“Do you still sleep? Have you rested enough?” he said to them. “Wake up! The time is upon us! The True Human Being has been betrayed into the hands of the ones with bad hearts. 42Rise up! We must go! Look! The one who has turned against me is here!”
BETRAYED WITH A KISS
43Right 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.
44The betrayer had given them a sign, “Take hold of the one I greet with a kiss and arrest him, for he will be the one.”
45Speaks Well Of (Judas), also known as Village Man (Iscariot), when he arrived, walked right up to Creator Sets Free (Jesus). “Wisdomkeeper!” he said, and then kissed him.
46They moved in and took hold of Creator Sets Free (Jesus) to arrest him. 47But then one of his followers, who had drawn his long knife from its sheath, struck and cut off the ear of the servant of the chief holy man.
48Creator Sets Free (Jesus) then turned to the ones who had come to take him and said, “Why do you treat me as if I were a thief by coming with clubs and long knives to take me away? 49Did I not sit with you every day in the sacred lodge? Why did you not take me then? But now the words of the prophets have come true and found their full meaning.”
50Then all his followers left him and ran away. 51A young man dressed only in an undercloth trailed from behind. The people tried to grab hold of him, 52but his undergarments tore away, and the young man ran away naked into the night.
QUESTIONED BY THE CHIEF HOLY MAN
53The ones who had arrested Creator Sets Free (Jesus) dragged him away and brought him to the chief holy man. The scroll keepers and elders of the Grand Council had gathered there to question him.
54Stands on the Rock (Peter) followed from a safe distance and went right into the courtyard of the chief holy man. He then sat down next to the lodge guards and warmed himself by the fire.
55The head holy men and the Grand Council kept trying to find someone who would speak against Creator Sets Free (Jesus) so they could put him to death, 56but found none who could agree, even though many came forward and spoke lies against him.
57Then some false witnesses came forward and said, 58“We heard him say, ‘I will tear down this sacred lodge made with hands and in three days I will build another not made with hands.’”
59But even about this they could not keep their stories straight.
60The chief holy man stood before all in the center of the room.
“Have you nothing to say to these accusations?” he said to Creator Sets Free (Jesus).
61But he just stood there silently and gave no answer.
“Are you the Chosen One,” the chief holy man asked him, “the Son of the One Who Is Blessed?”
The room became silent, and when he spoke, every eye and ear were fixed on Creator Sets Free (Jesus).
62“I am,” he answered, “and you will see the True Human Being sitting at the right hand of the Power when he comes riding the clouds of the spirit-world above!”
63The chief holy man tore his regalia and turned to the council.
“Why do we even need witnesses?” he said to them. 64“You have heard him speak against the Great Spirit with your own ears! What does the council have to say?”
The decision was agreed on by all—death.
65Some began to spit on him. They covered his face and struck him, saying, “Prophesy!” Then the lodge guards took him and struck him with the backs of their hands.
STANDS ON THE ROCK DENIES HIM
66Below the house, outside in the courtyard, one of the servant women of the chief holy man 67saw Stands on the Rock (Peter) warming himself by the fire.
She looked closely at him and said, “You were also with Creator Sets Free (Jesus) from Seed Planter Village (Nazareth)!”
68“I do not know him or what you are saying!” he said to her, and as he moved away toward the outside of the courtyard, a rooster crowed.
69The servant woman, seeing him walk away, said to some of the men there, “He is one of them!”
70But again he denied it.
After a while, some others who were standing by said to him, “You must be one of his followers. You talk like someone from Circle of Nations (Galilee).”
71Stands on the Rock (Peter) cursed, made a sacred oath, and said, “I do not know this man you are talking about.”
72Right then a rooster crowed for the second time. Stands on the Rock (Peter) remembered what Creator Sets Free (Jesus) had told him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny three times that you know me.”
Then Stands on the Rock (Peter) broke down and wept.
TAKEN TO THE PEOPLE OF IRON
1As the sun began to rise, the head holy men counseled together with the tribal elders, the scroll keepers, and the Grand Council. Then with ropes they bound Creator Sets Free (Jesus) once again and took him to Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate).
Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) was the local governor representing the People of Iron (Romans). He had the power to decide who would live and who would die.
2“Are you the chief of the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel)?” he asked Creator Sets Free (Jesus).
3“You have said it,” he answered as the head holy men kept accusing him.
4“Why are you silent?” Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) said to him. “Do you not hear all their accusations?”
5But, to the amazement of the governor, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) answered not one word.
WHO SHOULD BE RELEASED?
6It was a tradition during the Passover festival to release to the crowd one criminal, whomever they wanted. 7At that time they were holding a man in prison, a killer who had been part of an uprising against the People of Iron (Romans), whose name was Son of His Father (Barabbas). 8So the crowd began to ask Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) to release a prisoner.
9The governor raised his voice and asked the crowd, “Should I release to you the chief of your tribal nation?”
10He 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. 11But the head holy men and the elders stirred the crowd into asking for Son of His Father (Barabbas) to be released instead.
12“What then would you have me do with the one you call chief of your tribal nation?” he asked them again.
13“Nail him to the cross!” they shouted with one voice.
14“Why? What wrong has he done to deserve this?” he said back to them.
But they only shouted louder and stronger, “Nail him to the cross!”
CONDEMNED TO DIE
15So Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate), to satisfy the crowd, released the man of violence, Son of His Father (Barabbas), to them. He then turned over the man of peace, 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 whipped. The pieces of bone and metal would rip and tear the skin from the body, leaving the victim almost lifeless.
16The soldiers took Creator Sets Free (Jesus) away into the great hall of the governor’s lodge, and all the soldiers gathered around him. 17They wrapped a purple chief blanket around him and twisted together a headdress from a thorn bush and pressed it onto his head.
18“Honor! Honor! To the chief of the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel),” they said, mocking him 19as they bowed to the ground in front of him. Then they spit on him and beat his head over and over again with a wooden staff.
HIS TRAIL OF TEARS
20When they were finished putting on their big show, they stripped him of the purple chief
blanket and dressed him in his own clothes.
The soldiers forced Creator Sets Free (Jesus) to carry a heavy wooden crossbeam on his back. He stumbled under the weight, because he was weak from the beating he had endured, too weak to bear the burden.
But they continued to march him down the road to the place where they would nail him to the cross.
21On the way they came across a man who was just passing by, coming in from the countryside. The man’s name was Listening Man (Simon), the father of Man Fighter (Alexander) and Red Man (Rufus). The soldiers forced him to carry the heavy crossbeam for Creator Sets Free (Jesus).
NAILED TO THE CROSS
The cross was an instrument of torture and terror, used by the People of Iron (Romans) to strike fear into the hearts of any who dared to rise up against their empire. The victim’s hands and feet would be pierced with large iron nails, fastening them to the tree-pole. The victims would hang there, sometimes for days, until they were dead. This was one of the most cruel and painful ways to die ever devised by human beings.
22They brought Creator Sets Free (Jesus) to the Place of the Skull (Golgotha). 23There they gave him wine mixed with bitter herbs, but he would not drink it. 24Then they stripped him of his clothes and nailed him to a wooden tree-pole—the cross—and gambled for his clothes by drawing straws to see who would win.
25It was the third hour of the day when they nailed him to the cross. 26Carved above his head onto a piece of wood was the accusation against him:
CHIEF OF THE TRIBES OF WRESTLES WITH CREATOR
27They also nailed two thieves to their own crosses, one to his right, the other to his left. 28And so this gave full meaning to the Sacred Teachings that said, “He will be counted among the outlaws.”40
MOCKED BY HIS OWN PEOPLE
29The people passing by wagged their heads and heaped insults on him.
“Aha!” they laughed out loud. “So you can destroy the sacred lodge and build it again in three days! Can you? 30Why not come down from that cross and save yourself?”
31The head holy men along with the scroll keepers also mocked him.
“He set others free,” they said, “but he cannot even set himself free! 32Let the Chosen One, the Chief of the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel), come down from the cross now. Then we will believe.”
The men on crosses to his left and right also heaped insults upon him.
33At the sixth hour of the day, when the sun was high, darkness covered the whole land like a blanket for three hours.
HE CRIES OUT IN SORROW
34At the ninth hour Creator Sets Free (Jesus), speaking in his own language, cried out with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?”—which means, “O Great Spirit, my Creator, why have you left me alone?”
35Some of the people standing there heard him and said, “He is calling on the prophet, Great Spirit Is Creator (Elijah), to help him.”
36Someone then ran and soaked a cloth with bitter wine, put it on a staff, held it to his mouth, and said, “Wait, let us see if Great Spirit Is Creator (Elijah) will come and take him down.”
HE BREATHES HIS LAST
37Then Creator Sets Free (Jesus), with his dying breath, lifted his voice and with a loud cry gave up his spirit.
38At that very moment in the sacred lodge, the great heavy blanket that hung over the entry to the Most Holy Place was torn from top to bottom.
For the first time the inner chamber, where only the chief holy man could go, was open to all.
39When the head soldier of the People of Iron (Romans), who was standing in front of Creator Sets Free (Jesus), saw how he died, he said, “This man must truly be the Son of the Great Spirit!”
THE WOMEN WHO WALKED WITH HIM
40Watching from a distance were some of the women who had walked the road with him. Among them was Strong Tears (Mary) of the village of Creator’s High Lodge (Magdala), Brooding Tears (Mary) the mother of He Takes Charge (James) the Small One and He Increases (Joses), and Peaceful Woman (Salome). 41These were some of the women who had served Creator Sets Free (Jesus) during the times when he was at Circle of Nations (Galilee). There were also many others who had made the journey with him to Village of Peace (Jerusalem).
PREPARING FOR HIS BURIAL
42The sun would soon set, ending the Day of Preparation, and marking the beginning of the Day of Resting. 43He Gets More (Joseph) from the tribal village of High Mountain (Arimathea), who was also looking for Creator’s good road, was a respected member of the Grand Council. He found the courage to ask Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) for the body of Creator Sets Free (Jesus).
44Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) was surprised to hear that Creator Sets Free (Jesus) had already died, so he summoned the head soldier and asked how long he had been dead. 45Once he was assured that Creator Sets Free (Jesus) was truly dead, Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) released his body to He Gets More (Joseph).
46He took the dead body down from the cross and wrapped it in a soft blanket in the traditional way. He laid the body of Creator Sets Free (Jesus) in a burial cave freshly cut from the rock hillside and then rolled a large stone in front of the cave.
47Strong Tears (Mary) of the village of Creator’s High Lodge (Magdala) and Brooding Tears (Mary) the mother of He Increases (Joses) were nearby watching closely where the body of Creator Sets Free (Jesus) had been laid.
THE BURIAL CAVE
1After the Day of Resting was over, Strong Tears (Mary) of the village of Creator’s High Lodge (Magdala) and Brooding Tears (Mary) the mother of He Takes Charge (James), along with Peaceful Woman (Salome), brought herbal spices to rub into the body of Creator Sets Free (Jesus). 2So, on the first day of the week, they came to the burial cave very early in the morning just as the sun was rising.
3They were asking each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the opening of the burial cave?”
SPIRIT-MESSENGERS
4But when they arrived, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled away. 5When they went inside the burial cave, they saw a young man, dressed in a pure white garment, sitting to the right side of the cave. This filled the women with fear that covered them like a blanket.
6“Do not fear!” the young man said to them, “The one you are looking for is not here! Creator Sets Free (Jesus) from Seed Planter Village (Nazareth), who was killed on the cross, has returned to life. See for yourselves. Here is where they laid him. 7Now go and tell his followers, and Stands on the Rock (Peter), that he is going ahead of them to Circle of Nations (Galilee). It is there that they will see him again—just as he told them.”
8Terror and amazement came upon the women, and they ran as fast as they could from the burial cave.41
HE SHOWS HIMSELF
9When Creator Sets Free (Jesus) returned to life on the first day of the week, he showed himself first to a woman, Strong Tears (Mary) of the village of Creator’s High Lodge (Magdala), the one he had set free from seven evil spirits. 10She went to his followers, who were still grieving and weeping, and told them what she had seen and heard. 11But when they heard that she had seen Creator Sets Free (Jesus) alive, they would not believe it.
12On the same day Creator Sets Free (Jesus) also appeared to two of his followers as they were walking in the countryside, but in a different form, so they did not recognize him. 13But when they returned and told the others, no one believed them.
14Later, at another time, he showed himself to the eleven message bearers while they were sitting around a table eating a meal. He scolded them for their hard hearts and failure to believe the others who had seen him alive.
HIS LAST INSTRUCTIONS
15“Go into all the world,” he instructed them, “and tell the good story about me to all of creation. 16The ones who trust in me will participate in the purification ceremony,42 setting them free from their broken ways and initiating them into my sacred family. But the ones who will not walk this road with me43 will come to a bad end.
17“Powerful signs will follow the ones who follow me. Here are some of the things they will do in my name, representing who I am: They will force out evil spirits, 18pick up and throw out snakes, and even if they drink deadly poison it will not harm them. They will speak in new languages and heal the sick by laying hands on them.”
HE GOES BACK TO THE FATHER ABOVE
19When he was finished speaking to them, Creator Sets Free (Jesus), our great chief and Wisdomkeeper, was taken up into the spirit-world above to sit down at the right hand of the Great Spirit—the place of greatest honor, dignity, and power.
20His followers then went out from there, far and wide, telling everyone the story of Creator’s good road. Our Honored Chief through his Spirit continued to walk with them, showing his approval of their message by powerful signs.
Aho! May it be so!
SHINING LIGHT TELLS THE GOOD STORY
THE GOSPEL OF LUKE
EYEWITNESSES
1-3O most honored Friend of Creator (Theophilus), many have told this story, given to them from those who saw these things with their own eyes, the ones who first walked out this message to hand it down to us.
Having searched out this story from the first, it seemed like a good thing for me to retell it from beginning to end. 4In this way you will know for yourself the truth about the things you were taught.
First Nations Version Page 18