The Plot Against Jesus
The Passover festival and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were just two days away. The chief priests and religious teachers were secretly planning how they could arrest Jesus and put him to death. But they agreed among themselves, "We can't do it during the festival, or the people might start an uprising."
Jesus Anointed at Bethany
While Jesus was staying in Bethany, he was having dinner at the house of a man called Simon the Leper. During the meal, a woman entered carrying a jar made of alabaster stone. Inside the jar was very expensive perfume made from pure nard, a costly aromatic oil. She broke open the jar and poured all the perfume over Jesus' head. Several people who were there became angry when they saw this. They started complaining to each other, saying, "What a terrible waste of perfume! That perfume was worth more than three hundred silver coins—almost a year's wages for a working man. She could have sold it and given all that money to help poor people." They began harshly criticizing the woman for what she had done. But Jesus spoke up in her defense. "Leave her alone," he told them. "Why are you giving her such a hard time? What she has done for me is a beautiful and meaningful act. You will always have poor people among you, and you can help them whenever you choose to. But you will not always have me here with you. This woman has done what she could—she has anointed my body ahead of time to prepare it for burial. I tell you the truth: wherever the good news about me is proclaimed throughout the entire world, people will also tell the story of what this woman did, and she will be remembered for it."
Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus
Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve disciples, went to the chief priests because he wanted to hand Jesus over to them. When they heard what Judas was offering to do, they were overjoyed and promised to pay him money for it. From that moment on, Judas started watching for the right chance to betray Jesus.
Preparation for the Passover
On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when it was time to kill the Passover lamb, Jesus' followers came to him with a question. "Where would you like us to go and get everything ready for you to eat the Passover meal?" they asked. Jesus chose two of his followers and gave them specific instructions. "Go into the city," he told them. "You will meet a man carrying a water jar. Follow him wherever he goes. When he goes into a house, speak to the owner of that house. Tell him, 'The Teacher wants to know: Where is the room where I can eat the Passover meal with my followers?' The owner will take you upstairs and show you a large room that already has everything you need—furniture and all the preparations. Get everything ready for us there." The two followers left and went into the city. They found everything exactly as Jesus had told them it would be. So they prepared the Passover meal.
Jesus Predicts His Betrayal
When evening arrived, Jesus came with his twelve disciples. As they were lying around the table eating their meal together, Jesus made a shocking announcement: "I'm telling you the absolute truth—one of you who is eating with me right now will hand me over to my enemies." The disciples were devastated by these words. Deep sadness filled their hearts, and one by one they began asking him anxiously, "It's not me, is it?" Each man feared he might somehow be the one Jesus meant. Jesus replied, "It's one of the twelve of you—the one who dips his bread into the same bowl as me. The Son of Man will die exactly as the Scriptures have foretold, but terrible suffering awaits the man who betrays him. That man would have been better off if he had never been born at all."
The Last Supper
While Jesus and his disciples were sharing their meal together, Jesus picked up a piece of bread. He spoke a prayer of blessing over it, then broke the bread into pieces and handed them to his disciples. "Take this and eat it," he told them. "This is my body." After this, Jesus took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He passed the cup to his disciples, and each one drank from it. As they drank, Jesus explained to them, "This is my blood, which seals the new agreement between God and his people. My blood will be poured out to save many people." Jesus then made a solemn promise to his followers: "I tell you the truth—I will not drink wine again until the day when I drink it in a completely new way in God's kingdom." When they had finished eating, they sang a hymn together. Then Jesus and his disciples left the house and walked out to the Mount of Olives.
Jesus Predicts Peter's Denial
Then Jesus told them, "All of you will abandon me tonight. This will happen just as the Scriptures say: 'I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep will run away in every direction.' But after I come back to life, I will meet you in Galilee before you get there." Peter spoke up firmly: "Even if everyone else abandons you, I never will." Jesus looked at him and said, "I'm telling you the truth—tonight, before the rooster crows for the second time, you will say three times that you don't know me." But Peter argued back even more strongly: "Even if I have to die alongside you, I will never say I don't know you." And all the other disciples said exactly the same thing.
Jesus Prays in Gethsemane
They came to a place called Gethsemane, where Jesus told his followers, "Wait here while I go pray." He brought Peter, James, and John with him, and suddenly became overwhelmed with deep trouble and anguish. He told these three men, "My heart is crushed with grief, so much that I feel I could die from it. Stay here and keep watch for me." Jesus walked a short distance away from them, fell down on the ground, and prayed desperately that if there was any way possible, this terrible time ahead of him might be taken away. "Abba, Father," he cried out, "you can do anything. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. But I don't want my own way—I want your way instead." When Jesus came back to his three disciples, he found them fast asleep. "Simon," he said to Peter, "are you sleeping? Couldn't you stay awake and watch with me for just one hour? You need to stay alert and pray so you won't give in when you're tested. Your heart wants to do what's right, but your body is weak." Jesus went away again and prayed the same desperate prayer as before. When he returned a second time, he found them sleeping again—their eyes were so heavy they could barely stay open. They had no idea what to say to him when he found them like this. Jesus left to pray a third time, and when he came back once more, he said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough of that! The time has come. Look—the Son of Man is about to be handed over to sinful men who will hurt him. Get up, let's go. The one who will betray me is coming right now!"
The Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus
While Jesus was still talking, Judas arrived. He was one of the twelve disciples, but he came with a large crowd of people carrying swords and wooden clubs. The chief priests, religious teachers, and Jewish leaders had sent this armed group. Judas had already worked out a plan with them ahead of time. He had told them, "The man I kiss will be Jesus. Grab him and take him away under heavy guard." So Judas walked straight up to Jesus and said, "Teacher!" Then he kissed Jesus on the cheek. Immediately the men grabbed Jesus and arrested him. One of the people standing nearby pulled out his sword and swung it at the high priest's servant, slicing off the man's ear. Jesus looked at the crowd and said, "Why did you come out here with swords and clubs to capture me, as if I were some kind of dangerous criminal? I was with you every single day, teaching in the temple courtyard, and you never tried to arrest me there. But this is all happening so that what the Scriptures predicted would come true." At that moment, all of Jesus' followers abandoned him and ran away. There was a young man who had been following Jesus, wearing nothing but a linen sheet wrapped around his body. The crowd tried to grab him too, but he slipped out of the sheet and escaped naked into the night.
Jesus Before the Sanhedrin
They brought Jesus to the house of the high priest, where all the chief priests, elders, and religious teachers had gathered together. Peter followed from far behind and made his way into the courtyard of the high priest's house. There he sat down with the guards and warmed his hands by their fire. The chief priests and the entire ruling council were desperately searching for evidence against Jesus so they could execute him, but they could not find any real proof. Many people came forward to lie about Jesus, but their stories did not match each other. Some men stood up and gave this false testimony against him: "We heard him say, 'I will tear down this temple that was built by human hands, and in three days I will build another one without using any hands at all.'" But even then, their testimonies contradicted each other. Finally, the high priest stood up in front of everyone and demanded of Jesus, "Are you not going to answer? What do you say to all these accusations they are making against you?" But Jesus stayed completely silent and gave no response whatsoever. The high priest questioned him again: "Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed God?" Jesus answered, "I am. And you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Almighty and coming on the clouds of heaven." When he heard this, the high priest grabbed his robes and ripped them apart, shouting, "Why do we need any more witnesses? You heard his blasphemy with your own ears! What is your decision?" Every single member of the council declared that Jesus deserved to die. Then some of them began spitting on him. They covered his eyes with a blindfold, punched him with their fists, and mocked him saying, "Prophesy! Tell us who hit you!" The guards also took him and struck him across the face.
Peter's Denial
While Peter waited in the courtyard below, one of the high priest's servant girls came down and spotted him warming himself by the fire. She stared at Peter closely and said, "You were with Jesus from Nazareth too." But Peter denied it completely. "I don't know what you're talking about. I don't even understand what you mean," he said. Then he walked away toward the entrance gate, and a rooster crowed. The servant girl saw him there and spoke again to the people standing around. "This man is one of them," she said. But Peter denied it a second time. A little while later, the people standing nearby approached Peter again. "You must be one of them," they said. "Anyone can tell you're from Galilee." Then Peter began to curse and make strong oaths. "I swear I don't know this man you're talking about!" he declared. Immediately, a rooster crowed for the second time. In that moment, Peter remembered what Jesus had told him: "Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times." And Peter collapsed in grief and wept bitterly.