Feeling that He must go through Samaria, where He had not yet preached, our Saviour travelled on alone and came to a well which is called Jacob's well; being very weary He seated Himself on the edge to rest. He was very thirsty also, and on a woman coming up with a pitcher, He asked her to draw Him some water: when He had drunk, He said that if she knew who He was she would have asked Him for water instead, for He could give her the Living Water of Everlasting Life. Then He told her who He was, and she went away to the city telling every one she met Whom she had seen: some of the disciples then joined Him, and Jesus remained two days in the city preaching so that many believed in Him, and on the way back into Galilee He healed a nobleman's son of a mortal sickness.
On returning to Bethany, Jesus heard that Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary, two sisters whom He loved, had died during His absence. Martha met Him weeping, and told Him of their grief saying "Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died," for she knew Jesus would have saved him. Jesus Himself wept to see their sorrow, and going to the grave ordered the stone to be rolled away and called Lazarus to come forth; Lazarus did so, and many of those present believed in Jesus, but others went away and told the High Priests and rulers, who were much troubled, for they said "If we let this man go many will believe in Him, and His adherents will become too powerful, and will take our nation away from us."
The people of Bethany made a supper for our Lord, and Lazarus and Martha and Mary were there, together with the disciples; the Feast of the Passover was near, and Jerusalem was crowded, and the Chief Priests became still more uneasy for more and more of the people every day believed in Christ, and when they heard He was coming to Jerusalem went out to meet Him with branches of palm, crying "Hosannah—Blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord," and the people said "Behold, the world is gone after Him."
Jesus knew that the time was now come when He should depart from this world and go to His Father, and told His disciples so, saying they must not be troubled, for there were many mansions in His Father's House and He was but going before to prepare a place there for them. Then, being sorrowful at heart, our Lord went up to a garden called Gethsemane, and prayed to His Father that the souls of all mankind might be saved and come at last to share the glory of Heaven. Whilst He prayed, one of His disciples, who knew where He was, wickedly betrayed Him to the Chief Priests, and guided a band of soldiers to the garden, who bound Him and led Him to the High Priest Caiaphas, who in turn sent Him to be judged by Pontius Pilate the Governor.
Pilate, when he had heard of what the people accused Jesus, knew that it was for envy they were excited against Him, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying he found no fault in Him, and he would have nothing to do with shedding the blood of an innocent man. "His blood be on us and our children" cried the people and they roughly dragged Him away, and beat Him, and made Him carry a heavy cross of wood up Mount Calvary where they crucified Him, by nailing Him to the cross. Now Mary the Mother of Jesus, and another woman, also named Mary, and many of the disciples had followed in the crowd; they could not save our Lord from His cruel death, but when He was dead, they, together with a good man called Joseph, were allowed to take His body down from the cross, and lay it in a tomb belonging to Joseph, hewn out of a rock in a garden, and they set a great stone upon it. It had been foretold that Jesus should rise again on the third day, so, fearing that His disciples should steal away the body, and pretend that He had risen, the Chief Priests set keepers to guard the tomb.
Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and the other Mary, went to visit the tomb early in the morning of the third day, and there was a great earthquake and the Angel of God descended and rolled back the stone and sat upon it, so that the keepers shook with afright, but the Angel said "Fear not, for Jesus is not here, He is risen, as He, said." so the two Marys ran to tell His disciples the great news, and on their way met Jesus Himself, and they fell at His feet and worshipped Him. He told them to go and tell His disciples to go into Galilee and He would meet them there. This He did, and for the last time He met them on a hill side in Bethany, and again taught them, telling them still to go out into the world and preach repentance and the remission of sins in His Name. Then He lifted up His hands, and blessed them, and even as He did so, He was suddenly carried up into Heaven and hidden from their sight.