Jesus stands in front of all the important rulers
57 Then those men who had taken hold of Jesus took him to Caiaphas's house. Caiaphas was the most important priest. The teachers of God's Law and the important Jews were meeting there together with Caiaphas.
26:57Caiaphas was the leader of the important Jewish rulers. There were 71 of them. They met together to decide about how to rule the people. They also decided how to punish a bad person. They had a lot of power, but they could not kill a bad person. Only the Roman rulers could do that.
58 Peter followed Jesus into the yard of Caiaphas' house. But he did not go near Jesus. He sat down in the yard with the police who worked in the temple. He wanted to see what would happen.
59 The leaders of the priests and all the Jewish leaders wanted to punish Jesus with death. So they tried to find some people who would say things against Jesus that were not true. 60 Many people did come. And they said things against Jesus that were not true. But still the Jewish leaders could not find a reason to kill Jesus.
26:60The Jewish leaders wanted a reason to give Jesus over to the Roman rulers. But Jesus had never said anything wrong.
Then two men stood up and they said, 61 ‘We heard this man say, “I can destroy the temple and in three days I can build it again.” ’
62 Then Caiaphas stood up. He said to Jesus, ‘You must reply now to what these men have said against you. Are the things that they say true?’ 63 But Jesus did not say anything.
So Caiaphas said to him, ‘I use the authority of the God who lives. You must promise to tell us what is true. Are you the Messiah? Are you the Son of God?’
64 ‘You have said it,’ Jesus replied. ‘And I tell all of you, soon you will see the Son of Man. He will be sitting in the most important place at the right side of the Most Powerful God. You will also see him coming to earth. He will be riding on the clouds in the sky.’
65 Then Caiaphas tore his clothes to show that he was angry. He said, ‘Jesus has spoken bad words against God. We do not need anyone else to speak against him. You have heard him speak bad words against God. 66 Do you think that he is guilty?’
26:65Caiaphas tore his coat to show other people that he was very angry.
They replied, ‘He is guilty and he deserves to die.’
67 Then some of them spat into Jesus' face. They also hit him with their fists. 68 When they hit him, they said, ‘Messiah! Show us that you are a prophet. Tell us who hit you!’
Peter says three times that he does not know Jesus
69 While all these things were happening, Peter was sitting outside in the yard. One of the girls who worked there went to him and she said, ‘You were also a friend of Jesus, the man from Galilee.’
70 Peter said in front of everyone who was there, ‘That is not true. I do not know what you are talking about.’
71 Peter then went out to the gate, and another servant girl saw him. This girl said to the people who were standing there, ‘This man was a friend of Jesus, the man from Nazareth.’
72 Peter answered again very strongly. He said, ‘I promise you, I really do not know that man!’
73 After a little time, other people who were standing at the gate spoke to Peter. They said, ‘We are sure that you too are one of that man's friends. We know this because you speak like people who live in Galilee.’
74 Peter said to them very strongly, ‘I tell you that I do not know that man. God will surely punish me if this is not true!’
Immediately after Peter said this, the cockerel sang. 75 Then Peter remembered that Jesus had said to him, ‘Tonight you will say three times that you do not know me. You will do it before the cockerel sings.’ So Peter went out of the yard. He began to weep a lot because he was very upset.
