The Soldiers Mock Jesus^(A)

19 So then ^(B)Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him. ² And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe. ^3 [a]Then they said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they ^(C)struck Him with their hands.

⁴ Pilate then went out again, and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, ^(D)that you may know that I find no fault in Him.”

Pilate’s Decision

⁵ Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, “Behold the Man!”

²⁰ Pilate, therefore, wishing to release Jesus, again called out to them.

²¹ The governor answered and said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?”

They said, ^(A)“Barabbas!”

²² Pilate said to them, “What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?”

They all said to him, “Let Him be crucified!”

²² Then he said to them the third time, “Why, what evil has He done? I have found no reason for death in Him. I will therefore chastise Him and let Him go.”

²³ But they were insistent, demanding with loud voices that He be crucified. And the voices of these men ^[a]and of the chief priests prevailed.

^6 (A)Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!”

Pilate said to them, “You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him.”

⁷ The Jews answered him, ^(B)“We have a law, and according to ^[a]our law He ought to die, because ^(C)He made Himself the Son of God.”

⁸ Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid, ⁹ and went again into the Praetorium, and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” ^(D)But Jesus gave him no answer.

¹⁰ Then Pilate said to Him, “Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have ^[b]power to crucify You, and power to release You?”

¹¹ Jesus answered, ^(E)“You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore ^(F)the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”

¹² From then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, “If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar’s friend. ^(G)Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar.”

^13 (H)When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. ¹⁴ Now ^(I)it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”

¹⁵ But they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!”

Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?”

The chief priests answered, ^(J)“We have no king but Caesar!”

²⁴ When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a ^[a]tumult was rising, he ^(A)took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this ^[b]just Person. You see to it.”

²⁵ And all the people answered and said, ^(B)“His blood be on us and on our children.”

²⁴ So ^(A)Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they requested.

^15 (A)So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be ^(B)crucified.