1It was two days before the Passover and the Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and the scribes were looking for an underhanded way to seize and kill Him. 2But they said, “Not during the feast, or the people may riot.”
An anointing in Simon's house
3Being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He was reclining at a meal, a woman came having an alabaster vase of very costly perfume of pure nard. Then she broke the vase and began to pour it over His head. 4But there were some who were expressing indignation to one another and saying: “To what purpose was this perfume wasted? 5It could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor!” And they started censuring her. 6But Jesus said: “Leave her alone! Why are you bothering her? She has done something useful to me. 7You will always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do them good; but you will not always have me. 8She did what she could. She has perfumed my body for the burying before the fact. 9Assuredly I tell you, wherever this Gospel may be proclaimed throughout the whole world, what she has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”
Judas is hired
10Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went off to the chief priests, so as to betray Him to them. 11Well upon hearing it they rejoiced and promised to give him silver coins. So he started figuring how he might conveniently betray Him.
The upper room is made ready
12Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they would sacrifice the Paschal lamb, His disciples said to Him, “Where do you want us to go and prepare, so that you may eat the Passover?” 13So He sent two of His disciples, saying to them: “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a clay jar of water; follow him. 14Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, ‘The teacher says, “Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?” ’ 15He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready; there prepare for us.” 16So His disciples set out and came into the city and found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover.
The last night—begins Thursday evening, 04/04/30, and ends the next morning
17When it was evening He came with the twelve.
The traitor identified
18Now as they were reclining and eating, Jesus said, “Assuredly I tell you, one of you who is eating with me will betray me.” 19So they began to be sorrowful and to say to Him one by one, “Surely not I?” And another, “Surely not I?” 20He answered and said to them: “It is one of the twelve, the one dipping with me in the bowl. 21The Son of the Man is indeed going just as it is written about him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of the Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man not to have been born.”
Jesus institutes the Lord's Supper
22As they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, gave it to them and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” 23Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank it. 24And He said to them: “This is my blood, that of the new covenant, that is being shed for many. 25I tell you assuredly that I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the Kingdom of God.” 26And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Peter will deny Him
27Then Jesus said to them: “All of you will be caused to stumble because of me this night, because it is written:
‘I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep will be scattered.’
28But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.” 29But Peter said to Him, “Even if all are caused to stumble, yet not I.” 30Jesus said to him, “I tell you assuredly that you, today, this very night, before a rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” 31But he insisted even more vehemently, “If I have to die with you, I will absolutely not deny you!” And all the others said the same.
The agony in Gethsemane
32Then they came to a place that was named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33But He took with Him Peter, James and John, and began to be greatly troubled and distressed. 34And He said to them: “My soul is overwhelmed with grief, to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch.” 35Going on a little, He fell to the ground and started praying that if it were possible the hour might pass from Him. 36And He said: “Abba (Father), all things are possible to you. Please remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what you will.” 37Then He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter: “Simon, are you sleeping? Couldn't you keep watch for even one hour? 38Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 39Again He went away and prayed, saying the same thing. 40And when He returned He found them sleeping again, because their eyes were being weighed down; and they did not know how to answer Him. 41Then He came the third time and said to them: “You are still sleeping and resting! It is enough, the hour has come; yes, the Son of the Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42Get up, let's be going. See, my betrayer has approached.”
The betrayal and arrest
43And immediately, while He was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived, and with him a considerable crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. 44Now His betrayer had given them a signal, saying, “Whomever I kiss, he it is; seize him and take him away securely.” 45So upon arriving he went directly to Him and said to Him, “Rabbi, Rabbi!” and kissed Him. 46So they laid their hands on Him and secured Him. 47But a certain one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear. 48Then Jesus reacted by saying to them: “You have come out with swords and clubs to arrest me, as if I were a bandit. 49I was with you daily in the temple, teaching, and you did not seize me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.” 50Then they all deserted Him and ran away.
A curious case
51Now a certain young man had followed Him, having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body. The young men grabbed him, 52so leaving the linen cloth he fled from them naked.
At Caiaphas' house
53They led Jesus away to the high priest; and with him were assembled all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes. 54Well Peter had followed Him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting with the operatives and warming himself at the fire.
A farcical trial
55Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking testimony against Jesus so as to kill Him, but were not finding any. 56To be sure, many were testifying falsely against Him, but their statements did not agree. 57Then some stood up and started testifying falsely against Him, saying, 58“We heard him saying: ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.’ ” 59But not even then did their testimony agree.
60Then the high priest stood up in the center and questioned Jesus, saying: “Are you not going to answer? What are these testifying against you?” 61But He remained silent and answered nothing. Again the high priest questioned Him and said to Him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” 62So Jesus said: “I am, and you will see the Son of the Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of the heaven.” 63Then the high priest tore his clothes and said: “What further need do we have of witnesses? 64You heard the blasphemy! What do you think?” They all condemned Him to be deserving of death. 65Then some began to spit on Him, to cover His face, punch Him and say to Him, “Prophesy!” And the operatives started slapping Him.
Peter's denials
66Now as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came by. 67And seeing Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him and said, “You too were with Jesus the Natsarene!” 68But Peter denied, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you are saying.” And he went out into the entryway, and a rooster crowed. 69But that servant girl saw him again and began to say to those standing by, “This guy is one of them.” 70But again he kept denying it. Again, after a little while, those who were standing by said to Peter, “Surely you are one of them; because you really are a Galilean, and your accent agrees!” 71Then he began to curse and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you are speaking!” 72And for the second time a rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had said to him, “Before a rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” He broke down and started to cry.
Notes
*14:1I take it that this statement settles the question of the exact day of the crucifixion. It was late Tuesday afternoon, probably after 6:00 p.m.—adding two days takes us to 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, but the proceedings in the upper room began after 6:00 p.m. on that Thursday, which to the Jews was already Friday. Therefore Jesus died on a Friday [not Thursday]. (See also Luke 23:54-24:1—Jesus was buried on Friday afternoon; then the women rested during the Sabbath [singular = just one day]; then early the first day of the week they went to the tomb.) For further discussion, please see the Appendix: “How long was Jesus in the tomb?”
†14:5When Mary did it in her own house, only Judas complained. Now several others join in; it was getting to be too much of a good thing. See the footnote at verse 10 below.
‡14:8She did what was in her power to do. I would be happy to have that epitaph on my tombstone (if I ever have one) —‘he did what he could’.
§14:9Yes indeed; we are still reading about it, some 2,000 years later.
*14:10It was too much for Judas. On Saturday (03-30-30) Mary of Bethany had anointed His feet with 300 denarii worth of the same perfume, and now four days later (Wed., 04-03-30) another woman anoints His head with another 300 denarii worth of perfume (that was a lot of money, and he liked money). In both cases Jesus affirms they are anointing Him for burial (and He had repeatedly told them He was going to be killed). Judas figured out that his expectation of an immediate kingdom was unfounded, and he rebelled. (He might even have convinced himself that Jesus had deceived him when He called him to be a disciple.)
†14:11I follow the best line of transmission and 40% of the manuscripts in reading ‘silver coins’ rather than ‘money’.
‡14:15This had obviously been prearranged. I suppose that this was the upper room that the disciples continued to use.
§14:19Some 8% of the Greek manuscripts omit ‘and another, surely not I’ (to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).
*14:21Praying to His Father, Jesus said: “Those whom you gave me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled” (John 17:12). Judas was lost. But what are the implications of ‘better not to have been born’? I suppose it means that it is better to have never existed, than to spend eternity in the Lake. I find this line of reasoning to be uncomfortable.
†14:22Perhaps 5% of the Greek manuscripts omit ‘eat’ (to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).
‡14:24A small handful (0.6%) of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit ‘new’, to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc. Hebrews 8:7-10:18 clearly links the new covenant in Jeremiah 31 to the shed blood of God's Lamb.
§14:25Jesus affirms that He will drink it in the Kingdom. I imagine this will be during the Millennial Reign, not in Heaven.
*14:27Some 30% of the Greek manuscripts omit ‘because of me this night’ (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).
‡14:30For a full discussion of Peter's denials, harmonizing all four accounts, please see the Appendix: How often did Jesus say Peter would deny Him? I argue that this is the fourth warning, and since Peter became increasingly belligerent and disrespectful, Jesus added a second crowing preceded by another three denials.
§14:40The verb is in the passive voice, so the necessary question is, by whom? I follow some 35% of the Greek manuscripts, including the best line of transmission, in reading ‘were being weighed down’, rather than ‘had been weighed down’, as in the rest.
*14:42There may have been pauses between the statements.
†14:43John 18:12 informs us that there was a ‘chiliarch’ present (a commander of 1,000 soldiers). An officer of such high rank could only be there by the Governor's order (Pilate). Subsequent events make clear that Pilate had been consulted, and had agreed to play along.
‡14:44Why the ‘securely’? Judas had seen so many manifestations of Jesus' power that he should have known better, but of course he was under Satan's control at that time. However, it appears that they expected resistance.
§14:47We know from Luke 22:51 that Jesus immediately healed the ear—otherwise things could have gotten nasty.
*14:50Mark's account is brief. The parallel accounts fill in the picture of what actually happened.
†14:52Now why would Mark want to include an incident like this in his account? (None of the others do.) I rather imagine that he was that young man. Although not invited to the Passover, he probably waited outside and followed them to Gethsemane. In effect he is saying, “I was there.”
‡14:59It was indeed false testimony, since that was not what Jesus said. But even if He had said that, it would just be stupid, not criminal. They were desperate.
§14:61It was so obviously a farce that no answer was required.
*14:61This was an illegal proceeding on the part of the priest: he was asking Jesus to testify against Himself. The priest was desperate.
†14:62Wow! Jesus gave him more than he asked for! But how and when will those men, certainly lost, “see the Son of the Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of the heaven”? They will still be in Hades when Christ returns. Will those in Hades be able to see what goes on outside? I don't have an answer.
‡14:64Wait a minute! How could the truth be blasphemy? They rejected the truth.
§14:65They wanted Him to say who had hit Him. What they were doing was really cowardly, but they were probably under demonic influence.
*14:68Nine Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, against 1,623 (according to TuT), omit “and a rooster crowed”, to be followed by NIV and NASB (with their usual misleading footnotes).
†14:70Around 2.5% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit ‘and your accent agrees’, to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.
‡14:72But only after the Lord looked at him and broke the spell (Luke 22:61).
I take it that this statement settles the question of the exact day of the crucifixion. It was late Tuesday afternoon, probably after 6:00 p.m.—adding two days takes us to 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, but the proceedings in the upper room began after 6:00 p.m. on that Thursday, which to the Jews was already Friday. Therefore Jesus died on a Friday [not Thursday]. (See also Luke 23:54-24:1—Jesus was buried on Friday afternoon; then the women rested during the Sabbath [singular = just one day]; then early the first day of the week they went to the tomb.) For further discussion, please see the Appendix: “How long was Jesus in the tomb?”
When Mary did it in her own house, only Judas complained. Now several others join in; it was getting to be too much of a good thing. See the footnote at verse 10 below.
She did what was in her power to do. I would be happy to have that epitaph on my tombstone (if I ever have one) —‘he did what he could’.
Yes indeed; we are still reading about it, some 2,000 years later.
It was too much for Judas. On Saturday (03-30-30) Mary of Bethany had anointed His feet with 300 denarii worth of the same perfume, and now four days later (Wed., 04-03-30) another woman anoints His head with another 300 denarii worth of perfume (that was a lot of money, and he liked money). In both cases Jesus affirms they are anointing Him for burial (and He had repeatedly told them He was going to be killed). Judas figured out that his expectation of an immediate kingdom was unfounded, and he rebelled. (He might even have convinced himself that Jesus had deceived him when He called him to be a disciple.)
I follow the best line of transmission and 40% of the manuscripts in reading ‘silver coins’ rather than ‘money’.
This had obviously been prearranged. I suppose that this was the upper room that the disciples continued to use.
Some 8% of the Greek manuscripts omit ‘and another, surely not I’ (to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).
Praying to His Father, Jesus said: “Those whom you gave me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled” (John 17:12). Judas was lost. But what are the implications of ‘better not to have been born’? I suppose it means that it is better to have never existed, than to spend eternity in the Lake. I find this line of reasoning to be uncomfortable.
Perhaps 5% of the Greek manuscripts omit ‘eat’ (to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).
A small handful (0.6%) of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit ‘new’, to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc. Hebrews 8:7-10:18 clearly links the new covenant in Jeremiah 31 to the shed blood of God's Lamb.
Jesus affirms that He will drink it in the Kingdom. I imagine this will be during the Millennial Reign, not in Heaven.
Some 30% of the Greek manuscripts omit ‘because of me this night’ (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).
See Zechariah 13:7.
For a full discussion of Peter's denials, harmonizing all four accounts, please see the Appendix: How often did Jesus say Peter would deny Him? I argue that this is the fourth warning, and since Peter became increasingly belligerent and disrespectful, Jesus added a second crowing preceded by another three denials.
The verb is in the passive voice, so the necessary question is, by whom? I follow some 35% of the Greek manuscripts, including the best line of transmission, in reading ‘were being weighed down’, rather than ‘had been weighed down’, as in the rest.
There may have been pauses between the statements.
John 18:12 informs us that there was a ‘chiliarch’ present (a commander of 1,000 soldiers). An officer of such high rank could only be there by the Governor's order (Pilate). Subsequent events make clear that Pilate had been consulted, and had agreed to play along.
Why the ‘securely’? Judas had seen so many manifestations of Jesus' power that he should have known better, but of course he was under Satan's control at that time. However, it appears that they expected resistance.
We know from Luke 22:51 that Jesus immediately healed the ear—otherwise things could have gotten nasty.
Mark's account is brief. The parallel accounts fill in the picture of what actually happened.
Now why would Mark want to include an incident like this in his account? (None of the others do.) I rather imagine that he was that young man. Although not invited to the Passover, he probably waited outside and followed them to Gethsemane. In effect he is saying, “I was there.”
It was indeed false testimony, since that was not what Jesus said. But even if He had said that, it would just be stupid, not criminal. They were desperate.
It was so obviously a farce that no answer was required.
This was an illegal proceeding on the part of the priest: he was asking Jesus to testify against Himself. The priest was desperate.
Wow! Jesus gave him more than he asked for! But how and when will those men, certainly lost, “see the Son of the Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of the heaven”? They will still be in Hades when Christ returns. Will those in Hades be able to see what goes on outside? I don't have an answer.
Wait a minute! How could the truth be blasphemy? They rejected the truth.
They wanted Him to say who had hit Him. What they were doing was really cowardly, but they were probably under demonic influence.
Nine Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, against 1,623 (according to TuT), omit “and a rooster crowed”, to be followed by NIV and NASB (with their usual misleading footnotes).
Around 2.5% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit ‘and your accent agrees’, to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.
But only after the Lord looked at him and broke the spell (Luke 22:61).