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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Matthew 26: MSG
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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.
Matthew 26
26
The Plan to Kill Jesus
1After Jesus finished saying all these things, he told his followers, 2“You know that the day after tomorrow is the day of the Passover Feast. On that day the Son of Man will be given to his enemies to be killed on a cross.”
3Then the leading priests and the Jewish elders had a meeting at the palace of the high priest. The high priest’s name was Caiaphas. 4At the meeting, they planned to set a trap to arrest Jesus and kill him. 5But they said, “We must not do it during the feast. The people might cause a riot.”
A Woman with Perfume for Jesus
6Jesus was in Bethany. He was at the house of Simon, who had a harmful skin disease. 7While Jesus was there, a woman came to him. She had an alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. She poured this perfume on Jesus’ head while he was eating.
8His followers saw the woman do this and were upset. They asked, “Why waste that perfume? 9It could be sold for a great deal of money, and the money could be given to the poor.”
10But Jesus knew what happened. He said, “Why are you troubling this woman? She did a very beautiful thing for me. 11You will always have the poor with you. But you will not always have me. 12This woman poured perfume on my body to prepare me for burial. 13I tell you the truth. The Good News will be told to people in all the world. And in every place where it is preached, what this woman has done will be told. And people will remember her.”
Judas Becomes an Enemy of Jesus
14Then 1 of the 12 followers went to talk to the leading priests. This was the follower named Judas Iscariot. 15He said, “I will give Jesus to you. What will you pay me for doing this?” The priests gave Judas 30 silver coins. 16After that, Judas waited for the best time to give Jesus to the priests.
Jesus Eats the Passover Feast
17On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the followers came to Jesus. They said, “We will prepare everything for you to eat the Passover Feast. Where do you want to have the feast?”
18Jesus answered, “Go into the city to a certain man. Tell him that the Teacher says, ‘The chosen time is near. I will have the Passover Feast with my followers at your house.’” 19The followers did what Jesus told them to do, and they prepared the Passover Feast.
20In the evening Jesus was sitting at the table with his 12 followers. 21They were all eating. Then Jesus said, “I tell you the truth. One of you 12 will turn against me.”
22This made the followers very sad. Each one said to Jesus, “Surely, Lord, I am not the one who will turn against you. Am I?”
23Jesus answered, “The man who has dipped his hand with me into the bowl is the one who will turn against me. 24The Son of Man will die. The Scriptures say this will happen. But how terrible it will be for the person who gives the Son of Man to be killed. It would be better for him if he had never been born.”
25Then Judas said to Jesus, “Teacher, surely I am not the one. Am I?” (Judas is the one who would give Jesus to his enemies.)
Jesus answered, “Yes, it is you.”
The Lord’s Supper
26While they were eating, Jesus took some bread. He thanked God for it and broke it. Then he gave it to his followers and said, “Take this bread and eat it. This bread is my body.”
27Then Jesus took a cup. He thanked God for it and gave it to the followers. He said, “Every one of you drink this. 28This is my blood which begins the new# Some Greek copies do not have this word. Compare Luke 22:20. agreement that God makes with his people. This blood is poured out for many to forgive their sins. 29I tell you this: I will not drink of this fruit of the vine# Product of the grapevine; this may also be translated “wine.” again until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
30They sang a hymn. Then they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Jesus’ Followers Will All Leave Him
31Jesus told the followers, “Tonight you will lose your faith because of me. It is written in the Scriptures:
‘I will kill the shepherd,
and the sheep will scatter.’ Zechariah 13:7
32But after I rise from death, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”
33Peter said, “All the other followers may lose their faith because of you. But I will never lose my faith.”
34Jesus said, “I tell you the truth. Tonight you will say you don’t know me. You will say this three times before the rooster crows.”
35But Peter said, “I will never say that I don’t know you! I will even die with you!” And all the other followers said the same thing.
Jesus Prays Alone
36Then Jesus went with his followers to a place called Gethsemane. He said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37He told Peter and the two sons of Zebedee to come with him. Then Jesus began to be very sad and troubled. 38He 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.”
39Then 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# Jesus is talking about the bad things that will happen to him. Accepting these things will be very hard, like drinking a cup of something that tastes very bitter. of suffering. But do what you want, not what I want.” 40Then 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? 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. 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.”
43Then Jesus went back to the followers. Again he found them asleep, because their eyes were heavy. 44So Jesus 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, “You are still sleeping and resting? The time has come for the Son of Man to be given to sinful people. 46Get up. We must go. Here comes the man who has turned against me.”
Jesus Is Arrested
47While 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. 48Judas had planned to give them a signal. He had said, “The man I kiss is Jesus. Arrest him.” 49At once Judas went to Jesus and said, “Greetings, 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 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.
52Jesus said to the man, “Put your sword back in its place. All who use swords will be killed with swords. 53Surely you know I could ask my Father, and he would give me more than 12 armies of angels. 54But this thing must happen this way so that it will be as the Scriptures say.”
55Then 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. 56But 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
57Those 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. 58Peter 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.
59The leading priests and the Jewish council tried to find something false against Jesus so that they could kill him. 60Many 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.’”
62Then 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?” 63But 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?”
64Jesus 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.”
65When 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. 66What do you think?”
The people answered, “He is guilty, and he must die.”
67Then the people there spit in Jesus’ face and beat him with their fists. Others slapped Jesus. 68They said, “Prove to us that you are a prophet, you Christ! Tell us who hit you!”
Peter Says He Doesn’t Know Jesus
69At that time, Peter was sitting in the courtyard. A servant girl came to him and said, “You were with Jesus, that man from Galilee.”
70But Peter said that he was never with Jesus. He said this to all the people there. Peter said, “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
71Then he left the courtyard. At the gate, another girl saw him. She said to the people there, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.”
72Again, Peter said that he was never with Jesus. Peter said, “I swear that I don’t know this man Jesus!”
73A short time later, some people standing there went to Peter. They said, “We know you are one of those men who followed Jesus. We know this because of the way you talk.”
74Then Peter began to curse. He said, “May a curse fall on me if I’m not telling the truth. I don’t know the man.” After Peter 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 painfully.
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