According to the Gospel of Saint John, Jesus died on Passover, whereas in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke,) the crucifixion took place the day before. The stories of the Passion are reputed to be the oldest texts in all the gospels. But how can the blatant differences among them be explained? Why are these stories so heavily infused with allusions to the Old Testament? What was their function? Was it to keep a historical record or to create a new liturgy which could compete with the traditional Jewish liturgy? Could the date of Jesus' death have been chosen for primarily theological reasons, to appropriate Passover and make Jesus into the new Moses? 

The Serie : A historical and scientific enquiry into the origins of the New Testament and the life of Jesus Christ involving specialists from all over the world.