14It was then that Speaks Well Of (Judas) son of Village Man (Iscariot), one of the twelve, left and went to the head holy men. 15“How much is he worth to you,” he asked them. “What price will you pay if I turn him over to you?”
They agreed on thirty pieces of silver and paid him. 16So from then on he looked for a good time to betray Creator Sets Free (Jesus).
PREPARING FOR THE CEREMONIAL MEAL
17It was now the first day of the Festival of Bread Without Yeast. His followers came to Creator Sets Free (Jesus) and asked, “Where do you want us to go to prepare for the eating of the ceremonial Passover meal?”
18“Go into the village,” he instructed them, “and there you will meet a certain man and say to him, ‘Our Wisdomkeeper says, “My time has now come. I will eat the Passover meal with my followers here in your home.”’”
19They did as he said and made everything ready for the ceremonial meal.
THE CEREMONIAL MEAL BEGINS
20As the sun was setting, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) sat down around the table with his twelve followers. 21During the meal he spoke out, “I speak from my heart, one of you will turn against me.”
22They were all worried and troubled by this and began to ask him one by one, “Wisdomkeeper, am I the one?”
23“It is the one who dipped his hand into the dish with me who will turn against me,” he said with a look of sorrow. 24“The True Human Being must walk the path chosen for him, as the Sacred Teachings have said, but it will not go well for the one who betrays him. It would be better if that one had never been born.”
25Speaks Well Of (Judas), the betrayer, looked at Creator Sets Free (Jesus) and asked, “Wisdomkeeper, you do not think I am the one, do you?”
“You have said it with your own words,” he answered back.
A NEW PEACE TREATY
26Then, during the meal, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) took some of the frybread, lifted it up, and gave thanks. He broke it into pieces, gave some to each of his followers, and said, “This is my body. Take it and eat it.”
27Then he took a cup of wine, lifted it up, and gave thanks. He gave it to his followers and said, “Drink from this cup, all of you, 28for this is my lifeblood of the new peace treaty, poured out to release many people from their broken ways.
29“I tell you now, I will not drink from the fruit of this vine again until I drink it with you in a fresh and new way when we walk together on my Father’s good road.”
30Then, after they sang a ceremonial song together, they walked to Olive Mountain.
THE SHEEP WILL SCATTER
As they walked to Olive Mountain, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) began to warn his followers about what they would face in the night ahead.
31“This very night all of you will stumble on the path and turn away because of what will happen to me. The Sacred Teachings have made it clear, ‘Attack the shepherd and the sheep will scatter.’86 32But after I have risen from the dead, I will go ahead of you to Circle of Nations (Galilee).”
33Stands on the Rock (Peter) answered him, “Even if all others stumble and turn away, I will not!”
34“I speak from my heart,” Creator Sets Free (Jesus) said back to him, “before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you know me.”
35“Not so, my Wisdomkeeper!” Stands on the Rock (Peter) replied. “Even if I must die with you, I will never turn away!”
Then all of his followers said the same thing.
PRAYING IN THE GARDEN
36Creator Sets Free (Jesus) and his followers came to the place called Where the Olives Are Crushed (Gethsemane), a garden with many olive trees.
“Sit here,” he told his followers, “while I go over there and pray.”
37He then took with him Stands on the Rock (Peter) and He Takes Over (James) and He Shows Goodwill (John), the two sons of Gift of Creator (Zebedee), to a place not far from the others.
As Creator Sets Free (Jesus) began to send his voice to the Great Spirit, he became deeply troubled and full of sorrow.
38“My heart is full of sorrow to the point of death,” he said to his three followers who were with him. “Stay here and watch over me.”
39He went a little ways from them, dropped his face to the ground, and prayed. “O Great Father,” he cried out, “is there a way to take this cup of bitter suffering away from me? But I want only your way, not mine.”
40He then got up and found his followers sleeping.
“Could you not stay awake with me for even one hour?” he said to Stands on the Rock (Peter). 41“Stay awake and pray so that you will be able to face the rough trail ahead of you. Your human body is weak, but your spirit is strong.”
42Once again he went from them and prayed, “My Father, if this is the only way, then, as you desire, I will drink deeply of this bitter cup.”
The night was silent and cold as Creator Sets Free (Jesus) trembled and prayed. The powers of darkness were pressing in hard. After a while he returned to the three followers, who were supposed to be praying.
43He found them and saw that their eyes were heavy with sleep, 44so he went away from them a third time and prayed the same words.
45He then returned to his followers and said to them, “Why are you still sleeping? The time is upon us! The True Human Being has been betrayed into the hands of the ones with bad hearts. 46Rise up! We must go! Look! The one who has turned against me is here!”
BETRAYED!
47Right then, while Creator Sets Free (Jesus) was speaking, a crowd of people stormed into the garden. Speaks Well Of (Judas), one of the twelve, was leading the way. Along with the betrayer came the large crowd, sent from the head holy men and elders of the tribal council, carrying clubs and long knives.
The air was filled with the smell of burning torches as the crowd pushed their way forward.
48The betrayer had given them a sign. “Take hold of the one I greet with a kiss, and arrest him.”
49Speaks Well Of (Judas) walked right up to Creator Sets Free (Jesus).
“Greetings, Wisdomkeeper,” he said and then kissed him.
50“My friend,” Creator Sets Free (Jesus) said to his face, “Do what you came to do.”
The crowd moved in and took hold of Creator Sets Free (Jesus) to arrest him. 51But then one of his followers drew his long knife from its sheath and cut off the ear of the servant of the chief holy man.
52“Put away your long knife,” he said to his follower, “for all who take up weapons will also die by them! 53Do you not know that if I called out to my Father, he would send to me many thousands87 of spirit-messengers? 54But if I did, how would the ancient prophecies that foretold this find their full meaning?”
55Creator Sets Free (Jesus) then turned to the ones who had come to take him and said, “Why do you come at me with clubs and long knives as if I were a thief? Did I not sit with you every day in the sacred lodge? Why did you not take me then? 56But now the words of the prophets have come true and found their full meaning.”
After hearing him say this, all his followers turned and ran away.
HIS TRIAL BEFORE THE COUNCIL
57The ones who had arrested him dragged him away and brought him to Hollow in the Rock (Caiaphas), the chief holy man. The scroll keepers and elders of the Grand Council had gathered there to question him.
58Stands on the Rock (Peter) followed from a safe distance until they came to the courtyard of the chief holy man. He then went inside through the gate, sat down next to the lodge guards, and waited to see what would happen.
59The head holy men and the Grand Council kept trying to find someone who would speak against Creator Sets Free (Jesus) falsely so they could put him to death, 60but found none who could agree, even though many came forward and spoke lies against him.
Finally two men came forward 61and said, “We heard him say, ‘I can tear down Creator’s sacred lodge and build it again in three days.’”
62The chief holy man stood up before all. He said to Creator Sets Free
(Jesus), “Have you no answer to these accusations?”
63Creator Sets Free (Jesus) remained silent before all and said nothing to defend himself.
Hollow in the Rock (Caiaphas) was frustrated! His face became red with anger, and his voice thundered.
“On your honor before the living Creator I call on you to speak the truth!” he demanded. “Tell us whether you are the Chosen One, the Son of the Great Spirit!”
The room became silent. Time seemed to stand still. The air was filled with tension as they waited for his answer. When he spoke, every ear and eye in the room were fixed on him, for he must now answer.
64“What you have said is right!” he answered them. “But listen to this: from now on you will see the True Human Being sitting at the right hand of the Great Power when he comes riding the clouds of the spirit-world above!”88
65They could not believe their ears! The chief holy man tore his outer garments and cried out, “He is guilty! His words have insulted the Great Spirit!”
He turned to the council of elders and said, “You have heard it with your own ears! Why do we even need witnesses? 66What does the council have to say?”
With one voice the council answered, “Death is what he deserves!”
67Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists, and others slapped him with the back of their hands. 68“Prophesy to us, Chosen One,” they taunted him. “Tell us who struck you!”
STANDS ON THE ROCK DENIES THE CHOSEN ONE
69Stands on the Rock (Peter) was still outside sitting in the courtyard.
A servant girl looked at him and said, “I saw you when you were with Creator Sets Free (Jesus) in Circle of Nations (Galilee).”
70“What!” he denied before them all. “I do not know what you are talking about.”
71Then he went toward the gate, and another servant woman saw him and said out loud to all, “This man was with Creator Sets Free (Jesus) from Seed Planter Village (Nazareth).”
72“I swear to you,” he denied with a sacred oath, “I do not know this man!”
73A short time later some of the men came up to him. “You must be one of his followers,” they said. “The way you speak gives you away.”
74Stands on the Rock (Peter) cursed and swore out loud, “What are you all saying? I do not know this man you are talking about.”
Right then a rooster began to crow, 75and then he remembered what Creator Sets Free (Jesus) had told him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you know me.”
Stands on the Rock (Peter) ran out of the gate and wept bitter tears as he stumbled down the road.
1As the sun began to rise, the head holy men and council elders laid out their plans to kill Creator Sets Free (Jesus). 2They tied him up again and dragged him away to turn him over to Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate), the governor from the People of Iron (Romans).
THE BETRAYER TAKES HIS OWN LIFE
3When Speaks Well Of (Judas), the one who betrayed Creator Sets Free (Jesus), saw they had decided to have him killed, he was overcome with sorrow. He changed his mind and took the thirty pieces of silver back to the head holy men and the elders.
4“I have done wrong!” he told them. “I have betrayed the blood of an innocent man.”
“What do we care?” they said back to him. “You did this to yourself.”
5He threw the thirty pieces of silver on the floor of the sacred lodge and ran away in sorrow. He then left them and hanged himself.
As the light of the sunrise grew brighter on the horizon, his lifeless body could be seen hanging from the branch of a tree. He could not live with what he had done.
The head holy men did not know what to do with the pieces of silver.
6They picked the silver pieces up from the floor and said, “It is not permitted to put them in the storehouse of the sacred lodge, for it is blood money.”
7So they counseled together and used the silver to purchase a clay field that had been used for making pottery to use as a burial ground for outsiders. 8From that time on it has been called the Field of Blood.
9This gave full meaning to the words of the prophet Lifted by Creator (Jeremiah), “He was sold out for thirty pieces of silver by the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel). This is how much they thought his life was worth. 10With the silver they bought a field of clay, as instructed by the Great Spirit.”89
ON TRIAL BY THE PEOPLE OF IRON
11Creator Sets Free (Jesus) now stood before the governor of the People of Iron (Romans) for questioning.
“Are you the chief of the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel)?” the governor asked him.
“It is as you say,” he answered.
12Then the head holy men began to accuse him, but he gave them no answer.
13“Why are you silent?” Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) asked him, “Do you not hear their accusations?”
14But Creator Sets Free (Jesus) answered not one word, which amazed the governor.
WHO SHALL BE RELEASED?
15It was a tradition during the Passover festival to release to the crowd one criminal, whomever they wanted. 16At that time they were holding a prisoner with a deadly reputation whose name was Son of His Father (Barabbas).
17“Which one shall I release?” the governor raised his voice to the crowd. “Son of His Father (Barabbas) or Creator Sets Free (Jesus), who is called the Chosen One?”
18Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) said this because he knew the head holy men and elders had handed over Creator Sets Free (Jesus) because they were jealous of his reputation with the people.
When the governor of the People of Iron (Romans) would make his final decision about the guilt and fate of a person, he would sit on a great rock carved into a seat. This seat was called the Stone of Deciding.
19While he was sitting there, a messenger came from his wife with these words: “Do no harm to this innocent man, for today I had a dream about him that troubles me greatly.”
20But the head holy men and the elders talked the crowd into asking for Son of His Father (Barabbas) to be released and to have Creator Sets Free (Jesus) put to death.
21Once more the governor asked the crowd, “Whom do you want me to release?”
“Son of His Father (Barabbas)!” the crowd roared back.
22“Then what would you have me do with Creator Sets Free (Jesus), who is called the Chosen One?” he asked them.
With one voice they shouted, “Nail him to the cross!”
23“But what wrong has he done to deserve this?” he asked them again.
But their voices grew louder and louder, “Nail him to the cross!”
24Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) could see that their minds would not be changed. He was worried that the crowd might turn violent, so he decided to give them what they wanted. He washed his hands in a vessel of water in front of all the people and said, “This man’s blood is not on my hands. It is on yours!”
25“Let his blood be on us and on our descendants!” they answered him back.
CONDEMNED TO A VIOLENT DEATH
26So the governor released Son of His Father (Barabbas) to them. He then turned over Creator Sets Free (Jesus) to the soldiers to be whipped with cowhide strips and then nailed to a tree-pole—the cross.
The People of Iron (Romans) used a whip with many strips of leather, each braided together with bone and metal. The victim would be tied to a large rock, exposing his bare back, and then lashed. The pieces of bone and metal would rip and tear the skin from the body, leaving the victim almost lifeless.
BEATEN AND MOCKED BY THE SOLDIERS
27The governor’s soldiers dragged Creator Sets Free (Jesus) into the great hall of the governor’s lodge, and all the soldiers there gathered around him. 28They stripped off his clothes, wrapped a fancy purple-and-red chief blanket around him, 29and twisted together a headdress from a thorn bush and pressed it onto his head. Then they put a chief’s staff in his right hand and began to bow down before him.<
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“Honor to the chief of the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel)!” they mocked him, making a big show of it, insulting him with cruel words and twisted faces.
30They spat on him and took his chief’s staff and clubbed him with it. Then they took turns beating him on his head, over and over again. 31When they were done, they stripped him of the chief blanket, put his own garment back on him, and took him away to nail him to a tree-pole—the cross.
The People of Iron (Romans) used a wooden pole, with a crossbeam attached, to punish criminals and anyone who dared to rise up against their empire. The cross was used as an instrument of terror and torture to keep the people in fear of the People of Iron (Romans). It was one of the most painful and cruel ways to die ever created by human beings. The crucified person’s feet were fastened with iron nails to the tree-pole and their hands to a crossbeam attached to the pole—where they remained until dead.
HIS TRAIL OF TEARS
The soldiers then put a heavy crossbeam on the back of Creator Sets Free (Jesus). But he stumbled under the weight, because he was weak from the beating he had endured, too weak to bear the burden.
32On the way they came across Listening Man (Simon), from Land of Power (Cyrene) in northern Africa. The soldiers forced him to carry the cross for Creator Sets Free (Jesus).
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