Episode 247: Jesus is arrested

Matthew 26

Jesus foretells his death (for the fourth time)

26 ¹ When Jesus finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples,

² Passover is two days away, when the Son of man will be betrayed and crucified.

The plot to kill Jesus

^3-4 The chief priests, scribes, and elders gathered in the palace of the high priest, Caiaphas, to plan how to kill Jesus.

⁵ But they said, "Not on the feast day or there will be an uproar among the people."

Jesus gets his head anointed

^6-7 When Jesus was in Bethany eating dinner at the house of Simon the leper, a woman came with some precious ointment and poured it on his head.

^8-9 When his disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying,

This is a waste. The ointment could have been sold with the money given to the poor.

^10-11 When Jesus heard what they said, he said,

Why do you criticize this woman?

She has done something nice to me. There will always be poor people, but you won’t always have me.

Judas betrays Jesus

¹⁴ Then Judas went to the chief priests and said to them

What will you give me if I deliver Jesus to you?

¹⁵ They said they'd give him thirty pieces of silver.

¹⁶ So Judas looked for a way to betray Jesus.

The Last Supper

^17-20 On the evening of the feast of unleavened bread, Jesus sat down with his twelve disciples.

²¹ As they were eating, Jesus said, “One of you will betray me.”

²² This made the disciples sad, and each of them said to Jesus, "Is it me?"

²³ Jesus said,

The one who is dipping his hand with me in the dish is the one who will betray me.

²⁴ Woe to him! It would be better for him to have never been born.

²⁵ Then Judas asked Jesus, "Is it me?" Jesus said, "You said it."

²⁶ As they were eating, Jesus took the bread, blessed and broke it, gave it to his disciples, and said, "Take and eat this. It is my body."

^27-28 Then he took the cup, gave thanks, gave it to them, and said,

Drink all of this. It is my blood. The blood of the new testament, which is shed to forgive sins.

²⁹ I won't drink any more wine until I drink it with you in my Father's kingdom.

Peter's promise (and Jesus's prediction)

³¹ When they arrived, Jesus said to them,

You'll all desert me tonight.

³² But after I have risen, I'll go ahead of you to Galilee.

³³ Peter said to Jesus, "Everyone else may deny you, but I never will."

³⁴ Jesus said, "Before the cock crows tonight, you'll have denied me three times."

³⁵ Peter said, "I'm willing to die with you, but I'll never deny you.

All the other disciples said the same thing.

Jesus prays at Gethsemane (while the disciples sleep)

³⁶ Jesus and his disciples came to a place called Gethsemane. He said to his disciples, "Sit here, while I go pray."

³⁷ Jesus took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee [James and John] with him.

³⁸ He said to them, "I'm so sad I could die. Stay up with me."

³⁹ Jesus fell on his face and began to pray, saying,

If it's possible, Father, take away this cup. But do what you want, not what I want.

⁴⁰ When Jesus found his disciples asleep, he said,

Couldn't you stay awake for an hour?

⁴¹ The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

⁴² Jesus went away again and began to pray, saying,

Don't make me drink from this cup, Father. But if you want me to drink from it, I will.

⁴³ Jesus found his three disciples asleep again.

⁴⁴ He left them and prayed again, saying the same words.

⁴⁵ He came again to his disciples and said to them,

⁴⁶ Wake up, let's go. The one who has betrayed me is here.

Jesus is arrested

⁴⁷ Judas came with a crowd armed with swords and staves, with the chief priests and elders.

⁴⁸ He gave them a sign saying, "The one that I kiss is him"

⁴⁹ And he came to Jesus and said, "Hello Teacher", and kissed him.

⁵⁰ Then they all grabbed hold of him and took him.

⁵¹ One of Jesus's disciples drew his sword and struck the high priest's servant, cutting off his ear.

⁵² Jesus said to him,

Put away your sword, because all who use the sword will die with the sword.

⁵³ Don't you know that I could pray to my Father, and he'd send twelve legions of angels?

⁵⁶ Then all the disciples abandoned Jesus and ran away.

Jesus is taken to Caiaphas

⁵⁷ They took Jesus to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the elders and scribes were assembled.

⁵⁸ Peter followed and watched from a distance.

^59-61 The chief priests and scribes found two false witnesses, who said,

This man said, "I can destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days."

⁶² Then the high priest said to Jesus, "Don't you have anything to say about this?"

⁶³ But Jesus said nothing. Then the high priest said to him,

I command you by the living God to tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of God.

⁶⁴ Jesus said to him,

You have said it.

And you will see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power, coming in the clouds of heaven.

⁶⁵ The high priest ripped his clothes and said,

Why do we need any more witnesses? You have heard his blasphemy.

⁶⁶ What do you think?

They answered, "He should be executed."

⁶⁷ Then they spat on his face and hit him. Others slapped him, and said, "Prophesy to us, Christ! Who hit you?"

Peter denies Jesus three times (before the cock crows once)

⁶⁹ While Peter sat outside the palace, a young woman came to him and said, "You were with Jesus of Galilee."

⁷⁰ Peter denied it, saying, "I don't know what you're talking about."

⁷¹ When Peter went out on the porch, another man saw him and said, "This man was with Jesus of Nazareth."

⁷² Peter swore, saying, "I don't know the man."

⁷³ Others who were standing nearby said, "We know that you're one of them, because you talk like them."

⁷⁴ Peter cursed and swore, saying, "I don't know the man."

And immediately the cock crowed.

⁷⁵ Peter remembered that Jesus said, "Before the cock crows, you'll deny me three times." And he left crying.