardened their opposition and tried to seize Him.

My teaching isn't Mine: Jesus rooted His authority in the Father who had sent Him. His teaching was not something He had made up. He taught in accordance with the will and purpose of God.

none of you keeps the law! The Jewish religious leaders cherished the Mosaic Law, but Jesus charged that they failed to keep the law. This was evident because they were plotting to break the law in their attempts to kill Jesus.

we know where this man is from: The Jewish leaders rejected Jesus’ claim to messiahship because of His origin. They knew He was from Nazareth in Galilee. It was inconceivable to them that the Messiah would come from such an insignificant village and that He would appear with no fanfare or spectacular announcement.

If anyone is thirsty: Part of the ritual during the Festival of Tabernacles was the pouring of water, brought by priests to the temple. It probably was an act of acknowledgment for divine supply, both of water in the wilderness and of rain for recent crops. If there were any among the temple crowds who were spiritually unsatisfied after engaging in all the ceremonial activities of the feast, Jesus declared, let them come to Him. Those who did would have their spiritual thirst satisfied.

The police answered: Finally, the Pharisees and chief priests sent members of the temple guard to arrest Jesus. His growing popularity with the common people prompted the fear that He might lead an uprising against the Romans. But the temple guards returned without their prisoner. Jesus’ words had made them powerless.

Nicodemus … said to them: Nicodemus had already met with Jesus (see Jn 3), so he probably knew more about Jesus than any of his fellow Pharisees. He protested against the disregard of the law by those who were seeking to condemn Jesus. It was not legal, said Nicodemus, to judge a person without permitting him to speak in his own defense.

You aren't from Galilee too: This enraged the other Pharisees. They wanted to know whether Nicodemus's opinion was being swayed by local prejudice. Perhaps he was a Galilean, as was Jesus, and, therefore, was coming to His support. By his courage in speaking out, Nicodemus apparently caused the meeting of the enemies of Jesus to break up in frustration; “each one went to his house” (Jn 7:53).

110. Jesus Forgives a Woman Accused of Adultery

Jn 7:53-8:11

^7:53So each one went to his house.

^8:1But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. ²At dawn He went to the temple complex again, and all the people were coming to Him. He sat down and began to teach them.

³Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, making her stand in the center. ⁴“Teacher,” they said to Him, “this woman was caught in the act of committing adultery. ⁵In the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do You say?” ^6aThey asked this to trap Him, in order that they might have evidence to accuse Him.

^6bJesus stooped down and started writing on the ground with His finger. ⁷When they persisted in questioning Him, He stood up and said to them, “The one without sin among you should be the first to throw a stone at her.”

⁸Then He stooped down again and continued writing on the ground. ⁹When they heard this, they left one by one, starting with the older men. Only He was left, with the woman in the center. ¹⁰When Jesus stood up, He said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

^11a“No one, Lord,” she answered.

^11b“Neither do I condemn you,” said Jesus. “Go, and from now on do not sin any more.”A

the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman: This woman had probably been brought to the Sanhedrin for trial. But the scribes and Pharisees recognized that her case offered a good opportunity to trap Jesus.

stone such women: Under the Old Testament law, death by stoning was the prescribed method of capital punishment for a person caught in adultery (Dt 22:22).

what do You say? The hypocritical religious leaders reasoned that Jesus could not set aside the law of Moses and clear the woman without losing the confidence and favor of the people. But if He ordered her to be executed, He would be assuming authority that belonged only to the Roman rulers. Then He would be accused and condemned as one who usurped Roman authority.

writing on the ground: By writing on the ground, Jesus emphasized His authority. He would answer them when He was ready.

one without sin … first to throw a stone: In cases of capital punishment under the Old Testament law, the accusers or witnesses were to cast the first stone to begin the execution (Dt 17:7). Jesus upheld the law, but He introduced a condition that the scribes and Pharisees had not counted on. He declared that only a person who had not had any adulterous thoughts or illicit sexual desire was free to stone the woman. None of them could measure up to this standard.

Neither do I condemn you: Jesus did not come as an earthly judge; neither did He come to condemn, but to save (see Lk 12:14). His refusal to condemn this woman did not mean He approved of her actions. He challenged her to make a revolutionary change in her life. His mercy and forgiveness served as the motivation for this change.

Back A. Verse 53 of Jn 7 and verses 1-11 of Jn 8 do not appear in some New Testament manuscripts.

111. Jesus Claims to Be the Light of the World

Jn 8:12-59

¹²Then Jesus spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Jesus as the Light of the World

Jesus’ claim to be the “light of the world” (Jn 8:12) is one of His famous “I Am” statements in the Gospel of John. In this situation, Jesus was responding to the Jewish religious leaders who denied that He was the Messiah because He came from Galilee.

The prophet Isaiah had predicted several centuries before that a great light would shine in Galilee, bringing illumination and understanding to all who lived in darkness and death. Jesus declared that this prophecy had been fulfilled in Him. He was the eternal light from God that brought life to sinful humanity: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned” (Isa 9:2 NIV).

As the light of the world, Jesus symbolizes the presence of God (Ex 13:21-22), good in contrast to evil (Isa 5:20), salvation from sin into new life (Mt 4:16), and guidance for life (Ps 119:105).

¹³So the Pharisees said to Him, “You are testifying about Yourself. Your testimony is not valid.”

¹⁴“Even if I testify about Myself,” Jesus replied, “My testimony is valid, because I know where I came from and where I'm going. But you don't know where I come from or where I'm going. ¹⁵You judge by human standards. I judge no one. ¹⁶And if I do judge, My judgment is true, because I am not alone, but I and the Father who sent Me judge together. ¹⁷Even in your law it is written that the witness of two men is valid. ¹⁸I am the One who testifies about Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me.”

^19aThen they asked Him, “Where is Your Father?”

^19b“You know neither Me nor My Father,” Jesus answered. “If you knew Me, you would also know My Father.” ²⁰He spoke these words by the treasury, while teaching in the temple complex. But no one seized Him, because His hour had not come.

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222. Jesus Ascends to His Father

Lk 24:44-53

⁴⁴Then He told them, “These are My words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” ⁴⁵Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. ⁴⁶He also said to them, “This is what is written: the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead the third day, ⁴⁷and repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. ⁴⁸You are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹And look, I am sending you what My Father promised. As for you, stay in the city until you are empowered from on high.”

⁵⁰Then He led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up His hands He blessed them. ⁵¹And while He was blessing them, He left them and was carried up into heaven. ⁵²After worshiping Him, they returned to Jerusalem with great joy. ⁵³And they were continually in the temple complex blessing God.

He opened their minds: Earlier, Jesus had explained the Scriptures to the two believers on the road to Emmaus. Now he opened the Scriptures to the entire group of His followers. He emphasized that He had been sent to preach the message of repentance and forgiveness for all people. The key to understanding the Scriptures and God's purpose, He pointed out, was to recognize that God had intended all along to declare the good news of salvation to all nations.

I am sending you what My Father promised: With these words, Jesus referred to Joe 2:28-32 (see Ac 2:14-20). The presence and power of the risen Lord would equip the disciples for their disciple-making mission to the world.

223. John's Statement of Purpose and Conclusion for His Gospel

Jn 20:30-31; 21:25

^{Jn 20:30-31}Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of His disciples that are not written in this book. ³¹But these are written so that you may believe Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and by believing you may have life in His name.

^{Jn 21:25}And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which, if they were written one by one, I suppose not even the world itself could contain the books that would be written.

that you may believe: The selective process followed by all Gospel writers is plainly stated by John. From a wealth of material he chose to record those sayings and actions of Jesus that would further his purpose—to generate belief in Jesus as Son of God and Savior. He wanted people to know the joy that Jesus promised: “I have come that they may have life and have it in abundance” (Jn 10:10).

A Systematic Reading Plan

You may want to use the Simplified Harmony of the Gospels individually or with your family as a handy Bible-reading guide. The following plan will take you through the life and ministry of Jesus in about four months if you read from it every day. For example, on day 1 you would read segments 1 and 2 in the book (“Luke's Preface and Dedication,” and “John's Introduction”). Some longer segments in the book are broken into two or three separate units in this plan to equalize the daily reading times.

This plan can also be adapted for Lent or Easter readings. Begin with day 86, segment 156, “The Sanhedrin Plots against Jesus and Lazarus,” and read on consecutive days through the rest of the plan.