Bible Society of South Africa

Bible Reading Plan – Day 357

Bible text(s)

John 17

Jesus Prays for his Disciples

1After Jesus finished saying this, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your Son, so that the Son may give glory to you. 2For you gave him authority over all humanity, so that he might give eternal life to all those you gave him. 3And eternal life means knowing you, the only true God, and knowing Jesus Christ, whom you sent. 4I have shown your glory on earth; I have finished the work you gave me to do. 5Father! Give me glory in your presence now, the same glory I had with you before the world was made.

6“I have made you known to those you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me. They have obeyed your word, 7and now they know that everything you gave me comes from you. 8I gave them the message that you gave me, and they received it; they know that it is true that I came from you, and they believe that you sent me.

9“I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those you gave me, for they belong to you. 10All I have is yours, and all you have is mine; and my glory is shown through them. 11And now I am coming to you; I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world. Holy Father! Keep them safe by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one just as you and I are one. 12While I was with them, I kept them safe by the power of your name, the name you gave me. I protected them, and not one of them was lost, except the man who was bound to be lost — so that the scripture might come true. 13And now I am coming to you, and I say these things in the world so that they might have my joy in their hearts in all its fullness. 14I gave them your message, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 15I do not ask you to take them out of the world, but I do ask you to keep them safe from the Evil One. 16Just as I do not belong to the world, they do not belong to the world. 17Dedicate them to yourself by means of the truth; your word is truth. 18I sent them into the world, just as you sent me into the world. 19And for their sake I dedicate myself to you, in order that they, too, may be truly dedicated to you.

20“I pray not only for them, but also for those who believe in me because of their message. 21I pray that they may all be one. Father! May they be in us, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they be one, so that the world will believe that you sent me. 22I gave them the same glory you gave me, so that they may be one, just as you and I are one: 23I in them and you in me, so that they may be completely one, in order that the world may know that you sent me and that you love them as you love me.

24“Father! You have given them to me, and I want them to be with me where I am, so that they may see my glory, the glory you gave me; for you loved me before the world was made. 25Righteous Father! The world does not know you, but I know you, and these know that you sent me. 26I made you known to them, and I will continue to do so, in order that the love you have for me may be in them, and so that I also may be in them.”

John 18

The Arrest of Jesus

(Mt 26.47–56; Mk 14.43–50; Lk 22.47–53)

1After Jesus had said this prayer, he left with his disciples and went across the brook called Kidron. There was a garden in that place, and Jesus and his disciples went in. 2Judas, the traitor, knew where it was, because many times Jesus had met there with his disciples. 3So Judas went to the garden, taking with him a group of Roman soldiers, and some temple guards sent by the chief priests and the Pharisees; they were armed and carried lanterns and torches. 4Jesus knew everything that was going to happen to him, so he stepped forward and asked them, “Who is it you are looking for?”

5“Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered.

“I am he,” he said.

Judas, the traitor, was standing there with them. 6When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they moved back and fell to the ground. 7Again Jesus asked them, “Who is it you are looking for?”

“Jesus of Nazareth,” they said.

8“I have already told you that I am he,” Jesus said. “If, then, you are looking for me, let these others go.” 9(He said this so that what he had said might come true: “Father, I have not lost even one of those you gave me.”)

10Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the High Priest's slave, cutting off his right ear. The name of the slave was Malchus. 11Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back in its place! Do you think that I will not drink the cup of suffering which my Father has given me?”

Jesus before Annas

12Then the Roman soldiers with their commanding officer and the Jewish guards arrested Jesus, bound him, 13and took him first to Annas. He was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was High Priest that year. 14It was Caiaphas who had advised the Jewish authorities that it was better that one man should die for all the people.

Peter Denies Jesus

(Mt 26.69–70; Mk 14.66–68; Lk 22.55–57)

15Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. That other disciple was well known to the High Priest, so he went with Jesus into the courtyard of the High Priest's house, 16while Peter stayed outside by the gate. Then the other disciple went back out, spoke to the girl at the gate, and brought Peter inside. 17The girl at the gate said to Peter, “Aren't you also one of the disciples of that man?”

“No, I am not,” answered Peter.

18It was cold, so the servants and guards had built a charcoal fire and were standing round it, warming themselves. So Peter went over and stood with them, warming himself.

The High Priest Questions Jesus

(Mt 26.59–66; Mk 14.55–64; Lk 22.66–71)

19The High Priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching. 20Jesus answered, “I have always spoken publicly to everyone; all my teaching was done in the synagogues and in the Temple, where all the people come together. I have never said anything in secret. 21Why, then, do you question me? Question the people who heard me. Ask them what I told them — they know what I said.”

22When Jesus said this, one of the guards there slapped him and said, “How dare you talk like that to the High Priest!”

23Jesus answered him, “If I have said anything wrong, tell everyone here what it was. But if I am right in what I have said, why do you hit me?”

24Then Annas sent him, still bound, to Caiaphas the High Priest.

Peter Denies Jesus Again

(Mt 26.71–75; Mk 14.69–72; Lk 22.58–62)

25Peter was still standing there keeping himself warm. So the others said to him, “Aren't you also one of the disciples of that man?”

But Peter denied it. “No, I am not,” he said.

26One of the High Priest's slaves, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, spoke up. “Didn't I see you with him in the garden?” he asked.

27Again Peter said “No” — and at once a cock crowed.

Jesus is Brought before Pilate

(Mt 27.1–2, 11–14; Mk 15.1–5; Lk 23.1–5)

28Early in the morning Jesus was taken from Caiaphas' house to the governor's palace. The Jewish authorities did not go inside the palace, for they wanted to keep themselves ritually clean, in order to be able to eat the Passover meal. 29So Pilate went outside to them and asked, “What do you accuse this man of?”

30Their answer was, “We would not have brought him to you if he had not committed a crime.”

31Pilate said to them, “Then you yourselves take him and try him according to your own law.”

They replied, “We are not allowed to put anyone to death.” 32(This happened in order to make the words of Jesus come true, the words he used when he indicated the kind of death he would die.)

33Pilate went back into the palace and called Jesus. “Are you the King of the Jews?” he asked him.

34Jesus answered, “Does this question come from you or have others told you about me?”

35Pilate replied, “Do you think I am a Jew? It was your own people and the chief priests who handed you over to me. What have you done?”

36Jesus said, “My kingdom does not belong to this world; if my kingdom belonged to this world, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish authorities. No, my kingdom does not belong here!”

37So Pilate asked him, “Are you a king, then?”

Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. I was born and came into the world for this one purpose, to speak about the truth. Whoever belongs to the truth listens to me.”

38“And what is truth?” Pilate asked.

Jesus is Sentenced to Death

(Mt 27.15–31; Mk 15.6–20; Lk 23.13–25)

Then Pilate went back outside to the people and said to them, “I cannot find any reason to condemn him. 39But according to the custom you have, I always set free a prisoner for you during the Passover. Do you want me to set free for you the King of the Jews?”

40They answered him with a shout, “No, not him! We want Barabbas!” (Barabbas was a bandit.)

John 19

1Then Pilate took Jesus and had him whipped. 2The soldiers made a crown out of thorny branches and put it on his head; then they put a purple robe on him 3and came to him and said, “Long live the King of the Jews!” And they went up and slapped him.

4Pilate went out once more and said to the crowd, “Look, I will bring him out here to you to let you see that I cannot find any reason to condemn him.” 5So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Look! Here is the man!”

6When the chief priests and the temple guards saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

Pilate said to them, “You take him, then, and crucify him. I find no reason to condemn him.”

7The crowd answered back, “We have a law that says he ought to die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”

8When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid. 9He went back into the palace and asked Jesus, “Where do you come from?”

But Jesus did not answer. 10Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Remember, I have the authority to set you free and also to have you crucified.”

11Jesus answered, “You have authority over me only because it was given to you by God. So the man who handed me over to you is guilty of a worse sin.”

12When Pilate heard this, he tried to find a way to set Jesus free. But the crowd shouted back, “If you set him free, that means that you are not the Emperor's friend! Anyone who claims to be a king is a rebel against the Emperor!”

13When Pilate heard these words, he took Jesus outside and sat down on the judge's seat in the place called “The Stone Pavement”. (In Hebrew the name is “Gabbatha”.) 14It was then almost noon of the day before the Passover. Pilate said to the people, “Here is your king!”

15They shouted back, “Kill him! Kill him! Crucify him!”

Pilate asked them, “Do you want me to crucify your king?”

The chief priests answered, “The only king we have is the Emperor!”

16Then Pilate handed Jesus over to them to be crucified.

Jesus is Crucified

So they took charge of Jesus. 17He went out, carrying his cross, and came to “The Place of the Skull”, as it is called. (In Hebrew it is called “Golgotha”.) 18There they crucified him; and they also crucified two other men, one on each side, with Jesus between them. 19Pilate wrote a notice and had it put on the cross. “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews”, is what he wrote. 20Many people read it, because the place where Jesus was crucified was not far from the city. The notice was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. 21The chief priests said to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews’, but rather, ‘This man said, I am the King of the Jews.’ ”

22Pilate answered, “What I have written stays written.”

23After the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier. They also took the robe, which was made of one piece of woven cloth without any seams in it. 24The soldiers said to one another, “Let's not tear it; let's throw dice to see who will get it.” This happened in order to make the scripture come true:

“They divided my clothes among themselves

and gambled for my robe.”

And this is what the soldiers did.

25Standing close to Jesus' cross were his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26Jesus saw his mother and the disciple he loved standing there; so he said to his mother, “He is your son.”

27Then he said to the disciple, “She is your mother.” From that time the disciple took her to live in his home.

John 17:1-19:27GNBOpen in Bible reader
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