Though the four Gospels agree substantially in their accounts of the events surrounding and immediately following Jesus' trials, they differ somewhat in their references to time and order of events. According to John, Pilate's final sentence was passed against Jesus "about the sixth hour"—noon, according to the usual reckoning. Mark speaks of the crucifixion as occurring at "the third hour"—nine o'clock. (See John 19:14; Mark 15:25.) John's version places the episode of the crown of thorns and the royal robe before Pilate delivered Jesus to the mob to be crucified, while Matthew and Mark record it as taking place afterward. (Compare John 19:1–16; Matt. 27:27–31; Mark 15:15–20.)
Of the four, Luke alone describes the sad procession on its way to the crucifixion. "And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him." Jesus' words in addressing them were still those of the teacher, as he turned their thought away from himself and toward serious concern for the events he foresaw for them and their children (see 23:27–31).
For a time, at least, Jesus bore his own cross (see John 19:17); at some point one Simon of Cyrene in North Africa, who was passing by, was pressed into service by the soldiers to carry it and follow after him (see Matt. 27:32; Mark 15:21; Luke 23:26). So they came to a place called Golgotha in Aramaic, or Calvary in Latin—both terms mean "the place of a skull"—probably so named because of its appearance from some angles. "There they crucified him, and the malefactors [whom Matthew and Mark call thieves], one on the right hand, and the other on the left." (Luke 23:33; cf. Matt. 27:33, 38; Mark 15:22, 27; John 19: 17, 18.)
