Chapter 26

Afterwards, when he had made an end of saying all this, Jesus told his dis-ciples:

You know that after two days the paschal feast is coming; it is then that the Son of Man must be given up to be crucified.

At this very time, the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the court of the high priest, whose name was Caiphas;

and there they plotted to bring Jesus into their power by cunning, and put him to death.

Yet they still said, Not on the day of the feast, or perhaps there will be an uproar among the people.

But then, while Jesus was in the house of Simon the leper, at Bethany,

a woman came to him, with a pot of very precious ointment, and poured it over his head as he sat at table.

The disciples were indignant when they saw it: What is the meaning of this waste? they asked.

It would have been possible to sell this at a great price, and give alms to the poor.

This Jesus knew, and said to them, Why do you vex the woman? She did well to treat me so.

You have the poor among you always; I am not always among you.

When she poured this ointment over my body, she did it to prepare me for my burial;

and I promise you, in whatever part of the world this gospel is preached, the story of what she has done shall be told in its place, to preserve her memory.

And at that, one of the twelve, Judas who was called Iscariot, went to the chief priests

and asked them, What will you pay me for handing him over to you? Whereupon they laid down thirty pieces of silver.

And he, from that time onwards, looked about for an opportunity to betray him.

On the first of the days of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus and asked, Where wilt thou have us make ready for thee to eat the paschal meal?

And Jesus said, Go into the city, find such a man, and tell him, The Master says, My time is near; I and my disciples must keep the paschal feast at thy house.

The disciples did as Jesus bade them, and made all ready for the paschal meal there.

When evening came, he sat down with his twelve disciples,

and, while they were at table, he said, Believe me, one of you is to betray me.

They were full of sorrow, and began to say, one after another, Lord, is it I?

He answered, The man who has put his hand into the dish with me will betray me.

The Son of Man goes on his way, as the scripture foretells of him; but woe upon that man by whom the Son of Man is to be betrayed; better for that man if he had never been born.

Then Judas, he who was betraying him, said openly, Master, is it I? Jesus answered, Thy own lips have said it.

And while they were still at table, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, Take, eat, this is my body.

Then he took a cup, and offered thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink, all of you, of this;

for this is my blood, of the new testament, shed for many, to the remission of sins.

And I tell you this, I shall not drink of this fruit of the vine again, until I drink it with you, new wine, in the kingdom of my Father.

And so they sang a hymn, and went out to mount Olivet.

After this, Jesus said to them, To-night you will all lose courage over me; for so it has been written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of his flock will be scattered.

But I will go on before you into Galilee, when I have risen from the dead.

Peter answered him, Though all else should lose courage over thee, I will never lose mine.

Jesus said to him, Believe me, this night, before the cock crows, thou wilt thrice disown me.

Peter said to him, I will never disown thee, though I must lay down my life with thee. And all the rest of his disciples said the like.

So Jesus came, and they with him, to a plot of land called Gethsemani; and he said to his disciples, Sit down here, while I go in there and pray.

But he took Peter and the sons of Zebedee with him. And now he grew sorrowful and dismayed;

My soul, he said, is ready to die with sorrow; do you abide here, and watch with me.

When he had gone a little further, he fell upon his face in prayer, and said, My Father, if it is possible, let this chalice pass me by; only as thy will is, not as mine is.

Then he went back to his disciples, to find them asleep; and he said to Peter, Had you no strength, then, to watch with me even for an hour?

Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing enough, but the flesh is weak.

Then he went back again, and prayed a second time; and his prayer was, My Father, if this chalice may not pass me by, but I must drink it, then thy will be done.

And once more he found his disciples asleep when he came to them, so heavy their eyelids were;

this time he went away without disturbing them, and made his third prayer, using the same words.

After that he returned to his disciples, and said to them, Sleep and take your rest hereafter; as I speak, the time draws near when the Son of Man is to be betrayed into the hands of sinners.

Rise up, let us go on our way; already, he that is to betray me is close at hand.

And all at once, while he was speaking, Judas, who was one of the twelve, came near; with him was a great multitude carrying swords and clubs, who had been sent by the chief priests and the elders of the people.

The traitor had appointed them a signal; It is none other, he told them, than the man whom I shall greet with a kiss; hold him fast.

No sooner, then, had he come near to Jesus than he said, Hail, Master, and kissed him.

Jesus said to him, My friend, on what errand hast thou come? Then they came forward and laid their hands on Jesus, and held him fast.

And at that, one of those who were with Jesus lifted a hand to draw his sword, and smote one of the high priest’s servants with it, cutting off his ear.

Whereupon Jesus said to him, Put thy sword back into its place; all those who take up the sword will perish by the sword.

Dost thou doubt that if I call upon my Father, even now, he will send more than twelve legions of angels to my side?

But how, were it so, should the scriptures be fulfilled, which have prophesied that all must be as it is?

And Jesus said to the multitude at that hour, You have come out to my arrest with swords and clubs, as if I were a robber; and yet I used to sit teaching in the temple close to you, day after day, and you never laid hands on me.

All this was so ordained, to fulfil what was written by the prophets. And now all his disciples abandoned him, and fled.

And those who had arrested Jesus led him away into the presence of the high priest, Caiphas, where the scribes and the elders had assembled.

Yet Peter followed him at a long distance, as far as the high priest’s palace; where he went in and sat among the servants, to see the end.

The chief priests and elders and all the Council tried to find false testimony against Jesus, such as would compass his death.

But they could find none, although many came forward falsely accusing him; until at last two false accusers came forward

who declared, This man said, I have power to destroy the temple of God and raise it again in three days.

Then the high priest stood up, and asked him, Hast thou no answer to make to the accusations these men bring against thee?

Jesus was silent; and the high priest said to him openly, I adjure thee by the living God to tell us whether thou art the Christ, the Son of God?

Jesus answered, Thy own lips have said it. And moreover I tell you this; you will see the Son of Man again, when he is seated at the right hand of God’s power, and comes on the clouds of heaven.

At this, the high priest tore his garments, and said, He has blasphemed; what further need have we of witnesses? Mark well, you have heard his blasphemy for yourselves.

What is your finding? And they answered, The penalty is death.

Then they fell to spitting upon his face and buffeting him and smiting him on the cheek,

saying as they did so, Shew thyself a prophet, Christ; tell us who it is that smote thee.

Meanwhile, Peter sat in the court without; and there a maid-servant came up to him, and said, Thou too wast with Jesus the Galilean.

Whereupon he denied it before all the company; I do not know what thou meanest.

And he went out into the porch, where a second maid-servant saw him, and said, to the bystanders, This man, too, was with Jesus the Nazarene.

And he made denial again with an oath, I know nothing of the man.

But those who stood there came up to Peter soon afterwards, and said, It is certain that thou art one of them; even thy speech betrays thee.

And with that he fell to calling down curses on himself and swearing, I know nothing of the man; and thereupon the cock crew.

Then Peter remembered the word of Jesus, how he had said, Before the cock crows, thou wilt thrice disown me; and he went out, and wept bitterly.