Mark 14
14
Anointing His Head
1-2In only two days the eight-day Festival of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread would begin. The high priests and religion scholars were looking for a way they could seize Jesus by stealth and kill him. They agreed that it should not be done during Passover Week. “We don’t want the crowds up in arms,” they said.
3-5Jesus was at Bethany, a guest of Simon the Leper. While he was eating dinner, a woman came up carrying a bottle of very expensive perfume. Opening the bottle, she poured it on his head. Some of the guests became furious among themselves. “That’s criminal! A sheer waste! This perfume could have been sold for well over a year’s wages and handed out to the poor.” They swelled up in anger, nearly bursting with indignation over her.
6-9But Jesus said, “Let her alone. Why are you giving her a hard time? She has just done something wonderfully significant for me. You will have the poor with you every day for the rest of your lives. Whenever you feel like it, you can do something for them. Not so with me. She did what she could when she could—she pre-anointed my body for burial. And you can be sure that wherever in the whole world the Message is preached, what she just did is going to be talked about admiringly.”
10-11Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the cabal of high priests, determined to betray him. They couldn’t believe their ears, and promised to pay him well. He started looking for just the right moment to hand him over.
Traitor to the Son of Man
12On the first of the Days of Unleavened Bread, the day they prepare the Passover sacrifice, his disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and make preparations so you can eat the Passover meal?”
13-15He directed two of his disciples, “Go into the city. A man carrying a water jug will meet you. Follow him. Ask the owner of whichever house he enters, ‘The Teacher wants to know, Where is my guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?’ He will show you a spacious second-story room, swept and ready. Prepare for us there.”
16The disciples left, came to the city, found everything just as he had told them, and prepared the Passover meal.
17-18After sunset he came with the Twelve. As they were at the supper table eating, Jesus said, “I have something hard but important to say to you: One of you is going to hand me over to the conspirators, one who at this moment is eating with me.”
19Stunned, they started asking, one after another, “It isn’t me, is it?”
20-21He said, “It’s one of the Twelve, one who eats with me out of the same bowl. In one sense, it turns out that the Son of Man is entering into a way of treachery well-marked by the Scriptures—no surprises here. In another sense, the man who turns him in, turns traitor to the Son of Man—better never to have been born than do this!”
“This Is My Body”
22In the course of their meal, having taken and blessed the bread, he broke it and gave it to them. Then he said,
Take, this is my body.
23-24Taking the chalice, he gave it to them, thanking God, and they all drank from it. He said,
This is my blood,
God’s new covenant,
Poured out for many people.
25“I’ll not be drinking wine again until the new day when I drink it in the kingdom of God.”
26They sang a hymn and then went directly to Mount Olives.
* * *
27-28Jesus told them, “You’re all going to feel that your world is falling apart and that it’s my fault. There’s a Scripture that says,
I will strike the shepherd;
The sheep will scatter.
“But after I am raised up, I will go ahead of you, leading the way to Galilee.”
29Peter blurted out, “Even if everyone else is ashamed of you when things fall to pieces, I won’t be.”
30Jesus said, “Don’t be so sure. Today, this very night in fact, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.”
31He blustered in protest, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you.” All the others said the same thing.
Gethsemane
32-34They came to an area called Gethsemane. Jesus told his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took Peter, James, and John with him. He sank into a pit of suffocating darkness. He told them, “I feel bad enough right now to die. Stay here and keep vigil with me.”
35-36Going a little ahead, he fell to the ground and prayed for a way out: “Papa, Father, you can—can’t you?—get me out of this. Take this cup away from me. But please, not what I want—what do you want?”
37-38He came back and found them sound asleep. He said to Peter, “Simon, you went to sleep on me? Can’t you stick it out with me a single hour? Stay alert, be in prayer, so you don’t enter the danger zone without even knowing it. Don’t be naive. Part of you is eager, ready for anything in God; but another part is as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire.”
39-40He then went back and prayed the same prayer. Returning, he again found them sound asleep. They simply couldn’t keep their eyes open, and they didn’t have a plausible excuse.
41-42He came back a third time and said, “Are you going to sleep all night? No—you’ve slept long enough. Time’s up. The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up. Let’s get going. My betrayer has arrived.”
A Bunch of Thugs
43-47No sooner were the words out of his mouth when Judas, the one out of the Twelve, showed up, and with him a bunch of thugs, sent by the high priests, religion scholars, and leaders, brandishing swords and clubs. The betrayer had worked out a signal with them: “The one I kiss, that’s the one—seize him. Make sure he doesn’t get away.” He went straight to Jesus and said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him. The others then grabbed him and roughed him up. One of the men standing there unsheathed his sword, swung, and came down on the Chief Priest’s servant, lopping off the man’s ear.
48-50Jesus said to them, “What is this, coming after me with swords and clubs as if I were a dangerous criminal? Day after day I’ve been sitting in the Temple teaching, and you never so much as lifted a hand against me. What you in fact have done is confirm the prophetic writings.” All the disciples bailed on him.
51-52A young man was following along. All he had on was a bedsheet. Some of the men grabbed him but he got away, running off naked, leaving them holding the sheet.
Condemned to Death
53-54They led Jesus to the Chief Priest, where the high priests, religious leaders, and scholars had gathered together. Peter followed at a safe distance until they got to the Chief Priest’s courtyard, where he mingled with the servants and warmed himself at the fire.
55-59The high priests conspiring with the Jewish Council looked high and low for evidence against Jesus by which they could sentence him to death. They found nothing. Plenty of people were willing to bring in false charges, but nothing added up, and they ended up canceling each other out. Then a few of them stood up and lied: “We heard him say, ‘I am going to tear down this Temple, built by hard labor, and in three days build another without lifting a hand.’” But even they couldn’t agree exactly.
60-61In the middle of this, the Chief Priest stood up and asked Jesus, “What do you have to say to the accusation?” Jesus was silent. He said nothing.
The Chief Priest tried again, this time asking, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed?”
62Jesus said, “Yes, I am, and you’ll see it yourself:
The Son of Man seated
At the right hand of the Mighty One,
Arriving on the clouds of heaven.”
63-64The Chief Priest lost his temper. Ripping his clothes, he yelled, “Did you hear that? After that do we need witnesses? You heard the blasphemy. Are you going to stand for it?”
They condemned him, one and all. The sentence: death.
65Some of them started spitting at him. They blindfolded his eyes, then hit him, saying, “Who hit you? Prophesy!” The guards, punching and slapping, took him away.
The Rooster Crowed
66-67While all this was going on, Peter was down in the courtyard. One of the Chief Priest’s servant girls came in and, seeing Peter warming himself there, looked hard at him and said, “You were with the Nazarene, Jesus.”
68He denied it: “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He went out on the porch. A rooster crowed.
69-70The girl spotted him and began telling the people standing around, “He’s one of them.” He denied it again.
After a little while, the bystanders brought it up again. “You’ve got to be one of them. You’ve got ‘Galilean’ written all over you.”
71-72Now Peter got really nervous and swore, “I never laid eyes on this man you’re talking about.” Just then the rooster crowed a second time. Peter remembered how Jesus had said, “Before a rooster crows twice, you’ll deny me three times.” He collapsed in tears.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
Mark 14
14
Preparation for burial
1It was two days before Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and legal experts through cunning tricks were searching for a way to arrest Jesus and kill him. 2But they agreed that it shouldn’t happen during the festival; otherwise, there would be an uproar among the people.
3Jesus was at Bethany visiting the house of Simon, who had a skin disease. During dinner, a woman came in with a vase made of alabaster and containing very expensive perfume of pure nard. She broke open the vase and poured the perfume on his head. 4Some grew angry. They said to each other, “Why waste the perfume? 5This perfume could have been sold for almost a year’s pay#14.5 Or three hundred denaria; a denarion was equivalent to a day’s pay. and the money given to the poor.” And they scolded her.
6Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you make trouble for her? She has done a good thing for me. 7You always have the poor with you; and whenever you want, you can do something good for them. But you won’t always have me. 8She has done what she could. She has anointed my body ahead of time for burial. 9I tell you the truth that, wherever in the whole world the good news is announced, what she’s done will also be told in memory of her.”
Passover meal
10Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to give Jesus up to them. 11When they heard it, they were delighted and promised to give him money. So he started looking for an opportunity to turn him in.
12On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb was sacrificed, the disciples said to Jesus, “Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover meal?”
13He sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city. A man carrying a water jar will meet you. Follow him. 14Wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, ‘The teacher asks,“Where is my guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?”’ 15He will show you a large room upstairs already furnished. Prepare for us there.” 16The disciples left, came into the city, found everything just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover meal.
17That evening, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. 18During the meal, Jesus said, “I assure you that one of you will betray me—someone eating with me.”
19Deeply saddened, they asked him, one by one, “It’s not me, is it?”
20Jesus answered, “It’s one of the Twelve, one who is dipping bread with me into this bowl. 21The Human One#14.21 Or Son of Man goes to his death just as it is written about him. But how terrible it is for that person who betrays the Human One!#14.21 Or Son of Man It would have been better for him if he had never been born.”
22While they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” 23He took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 25I assure you that I won’t drink wine again until that day when I drink it in a new way in God’s kingdom.” 26After singing songs of praise, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Predictions about disciples leaving Jesus
27Jesus said to them, “You will all falter in your faithfulness to me. It is written,I will hit the shepherd, and the sheep will go off in all directions.#14.27 Zech 13:7 28But after I’m raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.”
29Peter said to him, “Even if everyone else stumbles, I won’t.”
30But Jesus said to him, “I assure you that on this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.”
31But Peter insisted, “If I must die alongside you, I won’t deny you.” And they all said the same thing.
Jesus in prayer
32Jesus and his disciples came to a place called Gethsemane. Jesus said to them, “Sit here while I pray.” 33He took Peter, James, and John along with him. He began to feel despair and was anxious. 34He said to them, “I’m very sad. It’s as if I’m dying. Stay here and keep alert.” 35Then he went a short distance farther and fell to the ground. He prayed that, if possible, he might be spared the time of suffering. 36He said, “Abba, Father, for you all things are possible. Take this cup of suffering away from me. However—not what I want but what you want.”
37He came and found them sleeping. He said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Couldn’t you stay alert for one hour? 38Stay alert and pray so that you won’t give in to temptation. The spirit is eager, but the flesh is weak.”
39Again, he left them and prayed, repeating the same words. 40And, again, when he came back, he found them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open, and they didn’t know how to respond to him. 41He came a third time and said to them, “Will you sleep and rest all night? That’s enough! The time has come for the Human One#14.41 Or Son of Man to be betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42Get up! Let’s go! Look, here comes my betrayer.”
Arrest
43Suddenly, while Jesus was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, came with a mob carrying swords and clubs. They had been sent by the chief priests, legal experts, and elders. 44His betrayer had given them a sign: “Arrest the man I kiss, and take him away under guard.”
45As soon as he got there, Judas said to Jesus, “Rabbi!” Then he kissed him. 46Then they came and grabbed Jesus and arrested him.
47One of the bystanders drew a sword and struck the high priest’s slave and cut off his ear. 48Jesus responded, “Have you come with swords and clubs to arrest me, like an outlaw? 49Day after day, I was with you, teaching in the temple, but you didn’t arrest me. But let the scriptures be fulfilled.” 50And all his disciples left him and ran away. 51One young man, a disciple, was wearing nothing but a linen cloth. They grabbed him, 52but he left the linen cloth behind and ran away naked.
A hearing before the Sanhedrin
53They led Jesus away to the high priest, and all the chief priests, elders, and legal experts gathered. 54Peter followed him from a distance, right into the high priest’s courtyard. He was sitting with the guards, warming himself by the fire. 55The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for testimony against Jesus in order to put him to death, but they couldn’t find any. 56Many brought false testimony against him, but they contradicted each other. 57Some stood to offer false witness against him, saying, 58“We heard him saying, ‘I will destroy this temple, constructed by humans, and within three days I will build another, one not made by humans.’” 59But their testimonies didn’t agree even on this point.
60Then the high priest stood up in the middle of the gathering and examined Jesus. “Aren’t you going to respond to the testimony these people have brought against you?” 61But Jesus was silent and didn’t answer. Again, the high priest asked, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the blessed one?”
62Jesus said, “I am. And you will see the Human One#14.62 Or Son of Man sitting on the right side of the Almighty#14.62 Or the Power and coming on the heavenly clouds.”
63Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “Why do we need any more witnesses? 64You’ve heard his insult against God. What do you think?”
They all condemned him. “He deserves to die!”
65Some began to spit on him. Some covered his face and hit him, saying, “Prophesy!” Then the guards took him and beat him.
Peter denies Jesus
66Meanwhile, Peter was below in the courtyard. A woman, one of the high priest’s servants, approached 67and saw Peter warming himself by the fire. She stared at him and said, “You were also with the Nazarene, Jesus.”
68But he denied it, saying, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t understand what you’re saying.” And he went outside into the outer courtyard. A rooster crowed.
69The female servant saw him and began a second time to say to those standing around, “This man is one of them.” 70But he denied it again.
A short time later, those standing around again said to Peter, “You must be one of them, because you are also a Galilean.”
71But he cursed and swore, “I don’t know this man you’re talking about.” 72At that very moment, a rooster crowed a second time. Peter remembered what Jesus told him, “Before a rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down, sobbing.
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