Some Jewish leaders decide to take hold of Jesus
1 When Jesus finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, 2 ‘You know that after two days it will be the time of the Passover Festival. Then those people who are against me will put me into the power of the rulers. They will fix me, the Son of Man, to a cross to kill me.’
3 Then the leaders of the priests and the important Jews met together in the house of the most important priest. His name was Caiaphas. 4 They wanted to kill Jesus. But they wanted to take hold of him secretly. So they tried to decide how they could do that. 5 They said to each other, ‘We do not want to take hold of him during the Passover Festival. If we do that, the people will be angry and they may fight against us.’
A woman pours expensive oil on Jesus' head
6 Then Jesus went to Bethany and he visited Simon at his house. At one time, Simon had had a bad skin disease.
26:6Simon's disease was called leprosy, but it may be a different skin disease from the one we call leprosy today.
7 While Jesus was eating a meal there, a woman came into the house. She brought a small stone jar with her. The jar contained expensive oil with a very nice smell. She poured the oil over Jesus' head while he sat there.
8 Jesus' disciples saw what the woman had done. They became angry and they said, ‘This woman should not have wasted the oil. 9 She could have sold it for a lot of money. Then she could have given the money to poor people.’
10 Jesus knew what his disciples were saying. So he said to them, ‘Do not cause trouble for her. She has done a good thing to me. 11 You will always have poor people with you. But you will not always have me with you. 12 She has poured oil over my body. So now I will be ready for people to bury me. 13 I tell you this. Everywhere in the world people will speak about this good news. At the same time, they will also tell people about the good thing that this woman has done. And so people will remember her.’
Judas Iscariot takes money to give Jesus to the priests
14 Judas Iscariot was one of Jesus' 12 apostles. He went to see the leaders of the priests 15 and he asked them, ‘How much money will you give me if I help you to take hold of Jesus?’ The priests gave Judas 30 silver coins. 16 Judas then waited for the right moment to help them to take hold of Jesus.
