Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, "Master, if you had been here
my brother would not have died, but I know that even now God will give
you whatever you ask him." Jesus said to her, "Your brother shall rise
again." Martha said to him, "I know that he shall rise again, at the
resurrection on the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection
and the life. He who believes in me shall live even though he die; and
whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?"
She said to him, "Yes, Master, I do believe that you are the Christ, the
Son of God who was to come into the world."
When Martha had said this she went away to call Mary, her sister,
telling her secretly, "The Master is here and is calling you." When Mary
heard this she rose quickly and went to him. Jesus had not yet come into
the village but was still in the place where Martha met him. When the
Jews who were trying to comfort Mary in the house saw her rise up
quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to
weep at the tomb. But when Mary reached the place where Jesus was and
saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, "Master, if you had been
here, my brother would not have died."
When Jesus saw her and the Jews who came with her weeping, he was deeply
moved, and said in great distress, "Where have you laid him?" They said
to him, "Master, come and see." Jesus wept. The Jews therefore said,
"See how he loved him!" Some of them said, "Could not this man who gave
sight to the blind have also kept Lazarus from dying?"
Jesus was again deeply moved, as he came to the tomb. It was a cave, and
a stone lay against it. Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the
dead man's sister, said to him, "Master, by this time his body has begun
to decay, for he has been dead four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not
tell you that if you only would believe you should see the glory of
God?" So they removed the stone, and Jesus lifted up his eyes and said,
"Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. I knew that thou always
dost listen to me, but I spoke for the sake of the people standing near,
that they may believe that thou hast sent me." When he had said this, he
cried in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth." Then he who was dead came
forth with his hands and feet wrapped in bandages and his face bound
with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Untie him and let him go."
Then many of the Jews who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus
did, believed in him.
JESUS PRAISES A WOMAN WHO GAVE HER BEST
While Jesus was at dinner at Bethany in the house of Simon, the
jar-maker, a woman came in with an alabaster jar of pure perfume, which
was very costly. Breaking the jar she poured the perfume over his head.
Some said to each other in indignation, "Why this waste of perfume? It
might have been sold for more than three hundred silver pieces and the
money given to the poor."
But because they found fault with her, Jesus said, "Let her alone, why
do you trouble her? She has done me a beautiful service. The poor are
with you always; to them you can do good whenever you wish, but me you
will not always have. She has done what she could; she has poured oil on
my body beforehand for burial. I tell you, wherever through all the
world the good news is told, this deed of hers will be told in memory of
her."
JESUS EATS THE LAST SUPPER WITH HIS DISCIPLES
Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went to the high priests
with the intention of betraying Jesus. And when they heard, they
rejoiced, promising to give him money; and he began to look for an
opportunity to betray him.
On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when the Jews kill
the lambs that are sacrificed at the Passover Feast, Jesus' disciples
said to him, "Where do you wish us to make ready for your passover
meal?"
[Illustration: _The Last Supper_]
So Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, "Go into the city,
where you will meet a man carrying a jar of water. Follow him and say
to the owner of whatever house he enters, 'The Master says, Where is my
room in which I may eat the passover meal with my disciples?' He will
show you a large upper room already furnished. There make ready for us."
So the disciples went into the city and found things as he had said they
would; and they prepared for the Passover.
When it was evening Jesus came with his twelve disciples; and while they
were eating at the table, he said, "I know surely that one of you now
eating with me will betray me." In deep sorrow the disciples said to
him, one after the other, "Surely it is not I?" He said to them, "It is
one of the twelve, one who is dipping his fingers into the dish with me.
The Son of Man will depart as it has been foretold of him, but woe to
that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would be better for that
man if he had never been born!"
Then Jesus took the bread and, when he had given thanks to God, he broke
it and said, "This is my body which is broken for you; do this in
remembrance of me."
In the same way, after he had eaten, Jesus took the cup, and when he had
given thanks to God, he gave it to his disciples and they drank of it.
Then he said, "This is the new covenant made by my blood which is shed
for many. As often as you drink this cup, do it in remembrance of me."
Then after singing a hymn they went out to the Mount of Olives.
There Jesus said to them, "You will all desert me, for it is written in
the scriptures: 'I will smite the shepherd and the sheep will be
scattered.' But after I have risen, I will go before you into Galilee."
Peter said to him, "Though all others should desert you, I will not."
Jesus said to him, "Indeed I tell you, this very night before the cock
crows you will deny three times that you know me." But Peter said more
emphatically, "Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you."
And all of them said the same.
JESUS ENCOURAGES HIS FRIENDS AND HELPERS
Jesus said, "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe
also in me. In my Father's house are many homes; if it were not so, I
would have told you, for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go
and prepare a place for you, I will return and take you to be with me
that where I am, you may be also; and you know the way to the place
where I am going."
Thomas said to him, "Master, we do not know where you are going; how
then can we know the way?" Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth,
and the life; no man comes to the Father except through me. If you had
learned to know me, you would have known my Father also; from now on you
know him and have seen him."
Philip said to him, "Master, let us see the Father and we will be
satisfied." Jesus said to him, "Have I been all this time with you and
yet you do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father;
then how can you say, 'Let us see the Father'? Do you not believe that I
am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I speak do not
come from me but from the Father who lives in me. Believe me, that I am
in the Father and the Father in me, or else believe me because of the
work itself. I say to you, he who believes in me will do the work which
I do and still greater works than these, for I go to the Father. And
whatever you shall ask in my name I will do, that the Father may be
glorified through the Son. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.
"If you love me you will keep my commands, and I shall ask the Father
and he will give you another Helper to be with you forever, even the
Spirit of truth.
"In a little while the world will see me no more; but you shall see me,
because I live and you shall live also. He who has my commands and obeys
them is the one who loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by my
Father, and I will love him and will reveal myself to him.
"I have told you all this while I am still with you; but the Helper, the
Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you
everything and remind you of all that I have said to you.
"Peace I leave with you, my own peace I give to you; not as the world
gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled nor afraid. You
have heard me tell you that I go away and am coming back to you. If you
love me you will be glad because I am going to the Father, for the
Father is greater than I. I have told you this now, before it takes
place, that when it does you may believe.
"I am the true vine and my Father is the vine-dresser. He cuts away each
of my branches that does not bear fruit, and cleans every branch that
bears fruit so as to make it bear more. You are already clean because of
the word which I have spoken to you. Remain united with me and I will
remain with you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit unless it remains
united with the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you remain
united with me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who remains
united with me and I with him bears much fruit, but apart from me you
can do nothing.
"If you remain united with me and my words remain in you, ask whatever
you will and you shall have it. It is by your bearing much fruit and
being my true disciples that my Father is glorified. As the Father has
loved me, so have I also loved you; continue in my love. If you keep my
commands, you will continue in my love, even as I have kept my Father's
commands and continue in his love.
"I have told you all this that my joy may be yours, and that your joy
may be complete. This is my command: 'Love one another even as I have
loved you.' No man has greater love than that which leads him to lay
down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do whatever I
command you. I call you servants no longer, for the servant does not
know what his master does; but I call you friends, for I have told you
everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me, but
I chose you and appointed you to bear fruit that will remain, so that
whatever you ask of the Father in my name he will give you."
JESUS IS SEIZED BY THE MOB
When Jesus and his disciples came to a certain place called Gethsemane,
he said to them, "Sit here while I pray"; but he took with him Peter and
James and John. And as he suffered greatly from deep sorrow, he said to
them, "My heart is heavy with sadness. Stay here and watch." Then he
went forward a short distance and threw himself on the ground and prayed
that if possible he might be spared this agony, saying, "Father, with
thee all things are possible. Take away this cup of agony from me. Yet
not my will, but thy will be done."
When he came back, he found his disciples asleep; and he said to Peter,
"Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch for one hour? Watch and pray
that you may overcome temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the
body is weak." Again he went away and prayed the same prayer. And when
he returned, again he found them asleep, for they were very drowsy; and
they did not know what to say to him. Then he came the third time and
said to them, "Sleep on now and take your rest. It is enough; the hour
has come; already the Son of Man has been betrayed into the hands of
wicked men. Rise, let us go; for here is the one who has betrayed me."
While Jesus was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, came up,
followed by a mob with swords and clubs, who had come from the high
priests and the scribes and the elders. Judas had arranged a signal: "He
whom I shall kiss," he said, "is the man. Take him, and lead him away
without letting him escape." As soon as he came, he went up to Jesus,
saying, "Master," and kissed him. Then they seized Jesus and took him;
but one of those who were with him drew his sword, and, striking the
servant of the high priest, cut off his ear. Jesus turned and said,
"Have you come out with swords and clubs to seize me as you would a
robber? Day after day I have been with you teaching in the Temple, yet
you never seized me."
Then Jesus' disciples left him and fled. One young man, however,
followed him with only a linen sheet thrown about him; but when the men
tried to seize him, he left the linen sheet and fled away naked.
The mob led Jesus away and brought him to the house of the high priest.
Peter followed at a distance, and when they had kindled a fire in the
middle of the courtyard and sat down together, he too sat down among
them. A certain maid, seeing him there by the firelight, looked at him
closely and said, "This man also was with him." But he denied it,
saying, "Woman, I do not know him." After a little while another person
who saw Peter said, "You too are one of them"; but he said, "Man, I am
not."
About an hour later another man said, "Certainly this fellow also was
with Jesus, for he is a Galilean." But Peter said, "Man, I do not know
what you are talking about." Immediately while he was still speaking,
the cock crowed. And Jesus turned and looked straight at Peter. Then
Peter remembered how the Lord had said to him, "Before the cock crows
to-day you will deny me three times." And Peter went out and wept
bitterly.
JESUS IN THE HANDS OF HIS ENEMIES
The men who seized Jesus mocked him and flogged him. They also
blindfolded him and said, "Prophet, tell us who is it that struck you?"
And they said many other things, insulting him.
At daybreak they brought him before the council at which were gathered
the elders, both the chief priests and the scribes. And they tried to
get evidence against him to have him put to death, but could not find
any, for though many made false statements, they did not agree. Some men
stood up and falsely said, "We heard him say, 'I will destroy this
temple made by the hands of men and within three days I will build
another made without hands.'" But the statements even of these men did
not agree.
Then the high priest arose and asked Jesus, "Do you not answer? What
about these statements that these men make against you?" But he was
silent and made no answer. And the high priest asked him, "Are you the
Christ? If you are, tell us." He said to them, "If I tell you, you will
not believe, and if I ask you questions, you will not answer me. But
after this the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of God
Almighty." Then they all said to him, "Are you then the Son of God?" He
replied, "It is as you say; I am." So they said, "What further need have
we of evidence? We have heard it from his own lips."
Then all the high priests and scribes rose and brought Jesus before
Pilate, and began to accuse him, saying, "We found this man leading our
people astray, forbidding them to pay taxes to the Roman emperor, and
saying that he himself is Christ, the King." Pilate asked him, "Are you
the King of the Jews?" He answered, "I am." Pilate said to the high
priests and the crowd, "I do not find that this man has done anything
wrong." But they insisted, saying, "He stirs up the people by teaching
through all Judea. He began in Galilee, and now he has come even here."
When Pilate heard this he asked whether Jesus was a Galilean, and when
he learned that he was and that he came under Herod's rule, he sent him
to Herod Antipas, who was also in Jerusalem at this time.
Herod was glad to see Jesus. He had long wished to see him because of
what he had heard about him, and because he also hoped to see him do
some wonderful deed. Although Herod asked him many questions, Jesus made
no answer, and the high priests and the scribes loudly shouted their
charges against him. Then Herod, and his soldiers, after mocking him,
and dressing him in a bright colored robe, sent him back to Pilate.
Pilate then called together the high priests and other officials and the
people, and said, "You brought me this man on the charge that he stirred
up the people to rebel. Now I have examined him before you and found no
guilt in him of those things of which you accuse him; no, nor has Herod,
for he has sent him back to us. You see that he has done nothing that
calls for death. I will therefore have him flogged and then release him"
(for it was the custom at this feast to release for them one man). But
they all cried out, "Away with him and release for us Barabbas" (a man
who had been put into prison because of a riot which had occurred in the
city, and on the charge of murder). Pilate spoke to them again, because
he wished to release Jesus; but still they shouted, "Crucify him!
Crucify him!" He said to them for the third time, "Why, what crime has
this man committed? I have found no reason to put him to death. I will
therefore have him flogged and then release him." But they shouted and
demanded that he should be crucified. And so Pilate, wishing to please
the people, released Barabbas, but Jesus he turned over to them to be
crucified.
JESUS IS CRUCIFIED BY HIS ENEMIES
The soldiers led Jesus to the courtyard of the governor's palace and
called together the whole company. Then they clothed him in a purple
robe and, making a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and began to
salute him, "Hail, King of the Jews!" They struck him on the head with a
reed and spat on him, and on bended knee paid homage to him. After they
had made sport of him, they stripped off the purple robe and put on his
own clothes, and led him out to be crucified.
They forced a man named Simon, of Cyrene, who was coming in from the
country, to carry his cross. So they brought Jesus to the place called
Golgotha, which means, the place of the skull. And they offered him wine
mixed with myrrh, but he would not take it. Then they crucified him and
divided his clothes among them, drawing lots to decide what each should
take. It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. The
inscription over his head stating the charge against him read:
_THE KING OF THE JEWS_
With him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his
left. And those who passed by scoffed at him, shaking their heads in
derision and saying, "Ha! you who were to destroy the Temple and
rebuild it in three days, save yourself and come down from the cross!"
In the same way the high priests and the scribes mocked him among
themselves and said, "He saved others, but he cannot save himself. Let
the Christ, the 'King of Israel,' now come down from the cross, that we
may see and believe!" But Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they
know not what they do."
One of the criminals who was crucified also scoffed at him, saying, "Are
you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!" But the other said in rebuke,
"Have you no fear of God even though you are being put to death? We are
suffering justly, receiving what we deserve for our crimes, but he has
done no wrong." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you enter your
kingdom." Jesus said to him, "This very day you will be with me in
paradise."
Now beside the cross of Jesus stood his mother. Seeing her and the
disciple whom he loved standing near, Jesus said to her, "Woman, he is
your son!" And to the disciple he said, "She is your mother!" And from
that hour the disciple took her into his own home.
Darkness covered the whole land from noon until three o'clock in the
afternoon. At that hour Jesus cried aloud, "Eloi, Eloi, lama
sabachthani," which means, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
When they heard it, some who stood by, said, "He is calling Elijah." And
a man ran and, soaking a sponge in vinegar, put it on the end of a reed
and was about to give it to him to drink when the others said, "Stop,
let us see if Elijah will come to take him down." But Jesus uttered a
loud cry and gave up his life. And the curtain of the Temple was torn in
two from the top to the bottom. When the Roman captain who stood facing
him saw in what way he died, he said, "Surely this man was a son of
God."
Looking on from a distance were some women also, among them Mary of
Magdala, Mary the mother of James, the younger, and of Joses, and
Salome, who had followed him and waited on him when he was in Galilee,
and many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem.
Because it was now evening of the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of
Arimathaea, an honorable member of the Jewish national council, who was
himself looking for the coming of the Kingdom of God, went to Pilate and
had the courage to ask him for the body of Jesus. Pilate, surprised that
he was dead, called the captain and asked whether Jesus was already
dead, and when he learned this from the captain he gave the body to
Joseph. After Joseph had taken Jesus from the cross, he wrapped him in
a linen sheet which he had bought, and laid him in a tomb cut out of
rock; and he rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. And Mary of
Magdala and Mary the mother of Joses, watched to see where Jesus was
laid.
JESUS CONQUERS DEATH
When the Sabbath was over, Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of James,
and Salome bought spices to embalm Jesus. Soon after sunrise on the
first day of the week they went to the tomb, and they said to one
another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the door?" But they
found that the stone, although very large, had been rolled to one side.
On entering the tomb they saw a young man in a white robe sitting on the
right, and they trembled and were afraid. But he said to them, "Do not
be afraid. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He
is risen; he is not here. See the place where he was laid! But go and
tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going before you into Galilee;
there you will see him, as he told you.'"
Then they remembered Jesus' words, and returning from the tomb they told
these things to the eleven disciples and to all the others; but to them,
the story seemed to be nonsense, and they were not believed. Peter,
however, ran to the tomb, but when he looked in he saw only the linen
bandages; and he went home wondering what had happened.
But Mary of Magdala stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she
stooped down and looked into the tomb and saw two angels in white
sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of
Jesus had lain. They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She
said, "Because they have taken away my Master and I do not know where
they have laid him!"
When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there,
but she did not know that it was Jesus. "Woman," said he, "Why are you
weeping? For whom are you looking?" Supposing that he was the gardener,
she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have
laid him, and I will take him away." Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She
turned to him and cried out, "Master!" Jesus said, "Do not touch me, for
I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and tell
them, 'I am ascending to my Father and to your Father, to my God and
your God.'" Mary went to the disciples with the news, "I have seen the
Master," and to tell them what he had said to her.
JESUS WALKS AND TALKS WITH TWO OF HIS DISCIPLES
On the same day two of Jesus' disciples were on their way to a village
called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem; and as they talked
together about what had happened, Jesus himself drew near and went with
them; but their eyes were kept from knowing him.
He said to them, "What are you talking about so earnestly as you walk
along?" And they stood still, looking sad, and one of them, named
Cleopas, answered, "Are you only a stranger stopping in Jerusalem? Do
you not know the things that have happened there within these last few
days?" He asked, "What things?" They answered, "Why, about Jesus of
Nazareth, who proved himself a prophet, mighty in word and deed before
God and all the people, and how our high priests and rulers gave him
over to be sentenced to death and had him crucified. But we were hoping
that he was the one to save Israel. It is now the third day since these
things happened. Yet some of our women who were at the tomb early this
morning, amazed us. They told us that they had not found his body but
that they had seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Then
some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it as the
women had said. But him they did not see."
Then Jesus said to them, "O foolish men, so slow of heart to believe in
what the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to
suffer and so win his glory?"
When they came to the village to which they were going, he seemed to be
going farther on, but they urged him, saying, "Stay with us, for it is
almost evening, the day is nearly over." So he went in to stay with
them.
As he sat with them at table, he took the bread, blessed it, broke it,
and passed it to them. Then their eyes were opened so that they knew
him; but he disappeared from their sight. They said to one another, "Did
not our hearts glow while he was talking with us on the way!"