Read the Gospels in 40 Days

Signs of the end

13 As they were going out of the Temple, one of Jesus’ disciples said to him, “Teacher! Look at these huge stones, and these huge buildings!”

² “You see these enormous buildings?” said Jesus. “There will not be one single stone left on top of another. They will all be torn down.”

³ Peter, James, John and Andrew approached him privately as he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the Temple.

⁴ “Tell us,” they asked. “When will these things happen? What will be the sign that these things are about to be completed?”

⁵ “Take care that nobody deceives you,” Jesus began to say to them. ⁶ “Plenty of people will come in my name, saying ‘I’m the one!’ and they will lead plenty astray. ⁷ But whenever you hear about wars, and rumors of wars, don’t be disturbed. These things have to happen, but it doesn’t mean the end is here. ⁸ One nation will rise up against another; one kingdom will rise up against another. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines too. These are the first pains of childbirth.

⁹ “But watch out for yourselves. They will hand you over to courts, they will beat you in synagogues; you will stand before rulers and kings because of me, as a witness against them. ¹⁰ And the message of the kingdom must first be announced to all the nations. ¹¹ And when they put you on trial and hand you over, don’t work out beforehand what you are going to say, but say whatever is given you at that moment. It won’t be you speaking, you see, but the holy spirit.

¹² “One brother will hand over another to death. Fathers will hand over children. Children will rebel against parents and have them put to death. ¹³ And you will be hated by everyone because of my name. But the one who is patient through to the end—that one will be saved.”

Further signs of the end

¹⁴ “However,” Jesus continued, “when you see ‘the desolating abomination’ set up where it ought not to be” (let the reader understand) “then those who are in Judaea should run away to the mountains. ¹⁵ If you’re on the housetop, don’t go down, and don’t go in to get anything from the house. ¹⁶ If you’re out in the countryside, don’t turn back again to pick up your cloak.

¹⁷ “It will be a terrible time for pregnant and nursing mothers. ¹⁸ Pray that it won’t happen in winter. ¹⁹ Yes, those days will bring trouble like nothing that’s ever happened from the beginning of creation, which God created, until now, or ever will again. ²⁰ In fact, if the Lord had not shortened the days, no one would be rescued. But for the sake of his chosen ones, those whom he appointed, he shortened the days.

²¹ “So at that time, if someone says to you, ‘Look—here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘Look—there he is!’ don’t believe them; ²² because false messiahs and false prophets will arise, and will perform signs and portents to lead astray even God’s chosen ones, if that were possible. ²³ But you must be on your guard. I’ve told you everything ahead of time.

²⁴ “But in those days, after that suffering,

²⁶ “Then they will see ‘the son of man coming on clouds with great power and glory.’ ²⁷ And then he will dispatch his messengers, and will gather in his chosen ones from the four winds, from the ends of earth to the ends of heaven.”

Watching for the son of man

²⁸ “Learn this lesson from the fig tree. When its branch becomes soft and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. ²⁹ In the same way, when you see these things happen, you should know that it is near, right at the gates. ³⁰ I’m telling you the truth: this generation won’t disappear until all of this has happened. ³¹ Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words won’t disappear.

³² “No one knows, though, the day or the hour. The angels in heaven don’t know it; nor does the son; only the father.

³³ “Keep watch, stay awake. You don’t know when the moment will arrive. ³⁴ It’s like a man who goes away from home: he leaves his house, giving each of his slaves authority for their own tasks; and he commands the doorkeeper to keep watch. ³⁵ Keep watch, then, because you don’t know when the master of the house is going to come. It might be at evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning! ³⁶ You don’t want him to come suddenly and find you asleep. ³⁷ What I am telling you, I am telling everyone: keep watch!”

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,

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.