Matthew 26:36-68

International Children’s Bible

Jesus Prays Alone

³⁶ Then Jesus went with his followers to a place called Gethsemane. He said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” ³⁷ He told Peter and the two sons of Zebedee to come with him. Then Jesus began to be very sad and troubled. ³⁸ He said to Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, “My heart is full of sorrow and breaking with sadness. Stay here with me and watch.”

³⁹ Then Jesus walked a little farther away from them. He fell to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, do not give me this cup^[a] of suffering. But do what you want, not what I want.” ⁴⁰ Then Jesus went back to his followers and found them asleep. Jesus said to Peter, “You men could not stay awake with me for one hour? ⁴¹ Stay awake and pray for strength against temptation. Your spirit wants to do what is right. But your body is weak.”

⁴² Then Jesus went away a second time. He prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this painful thing to be taken from me, and if I must do it, then I pray that what you want will be done.”

⁴³ Then Jesus went back to the followers. Again he found them asleep, because their eyes were heavy. ⁴⁴ So Jesus left them and went away one more time and prayed. This third time he prayed, he said the same thing.

⁴⁵ Then Jesus went back to the followers and said, “You are still sleeping and resting? The time has come for the Son of Man to be given to sinful people. ⁴⁶ Get up. We must go. Here comes the man who has turned against me.”

Jesus Is Arrested

⁴⁷ While Jesus was still speaking, Judas came up. Judas was 1 of the 12 followers. He had many people with him. They had been sent from the leading priests and the elders of the people. They carried swords and clubs. ⁴⁸ Judas had planned to give them a signal. He had said, “The man I kiss is Jesus. Arrest him.” ⁴⁹ At once Judas went to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Teacher!” Then Judas kissed him.

⁵⁰ Jesus answered, “Friend, do the thing you came to do.”

Then the men came and grabbed Jesus and arrested him. ⁵¹ When that happened, one of Jesus’ followers reached for his sword and pulled it out. The follower struck the servant of the high priest with the sword and cut off his ear.

⁵² Jesus said to the man, “Put your sword back in its place. All who use swords will be killed with swords. ⁵³ Surely you know I could ask my Father, and he would give me more than 12 armies of angels. ⁵⁴ But this thing must happen this way so that it will be as the Scriptures say.”

⁵⁵ Then Jesus said to the crowd, “You came to get me with swords and clubs as if I were a criminal. Every day I sat in the Temple teaching. You did not arrest me there. ⁵⁶ But all these things have happened so that it will be as the prophets wrote.” Then all of Jesus’ followers left him and ran away.

Jesus Before the Leaders

⁵⁷ Those men who arrested Jesus led him to the house of Caiaphas, the high priest. The teachers of the law and the Jewish elders were gathered there. ⁵⁸ Peter followed Jesus but did not go near him. He followed Jesus to the courtyard of the high priest’s house. He sat down with the guards to see what would happen to Jesus.

⁵⁹ The leading priests and the Jewish council tried to find something false against Jesus so that they could kill him. ⁶⁰ Many people came and told lies about him. But the council could find no real reason to kill Jesus. Then two people came and said, ⁶¹ “This man said, ‘I can destroy the Temple of God and build it again in three days.’”

⁶² Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Aren’t you going to answer? Don’t you have something to say about their charges against you?” ⁶³ But Jesus said nothing.

Again the high priest said to Jesus, “You must swear to this. I command you by the power of the living God to tell us the truth. Tell us, are you the Christ, the Son of God?”

⁶⁴ Jesus answered, “Yes, I am. But I tell you, in the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of God, the Powerful One. And you will see him coming in clouds in the sky.”

⁶⁵ When the high priest heard this, he was very angry. He tore his clothes and said, “This man has said things that are against God! We don’t need any more witnesses. You all heard him say these things against God. ⁶⁶ What do you think?”

The people answered, “He is guilty, and he must die.”

⁶⁷ Then the people there spit in Jesus’ face and beat him with their fists. Others slapped Jesus. ⁶⁸ They said, “Prove to us that you are a prophet, you Christ! Tell us who hit you!”