Gospel according to Matthew 26

¹ Jesus had now finished all he wanted to say, and he told his disciples,

² ‘It will be Passover, as you know, in two days’ time, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified’.

³ Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas,

⁴ and made plans to arrest Jesus by some trick and have him put to death.

⁵ They said, however, ‘It must not be during the festivities; there must be no disturbance among the people’.

⁶ Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, when

⁷ a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of the most expensive ointment, and poured it on his head as he was at table.

⁸ When they saw this, the disciples were indignant; ‘Why this waste?’ they said.

⁹ ‘This could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.’

¹⁰ Jesus noticed this. ‘Why are you upsetting the woman?’ he said to them. ‘What she has done for me is one of the good works[*a] indeed!

¹¹ You have the poor with you always, but you will not always have me.

¹² When she poured this ointment on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial.

¹³ I tell you solemnly, wherever in all the world this Good News is proclaimed, what she has done will be told also, in remembrance of her.’

¹⁴ Then one of the Twelve, the man called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said,

¹⁵ ‘What are you prepared to give me if I hand him over to you?’

¹⁶ They paid him thirty silver pieces[*b], and from that moment he looked for an opportunity to betray him.

¹⁷ Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread[*c] the disciples came to Jesus to say, ‘Where do you want us to make the preparations for you to eat the passover?’

¹⁸ ‘Go to so-and-so in the city’ he replied ‘and say to him, “The Master says: My time is near. It is at your house that I am keeping Passover with my disciples.”‘

¹⁹ The disciples did what Jesus told them and prepared the Passover.

²⁰ When evening came he was at table with the twelve disciples.

²¹ And while they were eating he said ‘I tell you solemnly, one of you is about to betray me’

²² They were greatly distressed and started asking him in turn, ‘Not I, Lord, surely?’

²³ He answered, ‘Someone who has dipped his hand into the dish with me, will betray me.

²⁴ The Son of Man is going to his fate, as the scriptures say he will, but alas for that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! Better for that man if he had never been born!’

²⁵ Judas, who was to betray him; asked in his turn, ‘Not I, Rabbi, surely?’ ‘They are your own words’ answered Jesus.

²⁶ Now as they were eating[*d], Jesus took some bread, and when he had said the blessing he broke it and gave it to the disciples. ‘Take it and eat;’ he said ‘this is my body.’

²⁷ Then he took a cup, and when he had returned thanks he gave it to them. ‘Drink all of you from this,’ he said

²⁸ ‘for this is my blood, the blood of the covenant, which is to be poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

²⁹ From now on, I tell you, I shall not drink wine until the day I drink the new wine with you in the kingdom of my Father.’

³⁰ After psalms had been sung[*e] they left for the Mount of Olives.

³¹ Then Jesus said to them, ‘You will all lose faith in me this night,[*f] for the scripture says: I shall strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered,[*g]

³² but after my resurrection I shall go before you to Galilee’.

³³ At this, Peter said, ‘Though all lose faith in you, I will never lose faith’.

³⁴ Jesus answered him, ‘I tell you solemnly, this very night, before the cock crows, you will have disowned me three times’.

³⁵ Peter said to him, ‘Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you’. And all the disciples said the same.

³⁶ Then Jesus came with them to a small estate called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, ‘Stay here while I go over there to pray’.

³⁷ He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee with him. And sadness came over him, and great distress.

³⁸ Then he said to them, ‘My soul is sorrowful to the point of death. Wait here and keep awake with me.’

³⁹ And going on a little further he fell on his face and prayed. ‘My Father,’ he said ‘if it is possible, let this cup pass me by. Nevertheless, let it be as you, not I, would have it.’

⁴⁰ He came back to the disciples and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, ‘So you had not the strength to keep awake with me one hour?

⁴¹ You should be awake, and praying not to be put to the test. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.’

⁴² Again, a second time, he went away and prayed: ‘My Father,’ he said ‘If this cup cannot pass by without my drinking it, your will be done!’

⁴³ And he came back again and found them sleeping, their eyes were so heavy.

⁴⁴ Leaving them there, he went away again and prayed for the third time, repeating the same words.

⁴⁵ Then he came back to the disciples and said to them, ‘You can sleep on now and take your rest. Now the hour has come when the Son of Man is to be betrayed into the hands of sinners.

⁴⁶ Get up! Let us go! My betrayer is already close at hand.’

⁴⁷ He was still speaking when Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared, and with him a large number of men armed with swords and clubs, sent by the chief priests and elders of the people.

⁴⁸ Now the traitor had arranged a sign with them. ‘The one I kiss,’ he had said ‘he is the man. Take him in charge.’

⁴⁹ So he went straight up to Jesus and said, ‘Greetings, Rabbi’, and kissed him.

⁵⁰ Jesus said to him, ‘My friend, do what you are here for’. Then they came forward, seized Jesus and took him in charge.

⁵¹ At that, one of the followers of Jesus grasped his sword and drew it; he struck out at the high priest’s servant, and cut off his ear.

⁵² Jesus then said, ‘Put your sword back, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.

⁵³ Or do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father who would promptly send more than twelve legions of angels to my defence?

⁵⁴ But then, how would the scriptures be fulfilled that say this is the way it must be?’

⁵⁵ It was at this time that Jesus said to the crowds, ‘Am I a brigand, that you had to set out to capture me with swords and clubs? I sat teaching in the Temple day after day and you never laid hands on me.’

⁵⁶ Now all this happened to fulfil the prophecies in scripture. Then all the disciples deserted him and ran away.

⁵⁷ The men who had arrested Jesus led him off to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled.

⁵⁸ Peter followed him at a distance, and when he reached the high priest’s palace, he went in and sat down with the attendants to see what the end would be.

⁵⁹ The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus, however false, on which they might pass the death-sentence.

⁶⁰ But they could not find any, though several lying witnesses came forward. Eventually two stepped forward

⁶¹ and made a statement, ‘This man said, “I have power to destroy the Temple of God and in three days build it up”‘

⁶² The high priest then stood up and said to him, ‘Have you no answer to that? What is this evidence these men are bringing against you?’

⁶³ But Jesus was silent. And the high priest said to him, ‘I put you on oath by the living God to tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God’.

⁶⁴ ‘The words are your own’ answered Jesus. ‘Moreover, I tell you that from this time onward you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.’

⁶⁵ At this, the high priest tore his clothes and said, ‘He has blasphemed. What need of witnesses have we now? There! You have just heard the blasphemy.

⁶⁶ What is your opinion?’ They answered, ‘He deserves to die’.

⁶⁷ Then they spat in his face and hit him with their fists; others said as they struck him,

⁶⁸ ‘Play the prophet, Christ! Who hit you then?’

⁶⁹ Meanwhile Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a servant-girl came up to him and said, ‘You too were with Jesus the Galilean’.

⁷⁰ But he denied it in front of them all. ‘I do not know what you are talking about’ he said.

⁷¹ When he went out to the gateway another servant-girl saw him and said to the people there, ‘This man was with Jesus the Nazarene’.

⁷² And again, with an oath, he denied it, ‘I do not know the man’.

⁷³ A little later the bystanders came up and said to Peter, ‘You are one of them for sure! Why, your accent gives you away.’

⁷⁴ Then he started calling down curses on himself and swearing, ‘I do not know the man’. At that moment the cock crew,

⁷⁵ and Peter remembered what Jesus had said, ‘Before the cock crows you will have disowned me three times’. And he went outside and wept bitterly.