Henry: Welcome To Immerse: The Daily Bible Reading Experience.
Day 46.
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'll 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 12 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 picture 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.
So that two disciples went into the city and found everything
just as Jesus had said, and they prepared the Passover meal there.
In the evening, Jesus arrived with the 12 As they were at the table eating.
Jesus said, I tell you the truth, one of you eating with me here
will betray me greatly distressed.
Each one asked, in turn, am I the one he replied.
It is one of you 12 who is eating from this bowl with me.
For the son of man must die as the scriptures declared long ago.
How terrible it will be for the one who betrays him.
It would be far better for that man if he had never been born.
As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it.
Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples saying, take it for,
this is my body, and he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it.
He gave it to them and they all drank from it.
And he said to them, this is my blood, which confirms the covenant
between God and his people.
It is poured out as a sacrifice for many.
I tell you the truth.
I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new in the Kingdom of God.
Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives on the way Jesus
told them, all of you will desert me.
For the scriptures say God will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered.
But after I am raised from the dead, I will go ahead of you
to Galilee and meet you there.
Peter said to him, even if everyone else deserts you, I never will.
I Jesus replied, I tell you the truth, Peter, this very night
before the rooster crows twice.
You will deny three times that you even know me.
No, Peter declared emphatically, even if I have to die with
you, I will never deny you.
And all the others vowed the same.
They went to the Olive Grove called Gethsemane, and Jesus said,
sit here while I go and pray.
He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he became
deeply troubled and distressed.
He told them, my soul is crushed with grief to the point of death.
Stay here and keep watch with me.
He went on a little farther and fell to the ground.
He prayed that if it were possible, the awful hour
awaiting him, might pass him by.
Abba.
Father, he cried out.
He everything is possible for you.
Please take this cup of suffering away from me, yet I want your
will to be done, not mine.
Then he returned and found the disciples asleep.
He said to Peter, Simon, are you asleep?
Couldn't you watch with me even one hour?
Keep watch and pray so that you will not give into temptation.
For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.
Then Jesus left them again and prayed the same prayer as before.
When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping.
For, they couldn't keep their eyes open and they didn't know what to say.
When he returned to them the third time, he said, go ahead
and sleep, have your rest.
But no, the time has come.
The son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners up.
Let's be going, look, my betrayer is here.
And immediately, even as Jesus said this, Judas.
One of the 12 disciples arrived with a crowd of men armed with swords and clubs.
They had been sent by the leading priests, the teachers
of religious law and the elders.
The traitor.
Judas had given them a prearranged signal.
You will know which one to arrest when I greet him with a kiss.
Then you can take him away under guard.
As soon as they arrived, Judas walked up to Jesus.
Rabbi He exclaimed.
And gave him the kiss.
Then the others grabbed Jesus and arrested him.
But one of the men with Jesus pulled out his sword and struck the high
priest's slave slashing off his ear.
Jesus asked them, am I some dangerous revolutionary that you come with
swords and clubs to arrest me?
Why didn't you arrest me in the temple?
I was there among you teaching every day, but these things are happening to
fulfill what the scriptures say about me.
Then all his disciples deserted him and ran away.
One young man following behind was clothed only in a long linen shirt.
When the mob tried to grab him, he slipped out of his shirt and ran away naked.
They took Jesus to the high priest's home where the leading priests,
the elders, and the teachers of religious law had gathered.
Meanwhile, Peter followed him at a distance and went right into
the high priest's courtyard.
There he sat with the guards warming himself by the fire inside.
The leading priests and the entire high counsel were trying to find evidence
against Jesus so they could put him to death, but they couldn't find any.
Many false witnesses spoke against him, but they contradicted each other.
Finally, some men stood up and gave this false testimony.
We heard him say, I will destroy this temple made with human hands,
and in three days I will build another made without human hands.
But even then, they didn't get their stories straight.
Then the high priest stood up before the others and ask Jesus, well, aren't
you going to answer these charges?
What do you have to say for yourself?
But Jesus was silent and made no reply.
Then the high priest asked him, are you the Messiah?
The Son of the blessed one?
Jesus said, I am and you will see the son of man seated in the place
of power at God's right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven.
Then the high priest tore his clothing to show his horror and
said, why do we need other witnesses?
You have all heard his blasphemy.
What is your verdict?
Guilty.
They all cried.
He deserves to die.
Then some of them began to spit at him and they blindfolded him and beat
him with their fists prophesied to us.
They jered.
And the guard slapped him as they took him away.
Meanwhile, Peter was in the courtyard below.
One of the servant girls who worked for the high priest came by and noticed
Peter warming himself at the fire.
She looked at him closely and said, you were one of those with Jesus
of Nazareth, but Peter denied it.
I don't know what you're talking about.
He said, and he went out into the entryway.
Just then a rooster crowed.
When the servant girl saw him standing there, she began telling the others.
This man is definitely one of them, but Peter denied it again.
A little later.
Some of the other bystanders confronted Peter and said, you must be one of
them because you are a Galilean.
Peter swore a curse on me if I'm lying.
I don't know this man you're talking about.
And immediately the rooster crowed.
The second time, suddenly Jesus' words flashed through Peter's mind.
Before the rooster crows twice.
You will deny three times that you even know me.
And he broke down and wept very early in the morning.
The leading priests, the elders and the teachers of religious law, the entire high
council met to discuss their next step.
They bound.
Jesus led him away and took him to Pilate.
The Roman governor Pilate asked Jesus, are you the king of the Jews?
Jesus replied, you have said it.
Then the leading priests kept accusing him of many crimes, and Pilate asked
him, aren't you going to answer them?
What about all these charges they're bringing against you?
But Jesus said nothing much to Pilate's.
Surprise.
Now it was the Governor's custom.
Each year during the Passover celebration to release one prisoner, anyone that
people requested, one of the prisoners at that time was VEBAs, a revolutionary
who had committed murder in an uprising.
The crowd went to Pilate and asked him to release a prisoner as usual.
Would you like me to release to you this King of the Jews?
Pilate asked.
For, he realized by now that the leading priests had arrested Jesus out of envy.
But at this point, the leading priests stirred up the crowd to
demand the release of Barabbas.
Instead of Jesus.
PIL asked them, then what should I do with this man?
You call the king of the Jews.
They shouted back, crucify him.
Why Pilate demanded, what crime has he committed?
But the mob roared even louder.
Crucify him.
So to pacify the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them.
He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead tipped whip, then turned him over to
the Roman soldiers to be crucified.
The soldiers took Jesus into the courtyard of the governor's
headquarters, called the Pretor, and called out the entire regiment.
They dressed him in a purple robe and they wove thorn branches into
a crown and put it on his head.
Then they saluted him and taunted hail king of the Jews, and they struck him on
the head with a reed stick spit on him and dropped to their knees in mock worship.
When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the purple robe
and put his own clothes on him again.
Then they led him away to be crucified.
A passerby named Simon, who was from Sini, was coming in from the
countryside just then, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus cross.
Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufuss, and they brought
Jesus to a place called Go Gatha, which means place of the skull.
They offered him wine drugged with myrrh, but he refused it.
Then the soldiers nailed him to the cross.
They divided his clothes and threw dice to decide who would get each piece.
It was nine o'clock in the morning when they crucified him.
A sign announced the charge against him.
It read the King of the Jews.
Two revolutionaries were crucified with him.
One on his right and one on his left.
The people passing by shouted, abuse, shaking their heads in mockery.
Ha, look at you now.
They yelled at him.
You said you were going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days.
Well then save yourself and come down from the cross.
The leading priest sent teachers of religious law also mocked Jesus.
He saved others.
They scoffed, but he can't save himself.
Let this Messiah, this King of Israel, come down from the cross
so we can see it and believe him.
Even the men who were crucified with Jesus ridiculed him.
At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o'clock.
Then at three o'clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, Eloi eloi
lama hanai, which means My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was
calling for the prophet Elijah.
One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him
on a reed stick so he could drink.
Wait.
He said, let's see whether Elijah comes to take him down.
Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last, and the
curtain in the sanctuary of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
When the Roman officer who stood facing him saw how he had died, he exclaimed
this man truly was the son of God.
Some women were there watching from a distance, including Mary Magdalene,
Mary, the mother of James, the younger, and of Joseph and Salomi.
They had been followers of Jesus and had cared for him while he was in Galilee.
Many other women who had come with him to Jerusalem were also there.
This all happened on Friday, the day of preparation, the day before the Sabbath.
As evening approached Joseph of Arimathea, took a risk and went to
Pilate and asked for Jesus' body.
Joseph was an honored member of the high council and he was waiting
for the kingdom of God to come.
Pilate couldn't believe that Jesus was already dead.
So he called for the Roman officer and asked if he had died.
Yet the officer confirmed that Jesus was dead.
So Pilate told Joseph he could have the body.
Joseph bought a long sheet of linen cloth, then he took Jesus body down
from the cross, wrapped it in the cloth, and laid it in a tomb that
had been carved out of the rock.
Then he rolled a stone in front of the entrance.
Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Joseph, saw where Jesus' body was laid.
Saturday evening when the Sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James
and Salomi, went out and purchased burial spices so they could anoint Jesus' body.
Very early on Sunday morning, just at sunrise, they went to the tomb.
On the way they were asking each other who will roll away the stone
for us from the entrance to the tomb.
But as they arrived, they looked up and saw that the stone, which was very
large, had already been rolled aside.
When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a white
robe sitting on the right side.
The women were shocked, but the angel said, don't be alarmed.
You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified.
He isn't here.
He has risen from the dead.
Look, this is where they laid his body.
Now go and tell his disciples, including Peter, that Jesus is
going ahead of you to Galilee.
You'll see him there just as he told you before he died.
The women fled from the tomb trembling and bewildered.
And they said nothing to anyone because they were too frightened.
Note the most ancient manuscripts of Mark.
Conclude with chapter 16 verse eight.
Later, manuscripts add one or both of the following endings, shorter ending of Mark.
Then they briefly reported all this to Peter and his companions.
Afterward.
Jesus himself sent them out from east to west with the sacred and unfailing message
of salvation that gives eternal life.
Amen.
Longer ending of Mark, after Jesus rose from the dead Earl on Sunday
morning, the first person who saw him was Mary Magdalene, the woman from
whom he had cast out seven demons.
She went to the disciples who were grieving and weeping and
told them what had happened.
But when she told them that Jesus was alive and she had seen
him, they didn't believe her.
Afterward, he appeared in a different form to two of his followers who were
walking from Jerusalem into the country.
They rushed back to tell the others, but no one believed them.
Still.
Later he appeared to the 11 disciples as they were eating together.
He rebuked them for their stubborn unbelief because they refused to
believe those who had seen him after he had been raised from the dead.
And then he told them, go into all the world and preach
the good news to everyone.
Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved, but anyone who
refuses to believe will be condemned.
These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe.
They will cast out demons in my name and they will speak in new languages.
They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink
anything poisonous, it won't hurt them.
They will be able to place their hands on the sick and they will be healed.
When the Lord Jesus had finished talking with them, he was taken
up into heaven and sat down in the place of honor at God's right hand.
And the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked
through them confirming what they said by many miraculous signs.
This concludes today's Immer reading experience.
Thank you for joining us.