Mark 14:1-31

It was now only two days before the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. The leading priests and teachers of the law were trying to find a way to arrest Jesus without the people seeing it. Then they could kill him. They said, “But we cannot arrest Jesus during the festival. We don’t want the people to be angry and cause a riot.” Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper. While he was eating there, a woman came to him. She had an alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume made of pure nard. She opened the jar and poured the perfume on Jesus’ head. Some of the followers there saw this. They were upset and complained to each other. They said, “Why waste that perfume? It was worth a full year’s pay. It could have been sold and the money given to those who are poor.” And they told the woman what a bad thing she had done. Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why are you giving her such trouble? She did a very good thing for me. You will always have the poor with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. This woman did the only thing she could do for me. She poured perfume on my body before I die to prepare it for burial. The Good News will be told to people all over the world. And I can assure you that everywhere the Good News is told, the story of what this woman did will also be told, and people will remember her.” Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve apostles, went to talk to the leading priests about handing Jesus over to them. They were very happy about this, and they promised to pay him. So he waited for the best time to hand Jesus over to them. It was now the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread—the day the lambs were killed for the Passover. Jesus’ followers came to him and said, “We will go and prepare everything for you to eat the Passover meal. Where do you want us to have the meal?” Jesus sent two of his followers into the city. He said to them, “Go into the city. You will see a man carrying a jar of water. He will come to you. Follow him. He will go into a house. Tell the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks that you show us the room where he and his followers can eat the Passover meal.’ The owner will show you a large room upstairs that is ready for us. Prepare the meal for us there.” So the followers left and went into the city. Everything happened the way Jesus said. So the followers prepared the Passover meal. In the evening Jesus went to that house with the twelve apostles. While they were all at the table eating, he said, “Believe me when I say that one of you will hand me over to my enemies—one of you eating with me now.” The followers were very sad to hear this. Each one said to Jesus, “Surely I am not the one!” Jesus answered, “It is one of you twelve—the one who is dipping his bread in the same bowl with me. The Son of Man will suffer what the Scriptures say will happen to him. But it will be very bad for the one who hands over the Son of Man to be killed. It would be better for him if he had never been born.” While they were eating, Jesus took some bread and thanked God for it. He broke off some pieces, gave them to his followers and said, “Take and eat this bread. It is my body.” Then he took a cup of wine, thanked God for it, and gave it to them. They all drank from the cup. Then he said, “This wine is my blood, which will be poured out for many to begin the new agreement from God to his people. I want you to know, I will not drink this wine again until that day when I drink it in God’s kingdom and the wine is new.” They all sang a song and then went out to the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus told the followers, “You will all lose your faith. The Scriptures say, ‘I will kill the shepherd, and the sheep will run away.’ But after I am killed, I will rise from death. Then I will go to Galilee. I will be there before you come.” Peter said, “All the other followers may lose their faith. But my faith will never be shaken.” Jesus answered, “The truth is, tonight you will say you don’t know me. You will say it three times before the rooster crows twice.” But Peter strongly protested, “I will never say I don’t know you! I will even die with you!” And all the other followers said the same thing.