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John 18:1-19
After saying these things, Jesus crossed the Kidron Valley with his disciples and entered a grove of olive trees.Judas, the betrayer, knew this place, because Jesus had often gone there with his disciples.The leading priests and Pharisees had given Judas a contingent of Roman soldiers and Temple guards to accompany him. Now with blazing torches, lanterns, and weapons, they arrived at the olive grove.Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to him, so he stepped forward to meet them.“ Who are you looking for?” he asked.“ Jesus the Nazarene,” they replied.“ I Am he,” Jesus said.( Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.)As Jesus said“ I Am he,” they all drew back and fell to the ground!Once more he asked them,“ Who are you looking for?” And again they replied,“ Jesus the Nazarene.”“ I told you that I Am he,” Jesus said.“ And since I am the one you want, let these others go.”He did this to fulfill his own statement:“ I did not lose a single one of those you have given me.”Then Simon Peter drew a sword and slashed off the right ear of Malchus, the high priest’s slave.But Jesus said to Peter,“ Put your sword back into its sheath. Shall I not drink from the cup of suffering the Father has given me?”So the soldiers, their commanding officer, and the Temple guards arrested Jesus and tied him up.First they took him to Annas, since he was the father in law of Caiaphas, the high priest at that time.Caiaphas was the one who had told the other Jewish leaders,“ It’s better that one man should die for the people.”Simon Peter followed Jesus, as did another of the disciples. That other disciple was acquainted with the high priest, so he was allowed to enter the high priest’s courtyard with Jesus.Peter had to stay outside the gate. Then the disciple who knew the high priest spoke to the woman watching at the gate, and she let Peter in.The woman asked Peter,“ You’re not one of that man’s disciples, are you?”“ No,” he said,“ I am not.”Because it was cold, the household servants and the guards had made a charcoal fire. They stood around it, warming themselves, and Peter stood with them, warming himself.Inside, the high priest began asking Jesus about his followers and what he had been teaching them.
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Psalms 22:1-21
My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help?Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer. Every night I lift my voice, but I find no relief.Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.Our ancestors trusted in you, and you rescued them.They cried out to you and were saved. They trusted in you and were never disgraced.But I am a worm and not a man. I am scorned and despised by all!Everyone who sees me mocks me. They sneer and shake their heads, saying,“ Is this the one who relies on the Lord? Then let the Lord save him! If the Lord loves him so much, let the Lord rescue him!”Yet you brought me safely from my mother’s womb and led me to trust you at my mother’s breast.I was thrust into your arms at my birth. You have been my God from the moment I was born.Do not stay so far from me, for trouble is near, and no one else can help me.My enemies surround me like a herd of bulls; fierce bulls of Bashan have hemmed me in!Like lions they open their jaws against me, roaring and tearing into their prey.My life is poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax, melting within me.My strength has dried up like sunbaked clay. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have laid me in the dust and left me for dead.My enemies surround me like a pack of dogs; an evil gang closes in on me. They have pierced my hands and feet.I can count all my bones. My enemies stare at me and gloat.They divide my garments among themselves and throw dice for my clothing.O Lord, do not stay far away! You are my strength; come quickly to my aid!Save me from the sword; spare my precious life from these dogs.Snatch me from the lion’s jaws and from the horns of these wild oxen.
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Leviticus 1:6
Then skin the animal and cut it into pieces.
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Mark 14:1-15
It was now two days before Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. The leading priests and the teachers of religious law were still looking for an opportunity to capture Jesus secretly and kill him.“ But not during the Passover celebration,” they agreed,“ or the people may riot.”Meanwhile, Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon, a man who had previously had leprosy. While he was eating, a woman came in with a beautiful alabaster jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard. She broke open the jar and poured the perfume over his head.Some of those at the table were indignant.“ Why waste such expensive perfume?” they asked.“ It could have been sold for a year’s wages and the money given to the poor!” So they scolded her harshly.But Jesus replied,“ Leave her alone. Why criticize her for doing such a good thing to me?You will always have the poor among you, and you can help them whenever you want to. But you will not always have me.She has done what she could and has anointed my body for burial ahead of time.I tell you the truth, wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world, this woman’s deed will be remembered and discussed.”Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went to the leading priests to arrange to betray Jesus to them.They were delighted when they heard why he had come, and they promised to give him money. So he began looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus.On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, Jesus’ disciples asked him,“ Where do you want us to go to prepare the Passover meal for you?”So Jesus sent two of them into Jerusalem with these instructions:“ As you go into the city, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him.At the house he enters, say to the owner,‘ The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?’He will take you upstairs to a large room that is already set up. That is where you should prepare our meal.”
