The latest book in my Spelunking Scripture Bible study series is coming out this month. The book is titled: The Passion of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels. The study follows the story of Jesus’s suffering and death as told in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The three are called “Synoptic Gospels” because they see the story of Jesus from the same (or similar) point of view. The word “passion” comes from the Latin passio, which means “suffering.”

In the book I follow the sequence of events as laid out in Burton Throckmorton’s Gospel Parallels, Fifth Edition. Throckmorton arranged the first three Gospels in a parallel format, with titles for each episode. He titled the parallel chapters of Matthew 26-27 and Mark 14-15 and Luke 22-23 as “The Passion Narrative.”

In my book I use the title that Throckmorton gave for each pericope. For example, Throckmorton titled Matthew 26:1-5 and Mark 14:1-2 and Luke 22:1-2 as “The Conspiracy Against Jesus.” He titled Matthew 26:6-13 and Mark 14:3-9 as “The Anointing at Bethany.” (Luke has a different anointing story earlier in his Gospel in Luke 7:36-50, so it is not included alongside Matthew and Mark in “The Passion Narrative.”) The next pericope is Matthew 16:14-16 and Mark 14:10-11 and Luke 22:3-6, which Throckmorton titled, “Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus.”

So, Throckmorton followed the three Synoptic Gospels chapter by chapter and verse by verse, and he arranged them in parallel fashion so that the similar material can be read side by side and compared. This format allows for a more complete picture of Jesus’s passion and crucifixion.

In The Passion of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels I follow the sequence of events in Throckmorton’s Gospel Parallels, even using the titles that Throckmorton gave for each passage. Because many of the passages are only a few verses, the chapters in my book are shorter and more numerous. The book contains 21 chapters, plus an Introduction, and an Addendum that explores the passion story in the Gospel of John.

Each chapter includes a comparison of the Gospel texts, a sermon that seeks to interpret the event for our time, and some questions for discussion/reflection. As with the other books in the Spelunking Scripture series, The Passion of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels is designed for personal and group study.

In the Introduction to the book I write, “The passion of Christ is the crux of the Christian faith.” All that Jesus said and did comes to a climax in his suffering and death on the cross.

Of course, the resurrection of Christ is also central to the message. That’s why in the Introduction to Spelunking Scripture: Easter, I write, “The resurrection of Jesus is the linchpin of the Christian faith.”

So, the passion and the resurrection are the crux and the linchpin of the Christian message. As I conclude in the Introduction to The Passion of Christ, “that Jesus died for our sins and was raised to new life by the power of God is the heart of the gospel.”