How did Jesus take His Final Trip?

A week ago I was preparing some Bible studies for Lent when I stumbled across a Biblical conundrum.  In trying to plot out the events leading up to Jesus' arrival in Jerusalem, I encountered a major discrepancy between the Synoptic (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) accounts and John's Gospel.

Today we'll be exploring those differences and how to resolve them.



The Final Ascent: 

The synoptic Gospels make it seem like Jesus started in Galilee and made one final, public trip down to Jerusalem. A trip which passed through Jericho.  Let's look at Matthew's Gospel:

"When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan." - Matthew 19:1

"Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them, 'We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law.'" - Matthew 20:18

"As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him." - Matthew 20:29

However, John’s Gospel has Jesus making His final trip from Galilee to Jerusalem alone and in secret.  In one of the oddest exchanges in the New Testament, John records:

"However, after His brothers had left for the festival, He went also, not publicly, but in secret."  - John 7:10

So we have a discrepancy.

Finding Commonality: 

However, that secret trip to Jerusalem from Galiliee isn't technically Jesus' final trip to the holy city.  In John 10:40 it says Jesus went across the Jordan to where John had been baptizing.  Then in  He returns to Bathany to raise Lazarus [John 11:17].  And then He takes on last trip north to a town called Ephraim [John 11:54].

We can start to reconcile John's timeline with the others if see that John 10:40, Matthew 19:1, and Mark 10:1 all mention Jesus visiting the region of Judea beyond the Jordan prior to His final trip to Jerusalem.

"Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days." - John 10:40

"When Jesus had finished saying these things, He left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan." - Matthew 19:1

"Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan." -  Mark 10:1

You can treat that as a fixed point of commonality;   Jesus took a trip with His disciples to the land beyond the Jordan prior to the end.  Now what?

Putting the Pieces Together

In John’s Gospel this trip beyond the Jordan is preceded by the private trip to Jerusalem for the festival of Tabernacles.  This would have been in early October of 32AD.  This event is skipped by the other Gospels, but you can tell where it would go.

Then the Gospels meet up again in the area of Judea-beyond-Jordan.

Now the synoptic Gospels skip more stuff.  John alone records a trip from Judea-beyond-the-Jordan to Bethany to raise Lazarus, which is followed by the escape to Ephraim.  Then John records Jesus beginning His final trip to Jerusalem.

The upshot is that when they say Jesus begins his final trip to Jerusalem, He is starting from Ephraim, which is just north of Jericho.  The synoptic Gospels don't clue you in on that, but once again you can figure out where John's data would fit in.

The Final Itinerary:

So the final map of Jesus travels looks like this:

• Jesus goes secretly from Galilee to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles.  This is in early October 32AD.  [John 7:10, Matthew 19:1A]
• Jesus travels to Judea beyond the Jordan in late December 32AD. [Matthew 19:1B, John 10:40]
• Jesus returns to Bethany to raise Lazarus [John 11:17]
• Jesus flees to Ephraim, north of Jericho [John 11:54]
• Jesus begins His final trip to Jerusalem, which passes through Jericho [Mark 10:32, Matthew 20:17]
• Jesus arrives in Jerusalem in late March 33AD [John 12:13, Matthew 21:8]