Matthew 26
26
The Jewish Leaders Plan to Kill Jesus
(Mk. 14:1–2; Lk. 22:1–2; Jn. 11:45–53)
1After Jesus finished saying all these things, he said to his followers, 2“You know that the day after tomorrow is Passover. On that day the Son of Man will be handed over to his enemies to be killed on a cross.”
3Then the leading priests and the older Jewish leaders had a meeting at the palace where the high priest lived. The high priest’s name was Caiaphas. 4In the meeting they tried to find a way to arrest and kill Jesus without anyone knowing what they were doing. They planned to arrest Jesus and kill him. 5They said, “We cannot arrest Jesus during Passover. We don’t want the people to become angry and cause a riot.”
A Woman Does Something Special
(Mk. 14:3–9; Jn. 12:1–8)
6Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper. 7While he was there, a woman came to him. She had an alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. She poured the perfume on Jesus’ head while he was eating.
8The followers saw the woman do this and were upset at her. They said, “Why waste that perfume? 9It could be sold for a lot of money, and the money could be given to those who are poor.”
10But Jesus knew what happened. He said, “Why are you bothering this woman? She did a very good thing for me. 11You will always have the poor with you.#26:11 You will … with you See Deut. 15:11. But you will not always have me. 12This woman poured perfume on my body. She did this to prepare me for burial after I die. 13The Good News will be told to people all over the world. And I can assure you that everywhere the Good News is told, the story of what this woman did will also be told, and people will remember her.”
Judas Agrees to Help Jesus’ Enemies
(Mk. 14:10–11; Lk. 22:3–6)
14Then one of the twelve followers went to talk to the leading priests. This was the follower named Judas Iscariot. 15He said, “I will hand Jesus over to you. What will you pay me for doing this?” The priests gave him 30 silver coins. 16After that Judas waited for the best time to hand Jesus over to them.
The Passover Meal
(Mk. 14:12–21; Lk. 22:7–14, 21–23; Jn. 13:21–30)
17On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the followers came to Jesus. They said, “We will prepare everything for you to eat the Passover meal. Where do you want us to have the meal?”
18Jesus answered, “Go into the city. Go to a man I know. Tell him that the Teacher says, ‘The chosen time is near. I will have the Passover meal with my followers at your house.’” 19They obeyed and did what Jesus told them to do. They prepared the Passover meal.
20In the evening Jesus was at the table with the twelve followers. 21They were all eating. Then Jesus said, “Believe me when I say that one of you twelve here will hand me over to my enemies.”
22The followers were very sad to hear this. Each one said, “Lord, surely I am not the one!”
23Jesus answered, “One who has dipped his bread in the same bowl with me will be the one to hand me over. 24The Son of Man will suffer what the Scriptures say will happen to him. But it will be very bad for the one who hands over the Son of Man to be killed. It would be better for him if he had never been born.”
25Then Judas, the very one who would hand him over, said to Jesus, “Teacher, surely I am not the one you are talking about, am I?”
Jesus answered, “Yes, it is you.”
The Lord’s Supper
(Mk. 14:22–26; Lk. 22:15–20; 1 Cor. 11:23–25)
26While they were eating, Jesus took some bread and thanked God for it. He broke off some pieces, gave them to his followers and said, “Take this bread and eat it. It is my body.”
27Then he took a cup of wine, thanked God for it, and gave it to them. He said, “Each one of you drink some of it. 28This wine is my blood, which will be poured out to forgive the sins of many and begin the new agreement from God to his people. 29I want you to know, I will not drink this wine again until that day when we are together in my Father’s kingdom and the wine is new. Then I will drink it again with you.”
30They all sang a song and then went out to the Mount of Olives.
Jesus Says His Followers Will Leave Him
(Mk. 14:27–31; Lk. 22:31–34; Jn. 13:36–38)
31Jesus told the followers, “Tonight you will all lose your faith in me. The Scriptures say,
‘I will kill the shepherd,
and the sheep will run away.’ Zechariah 13:7
32But after I am killed, I will rise from death. Then I will go into Galilee. I will be there before you go there.”
33Peter answered, “All the other followers may lose their faith in you. But my faith will never be shaken.”
34Jesus answered, “The truth is, tonight you will say you don’t know me. You will deny me three times before the rooster crows.”
35But Peter answered, “I will never say I don’t know you! I will even die with you!” And all the other followers said the same thing.
Jesus Prays Alone
(Mk. 14:32–42; Lk. 22:39–46)
36Then Jesus went with his followers to a place called Gethsemane. He said to them, “Sit here while I go there and pray.” 37He told Peter and the two sons of Zebedee to come with him. Then he began to be very sad and troubled. 38Jesus said to Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, “My heart is so heavy with grief, I feel as if I am dying. Wait here and stay awake with me.”
39Then Jesus went on a little farther away from them. He fell to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, don’t make me drink from this cup.#26:39 cup A symbol of suffering. Jesus used the idea of drinking from a cup to mean accepting the suffering he would face in the terrible events that were soon to come. But do what you want, not what I want.” 40Then he went back to his followers and found them sleeping. He said to Peter, “Could you men not stay awake with me for one hour? 41Stay awake and pray for strength against temptation. Your spirit wants to do what is right, but your body is weak.”
42Then Jesus went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if I must do this#26:42 do this Literally, “drink this,” referring to the “cup,” the symbol of suffering in verse 39. and it is not possible for me to escape it, then I pray that what you want will be done.”
43Then he went back to the followers. Again he found them sleeping. They could not stay awake. 44So he left them and went away one more time and prayed. This third time he prayed, he said the same thing.
45Then Jesus went back to the followers and said, “Are you still sleeping and resting? The time has come for the Son of Man to be handed over to the control of sinful men. 46Stand up! We must go. Here comes the one who will hand me over.”
Jesus Is Arrested
(Mk. 14:43–50; Lk. 22:47–53; Jn. 18:3–12)
47While Jesus was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve apostles came there. He had a big crowd of people with him, all carrying swords and clubs. They had been sent from the leading priests and the older leaders of the people. 48Judas#26:48 Judas Literally, “the one who handed him over.” planned to do something to show them which one was Jesus. He said, “The one I kiss will be Jesus. Arrest him.” 49So he went to Jesus and said, “Hello, Teacher!” Then Judas kissed him.
50Jesus answered, “Friend, do the thing you came to do.”
Then the men came and grabbed Jesus and arrested him. 51When that happened, one of the followers with Jesus grabbed his sword and pulled it out. He swung it at the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear.
52Jesus said to the man, “Put your sword back in its place. People who use swords will be killed with swords. 53Surely you know I could ask my Father and he would give me more than twelve armies of angels. 54But it must happen this way to show the truth of what the Scriptures said.”
55Then Jesus said to the crowd, “Why do you come to get me with swords and clubs as if I were a criminal. Every day I sat in the Temple area teaching. You did not arrest me there. 56But all these things have happened to show the full meaning of what the prophets wrote.” Then all of Jesus’ followers left him and ran away.
Jesus Before the Jewish Leaders
(Mk. 14:53–65; Lk. 22:54–55, 63–71; Jn. 18:13–14, 19–24)
57The men who arrested Jesus led him to the house of Caiaphas the high priest. The teachers of the law and the older Jewish leaders were gathered there. 58Peter followed Jesus but stayed back at a distance. He followed him to the yard of the high priest’s house. Peter went in and sat with the guards. He wanted to see what would happen to Jesus.
59The leading priests and the high council tried to find something against Jesus so that they could kill him. They tried to find people to lie and say that Jesus had done wrong. 60Many people came and told lies about him. But the council could find no real reason to kill him. Then two people came 61and said, “This man#26:61 This man That is, Jesus. His enemies avoided saying his name. said, ‘I can destroy the Temple of God and build it again in three days.’”
62Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Don’t you have anything to say about these charges against you? Are they telling the truth?” 63But Jesus said nothing.
Again the high priest said to Jesus, “You are now under oath. I command you by the power of the living God to tell us the truth. Tell us, are you the Messiah, the Son of God?”
64Jesus answered, “Yes, that’s right. But I tell you, in the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right side of God. And you will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven.”
65When the high priest heard this, he tore his clothes in anger. He said, “This man has said things that insult God! We don’t need any more witnesses. You all heard his insulting words. 66What do you think?”
The Jewish leaders answered, “He is guilty, and he must die.”
67Then some there spit in Jesus’ face, and they hit him with their fists. Others slapped him. 68They said, “Show us that you are a prophet,#26:68 prophet A prophet often knows things that are hidden to other people. Messiah! Tell us who hit you!”
Peter Is Afraid to Say He Knows Jesus
(Mk. 14:66–72; Lk. 22:56–62; Jn. 18:15–18, 25–27)
69While Peter was sitting outside in the yard, a servant girl came up to him. She said, “You were with Jesus, that man from Galilee.”
70But Peter told everyone there that this was not true. “I don’t know what you are talking about,” he said.
71Then he left the yard. At the gate another girl saw him and said to the people there, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.”
72Again, Peter said he was never with Jesus. He said, “I swear to God I don’t know the man!”
73A short time later those standing there went to Peter and said, “We know you are one of them. It’s clear from the way you talk.”
74Then Peter began to curse. He said, “I swear to God, I don’t know the man!” As soon as he said this, a rooster crowed. 75Then he remembered what Jesus had told him: “Before the rooster crows, you will say three times that you don’t know me.” Then Peter went outside and cried bitterly.
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Matthew 26: ERV
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Matthew 26
26
Anointed for Burial
1-2When Jesus finished saying these things, he told his disciples, “You know that Passover comes in two days. That’s when the Son of Man will be betrayed and handed over for crucifixion.”
3-5At that very moment, the party of high priests and religious leaders was meeting in the chambers of the Chief Priest named Caiaphas, conspiring to seize Jesus by stealth and kill him. They agreed that it should not be done during Passover Week. “We don’t want a riot on our hands,” they said.
6-9When Jesus was at Bethany, a guest of Simon the Leper, a woman came up to him as he was eating dinner and anointed him with a bottle of very expensive perfume. When the disciples saw what was happening, they were furious. “That’s criminal! This could have been sold for a lot and the money handed out to the poor.”
10-13When Jesus realized what was going on, he intervened. “Why are you giving this woman a hard time? She has just done something wonderfully significant for me. You will have the poor with you every day for the rest of your lives, but not me. When she poured this perfume on my body, what she really did was anoint me for burial. You can be sure that wherever in the whole world the Message is preached, what she has just done is going to be remembered and admired.”
14-16That is when one of the Twelve, the one named Judas Iscariot, went to the cabal of high priests and said, “What will you give me if I hand him over to you?” They settled on thirty silver pieces. He began looking for just the right moment to hand him over.
The Traitor
17On the first of the Days of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Where do you want us to prepare your Passover meal?”
18-19He said, “Enter the city. Go up to a certain man and say, ‘The Teacher says, My time is near. I and my disciples plan to celebrate the Passover meal at your house.’” The disciples followed Jesus’ instructions to the letter, and prepared the Passover meal.
20-21After sunset, he and the Twelve were sitting around the table. During the meal, he said, “I have something hard but important to say to you: One of you is going to hand me over to the conspirators.”
22They were stunned, and then began to ask, one after another, “It isn’t me, is it, Master?”
23-24Jesus answered, “The one who hands me over is someone I eat with daily, one who passes me food at the table. In one sense the Son of Man is entering into a way of treachery well-marked by the Scriptures—no surprises here. In another sense that man who turns him in, turns traitor to the Son of Man—better never to have been born than do this!”
25Then Judas, already turned traitor, said, “It isn’t me, is it, Rabbi?”
Jesus said, “Don’t play games with me, Judas.”
The Bread and the Cup
26-29During the meal, Jesus took and blessed the bread, broke it, and gave it to his disciples:
Take, eat.
This is my body.
Taking the cup and thanking God, he gave it to them:
Drink this, all of you.
This is my blood,
God’s new covenant poured out for many people
for the forgiveness of sins.
“I’ll not be drinking wine from this cup again until that new day when I’ll drink with you in the kingdom of my Father.”
30They sang a hymn and went directly to Mount Olives.
Gethsemane
31-32Then Jesus told them, “Before the night’s over, you’re going to fall to pieces because of what happens to me. There is a Scripture that says,
I’ll strike the shepherd;
dazed and confused, the sheep will be scattered.
But after I am raised up, I, your Shepherd, will go ahead of you, leading the way to Galilee.”
33Peter broke in, “Even if everyone else falls to pieces on account of you, I won’t.”
34“Don’t be so sure,” Jesus said. “This very night, before the rooster crows up the dawn, you will deny me three times.”
35Peter protested, “Even if I had to die with you, I would never deny you.” All the others said the same thing.
36-38Then Jesus went with them to a garden called Gethsemane and told his disciples, “Stay here while I go over there and pray.” Taking along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he plunged into an agonizing sorrow. Then he said, “This sorrow is crushing my life out. Stay here and keep vigil with me.”
39Going a little ahead, he fell on his face, praying, “My Father, if there is any way, get me out of this. But please, not what I want. You, what do you want?”
40-41When he came back to his disciples, he found them sound asleep. He said to Peter, “Can’t you stick it out with me a single hour? Stay alert; be in prayer so you don’t wander into temptation without even knowing you’re in danger. There is a part of you that is eager, ready for anything in God. But there’s another part that’s as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire.”
42He then left them a second time. Again he prayed, “My Father, if there is no other way than this, drinking this cup to the dregs, I’m ready. Do it your way.”
43-44When he came back, he again found them sound asleep. They simply couldn’t keep their eyes open. This time he let them sleep on, and went back a third time to pray, going over the same ground one last time.
45-46When he came back the next time, he said, “Are you going to sleep on and make a night of it? My time is up, the Son of Man is about to be handed over to the hands of sinners. Get up! Let’s get going! My betrayer is here.”
With Swords and Clubs
47-49The words were barely out of his mouth when Judas (the one from the Twelve) showed up, and with him a gang from the high priests and religious leaders brandishing swords and clubs. The betrayer had worked out a sign with them: “The one I kiss, that’s the one—seize him.” He went straight to Jesus, greeted him, “How are you, Rabbi?” and kissed him.
50-51Jesus said, “Friend, why this charade?”
Then they came on him—grabbed him and roughed him up. One of those with Jesus pulled his sword and, taking a swing at the Chief Priest’s servant, cut off his ear.
52-54Jesus said, “Put your sword back where it belongs. All who use swords are destroyed by swords. Don’t you realize that I am able right now to call to my Father, and twelve companies—more, if I want them—of fighting angels would be here, battle-ready? But if I did that, how would the Scriptures come true that say this is the way it has to be?”
55-56Then Jesus addressed the mob: “What is this—coming out after me with swords and clubs as if I were a dangerous criminal? Day after day I have been sitting in the Temple teaching, and you never so much as lifted a hand against me. You’ve done it this way to confirm and fulfill the prophetic writings.”
Then all the disciples cut and ran.
False Charges
57-58The gang that had seized Jesus led him before Caiaphas the Chief Priest, where the religion scholars and leaders had assembled. Peter followed at a safe distance until they got to the Chief Priest’s courtyard. Then he slipped in and mingled with the servants, watching to see how things would turn out.
59-60a The high priests, conspiring with the Jewish Council, tried to cook up charges against Jesus in order to sentence him to death. But even though many stepped up, making up one false accusation after another, nothing was believable.
60b-61 Finally two men came forward with this: “He said, ‘I can tear down this Temple of God and after three days rebuild it.’”
62The Chief Priest stood up and said, “What do you have to say to the accusation?”
63Jesus kept silent.
Then the Chief Priest said, “I command you by the authority of the living God to say if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”
64Jesus was curt: “You yourself said it. And that’s not all. Soon you’ll see it for yourself:
The Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Mighty One,
Arriving on the clouds of heaven.”
65-66At that, the Chief Priest lost his temper, ripping his robes, yelling, “He blasphemed! Why do we need witnesses to accuse him? You all heard him blaspheme! Are you going to stand for such blasphemy?”
They all said, “Death! That seals his death sentence.”
67-68Then they were spitting in his face and knocking him around. They jeered as they slapped him: “Prophesy, Messiah: Who hit you that time?”
Denial in the Courtyard
69All this time, Peter was sitting out in the courtyard. One servant girl came up to him and said, “You were with Jesus the Galilean.”
70In front of everybody there, he denied it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
71As he moved over toward the gate, someone else said to the people there, “This man was with Jesus the Nazarene.”
72Again he denied it, salting his denial with an oath: “I swear, I never laid eyes on the man.”
73Shortly after that, some bystanders approached Peter. “You’ve got to be one of them. Your accent gives you away.”
74-75Then he got really nervous and swore. “I don’t know the man!”
Just then a rooster crowed. Peter remembered what Jesus had said: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” He went out and cried and cried and cried.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.