The Gospel According to John, chapters 18 - 21
18 AFTER THESE WORDS, Jesus went out with his disciples, and crossed
the Kedron ravine. There was a garden there, and he and his disciples
went into it. The place was known to Judas, his betrayer, because Jesus
had often met there with his disciples. So Judas took a detachment of
soldiers, and police provided by the chief priests and the Pharisees,
equipped with lanterns, torches, and weapons, and made his way to the
garden. Jesus, knowing all that was coming upon him, went out to them
and asked, 'Who is it you want?' 'Jesus of Nazareth', they answered. Jesus
said, 'I am he.' And there stood Judas the traitor with them. When he said,
'I am he', they drew back and fell to the ground. Again Jesus asked, 'Who
is it you want?' 'Jesus of Nazareth', they answered. Then Jesus said, 'I have
told you that I am he. If I am the man you want, let these others go.' (This
was to make good his words, 'I have not lost one of those whom thou gavest
me.') Thereupon Simon Peter drew the sword he was wearing and struck
at the High Priest's servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant's name
was Malchus.) Jesus said to Peter, 'Sheathe your sword. This is the cup
the Father has given me; shall I not drink it?'
THE TROOPS with their commander, and the Jewish police, now arrested
Jesus and secured him. They took him first to Annas. Annas was father-
in-law of Caiaphas, the High Priest for that year — the same Caiaphas
who had advised the Jews that it would be in their interest if one man
died for the whole people. Jesus was followed by Simon Peter and an-
other disciple. The disciple, who was acquainted with the High Priest,
went with Jesus into the High Priest's courtyard, but Peter halted at
the door outside. So the other disciple, the High Priest's acquaintance,
went out again and spoke to the woman at the door, and brought Peter
in. The maid on duty at the door said to Peter, Are you another of this
man's disciples?' 'I am not', he said. The servants and the police had
made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and were standing round it
warming themselves. And Peter too was standing with them, sharing the
warmth.
The High Priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about what
he taught. Jesus replied, 'I have spoken openly to all the world; I have
always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews congregate;
I have said nothing in secret. Why question me? Ask my hearers what I
told them; they know what I said.' When he said this, one of the police
who was standing next to him struck him on the face, exclaiming, 'Is that
the way to answer the high Priest?' Jesus replied, 'If I spoke amiss, state
it in evidence; if I spoke well, why strike me?'
So Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the High Priest.
Meanwhile Simon Peter stood warming himself. The others asked, 'Are
you another of his disciples?' But he denied it: 'I am not', he said. One of
the High Priest's servants, a relation of the man whose ear Peter had cut
off, insisted, 'Did I not see you with him in the garden?' Peter denied
again; and just then a cock crew.
FROM CAIAPHAS Jesus was led into the Governor's headquarters. It was
now early morning, and the Jews themselves stayed outside the head-
quarters to avoid defilement, so that they could eat the Passover meal. So
Pilate went out to them and asked, 'What charge do you bring against this
man?' 'If he were not a criminal,' they replied, 'we should not have brought
him before you.' Pilate said, 'Take him away and try him by your own law.'
The Jews answered, 'We are not allowed to put any man to death.' Thus
they ensured the fulfilment of the words by which Jesus had indicated the
manner of his death.
Pilate then went back into his headquarters and summoned Jesus. 'Are
you the king of the Jews?' he asked. Jesus said, 'Is that your own idea, or
have others suggested it to you?' 'What! am I a Jew?' said Pilate. 'Your
own nation and their chief priests have brought you before me. What have
you done?' Jesus replied, 'My kingdom does not belong to this world. If
it did, my followers would be fighting to save me from arrest by the Jews.
My kingly authority comes from elsewhere.' 'You are a king, then?' said
Pilate. Jesus answered, ' "King" is your word. My task is to bear witness
to the truth. For this I was born; for this I came into the world, and all
who are not deaf to truth listen to my voice.' Pilate said, 'What is truth?',
and with those words went out again to the Jews. 'For my part,' he said,
I find no case against him. But you have a custom that I release one
prisoner for you at Passover. Would you like me to release the king of the
Jews?' Again the clamour rose: 'Not him; we want Barabbas!' (Barabbas
was a bandit.)
19 Pilate now took Jesus and had him flogged; and the soldiers plaited a
crown of thorns and placed it on his head, and robed him in a purple cloak.
Then time after time they came up to him, crying, 'Hail, King of the Jews!',
and struck him on the face.
Once more Pilate came t and said to the Jews, 'Here he is; I am bring-
ing him out to let you know that I find no case against him'; and Jesus
came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple cloak. 'Behold the
Man!' said Pilate. The chief priests and their henchmen saw him and
shouted, 'Crucify! crucify!' 'Take him and crucify him yourselves,' said
Pilate; 'for my part I find no case against him.' The Jews answered, 'We
have a law; and by that law he ought to die, because he has claimed to be
Son of God.'
When Pilate heard that, he was more afraid than ever, and going back
into his headquarters he asked Jesus, 'Where have you come from?' But
Jesus gave him no answer. 'Do you refuse to speak to me?' said Pilate.
'Surely you know that I have authority to release you, and I have authority
to crucify you?' 'You would have no authority at all over me', Jesus replied,
if it had not been granted you from above; and therefore the deeper guilt
lies with the man who handed me over to you.'
From that moment Pilate tried hard to release him; but the Jews kept
shouting, 'If you let this man go, you are no friend to Caesar; any man who
claims to be king is defying Caesar.' When Pilate heard what they were
saying, he brought Jesus out and took his seat on the tribunal at the place
known as 'The Pavement' ('Gabbatha' in the language of the Jews.) It was
the eve of Passover about noon. Pilate said to the Jews, 'Here is your king.'
They shouted, 'Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!' 'Crucify
your king?' said Pilate. 'We have no king but Caesar', the Jews replied.
Then at last, to satisfy them, he handed Jesus over to be crucified.
JESUS WAS NOW TAKEN in charge and, carrying his own cross, went out
to the Place of the Skull, as it is called (or, in the Jews' language, 'Golgotha'),
where they crucified him, and with him two others, one on the right, one
on the left, and Jesus between them.
And Pilate wrote an inscription to be fastened to the cross; it read, 'Jesus
of Nazareth King of the Jews.' This inscription was rad by many Jews,
because the place where Jesus was crucified was not far from the city, and
the inscription was in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. Then the Jewish chief
priests said to Pilate, 'You should not write "King of the Jews"; write, "He
claimed to be king of the Jews." ' Pilate replied, 'What I have written, I
have written.'
The soldiers, having crucified Jesus, took possession of his clothes, and
divided them into four parts, one for each soldier, leaving out the tunic.
The tunic was seamless, woven in one piece throughout; so they said to
one another, 'We must not tear this; let us toss for it'; and thus the text of
Scripture came true: 'They shared my garments among them, and cast
lots for my clothing.'
That is what the soldiers did. But meanwhile near the cross where Jesus
hung stood his mother, with her sister, Mary wife of Clopas, and Mary of
Magdala. Jesus saw his mother , with the disciple whom he loved standing
beside her. He said to her, 'Mother, there is your son'; and to the disciple,
'There is your mother'; and from that moment the disciple took her into
his home.
After that, Jesus, aware that all had now come to its appointed end, said
in fulfilment of Scripture, 'I thirst.' A jar stood there full of sour wine; so
they soaked a sponge with wine, fixed it on a javelin, and held it up to
his lips. Having received the wine, he said, 'It is accomplished!' He bowed
his head and gave up his spirit.
Because ti was the eve of Passover, the Jews were anxious that the
bodies should not remain on the cross for the coming Sabbath, since that
Sabbath was a great day of solemnity; so they requested Pilate to have
the legs broken and the bodies taken down. The soldiers accordingly came
to the first of his fellow-victims and to the second, and broke their legs;
but when they came to Jesus, they found that he was already dead, so they
did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers stabbed his side with a lance,
and at once there was a flow of blood and water. This is vouched for by an
eyewitness, whose evidence is to be trusted. He knows that he speaks the
truth, so that you too may believe; for this happened in fulfilment of the
text of Scripture: 'No bone if his shall be broken.' And another text says,
'They shall look on him whom they pierced.'
AFTER THAT, PILATE was approached by Joseph of Arimathaea, a disciple
of Jesus, but a secret disciple for fear of the Jews, who asked to be allowed
to remove the body of Jesus. Pilate gave the permission; so Joseph came
and took the body away. He was joined by Nicodemus (the man who had
first visited Jesus by night), who brought with him a mixture of myrrh
aloes, more than half a hundredweight. They took the body of Jesus
and wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen cloth according to Jewish
burial-customs. Now at the place where he had been crucified there was a
garden, and in the garden an new tomb, not yet used for burial. There,
because the tomb was near at hand and it was the eve of the Jewish Sabbath,
they laid Jesus.
20 EARLY ON THE SUNDAY MORNING, while it was still dark, Mary of
Magdala came to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been moved away
from the entrance, and ran to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one
whom Jesus loved. 'They have taken the Lord out of the tomb,' she cried,
and we do not know where they have laid him.' So Peter and the other
set out and made their way to the tomb. They were running side by side, but
the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He peered in
and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but did not enter. Then Simon
Peter came up, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen
wrappings lying, and the napkin which had been over his head, not lying
with the wrappings but rolled together in a place by itself. Then the
disciple who had reached the tomb first went in too, and he saw and
believed; until then they had not understood the scriptures, which showed
that he must rise from the dead.
So the disciples went home again; but Mary stood at the tomb outside,
weeping. As she wept, she peered into the tomb ; and she saw two angels in
white sitting there, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of
Jesus had lain. They said to her, 'Why are you weeping?' She answered,
'They have taken my Lord away, and I do not know where they have laid
him.' With these words she turned round and saw Jesus standing there,
but did not recognize him. Jesus said to her, 'Why are you weeping? Who
is it you are looking for?' Thinking it was the gardener, she said, 'If it is
you, sir, who removed him, tell me where you have laid him, and I will
take him away.' Jesus said, 'Mary!' She turned to him and said, 'Rabbuni!'
(which is Hebrew for 'My Master'). Jesus said, 'Do not cling to me, for
I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers, and tell them
that I am now ascending to my Father and your Father, my God and your
God.' Mary of Magdala went to the disciples with her news: 'I have seen
the Lord!' she said, and gave them this message.
Late that Sunday evening, when the disciples were together behind
locked doors, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them. 'Peace
be with you!' he said, and then showed them his hands and his side. So
when the disciples saw the Lord, they were filled with joy. Jesus repeated,
'Peace be with you!', and said, 'As the Father sent me, so I send you.'
Then he breathed on them, saying, 'Receive the Holy Spirit! If you
forgive any man's sins, they stand forgiven; if you pronounce them
unforgiven, unforgiven they remain.'
One of the Twelve, Thomas, that is 'the Twin', was not with the rest
when Jesus came. So the disciples told him, 'We have seen the Lord.'
He said, 'Unless I see the mark of the nails on his hands, unless I put my
not believe it.'
A week later his disciples were again in the room, and Thomas was with
them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them,
saying, 'Peace be with you!' Then he said to Thomas, 'Reach your finger
here; see my hands. Reach your hand here and put it into my side. Be
unbelieving no longer, but believe.' Thomas said, 'My Lord and my
God!' Jesus said, 'Because you have seen me you have found faith. Happy
are they who never saw me and yet have found faith.'
There were indeed many other signs that Jesus performed in the pre-
sence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. Those here
written have been recorded in order that you may hold the faith that Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this faith you may possess
life by his name.
21 SOME TIME LATER, Jesus showed himself to his disciples once again, by
the Sea of Tiberias; and in this way. Simon Peter and Thomas 'the Twin'
were together with Nathanael of Cana-in-Galilee. The sons of Zebedee
and two other disciples were also there. Simon Peter said, 'I am going out
fishing.' 'We will go with you', said the others. So they started and got into
the boat. But that night they caught nothing.
Morning came, and there stood Jesus on the beach, but the disciples
did not know that it was Jesus. He called out to them, 'Friends, have you
caught anything?' They answered 'No.' He said, 'Shoot the net to star-
board, and you will make a catch.' They did so, and found they could
not haul the net aboard, there were so many fish in it. Then the disciple
whom Jesus loved said to Peter, 'It is the Lord!' when Simon Peter
heard that, he wrapped his coat about him (for he had stripped) and
plunged into the sea. The rest of them came on in the boat, towing the
net full of fish; for they were not far from land, only about a hundred
yards.
When they came ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish laid on
it, and some bread. Jesus said, 'Bring some of your catch.' Simon Peter
went aboard and dragged the net to land, full of big fish, a hundred and
fifty-three of them; and yet, many as they were, the net was not torn. Jesus
said, 'Come and have breakfast.' None of the disciples dared to ask 'Who
are you?' They knew it was the Lord. Jesus now came up, took the bread,
and gave it to them, and the fish in the same way.
This makes the third time that Jesus appeared to his disciples after his
resurrection from the dead.
After breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon son of John, do you
love me more than all else?' 'Yes, Lord,' he answered, ' you know that I
love you.' 'Then feed my lambs', he said. A second time he asked, 'Simon
son of John, do you love me?' 'Yes, Lord, you know I love you.' 'Then
tend my sheep.' A third time he said, 'Simon son of John, do you love
me?' Peter was hurt that he asked him a third time, 'Do you love me?'
'Lord,' he said, 'you know everything; you know I love you.' Jesus said,
'Feed my sheep.
'And further, I tell you this in very truth: when you were young you
fastened your belt about you and walked where you chose; but when you
are old you will stretch out your arms, and a stranger will bind you fast,
and carry you where you have no wish to go.' He said this to indicate the
manner of death by which Peter was to glorify God. Then he added,
'Follow me.'
Peter looked round, and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following —
the one who at supper had leaned back close to him to ask the question,
'Lord, who is it that will betray you?' When he caught sight of him, Peter
asked, 'Lord, what will happen to him?' Jesus said, 'If it should be my will
that he wait until I come, what is it to you? Follow me.'
That saying of Jesus became current in the brotherhood, and was taken
to mean that that disciple would not die. But in fact Jesus did not say that
he would not die; he only said, 'If it should be my will that he wait until I
come, what is it to you?'
It is this same disciple who attests what has here been written. It is in
fact he who wrote it, and we know that his testimony is true.
There is much else that Jesus did. If it were all to be recorded in detail,
I suppose the whole world could not hold the books that would be written.
AND THEY WENT each to his home, and Jesus to the Mount of Olives.
At daybreak he appeared again in the temple, and all the people
gathered round him. He had taken his seat and was engaged in teaching
them when the doctors of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman
caught committing adultery. Making her stand out in the middle they said
to him, 'Master, this woman was caught in the very act of adultery. In the
Law Moses has laid down that such women are to be stoned. What do you
say about it?' They put the question as a test, hoping to frame a charge
against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.
When they continued to press their question he sat up straight and said,
'That one of you who is faultless shall throw the first stone.' Then once
again he bent down and wrote on the ground. When they heard what he
said, one by one they went away, the eldest first; and Jesus was left alone,
with the woman still standing there. Jesus again sat up and said to the
woman, 'Where are they? Has no one condemned you?' She answered, 'No
one, sir.' Jesus said, 'Nor do I condemn you. You may go; do not sin
again.'
The New English Bible (with Apocrypha)
Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, 1970
Posted Dec 18, 2018, 10:51 PM UTC
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