Religious leaders want to kill Jesus
When Jesus completed this interpretation, he said to his disciples: ‘As you know, in two days it will be Easter and I will be betrayed and crucified.’
Commentary: Jesus prophesies his own death again.
At that time, the Jewish greatness gathered in the palace of the high priest, Caiaphas. They consulted how they would subtly seize Jesus and escort him out of the world. They agreed that it should not be on the Easter holidays, so as not to cause a stir among the gathered pilgrims.
Woman anointing Jesus with precious ointment
In the meantime, Jesus was invited in Bethany to the house of Simon, called the leper. They were already at the table when a woman approached Jesus. She had an alabaster container of precious scented oil, and she rubbed it all into his hair. The disciples were outraged by this: ‘Such a waste! This could be sold profitably and the poor could get the money!’ Jesus heard this and said: ‘Why do you blame her? She has done me good service. There will always be enough of the poor among you, but I will not be with you for a long time. This woman anointed me with oil, and so she actually prepared my body for burial. What she has done will not fall In oblivion, but with the news of my work of rescue, it will be remembered.”
Comment: They really wanted the money? Or did they just not understand the depth of what the woman was doing? This is again a struggle between self-righteousness and grace. We can even think about ourselves. – Do we judge another person’s actions because he does not do things ‘rightly’ or how do we understand what the Bible says or do we try to show them love and mercy?
Moreover, there is more to it – the anointing of the body of Jesus (as was the custom at the time) in advance for his arrival.
A link to a beautiful song about the woman who anointed Jesus, played by Lillie McCloud. On X-Factor, she also managed to get a standing ovation from Simon Cowell (who mostly just criticizes everything): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp3B3tZFtLE
Judas agrees to betray Jesus
One of the twelve disciples of Jesus, Judas Iscariot, went to the high priests and said to them: ‘How much will you pay me if I betray Jesus, so that you can subtly get him in your hands?’ And they gave him thirty silver coins. From that moment on, Judas was looking for a suitable opportunity to carry out his intention.
The disciples are preparing an Easter dinner
On the first day of Easter, the disciples asked Jesus: ‘Where should we prepare the Easter dinner?’ He sent them to the city and to one person with a message: ‘It is my time, I will eat the Easter lamb with my disciples.’ The disciples arranged accordingly and prepared dinner there.
Comment: Absolutely god! The disciples simply came to someone and told them that Jesus would eat there and he agreed!
Jesus last dinner with the disciples
When Jesus had dinner with the twelve disciples after dark, he said, ‘One of you will betray me.’ This made them very sad and asked over each other: ‘Do you mean me, sir?’ He replied: ‘He is the one who took from the bowl at the same time as me. I must follow the path that is intended for me, but this does not justify the one who betrays me. It would be better for him if he was not born at all.’ Judas asked him, ‘Master, is it me?’ He replied, ‘Yes.’ Comment: Jesus prophesies here again. He knew in advance what was going to happen.
Last dinner
When they ate, Jesus took the bread, thanked God, broke it, and gave it to the disciples, saying: ‘Take and eat, it is my body.’ Then he took the chalice with the wine, gave it to God, and gave it to them with the words: ‘Drink from it all, it is my blood, shed, to wash away the sins of many. This is the new covenant of God with man. I drink this drink with you for the last time. Next time we will drink new wine together in my father’s kingdom.’ Then they sang a song and went to the Mount of Olives.
Commentary: As they say and are explained more in other Gospels, we too can remember Jesus with the ‘Feast of the Last Supper’. We can eat bread and pray for healing. Wine symbolizes spiritual purification. We can pray for more love, patience or whatever we need when we drink wine.
Jesus predicts Peter’s denial
There, Jesus said: ‘Something will happen this night that will take away your courage. For the Scriptures foretell: ‘Be the shepherd and the sheep will scatter!’ We’ll meet together in Galilee.’ Peter protested indignantly: ‘If everyone left you, I wouldn’t!’ But Jesus answered him: ‘I tell you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.’ Peter exclaimed: ‘I’d rather die with you than deny you!’ And so did the others.
Commentary: Here again Jesus prophesies about what will happen.
Jesus is experiencing the torment in the garden
Then they came to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, ‘You sit here and I go to pray.’ He took Peter, Jakub and Jan with him. Sadness and distress fell upon him. He went away, fell face down and prayed, ‘My father! If possible, deprive me of that terrible fate! But I don’t want to assert my will. I want what you want to happen.’ Then he went back to the three and they slept. ‘Peter,’ he woke him up, ‘you couldn’t be awake with me for an hour? Be awake and pray to pass the test. You have good will, but a weak body.’
He moved away again and prayed: ‘My father! If there is no other way out, let your will be done.’ He returned to his disciples again and they were asleep again. They were very tired. He let them sleep, left the third time and prayed with similar words. Then he returned to the disciples and said, ‘Now I no longer need you to watch with me. There is a time when I will be betrayed and handed over to mean people. Get up, we will go! That’s where my traitor is coming.’
COMMENT: Yes, unfortunately there was no other way out for us to be connected to God again. Our mistakes and sins separate us from him. Perhaps the best simile for us may be the relationship with our children. We still love them, but when they do what we know is not good for them and what we have clearly told them, it separates them from us. We feel distant from them, especially when they are teenagers.
In our case, we are not the righteous-perfect (and never will be) that is why we need Jesus. He was our only chance back to God and is still there, even every day. We simply can’t do any things without it, that’s why we need it so much and it’s wise to admit it. As it is written in the Beatitudes – Blessings/Happy are those who know that they need God.
Jesus is betrayed and captured
He hadn’t even finished yet and Judas was already coming. With him, he dragged a detachment armed with swords and sticks, sent by the Great Council. They had an agreement with Judas: they will take up who Judas kisses. And so Judas approached Jesus: ‘Hail, master!’ He said and kissed him. Jesus said to him, ‘Friend, what are you doing?’ Here, however, they took up Jesus and captured him. One of those who was with Jesus drew his sword, cut the high priest’s servant and cut off his ear. Jesus said to his defender: ‘Hide your sword! Whoever treats what he treats is also lost. Don’t you know that if I asked my Father for protection, he would immediately send me the entire heavenly army? But then how would God’s plan of salvation be fulfilled?’ Then he turned to the armed men: ‘You attracted me as a rebel. Why didn’t you already arrest me in the temple where I preached to you every day? I know why! You are fulfilling the prophetic predictions so accurately.’ At that moment, all his disciples left him and ran away.
Comment: Jesus said: ‘Don’t you know that if I asked my father for protection, he would immediately send me the entire heavenly army? But then how would God’s plan of salvation be fulfilled?’ Jesus had the power to ask for help. But he didn’t do it for you and for me. He always had the resulting goal in mind – so that we could be connected with God again, and that we could continue to live in heaven after this life!
This is true love and true friendship, as it is written in John 15:13 No one has more love than one who lays down his life for his friends.
Caiaphas is interrogating Jesus
The arrested Jesus was then taken to the high priest Caiaphas, where the great council met. Peter followed them from afar to the high priest’s palace. He entered the courtyard and mingled with the servants to know how it would turn out. The high priests and the whole council tried to use the false testimony of Jesus to accuse Jesus so that they could condemn him to death. But even though they got many fake witnesses, they still couldn’t find a suitable indictment. Finally, two got out and testified in unison: ‘This man said he had the power to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days.’ Then the supreme high priest rose and said to Jesus, ‘How will you defend yourself against this indictment?’ But Jesus was silent. Here the high priest reached for the last means: ‘I will take you under oath to the living God: Are you the promised Messiah, the Son of God?’ Jesus answered: ‘You yourself said it. But I assure you that soon you will witness God to raise me to sit at his right hand, from where I will return in my majesty.’ The high priest tore his robes as a sign of the greatest outrage and declared, ‘It’s blasphemy! Do we still need witnesses? Now you’ve heard it with your own ears! What judgment will you deliver?’ They replied, ‘He deserves death!’ Then some spat in his face, beat him on the head, and beat him with a stick, ‘When you’re the messiah, guess who gave you a blow now!’
Comment: Verses 62 and 63 say: ‘How will you defend yourself against this accusation?” But Jesus was silent. Jesus was silent. Sometimes it’s the wisest even for us to be silent when they tell lies against us. Sometimes you need to get in touch. God’s Spirit will always guide us.
In verses 63 and 64, the high priest asked Jesus: ‘Are you the promised Messiah, the Son of God?’‘ – So much for how many people recognize that Jesus has historically existed (which historically cannot be denied), but many people say that Jesus never said about himself that he is the Messiah and the Son of God. Here is one example when he said it.
In this chapter, Jesus’ humiliation and beating began and continues in the next chapter….
Peter denies knowing Jesus
For now, Petr was sitting outside in the courtyard. Here a maid noticed him: ‘You were also with that Jesus of Galilee!’ But Peter denied in front of everyone: ‘I don’t even know what you’re talking about!’ Then he headed for the gate, where another saw him and pointed out to the bystanders: ‘This man was walking with Jesus of Nazareth.’ However, Peter swore and said: ‘I don’t know that person at all.’ However, they gathered around him and rammed: ‘You definitely belong to him! You can tell it in your dialect!’ Peter suffocated and swore that he really did not know Jesus. At that moment, the rooster spoke up and Peter remembered Jesus’ words: ‘Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.’ He ran out and cried bitterly.
Commentary: So Peter really denied him as Jesus prophesied and then wept deeply. But we will learn later in the Bible about how much Jesus loved him and what miraculous things Peter did for Jesus. You can read more about how Peter changed after Jesus’ resurrection here: https://nekomunatobezalezi.cz/duch-svaty/
That’s why we don’t have to whip ourselves when we make a shoe and disappoint others or ourselves. God’s grace, love and understanding for our humanity is enormous and all-encompassing. We’ll just admit it to Jesus: ‘I’ve done stupid things or a very bad thing, please forgive me!’ And he said that our mistakes and sins, even if they were red, would suddenly be white as snow. As snow covers dirt, God’s love covers our mistakes – the second when we tell him about them. It is up to us to immediately accept his forgiveness and not worry unnecessarily. – He would never want that!
Image from the Moussa Museum in Lebanon.
