Teaching the Gospels as a Harmony

“Teaching the Gospels as a Harmony,” New Testament Teacher Resource Manual (2002), 277–78

“In the CES weekday setting, … the scriptures should be taught in a sequential manner” (Teaching the Gospel: A Handbook for CES Teachers and Leaders [1994], 20). However, because the Gospels treat the same events from the perspective of the four different writers, teachers who wish are authorized to make an exception. The following options can help you teach the Gospels as a harmony.

Use these tables to identify the scripture blocks to teach. Teaching ideas for the various blocks can be found in the teacher resource manual and the video guide. Note: Students should be encouraged to read the four Gospels straight through.

Option 1

Teach the four Gospels as a harmony.

Week	Day	Matthew	Mark	Luke	John	Latter-day Revelation
1	Day 1	“An Introduction to the New Testament” and “Scripture Study Helps”
	Days 2–3	“Plan of Salvation Overview”
	Day 4	“The Time between the Old and New Testaments”
2	Days 1–2	1		1:1–2:20	1:1–3
	Day 3	2
	Day 4			2:40–52
3	Day 1	3:13–17		3:1–22
	Day 2	4:1–11		4:1–13
	Day 3				1:29–2:25
	Day 4				3
4	Day 1				4-5
	Day 2			4:14-32; 5:1-6:49
	Day 3	10		9:1-6
	Day 4	5–7
5	Days 1–2	5–7 (cont.)
	Days 3–4	8–9	1:23–2:12; 5:21–6:6	7–8
6	Days 1–2	8–9 (cont.)	1:23–2:12; 5:21–6:6 (cont.)	7–8 (cont.)
	Days 3–4	11–12	2:23–3:6
7	Days 1–2	13	4
	Days 3–4	14:3–33	6:14–44
8	Days 1–2				6
	Days 3–4	16	7–8
9	Days 1–2	17	9:14–50
	Days 3–4	18:1–10		15
10	Days 1–2			9:1–10:42
	Days 3–4				7–8
11	Day 1			11–13
	Day 2			14
	Days 3–4			16–17
12	Days 1–2	19–20	10
	Days 3–4				9–10
13	Days 1–2				11:1–12:12
	Day 3			19:1–27
	Day 4	21:1–16	11:1–11, 15–19	19:28–48	12:13–50
14	Days 1–2	21:17–22:46	11:12–14, 20–33; 12:1–31, 35–37	20:1–44
	Days 3–4	23–24	12:38–44; 13	20:45–21:38		JS—Matthew
15	Day 1	25				D&C 45:56–59
	Day 2	26:2–16	14:1–11	22:1–6
	Day 3	26:17–29	14:12–25	22:7–23	13:1–2, 18–30
	Day 4				13:2–17, 31–35	JST, John 13:10–11
16	Day 1				14
	Day 2				15
	Day 3	26:26–32	14:27		16–17
	Day 4	26:35	14:26, 29–31	22:31–39	13:36–38; 18:1
17	Day 1	26:36–46	14:32–34	22:40–46		2 Nephi 9:21–22; Mosiah 3:5–12; D&C 19:1–24
	Day 2	26:47–68	14:43–65	22:47–54	18:2–13, 19–24
	Day 3	26:69–75	14:66–72	22:55–65	18:15–18, 25–27
	Day 4	27:1–34	15:1–23	22:66–23:31	18:28–19:17
18	Day 1	27:1–34 (cont.)	15:1–23 (cont.)	22:66–23:31 (cont.)	18:28–19:17 (cont.)
	Days 2–3	27:35–66	15:24–47	23:32–56	19:18–42
	Day 4	28:1–15	16:1–11	23:55; 24:1–12, 24	20:1–18
19	Day 1	28:1–15 (cont.)	16:1–11 (cont.)	23:55; 24:1–12, 24 (cont.)	20:1–18 (cont.)
	Day 2		16:12–14	24:13–49	20:19–31
	Days 3–4	28:16–20	16:15–20	24:50–53	21	3 Nephi 28:6; D&C 7; Mormon 9:22–24

Option 2

Teach each Gospel sequentially up to the last week of the Savior’s life, and then teach a harmony.

Week	Day	Matthew	Mark	Luke	John	Latter-day Revelation
13	Day 4	21:1–16	11:1–11, 15–19	19:28–48	12:13–50
14	Days 1–2	21:17–22:46	11:12–14, 20–33; 12:1–31, 35–37	20:1–44
	Days 3–4	23–24	12:38–44; 13	20:45–21:38		JS—Matthew
15	Day 1	25				D&C 45:56–59
	Day 2	26:2–16	14:1–11	22:1–6
	Day 3	26:17–29	14:12–25	22:7–23	13:1–2, 18–30
	Day 4				13:2–17, 31–35	JST, John 13:10–11
16	Day 1				14
	Day 2				15
	Day 3	26:26–32	14:27		16–17
	Day 4	26:35	14:26, 29–31	22:31–39	13:36–38; 18:1
17	Day 1	26:36–46	14:32–34	22:40–46		2 Nephi 9:21–22; Mosiah 3:5–12; D&C 19:1–24
	Day 2	26:47–68	14:43–65	22:47–54	18:2–13, 19–24
	Day 3	26:69–75	14:66–72	22:55–65	18:15–18, 25–27
	Day 4	27:1–34	15:1–23	22:66–23:31	18:28–19:17
18	Day 1	27:1–34 (cont.)	15:1–23 (cont.)	22:66–23:31 (cont.)	18:28–19:17 (cont.)
	Days 2–3	27:35–66	15:24–47	23:32–56	19:18–42
	Day 4	28:1–15	16:1–11	23:55; 24:1–12, 24	20:1–18
19	Day 1	28:1–15 (cont.)	16:1–11 (cont.)	23:55; 24:1–12, 24 (cont.)	20:1–18 (cont.)
	Day 2		16:12–14	24:13–49	20:19–31
	Days 3–4	28:16–20	16:15–20	24:50–53	21	3 Nephi 28:6; D&C 7; Mormon 9:22–24

Option 3

Teach a harmony of the Savior’s birth and the last week of his life. Teach all the other scripture blocks sequentially.

Week	Day	Matthew	Mark	Luke	John	Latter-day Revelation
The Savior’s Birth
2	Days 1–2	1		1:1–2:20	1:1–3
	Day 3	2
	Day 4			2:40–52
The Savior’s Last Week
14	Days 1–2	21:17–22:46	11:12–14, 20–33; 12:1–31, 35–37	20:1–44
	Days 3–4	23–24	12:38–44; 13	20:45–21:38		JS—Matthew
15	Day 1	25				D&C 45:56–59
	Day 2	26:2–16	14:1–11	22:1–6
	Day 3	26:17–29	14:12–25	22:7–23	13:1–2, 18–30
	Day 4				13:2–17, 31–35	JST, John 13:10–11
16	Day 1				14
	Day 2				15
	Day 3	26:26–32	14:27		16–17
	Day 4	26:35	14:26, 29–31	22:31–39	13:36–38; 18:1
17	Day 1	26:36–46	14:32–34	22:40–46		2 Nephi 9:21–22; Mosiah 3:5–12; D&C 19:1–24
	Day 2	26:47–68	14:43–65	22:47–54	18:2–13, 19–24
	Day 3	26:69–75	14:66–72	22:55–65	18:15–18, 25–27
	Day 4	27:1–34	15:1–23	22:66–23:31	18:28–19:17
18	Day 1	27:1–34 (cont.)	15:1–23 (cont.)	22:66–23:31 (cont.)	18:28–19:17 (cont.)
	Days 2–3	27:35–66	15:24–47	23:32–56	19:18–42
	Day 4	28:1–15	16:1–11	23:55; 24:1–12, 24	20:1–18
19	Day 1	28:1–15 (cont.)	16:1–11 (cont.)	23:55; 24:1–12, 24 (cont.)	20:1–18 (cont.)
	Day 2		16:12–14	24:13–49	20:19–31
	Days 3–4	28:16–20	16:15–20	24:50–53	21	3 Nephi 28:6; D&C 7; Mormon 9:22–24

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