Daily Gospel Plan

¹As he was going out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Teacher, look! What massive stones! What impressive buildings!”

²Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another — all will be thrown down.”

³While he was sitting on the Mount of Olives across from the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately,

⁴“Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?”

⁵Jesus told them, “Watch out that no one deceives you.

⁶Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and they will deceive many.

⁷When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, don’t be alarmed; these things must take place, but it is not yet the end.

⁸For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.

⁹“But you, be on your guard! They will hand you over to local courts, and you will be flogged in the synagogues. You will stand before governors and kings because of me, as a witness to them.

¹⁰And it is necessary that the gospel be preached to all nations.

¹¹So when they arrest you and hand you over, don’t worry beforehand what you will say, but say whatever is given to you at that time, for it isn’t you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

¹²“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise up against parents and have them put to death.

¹³You will be hated by everyone because of my name, but the one who endures to the end will be saved.

¹⁴“When you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not be” (let the reader understand), “then those in Judea must flee to the mountains.

¹⁵A man on the housetop must not come down or go in to get anything out of his house,

¹⁶and a man in the field must not go back to get his coat.

¹⁷Woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days!

¹⁸“Pray it won’t happen in winter.

¹⁹For those will be days of tribulation, the kind that hasn’t been from the beginning of creation until now and never will be again.

²⁰If the Lord had not cut those days short, no one would be saved. But he cut those days short for the sake of the elect, whom he chose.

²¹“Then if anyone tells you, ‘See, here is the Messiah! See, there! ’ do not believe it.

²²For false messiahs and false prophets will arise and will perform signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, the elect.

²³And you must watch! I have told you everything in advance.

²⁴“But in those days, after that tribulation: The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not shed its light;

²⁵the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.

²⁶Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.

²⁷He will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

²⁸“Learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near.

²⁹In the same way, when you see these things happening, recognize that he is near — at the door.

³⁰“Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things take place.

³¹Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

³²“Now concerning that day or hour no one knows — neither the angels in heaven nor the Son  — but only the Father.

³³“Watch! Be alert! For you don’t know when the time is coming.

³⁴“It is like a man on a journey, who left his house, gave authority to his servants, gave each one his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to be alert.

³⁵Therefore be alert, since you don’t know when the master of the house is coming — whether in the evening or at midnight or at the crowing of the rooster or early in the morning.

³⁶Otherwise, when he comes suddenly he might find you sleeping.

³⁷And what I say to you, I say to everyone: Be alert!”

¹It was two days before the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a cunning way to arrest Jesus and kill him.

²“Not during the festival,” they said, “so that there won’t be a riot among the people.”

³While he was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured it on his head.

⁴But some were expressing indignation to one another: “Why has this perfume been wasted?

⁵For this perfume might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they began to scold her.

⁶Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. Why are you bothering her? She has done a noble thing for me.

⁷You always have the poor with you, and you can do what is good for them whenever you want, but you do not always have me.

⁸She has done what she could; she has anointed my body in advance for burial.

⁹Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”

¹⁰Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them.

¹¹And when they heard this, they were glad and promised to give him money. So he started looking for a good opportunity to betray him.

¹²On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrifice the Passover lamb, his disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and prepare the Passover so that you may eat it?”

¹³So he sent two of his disciples and told them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him.

¹⁴Wherever he enters, tell the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”’

¹⁵He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make the preparations for us there.”

¹⁶So the disciples went out, entered the city, and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

¹⁷When evening came, he arrived with the Twelve.

¹⁸While they were reclining and eating, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me — one who is eating with me.”

¹⁹They began to be distressed and to say to him one by one, “Surely not I?”

²⁰He said to them, “It is one of the Twelve — the one who is dipping bread in the bowl with me.

²¹For the Son of Man will go just as it is written about him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for him if he had not been born.”

²²As they were eating, he took bread, blessed and broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is my body.”

²³Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.

²⁴He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.

²⁵Truly I tell you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

²⁶After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

²⁷Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will fall away, because it is written: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.

²⁸But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.”

²⁹Peter told him, “Even if everyone falls away, I will not.”

³⁰“Truly I tell you,” Jesus said to him, “today, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.”

³¹But he kept insisting, “If I have to die with you, I will never deny you.” And they all said the same thing.

³²Then they came to a place named Gethsemane, and he told his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.”

³³He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled.

³⁴He said to them, “I am deeply grieved to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake.”

³⁵He went a little farther, fell to the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.

³⁶And he said, “Abba, Father! All things are possible for you. Take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, not what I will, but what you will.”

³⁷Then he came and found them sleeping. He said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Couldn’t you stay awake one hour?

³⁸Stay awake and pray so that you won’t enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

³⁹Once again he went away and prayed, saying the same thing.

⁴⁰And again he came and found them sleeping, because they could not keep their eyes open. They did not know what to say to him.

⁴¹Then he came a third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The time has come. See, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

⁴²Get up; let’s go. See, my betrayer is near.”

⁴³While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, suddenly arrived. With him was a mob, with swords and clubs, from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders.

⁴⁴His betrayer had given them a signal. “The one I kiss,” he said, “he’s the one; arrest him and take him away under guard.”

⁴⁵So when he came, immediately he went up to Jesus and said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him.

⁴⁶They took hold of him and arrested him.

⁴⁷One of those who stood by drew his sword, struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his ear.

⁴⁸Jesus said to them, “Have you come out with swords and clubs, as if I were a criminal, to capture me?

⁴⁹Every day I was among you, teaching in the temple, and you didn’t arrest me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.”

⁵⁰Then they all deserted him and ran away.

⁵¹Now a certain young man, wearing nothing but a linen cloth, was following him. They caught hold of him,

⁵²but he left the linen cloth behind and ran away naked.

⁵³They led Jesus away to the high priest, and all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes assembled.

⁵⁴Peter followed him at a distance, right into the high priest’s courtyard. He was sitting with the servants, warming himself by the fire.

⁵⁵The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they could not find any.

⁵⁶For many were giving false testimony against him, and the testimonies did not agree.

⁵⁷Some stood up and gave false testimony against him, stating,

⁵⁸“We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with human hands, and in three days I will build another not made by hands.’”

⁵⁹Yet their testimony did not agree even on this.

⁶⁰Then the high priest stood up before them all and questioned Jesus, “Don’t you have an answer to what these men are testifying against you?”

⁶¹But he kept silent and did not answer. Again the high priest questioned him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”

⁶²“I am,” said Jesus, “and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.”

⁶³Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “Why do we still need witnesses?

⁶⁴You have heard the blasphemy. What is your decision?” They all condemned him as deserving death.

⁶⁵Then some began to spit on him, to blindfold him, and to beat him, saying, “Prophesy!” The temple servants also took him and slapped him.

⁶⁶While Peter was in the courtyard below, one of the high priest’s maidservants came.

⁶⁷When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with Jesus, the man from Nazareth.”

⁶⁸But he denied it: “I don’t know or understand what you’re talking about.” Then he went out to the entryway, and a rooster crowed.

⁶⁹When the maidservant saw him again, she began to tell those standing nearby, “This man is one of them.”

⁷⁰But again he denied it. After a little while those standing there said to Peter again, “You certainly are one of them, since you’re also a Galilean.”

⁷¹Then he started to curse and swear, “I don’t know this man you’re talking about!”

⁷²Immediately a rooster crowed a second time, and Peter remembered when Jesus had spoken the word to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.