猶大的下場

27 到了清晨,眾祭司長和民間的長老商定要處死耶穌。 他們把祂綁起來,押送到總督彼拉多那裡。

出賣耶穌的猶大看見耶穌被定了罪,感到很後悔,就把那三十塊銀子還給祭司長和長老,說: 「我出賣了清白無辜的人,我犯罪了!」

他們說:「那是你自己的事,跟我們有什麼關係?」

猶大把錢扔在聖殿裡,出去上吊自盡了。

祭司長們撿起銀子,說:「這是血錢,不可收進聖殿的庫房。」 他們商議,決定用這些錢買下陶匠的地作為埋葬異鄉人的墳場。 那塊地至今被稱為「血田」。 這就應驗了耶利米先知的話:「他們用以色列人給祂估定的三十塊銀子, 10 買了陶匠的一塊田,正如主指示我的。」

耶穌在彼拉多面前受審

11 耶穌站在總督面前受審。總督問:「你是猶太人的王嗎?」

耶穌說:「如你所言。」

12 當祭司長和長老控告祂時,祂一句話也不說。 13 彼拉多就問:「你沒聽見他們對你的諸多控告嗎?」 14 耶穌仍然一言不發,彼拉多感到十分驚奇。

15 每逢逾越節,總督會照慣例按民眾的選擇釋放一個犯人。 16 那時,有一個惡名昭彰的囚犯名叫巴拉巴。 17 百姓聚在一起的時候,彼拉多就問他們:「你們要我給你們釋放誰?巴拉巴還是被稱為基督的耶穌?」 18 因為彼拉多知道他們把耶穌抓來是因為嫉妒。

19 彼拉多正坐堂斷案時,他夫人派人來對他說:「你不要插手這個義人的事!我今天在夢中因為這個人受了許多苦。」

20 祭司長和長老卻慫恿百姓要求釋放巴拉巴,處死耶穌。 21 總督再次問百姓:「這兩個人,你們要我釋放哪一個?」他們說:「巴拉巴!」

22 彼拉多問:「那麼,我怎樣處置那個被稱為基督的耶穌呢?」

他們齊聲說:「把祂釘在十字架上!」

23 彼拉多問:「為什麼?祂犯了什麼罪?」

他們卻更大聲地喊叫:「把祂釘在十字架上!」

24 彼拉多見再說也無濟於事,反而會引起騷亂,於是拿了一盆水來,在眾人面前洗手,說:「流這義人的血,罪不在我,你們自己負責。」

25 眾人都說:「流祂血的責任由我們和我們的子孫承擔!」

26 於是,彼拉多為他們釋放了巴拉巴,下令將耶穌鞭打後,帶出去釘十字架。

耶穌受辱

27 士兵把耶穌押進總督府,叫全營的士兵都聚集在祂周圍。 28 他們剝下耶穌的衣服,替祂披上一件朱紅色的長袍, 29 用荊棘編成冠冕,戴在祂頭上,又拿一根葦稈放在祂右手裡,跪在祂跟前戲弄祂,說:「猶太人的王萬歲!」 30 然後向祂吐唾沫,拿過葦稈打祂的頭。 31 他們戲弄完了,就脫去祂的袍子,給祂穿上原來的衣服,把祂押出去釘十字架。

釘十字架

32 路上,他們遇見一個叫西門的古利奈人,就強迫他背耶穌的十字架。

33 來到一個地方,名叫各各他——意思是「髑髏地」, 34 士兵給耶穌喝摻了苦膽汁的酒,祂嚐了一口,不肯喝。

35 他們把耶穌釘在十字架上,還抽籤分了祂的衣服, 36 然後坐在那裡看守。 37 他們在祂頭頂上掛了一個牌子,上面寫著祂的罪狀:「這是猶太人的王耶穌」。 38 有兩個強盜也被釘在十字架上,一個在祂右邊,一個在祂左邊。 39 過路的人都嘲笑祂,搖著頭說: 40 「你這聲稱把聖殿拆毀又在三天內重建的人啊,救救自己吧!你要是上帝的兒子,就從十字架上下來吧!」

41 祭司長、律法教師和長老也嘲諷說: 42 「祂救了別人,卻救不了自己!祂要是以色列的王,就從十字架上跳下來吧!我們就信祂。 43 祂說信靠上帝,如果上帝喜悅祂,就讓上帝來救祂吧!因為祂自稱是上帝的兒子。」 44 甚至跟祂一同被釘十字架的強盜也這樣嘲笑祂。

耶穌之死

45 從正午一直到下午三點,黑暗籠罩著整個大地。 46 大約下午三點,耶穌大聲呼喊:「以利,以利,拉馬撒巴各大尼?」意思是:「我的上帝,我的上帝,你為什麼離棄我?」

47 有些站在旁邊的人聽見了,就說:「這人在呼叫以利亞呢。」 48 其中一人連忙跑去拿了一塊海綿,蘸滿酸酒,綁在葦稈上送給祂喝。 49 其他人卻說:「等一下!我們看看以利亞會不會來救祂。」

50 耶穌又大喊了一聲,就斷了氣。

51 就在那時,聖殿裡的幔子從上到下裂成兩半,大地震動,岩石崩裂, 52 墳墓打開,很多死去的聖徒復活過來。 53 他們在耶穌復活後離開墳墓,進聖城向許多人顯現。

54 看守耶穌的百夫長和士兵看見地震及所發生的一切,都很害怕,說:「這人真是上帝的兒子啊!」 55 有好些婦女在遠處觀看,她們從加利利就跟隨了耶穌,服事祂。 56 其中有抹大拉的瑪麗亞、雅各和約西的母親瑪麗亞以及西庇太兩個兒子的母親。

封石守墓

57 傍晚,從亞利馬太來了一位名叫約瑟的富人,他是耶穌的門徒。 58 他去求見彼拉多,要求領取耶穌的遺體,彼拉多就下令把耶穌的遺體交給他。 59 約瑟領了遺體,用乾淨的細麻布裹好, 60 安放在他為自己在岩壁上鑿出的新墓穴裡,並滾來一塊大石頭封閉墓穴的入口,然後離去。 61 那時,抹大拉的瑪麗亞和另一個瑪麗亞坐在墳墓的對面。

62 第二天,就是預備日之後的那天,祭司長和法利賽人一起來見彼拉多,說: 63 「總督大人,我們記得那個騙子生前曾說,『三天之後,我必復活』, 64 所以請你命人看守墳墓三天,以防祂的門徒偷走祂的屍體,然後對百姓說祂已經從死裡復活。這樣的迷惑會比以前的更厲害!」

65 彼拉多說:「你們帶上衛兵,去那裡嚴加看守。」

66 他們就帶著衛兵去了,在墓口的石頭上貼上封條,派人看守墓穴。

Judas Hangs Himself

27 Very early in the morning the leading priests and the elders of the people met again to lay plans for putting Jesus to death. Then they bound him, led him away, and took him to Pilate, the Roman governor.

When Judas, who had betrayed him, realized that Jesus had been condemned to die, he was filled with remorse. So he took the thirty pieces of silver back to the leading priests and the elders. “I have sinned,” he declared, “for I have betrayed an innocent man.”

“What do we care?” they retorted. “That’s your problem.”

Then Judas threw the silver coins down in the Temple and went out and hanged himself.

The leading priests picked up the coins. “It wouldn’t be right to put this money in the Temple treasury,” they said, “since it was payment for murder.”[a] After some discussion they finally decided to buy the potter’s field, and they made it into a cemetery for foreigners. That is why the field is still called the Field of Blood. This fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah that says,

“They took[b] the thirty pieces of silver—
    the price at which he was valued by the people of Israel,
10 and purchased the potter’s field,
    as the Lord directed.[c]

Jesus’ Trial before Pilate

11 Now Jesus was standing before Pilate, the Roman governor. “Are you the king of the Jews?” the governor asked him.

Jesus replied, “You have said it.”

12 But when the leading priests and the elders made their accusations against him, Jesus remained silent. 13 “Don’t you hear all these charges they are bringing against you?” Pilate demanded. 14 But Jesus made no response to any of the charges, much to the governor’s surprise.

15 Now it was the governor’s custom each year during the Passover celebration to release one prisoner to the crowd—anyone they wanted. 16 This year there was a notorious prisoner, a man named Barabbas.[d] 17 As the crowds gathered before Pilate’s house that morning, he asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you—Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” 18 (He knew very well that the religious leaders had arrested Jesus out of envy.)

19 Just then, as Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him this message: “Leave that innocent man alone. I suffered through a terrible nightmare about him last night.”

20 Meanwhile, the leading priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas to be released and for Jesus to be put to death. 21 So the governor asked again, “Which of these two do you want me to release to you?”

The crowd shouted back, “Barabbas!”

22 Pilate responded, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?”

They shouted back, “Crucify him!”

23 “Why?” Pilate demanded. “What crime has he committed?”

But the mob roared even louder, “Crucify him!”

24 Pilate saw that he wasn’t getting anywhere and that a riot was developing. So he sent for a bowl of water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. The responsibility is yours!”

25 And all the people yelled back, “We will take responsibility for his death—we and our children!”[e]

26 So Pilate released Barabbas to them. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified.

The Soldiers Mock Jesus

27 Some of the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into their headquarters[f] and called out the entire regiment. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. 29 They wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head, and they placed a reed stick in his right hand as a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!” 30 And they spit on him and grabbed the stick and struck him on the head with it. 31 When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified.

The Crucifixion

32 Along the way, they came across a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene,[g] and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. 33 And they went out to a place called Golgotha (which means “Place of the Skull”). 34 The soldiers gave Jesus wine mixed with bitter gall, but when he had tasted it, he refused to drink it.

35 After they had nailed him to the cross, the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice.[h] 36 Then they sat around and kept guard as he hung there. 37 A sign was fastened above Jesus’ head, announcing the charge against him. It read: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” 38 Two revolutionaries[i] were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.

39 The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. 40 “Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. Well then, if you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross!”

41 The leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders also mocked Jesus. 42 “He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself! So he is the King of Israel, is he? Let him come down from the cross right now, and we will believe in him! 43 He trusted God, so let God rescue him now if he wants him! For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 Even the revolutionaries who were crucified with him ridiculed him in the same way.

The Death of Jesus

45 At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. 46 At about three o’clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli,[j] lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”[k]

47 Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah. 48 One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on a reed stick so he could drink. 49 But the rest said, “Wait! Let’s see whether Elijah comes to save him.”[l]

50 Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit. 51 At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart, 52 and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead. 53 They left the cemetery after Jesus’ resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared to many people.

54 The Roman officer[m] and the other soldiers at the crucifixion were terrified by the earthquake and all that had happened. They said, “This man truly was the Son of God!”

55 And many women who had come from Galilee with Jesus to care for him were watching from a distance. 56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James and Joseph), and the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee.

The Burial of Jesus

57 As evening approached, Joseph, a rich man from Arimathea who had become a follower of Jesus, 58 went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. And Pilate issued an order to release it to him. 59 Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a long sheet of clean linen cloth. 60 He placed it in his own new tomb, which had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance and left. 61 Both Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting across from the tomb and watching.

The Guard at the Tomb

62 The next day, on the Sabbath,[n] the leading priests and Pharisees went to see Pilate. 63 They told him, “Sir, we remember what that deceiver once said while he was still alive: ‘After three days I will rise from the dead.’ 64 So we request that you seal the tomb until the third day. This will prevent his disciples from coming and stealing his body and then telling everyone he was raised from the dead! If that happens, we’ll be worse off than we were at first.”

65 Pilate replied, “Take guards and secure it the best you can.” 66 So they sealed the tomb and posted guards to protect it.

Footnotes

  1. 27:6 Greek since it is the price for blood.
  2. 27:9 Or I took.
  3. 27:9-10 Greek as the Lord directed me. Zech 11:12-13; Jer 32:6-9.
  4. 27:16 Some manuscripts read Jesus Barabbas; also in 27:17.
  5. 27:25 Greek “His blood be on us and on our children.”
  6. 27:27 Or into the Praetorium.
  7. 27:32 Cyrene was a city in northern Africa.
  8. 27:35 Greek by casting lots. A few late manuscripts add This fulfilled the word of the prophet: “They divided my garments among themselves and cast lots for my robe.” See Ps 22:18.
  9. 27:38 Or criminals; also in 27:44.
  10. 27:46a Some manuscripts read Eloi, Eloi.
  11. 27:46b Ps 22:1.
  12. 27:49 Some manuscripts add And another took a spear and pierced his side, and out flowed water and blood. Compare John 19:34.
  13. 27:54 Greek The centurion.
  14. 27:62 Or On the next day, which is after the Preparation.