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Giovedi, 28 marzo 2024 - San Castore di Tarso ( Letture di oggi)

Matthew 26


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1Jesus had now finished al he wanted to say, and he told his disciples,2'It wil be Passover, as you know, in two days' time, and the Son of man wil be handed over to becrucified.'3Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whosename was Caiaphas,4and made plans to arrest Jesus by some trick and have him put to death.5They said, however, 'It must not be during the festivities; there must be no disturbance among thepeople.'6Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon, a man who had suffered from a virulent skin-disease,when7a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive ointment, and poured it on his head ashe was at table.8When they saw this, the disciples said indignantly, 'Why this waste?9This could have been sold for a high price and the money given the poor.'10But Jesus noticed this and said, 'Why are you upsetting the woman? What she has done for me isindeed a good work!11You have the poor with you always, but you wil not always have me.12When she poured this ointment on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial.13In truth I tel you, wherever in al the world this gospel is proclaimed, what she has done will be toldas well, in remembrance of her.'14Then one of the Twelve, the man cal ed Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests15and said, 'What are you prepared to give me if I hand him over to you?' They paid him thirty silverpieces,16and from then onwards he began to look for an opportunity to betray him.17Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus to say, 'Where do you want usto make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?'18He said, 'Go to a certain man in the city and say to him, "The Master says: My time is near. It is atyour house that I am keeping Passover with my disciples." '19The disciples did what Jesus told them and prepared the Passover.20When evening came he was at table with the Twelve.21And while they were eating he said, 'In truth I tell you, one of you is about to betray me.'22They were greatly distressed and started asking him in turn, 'Not me, Lord, surely?'23He answered, 'Someone who has dipped his hand into the dish with me wil betray me.24The Son of man is going to his fate, as the scriptures say he will, but alas for that man by whom theSon of man is betrayed! Better for that man if he had never been born!'25Judas, who was to betray him, asked in his turn, 'Not me, Rabbi, surely?' Jesus answered, 'It is youwho say it.'26Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had said the blessing he broke it and gaveit to the disciples. 'Take it and eat,' he said, 'this is my body.'27Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he handed it to them saying, 'Drink from this, allof you,28for this is my blood, the blood of the covenant, poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.29From now on, I tel you, I shal never again drink wine until the day I drink the new wine with you inthe kingdom of my Father.'30After the psalms had been sung they left for the Mount of Olives.31Then Jesus said to them, 'You wil al fall away from me tonight, for the scripture says: I shal strikethe shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered,32but after my resurrection I shal go ahead of you to Galilee.'33At this, Peter said to him, 'Even if al fal away from you, I wil never fal away.'34Jesus answered him, 'In truth I tel you, this very night, before the cock crows, you will have disownedme three times.'35Peter said to him, 'Even if I have to die with you, I wil never disown you.' And al the disciples saidthe same.36Then Jesus came with them to a plot of land called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, 'Stayhere while I go over there to pray.'37He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee with him. And he began to feel sadness and anguish.38Then he said to them, 'My soul is sorrowful to the point of death. Wait here and stay awake with me.'39And going on a little further he fel on his face and prayed. 'My Father,' he said, 'if it is possible, letthis cup pass me by. Nevertheless, let it be as you, not I, would have it.'40He came back to the disciples and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, 'So you had not thestrength to stay awake with me for one hour?41Stay awake, and pray not to be put to the test. The spirit is willing enough, but human nature isweak.'42Again, a second time, he went away and prayed: 'My Father,' he said, 'if this cup cannot pass by, butI must drink it, your wil be done!'43And he came back again and found them sleeping, their eyes were so heavy.44Leaving them there, he went away again and prayed for the third time, repeating the same words.45Then he came back to the disciples and said to them, 'You can sleep on now and have your rest.Look, the hour has come when the Son of man is to be betrayed into the hands of sinners.46Get up! Let us go! Look, my betrayer is not far away.'47And suddenly while he was stil speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared, and with him a largenumber of men armed with swords and clubs, sent by the chief priests and elders of the people.48Now the traitor had arranged a sign with them saying, 'The one I kiss, he is the man. Arrest him.'49So he went up to Jesus at once and said, 'Greetings, Rabbi,' and kissed him.50Jesus said to him, 'My friend, do what you are here for.' Then they came forward, seized Jesus andarrested him.51And suddenly, one of the fol owers of Jesus grasped his sword and drew it; he struck the high priest'sservant and cut off his ear.52Jesus then said, 'Put your sword back, for al who draw the sword wil die by the sword.53Or do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, who would promptly send more than twelvelegions of angels to my defence?54But then, how would the scriptures be fulfil ed that say this is the way it must be?'55It was at this time that Jesus said to the crowds, 'Am I a bandit, that you had to set out to capture mewith swords and clubs? I sat teaching in the Temple day after day and you never laid a hand on me.'56Now al this happened to fulfil the prophecies in scripture. Then al the disciples deserted him and ranaway.57The men who had arrested Jesus led him off to the house of Caiaphas the high priest, where thescribes and the elders were assembled.58Peter followed him at a distance right to the high priest's palace, and he went in and sat down withthe attendants to see what the end would be.59The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus, however false,on which they might have him executed.60But they could not find any, though several lying witnesses came forward. Eventually two cameforward61and made a statement, 'This man said, "I have power to destroy the Temple of God and in three daysbuild it up." '62The high priest then rose and said to him, 'Have you no answer to that? What is this evidence thesemen are bringing against you?'63But Jesus was silent. And the high priest said to him, 'I put you on oath by the living God to tel us ifyou are the Christ, the Son of God.'64Jesus answered him, 'It is you who say it. But, I tel you that from this time onward you wil see theSon of man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.'65Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, 'He has blasphemed. What need of witnesses have wenow? There! You have just heard the blasphemy.66What is your opinion?' They answered, 'He deserves to die.'67Then they spat in his face and hit him with their fists; others said as they struck him,68'Prophesy to us, Christ! Who hit you then?'69Meanwhile Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a servant-girl came up to him saying, 'You,too, were with Jesus the Galilean.'70But he denied it in front of them al . 'I do not know what you are talking about,' he said.71When he went out to the gateway another servant-girl saw him and said to the people there, 'Thisman was with Jesus the Nazarene.'72And again, with an oath, he denied it, 'I do not know the man.'73A little later the bystanders came up and said to Peter, 'You are certainly one of them too! Why, youraccent gives you away.'74Then he started cursing and swearing, 'I do not know the man.' And at once the cock crowed,75and Peter remembered what Jesus had said, 'Before the cock crows you wil have disowned methree times.' And he went outside and wept bitterly.