Luke 22:54-23:25

International Children’s Bible

Peter Says He Doesn’t Know Jesus

⁵⁴ They arrested Jesus and took him away. They brought him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed them, but he did not go near Jesus. ⁵⁵ The soldiers started a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat together. Peter sat with them. ⁵⁶ A servant girl saw Peter sitting there near the light. She looked closely at Peter’s face and said, “This man was also with him!”

⁵⁷ But Peter said this was not true. He said, “Girl, I don’t know him.”

⁵⁸ A short time later, another person saw Peter and said, “You are also one of them.”

But Peter said, “Man, I am not!”

⁵⁹ About an hour later, another man insisted, “It is true! This man was with him. He is from Galilee!”

⁶⁰ But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you are talking about!”

Immediately, while Peter was still speaking, a rooster crowed. ⁶¹ Then the Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. And Peter remembered what the Lord had said: “Before the rooster crows tonight, you will say three times that you don’t know me.” ⁶² Then Peter went outside and cried with much pain in his heart.

The People Laugh at Jesus

^63-64 Some men were guarding Jesus. They made fun of him like this: They covered his eyes so that he could not see them. Then they hit him and said, “Prove that you are a prophet, and tell us who hit you!” ⁶⁵ The men said many cruel things to Jesus.

Jesus Before the Leaders

⁶⁶ When day came, the elders of the people, the leading priests, and the teachers of the law came together. They led Jesus away to their highest court. ⁶⁷ They said, “If you are the Christ, then tell us that you are!”

Jesus said to them, “If I tell you I am the Christ, you will not believe me. ⁶⁸ And if I ask you, you will not answer. ⁶⁹ But beginning now, the Son of Man will sit at the right hand of the powerful God.”

⁷⁰ They all said, “Then are you the Son of God?”

Jesus said to them, “Yes, you are right when you say that I am.”

⁷¹ They said, “Why do we need witnesses now? We ourselves heard him say this!”

Governor Pilate Questions Jesus

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

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

Jesus answered, “Yes, that is right.”

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

⁵ They said again and again, “But Jesus is making trouble with the people! He teaches 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 If so, Jesus was under Herod’s authority. Herod was in Jerusalem at that time; so Pilate sent Jesus to him. ⁸ When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad. He had heard about Jesus and had wanted to meet him for a long time. Herod 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. They were shouting things against Jesus. ¹¹ Then Herod and his soldiers made fun of Jesus. They dressed him in a kingly robe and then 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 all the people together with the leading priests and the Jewish leaders. ¹⁴ He said to them, “You brought this man to me. You said that he was making trouble among the people. But I have questioned him before you all, and I have not found him guilty of the things 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 all the people shouted, “Kill him! Let Barabbas go free!” ¹⁹ (Barabbas was a man who was in prison because he started a riot in the city. He was guilty of murder.)

²⁰ Pilate wanted to let Jesus go free. So he told this to the crowd. ²¹ But they shouted again, “Kill him! Kill him on a cross!”

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. They demanded that Jesus be killed on the cross. Their yelling became so loud that ²⁴ Pilate decided to give them what they wanted. ²⁵ They wanted Barabbas to go free, the man who was in jail for starting a riot and for murder. Pilate let Barabbas go free and gave Jesus to them to be killed.