Reference
Verse Comparisons
Side-by-side readings of passages that sit in tension with each other. These are presented for readers to evaluate directly — the full context of each reference should always be read in its own chapter before drawing conclusions.
The Genealogies of Jesus
Matthew and Luke both trace Jesus's lineage through Joseph back to David, but the two lists diverge sharply and even give different fathers for Joseph.
| Matthew 1:6–16 | Luke 3:23–31 |
|---|
| Matthew 1:16 | Luke 3:23 |
| "Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary" — Joseph's father is Jacob. | "Joseph, which was the son of Heli" — Joseph's father is Heli. |
| Traces through Solomon, son of David. | Traces through Nathan, a different son of David. |
| Lists roughly 28 generations from David to Jesus. | Lists roughly 43 generations from David to Jesus. |
Who Discovered the Empty Tomb, and When?
| Gospel | Who came to the tomb | What they found |
|---|
| Matthew 28:1 | Mary Magdalene and "the other Mary" | An angel descends and rolls back the stone in front of them; guards present. |
| Mark 16:1–5 | Mary Magdalene, Mary mother of James, and Salome | Stone already rolled away; one young man inside, sitting on the right. |
| Luke 24:1–4 | "The women" (later named as several, 24:10) | Stone rolled away; two men in shining garments appear. |
| John 20:1–2 | Mary Magdalene, alone | Stone taken away; she runs to tell Peter and "the other disciple" before anyone else arrives. |
Jesus's Last Words on the Cross
| Gospel | Reported last words |
|---|
| Matthew 27:46 | "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? ... My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" |
| Mark 15:34 | Same cry of forsakenness, in Aramaic. |
| Luke 23:46 | "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit." (No cry of forsakenness recorded.) |
| John 19:30 | "It is finished." (A different final statement again.) |
Inherited Guilt: Contradicting Statements
| Passage | Position |
|---|
| Exodus 20:5 | God "visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation." |
| Ezekiel 18:20 | "The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father... the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him [alone]." |
| Deuteronomy 24:16 | "Every man shall be put to death for his own sin," not for a parent's or child's. |
| Romans 5:12–19 | Paul's doctrine: through one man's disobedience (Adam), "many were made sinners" — guilt as inherited, universal condition. |
The Nature of the Risen Body
| Passage | What it describes |
|---|
| Luke 24:39 | "A spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have" — explicitly physical, not spiritual. |
| John 20:27 | Thomas invited to physically touch open wounds in hands and side. |
| Luke 24:41–43 | Eats a piece of broiled fish "before them." |
| 1 Corinthians 15:44, 50 | Paul's separate theology: raised "a spiritual body," and explicitly states "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God" — in apparent tension with the Gospels' emphasis on flesh and bone. |
Full chapter and verse should always be read in context. These comparisons are a starting point for study, not a substitute for reading each Gospel in full. See
FAQ for common objections to this kind of comparative reading.