On the same day a party of Sadducees came to Him, contending that there is no resurrection. And they put this case to Him.

now if there be another life after this, whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all married her.

for in the other life after this, there will be no such thing as marriage; but they will be as the angels of God in heaven.

And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his doctrine.

Then one of them, a Student of the Law, to test him, asked this question--

And Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind: this is the first and great command.

This is the first and great commandment.

And a second like unto it is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

Now while the Pharisees were assembled together, Jesus asked them this question,

They love to recline at the head place at dinner tables [Note: This referred to the practice of lying down on their left side on a couch next to the dinner table, and leaning on their left elbow, while eating with their right hand], and to occupy the principal seats in the synagogues.

They love the [special] greetings they receive at the open shopping markets and to be addressed as 'Rabbi' [Note: This word signified 'great' or 'master'].

But alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you eat up the houses of widows, and for a pretext make long prayers. For this reason, you shall receive the greater condemnation.

'Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye eat up the houses of the widows, and for a pretence make long prayers, because of this ye shall receive more abundant judgment.

"How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to make a single convert, and when this happens you make him twice as fit for hell as you are.

In this way also, ye indeed outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside ye are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

By saying this you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets.

'Because of this, lo, I send to you prophets, and wise men, and scribes, and of them ye will kill and crucify, and of them ye will scourge in your synagogues, and will pursue from city to city;

[This will be done] so that on you may fall the guilt for shedding on the ground the blood of all those innocent people, from the blood of righteous Abel to that of Barachiah's son Zachariah, whom you murdered between the Sanctuary and the Altar [i.e., in the Temple area].

Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.

For I say to you, You will not see me from this time till you say, A blessing on him who comes in the name of the Lord.

but he replied to them, "You see all this? I tell you truly, not a stone here will be left upon another, without being torn down."

While Jesus was seated on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, and said, “Tell us, when will this [destruction of the temple] take place, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end (completion, consummation) of the age?”

Jesus answered, "Take care that no one misleads you about this.

You will continually hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end [of the age].

But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs [of the intolerable anguish and the time of unprecedented trouble].

But the one who endures to the end--this person will be saved.

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

“So when you see the abomination of desolation [the appalling sacrilege that astonishes and makes desolate], spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the Holy Place (let the reader understand),

[Also], the person who is on a housetop [Note: This was a flat area where people retired for rest, prayer, etc., with its stairway on the outside], is not to take any of the belongings from his house as he comes down [to flee].

For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

Remember, I've told you this beforehand.

Wherever there is a dead body, [you can expect to see] vultures gathered there. [Note: This may mean that such a significant event as the coming of Christ would surely not go unnoticed].

"But immediately after the terrible trouble of those days, [i.e., the next major event on God's calendar], the sun will become dark, and [therefore] the moon will not [be able to] shed its [reflected] light. The stars will fall from the sky and the forces of the heavens will be shaken [Note: From the description of these same events in Luke 21:25-26, it is possible that this is figurative language for great calamities happening on the earth].

And He will send out His angels [i.e., as messengers] with the sound of a great trumpet [See I Thess. 4:16] to gather His elect [i.e., God's people] from all directions, [even] from throughout the whole world. [Note: See Mark 13:27, which suggests this thought by its use of 'earth' and 'sky']

“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its young shoots become tender and it puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near;

so, whenever you see all this happen, you may be sure He is at hand, at the very door.

Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

They didn’t know until the flood came and swept them all away. So this is the way the coming of the Son of Man will be:

Two women will be grinding grain at a millstone [Note: This was a hand-operated device where two persons sat across from each other and rotated a circular stone over kernels of grain]; one will be taken, while the other one will be left.

But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.

because of this also ye, become ye ready, because in what hour ye do not think, the Son of Man doth come.

How blessed is that servant whom his master finds doing this when he comes!

He gave one servant five talents [Note: This 'talent' was a large sum of money in the form of a certain weight of silver. It was the equivalent of sixty years of a farm laborer's wages, or about $750,000 in income]. He gave two talents to another servant and one talent to another. He gave to each one an amount in keeping with his ability [to invest it wisely], and then left on his trip.

And throw this good-for-nothing slave into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

And the King will answer them and say, 'Truly I tell you, since you did all this for one of my least [significant] brothers, you did it for me.'

to this he will reply, I declare unto you, your not doing this for one of the least of these, is the same thing as not doing it for me.

When Jesus had finished this discourse, He said to His disciples,

"You know that the Passover Festival will be celebrated in two more days [Note: This was the annual Jewish festival commemorating Israel's deliverance from Egyptian bondage under Moses' leadership], and the Son of man will be turned over to be crucified."

About this time the chief priests, and the elders of the people, assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas,

But they kept saying, "This must not happen during the festival. Otherwise, there'll be a riot among the people."

Now when Jesus was at Bethany [Note: This was a small village less than two miles east of Jerusalem], in the house of Simon, the man [who probably had been healed] of an infectious skin disease,

But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste?

For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.

But Jesus, aware [of the malice] of this [remark], said to them, “Why are you bothering the woman? She has done a good thing to Me.

(seeing ye have the poor always with you, but me ye have not always:) for in pouring this ointment on my body,

For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial.

Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.

About this time went one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot,

and said, "What would you give me if I turned Jesus over to you?" And they weighed out thirty silver coins [Note: This amount was equivalent to about five months of a farm laborer's wages, or approximately $7,000 in 1994], and promised [See Mark 14:11] to give him that much money.

and as they were eating, he said, 'tis indeed true that one of this company shall betray me.

They were greatly distressed at this, and each of them said to him, "Lord, surely it is not me."

And he answered [and] said, "The one who dips his hand in the bowl with me--this one will betray me.

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.

And taking the cup, and giving thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of this:

For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.

And after they had sung a hymn, they went up to the Mount of Olives. [Note: This was a small hill just east of Jerusalem]

Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.

Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.

Then Jesus came with His disciples to a place called Gethsemene. [Note: This was an olive orchard on a hillside just east of Jerusalem]. He said to them, "You sit here while I go over there and pray."

And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

And [when] He came [back] to where His disciples were and found them asleep, He said to Peter, "What [is this], could you not remain alert with me [in prayer] for one hour?

He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.

and at his return, he said to his disciples, is this a time to sleep and take your rest? the hour draws nigh, and the son of man is betrayed into the hands of the gentiles.

now he that was to betray him, gave them this signal, the person I shall kiss, is the very man, be sure to secure him.

What! do you think I cannot appeal to my Father to furnish me at this moment with over twelve legions of angels?

How then will the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen this way?”

At this point, Jesus asked the crowds, "Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as if I were a bandit? Day after day I sat teaching in the Temple, yet you didn't arrest me.

But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.

Peter, however, followed him at a distance as far as the high priest's courtyard. He went inside and sat down with the servants to see how this would end.

And said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.

The high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Have You no answer to give? What is it that these men are testifying against You?”

But Jesus remained silent. On this the High Priest said to him: "I adjure you, by the Living God, to tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of God."

Jesus said to him, "You have said it. Nevertheless, I tell you, after this you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of the sky."

Then the High Priest tore his robes. "This is blasphemy!" he exclaimed. "Why do we want any more witnesses? You have just heard his blasphemy!

saying, "Prophesy to us, you 'Christ.' Tell us who hit you?" [Note: By this time Jesus had been blindfolded. See Mark 14:65].

And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth.

And he denied [it] again, [this time] with an oath, saying, "I do not [even] know the man."

At this he broke out cursing and swearing, "I do not know the man." At that moment a cock crowed.

The high priests picked up the pieces of silver and said, "It is not lawful to put this into the Temple treasury, because it is blood money."

So, they conferred together [and decided] to buy "The Potter's Field" with the money [Note: This was probably an abandoned field where clay had been obtained for making pottery], for use in burying people who were not from the local area.

Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day.

and at this time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas.

So when they had assembled [for this purpose], Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to set free for you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?”

He did this because he knew that they had handed him over out of jealousy.

When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him.

When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.

To this all the people replied, "His blood be on us and on our children!"

after this the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered all the foot-guards about him.

They stripped off His clothing and placed a scarlet robe on Him [Note: Mark 15:17 calls this a "purple" robe because in that day, any color with a mixture of "red" in it was often called "purple," so the use of "scarlet" was appropriate].