Pilate Questions Jesus

23 Then the whole group stood up and led Jesus to Pilate.^{[a] 2} They began to accuse Jesus, saying, “We caught this man telling things that mislead our people. He says that we should not pay taxes to Caesar, and he calls himself the Christ, a king.”

³ Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

Jesus answered, “Those are your words.”

⁴ Pilate said to the leading priests and the people, “I find nothing against this man.”

⁵ They were insisting, saying, “But Jesus makes trouble with the people, teaching all around Judea. He began in Galilee, and now he is here.”

Pilate Sends Jesus to Herod

⁶ Pilate heard this and asked if Jesus was from Galilee. ⁷ Since Jesus was under Herod’s authority, Pilate sent Jesus to Herod, who was in Jerusalem at that time. ⁸ When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, because he had heard about Jesus and had wanted to meet him for a long time. He was hoping to see Jesus work a miracle. ⁹ Herod asked Jesus many questions, but Jesus said nothing. ¹⁰ The leading priests and teachers of the law were standing there, strongly accusing Jesus. ¹¹ After Herod and his soldiers had made fun of Jesus, they dressed him in a kingly robe and sent him back to Pilate. ¹² In the past, Pilate and Herod had always been enemies, but on that day they became friends.

Jesus Must Die

¹³ Pilate called the people together with the leading priests and the rulers. ¹⁴ He said to them, “You brought this man to me, saying he makes trouble among the people. But I have questioned him before you all, and I have not found him guilty of what you say. ¹⁵ Also, Herod found nothing wrong with him; he sent him back to us. Look, he has done nothing for which he should die. ¹⁶ So, after I punish him, I will let him go free.” [¹⁷ Every year at the Passover Feast, Pilate had to release one prisoner to the people.]^[b]

¹⁸ But the people shouted together, “Take this man away! Let Barabbas go free!” ¹⁹ (Barabbas was a man who was in prison for his part in a riot in the city and for murder.)

²⁰ Pilate wanted to let Jesus go free and told this to the crowd. ²¹ But they shouted again, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

²² A third time Pilate said to them, “Why? What wrong has he done? I can find no reason to kill him. So I will have him punished and set him free.”

²³ But they continued to shout, demanding that Jesus be crucified. Their yelling became so loud that ²⁴ Pilate decided to give them what they wanted. ²⁵ He set free the man who was in jail for rioting and murder, and he handed Jesus over to them to do with him as they wished.

Jesus Is Crucified

²⁶ As they led Jesus away, Simon, a man from Cyrene, was coming in from the fields. They forced him to carry Jesus’ cross and to walk behind him.

²⁷ A large crowd of people was following Jesus, including some women who were sad and crying for him. ²⁸ But Jesus turned and said to them, “Women of Jerusalem, don’t cry for me. Cry for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹ The time is coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are the women who cannot have children and who have no babies to nurse.’ ³⁰ Then people will say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ And they will say to the hills, ‘Cover us!’ ³¹ If they act like this now when life is good, what will happen when bad times come?”^[c]

³² There were also two criminals led out with Jesus to be put to death. ³³ When they came to a place called the Skull, the soldiers crucified Jesus and the criminals—one on his right and the other on his left. ³⁴ Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, because they don’t know what they are doing.”^[d]

The soldiers threw lots to decide who would get his clothes. ³⁵ The people stood there watching. And the leaders made fun of Jesus, saying, “He saved others. Let him save himself if he is God’s Chosen One, the Christ.”

³⁶ The soldiers also made fun of him, coming to Jesus and offering him some vinegar. ³⁷ They said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself!” ³⁸ At the top of the cross these words were written: this is the king of the jews.

³⁹ One of the criminals on a cross began to shout insults at Jesus: “Aren’t you the Christ? Then save yourself and us.”

⁴⁰ But the other criminal stopped him and said, “You should fear God! You are getting the same punishment he is. ⁴¹ We are punished justly, getting what we deserve for what we did. But this man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴² Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

⁴³ Jesus said to him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”^[e]

Jesus Dies

⁴⁴ It was about noon, and the whole land became dark until three o’clock in the afternoon, ⁴⁵ because the sun did not shine. The curtain in the Temple^[f] was torn in two. ⁴⁶ Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Father, I give you my life.” After Jesus said this, he died.

⁴⁷ When the army officer there saw what happened, he praised God, saying, “Surely this was a good man!”

⁴⁸ When all the people who had gathered there to watch saw what happened, they returned home, beating their chests because they were so sad. ⁴⁹ But those who were close friends of Jesus, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance and watched.

Joseph Takes Jesus’ Body

⁵⁰ There was a good and religious man named Joseph who was a member of the council. ⁵¹ But he had not agreed to the other leaders’ plans and actions against Jesus. He was from the town of Arimathea and was waiting for the kingdom of God to come. ⁵² Joseph went to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus. ⁵³ He took the body down from the cross, wrapped it in cloth, and put it in a tomb that was cut out of a wall of rock. This tomb had never been used before. ⁵⁴ This was late on Preparation Day, and when the sun went down, the Sabbath day would begin.

⁵⁵ The women who had come from Galilee with Jesus followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how Jesus’ body was laid. ⁵⁶ Then the women left to prepare spices and perfumes.

On the Sabbath day they rested, as the law of Moses commanded.

Jesus Is Arrested

18 When Jesus finished praying, he went with his followers across the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was a garden, and Jesus and his followers went into it.

² Judas knew where this place was, because Jesus met there often with his followers. Judas was the one who turned against Jesus. ³ So Judas came there with a group of soldiers and some guards from the leading priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns, and weapons.

⁴ Knowing everything that would happen to him, Jesus went out and asked, “Who is it you are looking for?”

⁵ They answered, “Jesus from Nazareth.”

“I am he,” Jesus said. (Judas, the one who turned against Jesus, was standing there with them.) ⁶ When Jesus said, “I am he,” they moved back and fell to the ground.

⁷ Jesus asked them again, “Who is it you are looking for?”

They said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”

⁸ “I told you that I am he,” Jesus said. “So if you are looking for me, let the others go.” ⁹ This happened so that the words Jesus said before would come true: “I have not lost any of the ones you gave me.”

¹⁰ Simon Peter, who had a sword, pulled it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) ¹¹ Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back. Shouldn’t I drink the cup^[a] the Father gave me?”

Jesus Is Brought Before Annas

¹² Then the soldiers with their commander and the guards arrested Jesus. They tied him ¹³ and led him first to Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. ¹⁴ Caiaphas was the one who told the Jews that it would be better if one man died for all the people.

Peter Says He Doesn’t Know Jesus

¹⁵ Simon Peter and another one of Jesus’ followers went along after Jesus. This follower knew the high priest, so he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard. ¹⁶ But Peter waited outside near the door. The follower who knew the high priest came back outside, spoke to the girl at the door, and brought Peter inside. ¹⁷ The girl at the door said to Peter, “Aren’t you also one of that man’s followers?”

Peter answered, “No, I am not!”

¹⁸ It was cold, so the servants and guards had built a fire and were standing around it, warming themselves. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself.

The High Priest Questions Jesus

¹⁹ The high priest asked Jesus questions about his followers and his teaching. ²⁰ Jesus answered, “I have spoken openly to everyone. I have always taught in synagogues and in the Temple, where all the Jews come together. I never said anything in secret. ²¹ So why do you question me? Ask the people who heard my teaching. They know what I said.”

²² When Jesus said this, one of the guards standing there hit him. The guard said, “Is that the way you answer the high priest?”

²³ Jesus answered him, “If I said something wrong, then show what it was. But if what I said is true, why do you hit me?”

²⁴ Then Annas sent Jesus, who was still tied, to Caiaphas the high priest.

Peter Says Again He Doesn’t Know Jesus

²⁵ As Simon Peter was standing and warming himself, they said to him, “Aren’t you one of that man’s followers?”

Peter said it was not true; he said, “No, I am not.”

²⁶ One of the servants of the high priest was there. This servant was a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off. The servant said, “Didn’t I see you with him in the garden?”

²⁷ Again Peter said it wasn’t true. At once a rooster crowed.

Jesus Is Brought Before Pilate

²⁸ Early in the morning they led Jesus from Caiaphas’s house to the Roman governor’s palace. They would not go inside the palace, because they did not want to make themselves unclean;^[b] they wanted to eat the Passover meal. ²⁹ So Pilate went outside to them and asked, “What charges do you bring against this man?”

³⁰ They answered, “If he were not a criminal, we wouldn’t have brought him to you.”

³¹ Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.”

“But we are not allowed to put anyone to death,” the Jews answered. ³² (This happened so that what Jesus said about how he would die would come true.)

³³ Then Pilate went back inside the palace and called Jesus to him and asked, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

³⁴ Jesus said, “Is that your own question, or did others tell you about me?”

³⁵ Pilate answered, “I am not one of you. It was your own people and their leading priests who handed you over to me. What have you done wrong?”

³⁶ Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If it belonged to this world, my servants would have fought to keep me from being given over to the Jewish leaders. But my kingdom is from another place.”

³⁷ Pilate said, “So you are a king!”

Jesus answered, “You are the one saying I am a king. This is why I was born and came into the world: to tell people the truth. And everyone who belongs to the truth listens to me.”

³⁸ Pilate said, “What is truth?” After he said this, he went out to the crowd again and said to them, “I find nothing against this man. ³⁹ But it is your custom that I free one prisoner to you at Passover time. Do you want me to free the ‘king of the Jews’?”

⁴⁰ They shouted back, “No, not him! Let Barabbas go free!” (Barabbas was a robber.)

19 Then Pilate ordered that Jesus be taken away and whipped. ² The soldiers made a crown from some thorny branches and put it on Jesus’ head and put a purple robe around him. ³ Then they came to him many times and said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and hit him in the face.

⁴ Again Pilate came out and said to them, “Look, I am bringing Jesus out to you. I want you to know that I find nothing against him.” ⁵ So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”

⁶ When the leading priests and the guards saw Jesus, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

But Pilate answered, “Crucify him yourselves, because I find nothing against him.”

⁷ The leaders answered, “We have a law that says he should die, because he said he is the Son of God.”

⁸ When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid. ⁹ He went back inside the palace and asked Jesus, “Where do you come from?” But Jesus did not answer him. ¹⁰ Pilate said, “You refuse to speak to me? Don’t you know I have power to set you free and power to have you crucified?”

¹¹ Jesus answered, “The only power you have over me is the power given to you by God. The man who turned me in to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

¹² After this, Pilate tried to let Jesus go. But some in the crowd cried out, “Anyone who makes himself king is against Caesar. If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar.”

¹³ When Pilate heard what they were saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at the place called The Stone Pavement. (In the Hebrew language^[c] the name is Gabbatha.) ¹⁴ It was about noon on Preparation Day of Passover week. Pilate said to the crowd, “Here is your king!”

¹⁵ They shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”

Pilate asked them, “Do you want me to crucify your king?”

The leading priests answered, “The only king we have is Caesar.”

¹⁶ So Pilate handed Jesus over to them to be crucified.

Jesus Is Crucified

The soldiers took charge of Jesus. ¹⁷ Carrying his own cross, Jesus went out to a place called The Place of the Skull, which in the Hebrew language^[d] is called Golgotha. ¹⁸ There they crucified Jesus. They also crucified two other men, one on each side, with Jesus in the middle. ¹⁹ Pilate wrote a sign and put it on the cross. It read: jesus of nazareth, the king of the jews. ²⁰ The sign was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. Many of the people read the sign, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. ²¹ The leading priests said to Pilate, “Don’t write, ‘The King of the Jews.’ But write, ‘This man said, “I am the King of the Jews.”’”

²² Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

²³ After the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, with each soldier getting one part. They also took his long shirt, which was all one piece of cloth, woven from top to bottom. ²⁴ So the soldiers said to each other, “We should not tear this into parts. Let’s throw lots to see who will get it.” This happened so that this Scripture would come true:

So the soldiers did this.

²⁵ Standing near his cross were Jesus’ mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶ When Jesus saw his mother and the follower he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Dear woman, here is your son.” ²⁷ Then he said to the follower, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, the follower took her to live in his home.

Jesus Dies

²⁸ After this, Jesus knew that everything had been done. So that the Scripture would come true, he said, “I am thirsty.”^{[e] 29} There was a jar full of vinegar there, so the soldiers soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a branch of a hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ mouth. ³⁰ When Jesus tasted the vinegar, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and died.

³¹ This day was Preparation Day, and the next day was a special Sabbath day. Since the religious leaders did not want the bodies to stay on the cross on the Sabbath day, they asked Pilate to order that the legs of the men be broken^[f] and the bodies be taken away. ³² So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man on the cross beside Jesus. Then they broke the legs of the man on the other cross beside Jesus. ³³ But when the soldiers came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. ³⁴ But one of the soldiers stuck his spear into Jesus’ side, and at once blood and water came out. ³⁵ (The one who saw this happen is the one who told us this, and whatever he says is true. And he knows that he tells the truth, and he tells it so that you might believe.) ³⁶ These things happened to make the Scripture come true: “Not one of his bones will be broken.”^{[g] 37} And another Scripture says, “They will look at the one they stabbed.”^[h]

Jesus Is Buried

³⁸ Later, Joseph from Arimathea asked Pilate if he could take the body of Jesus. (Joseph was a secret follower of Jesus, because he was afraid of some of the leaders.) Pilate gave his permission, so Joseph came and took Jesus’ body away. ³⁹ Nicodemus, who earlier had come to Jesus at night, went with Joseph. He brought about seventy-five pounds of myrrh and aloes. ⁴⁰ These two men took Jesus’ body and wrapped it with the spices in pieces of linen cloth, which is how they bury the dead. ⁴¹ In the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden. In the garden was a new tomb that had never been used before. ⁴² The men laid Jesus in that tomb because it was nearby, and they were preparing to start their Sabbath day.