Judas agrees to catch Jesus

22 The Passover festival when the Jews eat flat bread was coming soon.^[a]

² The leaders of the priests and the teachers of God's Law wanted to kill Jesus. They were talking together about how they could do this. It was difficult because they were afraid of the people.

³ Then Satan began to live inside Judas Iscariot. Judas was one of Jesus' 12 apostles. ⁴ He went to the leaders of the priests and he talked with them. The police that worked at the temple were also there. Judas told them how he could give Jesus to them secretly. ⁵ They were very happy and they promised to give him some money to do this. ⁶ So Judas said that he would do it. Then he waited for the right moment to help them to take hold of Jesus. He wanted to do it when the crowd was not there with Jesus.

Jesus eats his last meal with his apostles

⁷ The day came for Jewish people to eat the meal of flat bread which has no yeast in it. They had to kill a young sheep for the Passover meal on that day. ⁸ So Jesus said to Peter and John, ‘Go and prepare the Passover meal for us to eat. Then we can all come and eat it.’ ⁹ They asked him, ‘Where do you want us to prepare the meal?’

¹⁰ Jesus replied, ‘Listen. When you go into the city, a man will meet you. He will be carrying a jar of water. Follow him until he goes into a house. ¹¹ You must then say to the master of that house, “Our Teacher sends this message to you: ‘Where is the room for visitors? I will eat the Passover meal there with my disciples.’ ” ¹² The man will then show you a large room upstairs. It will have all that you need in it. Prepare the Passover meal there for us all.’

¹³ So Peter and John went into the city. They found everything that Jesus had told them about. So they prepared the Passover meal.

¹⁴ When it was time to eat the meal, Jesus arrived. He sat down with his apostles to eat it. ¹⁵ He said to them, ‘I have wanted very much to eat this Passover meal with you. It has to happen before I die. ¹⁶ I tell you this: I will not eat another Passover meal in this world. Now it is a picture. But when God begins to rule in his kingdom, then this meal will become real. I will eat it again then.’

¹⁷ Then Jesus took a cup and he thanked God for the wine. ‘Take this cup,’ he said to them. ‘Each of you drink some wine from it. ¹⁸ I tell you this. I will not drink wine again until God begins to rule in his kingdom.’

¹⁹ Then he took a loaf of bread and he thanked God for it. He broke the bread into pieces and he gave some of it to each of them. He said, ‘This is my body. I am giving it to save you. When you eat this meal from now on, remember me.’^[b]

²⁰ After supper, Jesus took a cup of wine and did the same thing. He said to the disciples, ‘This cup shows the new promise that God makes because of my death. When I die, my blood will pour out of my body. I will do that for you. ²¹ But look! The person who will give me to the rulers is sitting at the table with me. He is eating the same food as I am. ²² The Son of Man must die in the way that God says. But it will be very bad for the man who gives me to my enemies.’

²³ The 12 apostles asked each other, ‘Who is the man that would do this thing?’

Jesus tells who is most important

²⁴ Then the apostles began to argue among themselves. They were arguing about which of them seemed to be the most important. ²⁵ Jesus said to them, ‘Kings of other countries use great authority over their people. Leaders of those countries want people to say good things about them. ²⁶ You must not be like that. The most important person among you must become like the least important person. The person who is your leader must become like your servant. ²⁷ Tell me, which person is the more important one? Is it the person who sits at the table to eat? Or is it the servant that puts out the meal for him? Yes, it is the person who sits at the table. But I am here to be your servant.

²⁸ You have never left me. You have been by my side when trouble came to me. ²⁹ So now I tell you that you will rule with me. My Father has said that I will rule with him in his kingdom. I also say to you that you will rule with me. ³⁰ In my kingdom you will sit at my table. You will eat and drink with me. You will sit like kings on thrones. You will judge the people of the 12 tribes of Israel.’

Jesus tells Peter what will happen

³¹ Jesus then said, ‘Simon, Simon, be careful to listen to me! Satan has asked to have authority over you all. He will shake you as a farmer shakes seeds.^{[c] 32} But I have prayed for you, Simon, that you will continue to believe in me. And this is what you must do: When you have turned back to me, you must help your brothers to be strong again.’

³³ But Simon replied, ‘Master, I am ready to go to prison with you. I am even ready to die with you!’ ³⁴ Jesus said to him, ‘I tell you this, Peter. Very soon, you will say that you do not know me. You will say that three times before the cockerel sings early tomorrow morning.’

³⁵ Jesus then asked the disciples, ‘When I sent you out without a purse, a bag or shoes, did you need anything?’ ‘No,’ they replied, ‘nothing.’

³⁶ ‘Now it is different,’ he said. ‘If you have a purse or bag, you should take it with you. If you do not have a sword, sell your coat. Use the money to buy one. ³⁷ I tell you this: Long ago people wrote in the Bible what must happen to me. It says, “People will think that he is a wicked person.” And this must happen to me soon, so that it becomes true.’

³⁸ The disciples said, ‘Look, Master, we have two swords here.’ Jesus replied, ‘That is enough.’^[d]

Jesus prays on the Mount of Olives

³⁹ Jesus left the city. He went to the Mount of Olives. This is what he usually did. His disciples went with him. ⁴⁰ When they arrived there he said to them, ‘Ask God to help you, so that you do not want to do wrong things.’

⁴¹ Then he went away from them about as far as you can throw a stone. He went down on his knees and he prayed, ⁴² ‘Father, if you want, you can save me from this time of great pain. But I do not ask you to do what I want. Do what you want to do.’

⁴³ Then an angel came to him from heaven. The angel made him stronger. ⁴⁴ Jesus began to have troubles in his mind. He prayed again even more strongly. His sweat became like blood and it fell to the ground.^[e]

⁴⁵ Then Jesus finished praying and he stood up again. He returned to the disciples. He saw that they were sleeping. They were very weak and tired because they were so sad. ⁴⁶ ‘You should not be sleeping,’ he said. ‘Get up and pray! Ask God to help you, so that you do not want to do wrong things.’

The soldiers catch Jesus

⁴⁷ While Jesus was still speaking, a crowd of people came towards him. Judas led the crowd to that place. He was one of the 12 apostles. He came near to Jesus to kiss him. ⁴⁸ Jesus said to him, ‘Judas, why do you want to kiss me, the Son of Man? You are helping my enemies to take hold of me!’

⁴⁹ The people near to Jesus saw what was happening. They asked him, ‘Lord, should we use our swords to fight?’ ⁵⁰ One of them hit the servant of the leader of the priests. He cut off the servant's right ear. ⁵¹ ‘That is enough!’ Jesus said. He then touched the man's ear and made him well again.

⁵² Then Jesus spoke to the people that had come to take hold of him. They were the leaders of the priests, and the leaders of the police in the temple. Other important Jews were also there. He said to them, ‘You have come here with swords and heavy sticks. Do you really think that I am leading people to fight against our country's rulers? ⁵³ No! But I was with you every day in the yard of the temple. You did not try to take hold of me then. But now really is the time and the place for you to work. Now it is a bad dark time, when the Devil has authority.’

Peter says that he does not know Jesus

⁵⁴ Then they took hold of Jesus. They took him away and they brought him to the house of the leader of the priests. Peter was following them, but he did not go near Jesus. ⁵⁵ People lit a fire in the yard of the house and they sat round it. Peter went and he sat with them. ⁵⁶ A girl who worked there then saw Peter in the light from the fire. She looked carefully at him and she said, ‘This man also was a friend of Jesus.’ ⁵⁷ Peter replied, ‘Woman, that is not true! I do not even know him.’

⁵⁸ After a short time, someone else looked at him. ‘You also are one of their group,’ he said. Peter replied, ‘Man, I am not one of them.’

⁵⁹ After about an hour, another man said, ‘I am sure that this man was a friend of Jesus. He also is from Galilee.’ ⁶⁰ Peter replied, ‘Man, I do not know what you are talking about.’ While Peter was still speaking, a cockerel sang loudly. ⁶¹ Then the Lord Jesus turned round and he looked at Peter. Peter remembered what Jesus had said to him: ‘You will say tonight that you do not know me. You will say it three times before the cockerel sings in the morning.’

⁶² Then Peter went out of the yard and he wept a lot.

The soldiers laugh at Jesus and they hit him

⁶³ The men that were holding Jesus were laughing at him. They hit him many times. ⁶⁴ They covered his eyes with a cloth and they said to him, ‘Show us that you are a prophet. Tell us who hit you!’ ⁶⁵ And they said many other bad things against him.

The Jewish leaders ask Jesus questions

⁶⁶ When it became day, the Jewish leaders met together. The leaders of the priests and the teachers of God's Law were at the meeting. Then other men brought Jesus to stand in front of them. ⁶⁷ They asked him, ‘Are you the Messiah? If you are, tell us.’ Jesus replied, ‘If I do tell you, you will not believe me. ⁶⁸ I could also ask you a question. But if I do that, you will not answer me. ⁶⁹ But from now on, the Son of Man will be sitting in the most important place. He will be sitting at the right side of the Most Powerful God.’

⁷⁰ ‘So, are you the Son of God?’ they all said. Jesus replied, ‘You say that I am.’

⁷¹ Then they said, ‘We do not need anyone else to speak against this man. We ourselves have heard what he has said about himself.’