Chronological
Preparations for Jesus’ death
26 So this is how it finally happened.
When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, 2 “In two days’ time, as you know, it’ll be Passover! That’s when the son of man will be handed over to be crucified.”
3 Then the chief priests got together with the elders of the people, in the official residence of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas. 4 They plotted how to capture Jesus by some trick, and kill him.
5 “We’d better not try anything at the feast,” they said. “We don’t want the people to riot.”
6 While Jesus was at Bethany, in the house of Simon (known as “the Leper”), 7 a woman came to him who had an alabaster vase of extremely valuable ointment. She poured it on his head as he was reclining at the table.
8 When the disciples saw it, they were furious.
“What’s the point of all this waste?” they said. 9 “This could have been sold for a fortune, and the money could have been given to the poor!”
10 Jesus knew what they were thinking.
“Why make life difficult for the woman?” he said. “It’s a lovely thing, what she’s done for me. 11 You always have the poor with you, don’t you? But you won’t always have me. 12 When she poured this ointment on my body, you see, she did it to prepare me for my burial. 13 I’m telling you the truth: wherever this gospel is announced in all the world, what she has just done will be told, and people will remember her.”
Passover and betrayal
14 Then one of the Twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests.
15 “What will you give me,” he said, “to hand him over to you?”
They settled the deal with him at thirty pieces of silver. 16 From that moment on, he was watching for an opportunity to hand him over.
17 On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples said to Jesus, “Where do you want us to get the Passover ready for you to eat it?”
18 “Go into the city,” he said, “to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The teacher says, “My time is very close. I’m going to keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.” ’ ”
19 So the disciples did as Jesus had told them, and got the Passover ready.
20 When evening came, he settled down with the Twelve. 21 As they were eating, he said, “I’m telling you the truth: one of you will betray me.” 22 They were extremely upset, and began to say one by one, “It’s not me, is it, Master?”
23 “It’s one who’s dipped his hand with me in the dish,” Jesus replied. “That’s the one who will betray me. 24 The son of man is on his way, as the Bible said it would happen, but it’s misery for the man who hands him over. It would be better for that man if he’d never been born.”
25 At this, Judas, who was planning to betray him, said, “It isn’t me, is it, Teacher?”
“You’ve just said so,” he replied.
The Last Supper
26 As they were eating, Jesus took some bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to the disciples.
“Take it and eat it,” he said, “this is my body.”
27 Then he took a cup; and, after giving thanks, he gave it to them.
“Drink this, all of you,” he said. 28 “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 But let me tell you this: I will not drink any more from this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in the kingdom of my father.”
30 They sang a hymn, and went out to the Mount of Olives.
31 Then Jesus said to them, “You are all going to stumble and fall tonight because of me. This is what the Bible says, you see:
I shall strike the shepherd,
and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.
32 “But after I am raised up, I shall go on ahead of you to Galilee.”
33 “Even if everyone else trips and falls,” said Peter in reply to him, “I’m never going to do that!”
34 “I’m telling you the truth,” said Jesus to him, “this very night, before the cock has crowed, you will deny me three times.”
35 “Even if I have to die with you,” said Peter to him, “I won’t ever deny you!”
And all the disciples said the same.
Gethsemane
36 So Jesus went with them to the place called Gethsemane.
“You sit here,” he said to the disciples, “while I go over there and pray.”
37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee with him, and began to be very upset and distressed.
38 “My soul is overwhelmed with grief,” he said, “even to death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
39 Then, going a little further on, he fell on his face and prayed.
“My father,” he said, “if it’s possible—please, please let this cup go away from me! But . . . not what I want, but what you want.”
40 He came back to the disciples and found them asleep.
“So,” he said to Peter, “couldn’t you keep watch with me for a single hour? 41 Watch and pray so that you don’t get pulled down into the time of testing. The spirit is eager, but the body is weak.”
42 Again, for the second time, he went off and said, “My father, if it’s not possible for this to pass unless I drink it, let your will be done.”
43 Again he came and found them asleep; their eyes were heavy. 44 Once more he left them and went away. He prayed for the third time, using the same words once again. 45 Then he came back to the disciples.
“You can sleep now,” he said, “and have a good rest! Look—the time has come, and the son of man is given over into the hands of wicked people! 46 Get up and let’s be going. Look! Here comes the one who’s going to betray me!”
Jesus is arrested
47 While Jesus was still speaking, there was Judas, one of the Twelve. He had come with a large crowd, with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. 48 The one who was intending to betray him gave them a sign: “The one I kiss—that’s him! Grab hold of him!”
49 So he went up at once to Jesus and said “Greetings, Teacher!” and kissed him.
50 “My friend,” said Jesus, “what have you come to do?”
Then they came and laid hands on Jesus, and arrested him.
51 At that, one of the men with Jesus reached out his hand, drew his sword and hit the high priest’s slave, cutting off his ear.
52 “Put your sword back where it belongs!” said Jesus to him. “People who use the sword die by the sword! 53 Don’t you realize that I could call on my father and have him send me more than twelve legions of angels, just like that? 54 But how then can the Bible come true when it says this has to happen?”
55 At that time Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you really come out with swords and sticks to arrest me, as if I were some kind of brigand? I sat there teaching in the Temple every day, and you didn’t lay hands on me! 56 But all this has happened so that the writings of the prophets would be fulfilled.”
Then all the disciples abandoned him and ran away.
Jesus before Caiaphas
57 The people who had seized Jesus took him off to Caiaphas the high priest. The scribes and elders had already gathered at his house. 58 Peter, however, followed him at some distance, all the way to the high priest’s residence. He went in and sat with the servants, to see how things would work out.
59 The high priest and the whole council tried to produce false evidence against Jesus, to frame a capital charge and have him killed. 60 But even though they brought in plenty of lying witnesses, they couldn’t find the evidence they wanted. Finally two people came forward 61 and declared: “This fellow said, ‘I can destroy God’s Temple and build it again in three days!’ ”
62 Then the high priest stood up.
“Aren’t you going to answer?” he said to him. “What are these people accusing you of?”
63 But Jesus remained silent.
Then the high priest said to him, “I put you on oath before the living God: tell us if you are the Messiah, God’s son!”
64 “You said the words,” replied Jesus. “But let me tell you this: from now on you will see ‘the son of man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.’ ”
65 Then the high priest tore his robes. “He’s blasphemed!” he said. “Why do we need any more witnesses? Look—you’ve heard his blasphemy, here and now! 66 What’s your verdict?”
“He deserves to die,” they answered.
67 Then they spat in his face and hit him. Some of them slapped him, 68 and said, “Prophesy for us, Mr. Messiah! Who was it who hit you?”
Peter’s denial
69 Meanwhile, Peter sat outside in the courtyard.
One of the servant-girls came up to him.
“You were with Jesus the Galilean too, weren’t you?” she said.
70 He denied it in front of everyone.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.
71 He went out to the gateway. Another girl saw him, and said to the people who were there, “This fellow was with Jesus the Nazarene!”
72 Once more he denied it, this time swearing, “I don’t know the man!”
73 After a little while the people standing around came up and said to Peter, “You really are one of them! Look—your accent makes it obvious!”
74 Then he began to curse and swear, “I don’t know the man!” And then, all at once, the cock crowed.
75 And Peter remembered.
He remembered the words Jesus had spoken to him: “Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.”
And he went outside and cried like a baby.
Jesus is anointed at Bethany
14 Passover—the Feast of Unleavened Bread—was due in two days. The chief priests and the lawyers were plotting how to seize Jesus by a trick, and kill him.
2 “We can’t do it at the feast,” they said. “The people might riot.”
3 Jesus was in Bethany, at the house of Simon (known as “the Leper”). While he was at table, a woman came up with an alabaster pot containing extremely valuable ointment made of pure spikenard. She broke the pot and poured the ointment on Jesus’ head.
4 Some of the people there grumbled to one another.
“What’s the point of wasting the ointment?” they asked. 5 “That ointment could have been sold for three hundred dinars, and given to the poor.”
And they were angry with her.
6 “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why make trouble for her? She has done a wonderful thing for me. 7 You have the poor with you always; you can help them whenever you want to. But you won’t always have me.
8 “She has played her part. She has anointed my body for its burial, ahead of time. 9 I’m telling you the truth: wherever the message is announced in all the world, the story of what she has just done will be told. That will be her memorial.”
10 Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests, to arrange to hand Jesus over to them. 11 They were delighted with his proposal, and made an agreement to pay him. And he began to look for a good moment to hand him over.
The Last Supper
12 On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lambs were sacrificed, Jesus’ disciples said to him, “Where would you like us to go and get things ready for you to eat the Passover?”
13 He sent off two of his disciples, with these instructions.
“Go into the city, and you will be met by a man carrying a water-pot. Follow him. 14 When he goes indoors, say to the master of the house, ‘The teacher says, where is the guest room for me, where I can eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 15 He will show you a large upstairs room, set out and ready. Make preparations for us there.”
16 The disciples went out, entered the city, and found it exactly as he had said. They prepared the Passover.
17 When it was evening, Jesus came with the Twelve. 18 As they were reclining at table and eating, Jesus said, “I’m telling you the truth: one of you is going to betray me—one of you that’s eating with me.”
19 They began to be very upset, and they said to him, one after another, “It isn’t me, is it?”
20 “It’s one of the Twelve,” said Jesus, “one who has dipped his bread in the dish with me. 21 Yes: the son of man is completing his journey, as scripture said he would; but it’s bad news for the man who betrays him! It would have been better for that man never to have been born.”
22 While they were eating, he took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them.
“Take it,” he said. “This is my body.”
23 Then he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it.
24 “This is my blood of the covenant,” he said, “which is poured out for many. 25 I’m telling you the truth: I won’t ever drink from the fruit of the vine again, until that day—the day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
Jesus is arrested
26 They sang a hymn, and went out to the Mount of Olives.
27 “You’re all going to desert me,” said Jesus, “because it’s written,
I shall attack the shepherd
and then the sheep will scatter.
28 “But after I am raised up, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.”
29 Peter spoke up.
“Everyone else may desert you,” he said, “but I won’t.”
30 “I’m telling you the truth,” Jesus replied. “Today—this very night, before the cock has crowed twice—you will renounce me three times.”
31 This made Peter all the more vehement. “Even if I have to die with you,” he said, “I will never renounce you.”
And all the rest said the same.
32 They came to a place called Gethsemane.
“Stay here,” said Jesus to the disciples, “while I pray.”
33 He took Peter, James and John with him, and became quite overcome and deeply distressed.
34 “My soul is disturbed within me,” he said, “right to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch.”
35 He went a little further, and fell on the ground and prayed that, if possible, the moment might pass from him.
36 “Abba, Father,” he said, “all things are possible for you! Take this cup away from me! But—not what I want, but what you want.”
37 He returned and found them sleeping. “Are you asleep, Simon?” he said to Peter. “Couldn’t you keep watch for a single hour? 38 Watch and pray, so that you won’t come into the time of trouble. The spirit is eager, but the body is weak.”
39 Once more he went off and prayed, saying the same words. 40 And again, when he returned, he found them asleep, because their eyes were very heavy. They had no words to answer him. 41 But the third time he came, he said to them, “All right—sleep as much as you like now. Have a good rest. The job is done, the time has come—and look! The son of man is betrayed into the clutches of sinners. 42 Get up, let’s be on our way. Here comes the man who’s going to betray me.”
43 At once, while he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived, accompanied by a crowd, with swords and clubs, from the chief priests, the legal experts, and the elders. 44 The betrayer had given them a coded sign: “The one I kiss—that’s him! Seize him and take him away safely.”
45 He came up to Jesus at once. “Rabbi!” he said, and kissed him.
46 The crowd laid hands on him and seized him. 47 One of the bystanders drew a sword and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his ear. 48 Then Jesus spoke to them.
“Anyone would think,” he said, “you’d come after a brigand! Fancy needing swords and clubs to arrest me! 49 Day after day I’ve been teaching in the Temple, under your noses, and you never laid a finger on me. But the scriptures must be fulfilled.”
50 Then they all abandoned him and ran away.
51 A young man had followed him, wearing only a linen tunic over his otherwise naked body. 52 They seized him, and he left the tunic and ran away naked.
In the high priest’s house
53 They took Jesus away to the high priest. All the chief priests and the elders and legal experts were assembled. 54 Peter followed him at a distance, and came to the courtyard of the high priest’s house, where he sat with the servants and warmed himself at the fire.
55 The chief priests, and all the Sanhedrin, looked for evidence for a capital charge against Jesus, but they didn’t find any. 56 Several people invented fictitious charges against him, but their evidence didn’t agree. 57 Then some stood up with this fabricated charge: 58 “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this Temple, which human hands have made, and in three days I’ll build another, made without human hands.’ ”
59 But even so their evidence didn’t agree.
60 Then the high priest got up in front of them all and interrogated Jesus.
“Haven’t you got any answer about whatever it is these people are testifying against you?”
61 Jesus remained silent, and didn’t answer a word.
Once more the high priest questioned him. “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”
62 “I am,” replied Jesus, “and you will see ‘the son of man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.’ ”
63 “Why do we need any more evidence?” shouted the high priest, tearing his clothes. 64 “You heard the blasphemy! What’s your verdict?”
They all agreed on their judgment: he deserved to die.
65 Some of them began to spit at him. They blindfolded him and hit him, and said, “Prophesy!” And the servants took charge of him and beat him.
66 Peter, meanwhile, was below in the courtyard. One of the high priest’s servant-girls came up 67 and saw him warming himself. She looked closely at him, and said, “You were with Jesus the Nazarene as well, weren’t you?”
68 “I don’t know what on earth you’re talking about,” replied Peter.
He went outside into the forecourt, and the cock crowed.
69 The servant-girl saw him, and once more began to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” 70 But Peter again denied it.
A little while later the bystanders said again to Peter, “You really are one of them, aren’t you? You’re a Galilean!”
71 At that he began to curse and swear, “I don’t know this man you’re talking about.” 72 And immediately the cock crowed for the second time. Then Peter remembered the words that Jesus had said to him: “Before the cock crows twice, you will renounce me three times.” And he burst into tears.
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.