The Temptation of Jesus

4 Then Jesus was led by the [Holy] Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.^{(A) 2} After He had gone without food for forty days and forty nights, He became hungry.^(B)

²⁰ Jesus replied to him, “Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the ^[a]Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”^(A)

² Now when ^[a]John [the Baptist] in prison heard about the activities of Christ, he sent word by his disciples^{(A) 3} and asked Him, “Are You the Expected One (the Messiah), or should we look for someone else [who will be the promised One]?”^(B)

The Pharisees Rebuked

²² Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man both spoke and saw.^{(A) 23} All the people wondered in amazement, and said, “Could this be the Son of David (the Messiah)?” ²⁴ But the Pharisees heard it and said, “This man ^[a]casts out demons only by [the help of] Beelzebul (Satan) the prince of the demons.”

⁵⁶ Your father Abraham [greatly] rejoiced to see My day (My incarnation). ^[a]He saw it and was delighted.”^{(A) 57} Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not even fifty years old, and You [claim to] have seen Abraham?” ⁵⁸ Jesus replied, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, before Abraham was born, ^[b]I Am.”^{(B) 59} So they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus concealed Himself and left the temple.

Jesus Foretells His Death

^21 [a]From that time on Jesus began to show His disciples [clearly] that He must go to Jerusalem, and endure many things at the hands of the elders and the chief priests and scribes (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court), and be killed, and be raised [from death to life] on the third day.^{(A) 22} Peter took Him aside [to speak to Him privately] and began to reprimand Him, saying, “May God forbid it! This will never happen to You.” ²³ But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on things of God, but on things of man.”

The Plot to Kill Jesus

26 When Jesus had finished this ^[a]discourse, He said to His disciples, ² “You know that the Passover is coming in two days, and the Son of Man is to be betrayed and handed over for crucifixion.”^(A)

³ Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the courtyard of the [elegant home of the Jewish] high priest, whose name was ^[b]Caiaphas, ⁴ and plotted together to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill Him. ⁵ But they said, “It must not be during the festival (Passover), otherwise there might be a riot among the people.”

Judas’ Bargain

¹⁴ Then one of the twelve [disciples], who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests ¹⁵ and said, “What are you willing to give me if I hand Jesus over to you?” And they weighed out ^[a]thirty pieces of silver.^{(A) 16} And from that moment Judas began looking for an opportune time to betray Jesus.^(B)

Jesus before Annas and Caiaphas

¹² So the cohort and their commander and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound Him,