62 Yeshua answered, "Yes, I am, and you will see the Son of Man in the highest position in heaven. He will be coming with the clouds of heaven."

63 The chief priest tore his clothes in horror and said, "Why do we need any more witnesses? 64 You've heard him dishonor God! What's your verdict?"

All of them condemned him with the death sentence. 65 Some of them began to spit on him. They covered his face and hit him with their fists. They said to him, "Prophesy!" Even the guards took him and slapped him.

Peter Denies Jesus-Matthew 26:69-75; Luke 22:54b-62; John 18:15-18, 25-27 66 Peter was in the courtyard. One of the chief priest's female servants 67 saw Peter warming himself. She looked at him and said, "You, too, were with Yeshua from Nazareth!"

68 But Peter denied it by saying, "I don't know him, and I don't understand what you're talking about."

He went to the entrance. Then a rooster crowed.a 69 The servant saw him. Once again she said to those who were standing around, "This man is one of them!" 70 Peter again denied it.

After a little while the men standing there said to Peter again, "It's obvious you're one of them. You're a Galilean!"

71 Then Peter began to curse and swear with an oath, "I don't know this man you're talking about!" 72 Just then a rooster crowed a second time. Peter remembered that Yeshua said to him, "Before a rooster crows twice, you will say three times that you don't know me." Then Peter began to cry very hard.

Pilate Questions Jesus-Matthew 27:11-14; Luke 23:1-4; John 18:28-38 15 1 Early in the morning the chief priests immediately came to a decision with the leaders and the experts in Moses' Teachings. The whole Jewish council decided to tie Yeshua up, lead him away, and hand him over to Pilate.

2 Pilate asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?"

"Yes, I am," Yeshua answered him.

3 The chief priests were accusing him of many things.

4 So Pilate asked him again, "Don't you have any answer? Look how many accusations they're bringing against you!"

5 But Yeshua no longer answered anything, so Pilate was surprised.

The Crowd Rejects Jesus-Matthew 27:15-26; Luke 23:18-25; John 18:39-40 6 At every Passover festival, Pilate would free one prisoner whom the people asked for. 7 There was a man named Barabbas in prison. He was with some rebels who had committed murder during a riot. 8 The crowd asked Pilate to do for them what he always did. 9 Pilate answered them, "Do you want me to free the king of the Jews for you?" 10 Pilate knew that the chief priests had handed Yeshua over to him because they were jealous.

11 The chief priests stirred up the crowd so that Pilate would free Barabbas for them instead.

12 So Pilate again asked them, "Then what should I do with the king of the Jews?"

13 "Crucify him!" they shouted back.

14 Pilate said to them, "Why? What has he done wrong?"

But they shouted even louder, "Crucify him!"

15 Pilate wanted to satisfy the people, so he freed Barabbas for them. But he had Yeshua whipped and handed over to be crucified.

The Soldiers Make Fun of Jesus-Matthew 27:27-30; John 19:1-3 16 The soldiers led Yeshua into the courtyard of the palace and called together the whole troop. 17 They dressed him in purple, twisted some thorns into a crown, and placed it on his head. 18 Then they began to greet him, "Long live the king of the Jews!" 19 They kept hitting him on the head with a stick, spitting on him, and kneeling in front of him with false humility.

The Crucifixion-Matthew 27:31-44; Luke 23:33-38; John 19:16b-24 20 After the soldiers finished making fun of Yeshua, they took off the purple cape and put his own clothes back on him. Then they led him out to crucify him. 21 A man named Simon from the city of Cyrene was coming into Jerusalem from his home in the country. He was the father of Alexander and Rufus. As he was about to pass by, the soldiers forced him to carry Yeshua's cross.

22 They took Yeshua to Golgotha (which means "the place of the skull"). 23 They tried to give him wine mixed with a drug called myrrh, but he wouldn't take it. 24 Next they crucified him. Then they divided his clothes among themselves by throwing dice to see what each one would get. 25 It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. 26 There was a written notice of the accusation against him. It read, "The king of the Jews."

27 They crucified two criminals with him, one on his right and the other on his left.a 29 Those who passed by insulted him. They shook their heads and said, "What a joke! You were going to tear down God's temple and build it again in three days. 30 Come down from the cross, and save yourself!" 31 The chief priests and the experts in Moses' Teachings made fun of him among themselves in the same way. They said, "He saved others, but he can't save himself. 32 Let the Messiah, the king of Israel, come down from the cross now so that we may see and believe." Even those who were crucified with him were insulting him.

Jesus Dies on the Cross-Matthew 27:45-56; Luke 23:44-49; John 19:28-30 33 At noon darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34 At three o'clock Yeshua cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?"

35 When some of the people standing there heard him say that, they said, "Listen! He's calling Elijah." 36 Someone ran and soaked a sponge in vinegar. Then he put it on a stick and offered Yeshua a drink. The man said, "Let's see if Elijah comes to take him down."

37 Then Yeshua cried out in a loud voice and died. 38 The curtain in the temple was split in two from top to bottom.

39 When the officer who stood facing Yeshua saw how he gave up his spirit, he said, "Certainly, this man was the Son of God!"

40 Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary from Magdala, Mary (the mother of young James and Joseph), and Salome. 41 They had followed him and supported him while he was in Galilee. Many other women who had come to Jerusalem with him were there too.

Jesus Is Placed in a Tomb-Matthew 27:57-61; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42 42 It was Friday evening, before the day of worship, 43 when Joseph arrived. He was from the city of Arimathea and was an important member of the Jewish council. He, too, was waiting for the kingdom of God. Joseph boldly went to Pilate's quarters to ask for the body of Yeshua.

44 Pilate wondered if Yeshua had already died. So he summoned the officer to ask him if Yeshua was, in fact, dead. 45 When the officer had assured him that Yeshua was dead, Pilate let Joseph have the corpse.

46 Joseph had purchased some linen cloth. He took the body down from the cross and wrapped it in the cloth. Then he laid the body in a tomb, which had been cut out of rock, and he rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. 47 Mary from Magdala and Mary (the mother of Joses) watched where Yeshua was laid.

Jesus Comes Back to Life-Matthew 28:1-10; Luke 24:1-12; John 20:1-10 16 1 When the day of worship was over, Mary from Magdala, Mary (the mother of James), and Salome bought spices to go and anoint Yeshua.

2 On Sunday they were going to the tomb very early when the sun had just come up. 3 They said to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?" 4 When they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away. It was a very large stone. 5 As they went into the tomb, they saw a young man. He was dressed in a white robe and sat on the right side. They were panic-stricken.

6 The young man said to them, "Don't panic! You're looking for Yeshua from Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been brought back to life. He's not here. Look at the place where they laid him. 7 Go and tell his disciples and Peter that he's going ahead of them to Galilee. There they will see him, just as he told them."

8 They went out of the tomb and ran away. Shock and trembling had overwhelmed them. They didn't say a thing to anyone, because they were afraid.a Jesus Appears to His Followers 9 After Yeshua came back to life early on Sunday, he appeared first to Mary from Magdala, from whom he had forced out seven demons. 10 She went and told his friends, who were grieving and crying. 11 They didn't believe her when they heard that he was alive and that she had seen him.

12 Later Yeshua appeared to two disciples as they were walking to their home in the country. He did not look as he usually did. 13 They went back and told the others, who did not believe them either. 14 Still later Yeshua appeared to the eleven apostles while they were eating. He put them to shame for their unbelief and because they were too stubborn to believe those who had seen him alive.

15 Then Yeshua said to them, "So wherever you go in the world, tell everyone the Good News. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

17 "These are the miraculous signs that will accompany believers: They will use the power and authority of my name to force demons out of people. They will speak new languages. 18 They will pick up snakes, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them. They will place their hands on the sick and cure them."

19 After talking with the apostles, the Lord was taken to heaven, where God gave him the highest position.

20 The disciples spread the Good News everywhere. The Lord worked with them. He confirmed his word by the miraculous signs that accompanied it.

a 1:4 "Repentance" is turning to God with a complete change in the way a person thinks and acts.

a 1:40 "Clean" refers to anything that Moses' Teachings say is presentable to God.

a 3:14 Some manuscripts and translations omit "whom he called apostles."

a 5:20 A federation of ten Greek city states east and west of the Jordan River.

a 7:2 "Unclean" refers to anything that Moses' Teachings say is not presentable to God.

b 7:4 Some manuscripts and translations omit "and dinner tables."

a 7:16 Some manuscripts and translations omit this verse.

b 7:31 A federation of ten Greek city states east and west of the Jordan River.

a 9:29 Some manuscripts and translations add "and fasting."

a 9:43 Some manuscripts and translations add verses 44 and 46, which both say: "In hell worms that eat the body never die, and the fire is never put out."

a 11:25 Some manuscripts and translations add verse 26: "But if you don't forgive, your Father in heaven will not forgive your failures."

a 14:24 Or "testament," or "covenant."

b 14:36 Abba is Aramaic for "father."

a 14:41 Greek meaning uncertain.

a 14:68 Some manuscripts and translations omit this sentence.

a 15:27 Some manuscripts and translations add verse 28: "And what the Scriptures said came true: 'He was counted with criminals.'"

a 16:8 Some manuscripts and translations end Mark here; some add verses 9-20.

Introduction to LUKE.

Luke wrote two major New Testament books-the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts. Though he did not personally witness the events of Jesus' life (1:1-4), he gathered information from those who did. As an associate of the apostle Paul (see the introduction to Acts), he undoubtedly learned a great deal about Jesus from him. Most likely Luke was a Greek-speaking Gentile, and his Gospel is written with Gentiles in mind.

Like Matthew, Luke relied heavily on the Gospel of Mark for the basic facts of Jesus' life, then added material from other sources to create his own unique account. His gentile readers would have warmed to Luke's portrayal of Jesus as a man full of compassion for outsiders-women, the poor, the sick, the sinful, and, yes, Gentiles. In fact, our Christmas celebrations would be much poorer without Luke's interest in the powerless. Luke introduces us to Elizabeth, the aging, childless priest's wife; Mary, the pregnant, unmarried teenager; and the scruffy shepherds who were first to visit the Christ child in the manger. He records Mary's song in which she praises the Almighty because "he honored humble people" (1:52). He gives us Simeon's words that Jesus "will reveal salvation to the nations" (2:32), not just to the chosen few.

Luke is our only source for many of Jesus' parables, and in these stories we again see Jesus' love for the outcast. In the parable of the good Samaritan (10:30-35), the hero is the despised foreigner. In the prodigal son (15:11-32), the father welcomes his runaway son. In the rich man and Lazarus (16:19-31), the beggar is rewarded. In the Pharisee and the tax collector (18:9-14), God approves of the humble sinner. This theme of God's mercy continues even when Jesus is dying. Only Luke tells us that Jesus prayed for his persecutors: "Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing" (23:34). Only Luke reports Jesus' conversation with the dying thief that ends: "I can guarantee this truth: Today you will be with me in paradise" (23:43).

From beginning to end, Luke emphasizes the work of the Holy Spirit. Look for the Spirit's role in Jesus' birth, baptism, and ministry. After the resurrection, see his disciples waiting to receive power (24:49). In Luke's second book, Acts, the power of the Holy Spirit will fill the believers and change the world.

Key Names of God in Luke Spirit Son of David Son of Man Son of God Savior Rabbi, Teacher Child Father Messiah, Christ Lord Bridegroom LUKE.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10.

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20.

21 22 23 24.

Luke Writes to Theophilus 1 1 Many have attempted to write about what had taken place among us. 2 They received their information from those who had been eyewitnesses and servants of God's word from the beginning, and they passed it on to us. 3 I, too, have followed everything closely from the beginning. So I thought it would be a good idea to write an orderly account for Your Excellency, Theophilus. 4 In this way you will know that what you've been told is true.

The Angel Gabriel Appears to Zechariah 5 When Herod was king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the division of priests named after Abijah. Zechariah's wife Elizabeth was a descendant of Aaron. 6 Zechariah and Elizabeth had God's approval. They followed all the Lord's commands and regulations perfectly. 7 Yet, they never had any children because Elizabeth couldn't become pregnant. Both of them were too old to have children.

8 Zechariah was on duty with his division of priests. As he served in God's presence, 9 he was chosen by priestly custom to go into the Lord's temple to burn incense. 10 All the people were praying outside while he was burning incense.

11 Then, to the right of the incense altar, an angel of the Lord appeared to him. 12 Zechariah was troubled and overcome with fear.

13 The angel said to him, "Don'tbe afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife Elizabeth will have a son, and you will name him John. 14 He will be your pride and joy, and many people will be glad that he was born. 15 As far as the Lord is concerned, he will be a great man. He will never drink wine or any other liquor. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. 16 He will bring many people in Israel back to the Lord their God. 17 He will go ahead of the Lord with the spirit and power that Elijah had. He will change parents' attitudes toward their children. He will change disobedient people so that they will accept the wisdom of those who have God's approval. In this way he will prepare the people for their Lord."

18 Zechariah said to the angel, "What proof is there for this? I'm an old man, and my wife is beyond her childbearing years."

19 The angel answered him, "I'm Gabriel! I stand in God's presence. God sent me to tell you this good news. 20 But because you didn't believe what I said, you will be unable to talk until the day this happens. Everything will come true at the right time."

21 Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah. They were amazed that he was staying in the temple so long. 22 When he did come out, he was unable to speak to them. So they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. He motioned to them but remained unable to talk.

23 When the days of his service were over, he went home. 24 Later, his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and didn't go out in public for five months. She said, 25 "The Lord has done this for me now. He has removed my public disgrace."

The Angel Gabriel Comes to Mary 26 Six months after Elizabeth had become pregnant, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a city in Galilee. 27 The angel went to a virgin promised in marriage to a descendant of David named Joseph. The virgin's name was Mary.

28 When the angel entered her home, he greeted her and said, "You are favored by the Lord! The Lord is with you."

29 She was startled by what the angel said and tried to figure out what this greeting meant.

30 The angel told her, "Don't be afraid, Mary. You have found favora with God.

31 You will become pregnant, give birth to a son, and name him Yeshua .

32 He will be a great man and will be called the Son of the Most High.

The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David.

33 Your son will be king of Jacob's people forever, and his kingdom will never end."

34 Mary asked the angel, "How can this be? I've never had sexual intercourse."

35 The angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come to you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy child developing inside you will be called the Son of God.

36 "Elizabeth, your relative, is six months pregnant with a son in her old age. People said she couldn't have a child. 37 But nothing is impossible for God."

38 Mary answered, "I am the Lord's servant. Let everything you've said happen to me."

Then the angel left her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth 39 Soon afterward, Mary hurried to a city in the mountain region of Judah. 40 She entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth.

41 When Elizabeth heard the greeting, she felt the baby kick. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 She said in a loud voice, "You are the most blessed of all women, and blessed is the child that you will have. 43 I feel blessed that the mother of my Lord is visiting me. 44 As soon as I heard your greeting, I felt the baby jump for joy. 45 You are blessed for believing that the Lord would keep his promise to you."

Mary Praises God 46 Mary said, "My soul praises the Lord's greatness!

47 My spirit finds its joy in God, my Savior, 48 because he has looked favorably on me, his humble servant.

"From now on, all people will call me blessed 49 because the Almighty has done great things to me.