Matthew 26
1 When Jesus had finished saying all these
things, he said to his disciples,
2 “As you know, Passover begins in two
days, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”
3 At that same time the leading priests
and elders were meeting at the residence of Caiaphas, the high priest,
4 plotting how to capture Jesus secretly
and kill him.
5 “But not during the Passover
celebration,” they agreed, “or the people may riot.”
6 Meanwhile, Jesus was in Bethany at the
home of Simon, a man who had previously had leprosy.
7 While he was eating, a woman came in
with a beautiful alabaster jar of expensive perfume and poured it over his
head.
8 The disciples were indignant when they
saw this. “What a waste!” they said.
9 “It could have been sold for a high
price and the money given to the poor.”
10 But Jesus, aware of this, replied, “Why
criticize this woman for doing such a good thing to me?
11 You will always have the poor among you,
but you will not always have me.
12 She has poured this perfume on me to
prepare my body for burial.
13 I tell you the truth, wherever the Good
News is preached throughout the world, this woman’s deed will be remembered and
discussed.”
14 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve
disciples, went to the leading priests
15 and asked, “How much will you pay me to
betray Jesus to you?” And they gave him thirty pieces of silver.
16 From that time on, Judas began looking
for an opportunity to betray Jesus.
17 On the first day of the Festival of
Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us
to prepare the Passover meal for you?”
18 “As you go into the city,” he told them,
“you will see a certain man. Tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My time has come, and
I will eat the Passover meal with my disciples at your house.’”
19 So the disciples did as Jesus told them
and prepared the Passover meal there.
20 When it was evening, Jesus sat down at
the table with the Twelve.
21 While they were eating, he said, “I tell
you the truth, one of you will betray me.”
22 Greatly distressed, each one asked in
turn, “Am I the one, Lord?”
23 He replied, “One of you who has just
eaten from this bowl with me will betray me.
24 For the Son of Man must die, as the
Scriptures declared long ago. But how terrible it will be for the one who
betrays him. It would be far better for that man if he had never been born!”
25 Judas, the one who would betray him,
also asked, “Rabbi, am I the one?” And Jesus told him, “You have said it.”
26 As they were eating, Jesus took some
bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples,
saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.”
27 And he took a cup of wine and gave
thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it,
28 for this is my blood, which confirms the
covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive
the sins of many.
29 Mark my words—I will not drink wine
again until the day I drink it new with you in my Father’s Kingdom.”
30 Then they sang a hymn and went out to
the Mount of Olives.
31 On the way, Jesus told them, “Tonight
all of you will desert me. For the Scriptures say, ‘God will strike the
Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
32 But after I have been raised from the dead,
I will go ahead of you to Galilee and meet you there.”
33 Peter declared, “Even if everyone else
deserts you, I will never desert you.”
34 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth,
Peter—this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that
you even know me.”
35 “No!” Peter insisted. “Even if I have to
die with you, I will never deny you!” And all the other disciples vowed the
same.
36 Then Jesus went with them to the olive
grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.”
37 He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons,
James and John, and he became anguished and distressed.
38 He told them, “My soul is crushed with
grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
39 He went on a little farther and bowed
with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this
cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not
mine.”
40 Then he returned to the disciples and
found them asleep. He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour?
41 Keep watch and pray, so that you will
not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!”
42 Then Jesus left them a second time and
prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your
will be done.”
43 When he returned to them again, he found
them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open.
44 So he went to pray a third time, saying
the same things again.
45 Then he came to the disciples and said,
“Go ahead and sleep. Have your rest. But look—the time has come. The Son of Man
is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
46 Up, let’s be going. Look, my betrayer is
here!”
47 And even as Jesus said this, Judas, one
of the twelve disciples, arrived with a crowd of men armed with swords and
clubs. They had been sent by the leading priests and elders of the people.
48 The traitor, Judas, had given them a
prearranged signal: “You will know which one to arrest when I greet him with a
kiss.”
49 So Judas came straight to Jesus.
“Greetings, Rabbi!” he exclaimed and gave him the kiss.
50 Jesus said, “My friend, go ahead and do
what you have come for.” Then the others grabbed Jesus and arrested him.
51 But one of the men with Jesus pulled out
his sword and struck the high priest’s slave, slashing off his ear.
52 “Put away your sword,” Jesus told him.
“Those who use the sword will die by the sword.
53 Don’t you realize that I could ask my
Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly?
54 But if I did, how would the Scriptures
be fulfilled that describe what must happen now?”
55 Then Jesus said to the crowd, “Am I some
dangerous revolutionary, that you come with swords and clubs to arrest me? Why
didn’t you arrest me in the Temple? I was there teaching every day.
56 But this is all happening to fulfill the
words of the prophets as recorded in the Scriptures.” At that point, all the
disciples deserted him and fled.
57 Then the people who had arrested Jesus
led him to the home of Caiaphas, the high priest, where the teachers of
religious law and the elders had gathered.
58 Meanwhile, Peter followed him at a
distance and came to the high priest’s courtyard. He went in and sat with the
guards and waited to see how it would all end.
59 Inside, the leading priests and the
entire high council were trying to find witnesses who would lie about Jesus, so
they could put him to death.
60 But even though they found many who
agreed to give false witness, they could not use anyone’s testimony. Finally,
two men came forward
61 who declared, “This man said, ‘I am able
to destroy the Temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’”
62 Then the high priest stood up and said
to Jesus, “Well, aren’t you going to answer these charges? What do you have to
say for yourself?”
63 But Jesus remained silent. Then the high
priest said to him, “I demand in the name of the living God—tell us if you are
the Messiah, the Son of God.”
64 Jesus replied, “You have said it. And in
the future you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s
right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
65 Then the high priest tore his clothing
to show his horror and said, “Blasphemy! Why do we need other witnesses? You
have all heard his blasphemy.
66 What is your verdict?” “Guilty!” they
shouted. “He deserves to die!”
67 Then they began to spit in Jesus’ face
and beat him with their fists. And some slapped him,
68 jeering, “Prophesy to us, you Messiah!
Who hit you that time?”
69 Meanwhile, Peter was sitting outside in
the courtyard. A servant girl came over and said to him, “You were one of those
with Jesus the Galilean.”
70 But Peter denied it in front of
everyone. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.
71 Later, out by the gate, another servant
girl noticed him and said to those standing around, “This man was with Jesus of
Nazareth. ”
72 Again Peter denied it, this time with an
oath. “I don’t even know the man,” he said.
73 A little later some of the other
bystanders came over to Peter and said, “You must be one of them; we can tell
by your Galilean accent.”
74 Peter swore, “A curse on me if I’m
lying—I don’t know the man!” And immediately the rooster crowed.
75 Suddenly, Jesus’ words flashed through
Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you
even know me.” And he went away, weeping bitterly.
Matthew 27
1 Very early in
the morning the leading priests and the elders of the people met again to lay
plans for putting Jesus to death.
2 Then they bound him, led him away, and
took him to Pilate, the Roman governor.
3 When Judas, who had betrayed him,
realized that Jesus had been condemned to die, he was filled with remorse. So
he took the thirty pieces of silver back to the leading priests and the elders.
4 “I have sinned,” he declared, “for I
have betrayed an innocent man.” “What do we care?” they retorted. “That’s your
problem.”
5 Then Judas threw the silver coins down
in the Temple and went out and hanged himself.
6 The leading priests picked up the coins.
“It wouldn’t be right to put this money in the Temple treasury,” they said,
“since it was payment for murder.”
7 After some discussion they finally
decided to buy the potter’s field, and they made it into a cemetery for
foreigners.
8 That is why the field is still called
the Field of Blood.
9 This fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah
that says, “They took the thirty pieces of silver— the price at which he was
valued by the people of Israel,
10 and purchased the potter’s field, as the
LORD directed. ”
11 Now Jesus was standing before Pilate,
the Roman governor. “Are you the king of the Jews?” the governor asked him.
Jesus replied, “You have said it.”
12 But when the leading priests and the
elders made their accusations against him, Jesus remained silent.
13 “Don’t you hear all these charges they
are bringing against you?” Pilate demanded.
14 But Jesus made no response to any of the
charges, much to the governor’s surprise.
15 Now it was the governor’s custom each
year during the Passover celebration to release one prisoner to the
crowd—anyone they wanted.
16 This year there was a notorious
prisoner, a man named Barabbas.
17 As the crowds gathered before Pilate’s
house that morning, he asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to
you—Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?”
18 (He knew very well that the religious
leaders had arrested Jesus out of envy.)
19 Just then, as Pilate was sitting on the
judgment seat, his wife sent him this message: “Leave that innocent man alone.
I suffered through a terrible nightmare about him last night.”
20 Meanwhile, the leading priests and the
elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas to be released and for Jesus to
be put to death.
21 So the governor asked again, “Which of
these two do you want me to release to you?” The crowd shouted back,
“Barabbas!”
22 Pilate responded, “Then what should I do
with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” They shouted back, “Crucify him!”
23 “Why?” Pilate demanded. “What crime has
he committed?” But the mob roared even louder, “Crucify him!”
24 Pilate saw that he wasn’t getting anywhere
and that a riot was developing. So he sent for a bowl of water and washed his
hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. The
responsibility is yours!”
25 And all the people yelled back, “We will
take responsibility for his death—we and our children!”
26 So Pilate released Barabbas to them. He
ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the
Roman soldiers to be crucified.
27 Some of the governor’s soldiers took
Jesus into their headquarters and called out the entire regiment.
28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe
on him.
29 They wove thorn branches into a crown
and put it on his head, and they placed a reed stick in his right hand as a
scepter. Then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted, “Hail! King of the
Jews!”
30 And they spit on him and grabbed the
stick and struck him on the head with it.
31 When they were finally tired of mocking
him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led
him away to be crucified.
32 Along the way, they came across a man
named Simon, who was from Cyrene, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’
cross.
33 And they went out to a place called
Golgotha (which means “Place of the Skull”).
34 The soldiers gave Jesus wine mixed with
bitter gall, but when he had tasted it, he refused to drink it.
35 After they had nailed him to the cross,
the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice.
36 Then they sat around and kept guard as
he hung there.
37 A sign was fastened above Jesus’ head, announcing
the charge against him. It read: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”
38 Two revolutionaries were crucified with
him, one on his right and one on his left.
39 The people passing by shouted abuse,
shaking their heads in mockery.
40 “Look at you now!” they yelled at him.
“You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days.
Well then, if you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the
cross!”
41 The leading priests, the teachers of
religious law, and the elders also mocked Jesus.
42 “He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he
can’t save himself! So he is the King of Israel, is he? Let him come down from
the cross right now, and we will believe in him!
43 He trusted God, so let God rescue him
now if he wants him! For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”
44 Even the revolutionaries who were
crucified with him ridiculed him in the same way.
45 At noon, darkness fell across the whole
land until three o’clock.
46 At about three o’clock, Jesus called out
with a loud voice, which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
47 Some of the bystanders misunderstood and
thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah.
48 One of them ran and filled a sponge with
sour wine, holding it up to him on a reed stick so he could drink.
49 But the rest said, “Wait! Let’s see
whether Elijah comes to save him.”
50 Then Jesus shouted out again, and he
released his spirit.
51 At that moment the curtain in the
sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook,
rocks split apart,
52 and tombs opened. The bodies of many
godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead.
53 They left the cemetery after Jesus’
resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared to many
people.
54 The Roman officer and the other soldiers
at the crucifixion were terrified by the earthquake and all that had happened.
They said, “This man truly was the Son of God!”
55 And many women who had come from Galilee
with Jesus to care for him were watching from a distance.
56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary
(the mother of James and Joseph), and the mother of James and John, the sons of
Zebedee.
57 As evening approached, Joseph, a rich
man from Arimathea who had become a follower of Jesus,
58 went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’
body. And Pilate issued an order to release it to him.
59 Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a
long sheet of clean linen cloth.
60 He placed it in his own new tomb, which
had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance
and left.
61 Both Mary Magdalene and the other Mary
were sitting across from the tomb and watching.
62 The next day, on the Sabbath, the
leading priests and Pharisees went to see Pilate.
63 They told him, “Sir, we remember what
that deceiver once said while he was still alive: ‘After three days I will rise
from the dead.’
64 So we request that you seal the tomb
until the third day. This will prevent his disciples from coming and stealing
his body and then telling everyone he was raised from the dead! If that
happens, we’ll be worse off than we were at first.”
65 Pilate replied, “Take guards and secure
it the best you can.”
66 So they sealed the tomb and posted
guards to protect it.
