Peter Says He Doesn't Know Jesus
Jesus was arrested and led away to the house of the high priest, while Peter followed at a distance. Some people built a fire in the middle of the courtyard and were sitting around it. Peter sat there with them, and a servant girl saw him. Then after she had looked at him carefully, she said, "This man was with Jesus!"
Peter said, "Woman, I don't even know that man!" A little later someone else saw Peter and said, "You are one of them!" "No, I'm not!" Peter replied. About an hour later another man insisted, "This man must have been with Jesus. They both come from Galilee."
Peter replied, "I don't know what you are talking about!" Right then, while Peter was still speaking, a rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered that the Lord had said, "Before a rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will say three times that you don't know me." Then Peter went out and cried hard. The men who were guarding Jesus made fun of him and beat him. They put a blindfold on him and said, "Tell us who struck you!" 65 They kept on insulting Jesus in many other ways.
Jesus Is Questioned by the Council
At daybreak the nation's leaders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law of Moses got together and brought Jesus before their council. They said, "Tell us! Are you the Messiah?"
Jesus replied, "If I said so, you wouldn't believe me. And if I asked you a question, you wouldn't answer. But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right side of God All-Powerful." Then they asked, "Are you the Son of God?" Jesus answered, "You say I am!" "Are you the king of the Jews?" "Those are your words," Jesus answered. Pilate told the chief priests and the crowd, "I don't find him guilty of anything." But they all kept on saying, "He has been teaching and causing trouble all over Judea. He started in Galilee and has now come all the way here."
Jesus Is Brought before Herod
When Pilate heard this, he asked, "Is this man from Galilee?" After Pilate learned that Jesus came from the region ruled by Herod, he sent him to Herod, who was in Jerusalem at that time.
For a long time Herod had wanted to see Jesus and was very happy because he finally had this chance. He had heard many things about Jesus and hoped to see him work a miracle. Herod asked him a lot of questions, but Jesus did not answer. Then the chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses stood up and accused him of all kinds of bad things.
Herod and his soldiers made fun of Jesus and insulted him. They put a fine robe on him and sent him back to Pilate. That same day Herod and Pilate became friends, even though they had been enemies before this.