Luke 23-24

Easy-to-Read Version

Governor Pilate Questions Jesus^(A)

23 Then the whole group stood up and led Jesus away to Pilate. ² They began to accuse Jesus and said to Pilate, “We caught this man trying to change the thinking of our people. He says we should not pay taxes to Caesar. He calls himself the Messiah, a king.”

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

Jesus answered, “Yes, what you say is true.”

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

⁵ But they kept on saying, “His teaching is causing trouble all over 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 He learned that 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 happy. He had heard all about him and had wanted to meet him for a long time. Herod wanted to see a miracle, so he was hoping that Jesus would do one. ⁹ He asked him many questions, but Jesus said nothing. ¹⁰ The leading priests and teachers of the law were standing there shouting things against Jesus. ¹¹ Then Herod and his soldiers laughed at him. They made fun of him by dressing him in clothes like kings wear. Then Herod sent him back to Pilate. ¹² In the past Pilate and Herod had always been enemies. But on that day they became friends.

Pilate Tries but Fails to Free Jesus^(B)

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 he was trying to change the people. But I judged him before you all and have not found him guilty of the things you say he has done. ¹⁵ Herod didn’t find him guilty either. He sent him back to us. Look, he has done nothing bad enough for the death penalty. ¹⁶ So, after I punish him a little, I will let him go free.” ^17 [a]

¹⁸ But they all shouted, “Kill him! Let Barabbas go free!” ¹⁹ (Barabbas was a man who was in jail for starting a riot in the city and for murder.)

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

²² A third time Pilate said to the people, “Why? What wrong has he done? He is not guilty. I can find no reason to kill him. So I will let him go free after I punish him a little.”

²³ But the people continued to shout. They demanded that Jesus be killed on a cross. Their shouting got so loud that ²⁴ Pilate decided to give them what they wanted. ²⁵ They wanted Barabbas to go free—the one who was in jail for starting a riot and for murder. Pilate let Barabbas go free. And he handed Jesus over to be killed. This is what the people wanted.

Jesus Is Nailed to a Cross^(C)

²⁶ The soldiers led Jesus away. At that same time there was a man from Cyrene named Simon coming into the city from the fields. The soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross and walk behind him.

²⁷ A large crowd followed Jesus. Some of the women were sad and crying. They felt sorry for him. ²⁸ But Jesus turned and said to the women, “Women of Jerusalem, don’t cry for me. Cry for yourselves and for your children too. ²⁹ The time is coming when people will say, ‘The women who cannot have babies are the ones God has blessed. It’s really a blessing that they have no children to care for.’ ³⁰ Then the people will say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ They will say to the hills, ‘Cover us!’^{[b] 31} If this can happen to someone who is good, what will happen to those who are guilty?^[c]”

³² There were also two criminals led out with Jesus to be killed. ³³ They were led to a place called “The Skull.” There the soldiers nailed Jesus to the cross. They also nailed the criminals to crosses beside Jesus—one on the right and the other on the left.

³⁴ Jesus said, “Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing.”^[d]

The soldiers threw dice to divide Jesus’ clothes between them. ³⁵ The people stood there watching everything. The Jewish leaders laughed at Jesus. They said, “If he is God’s Chosen One, the Messiah, then let him save himself. He saved others, didn’t he?”

³⁶ Even the soldiers laughed at Jesus and made fun of him. They came and offered him some sour wine. 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 hanging there began to shout insults at Jesus: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Then save yourself, and save us too!”

⁴⁰ But the other criminal stopped him. He said, “You should fear God. All of us will die soon. ⁴¹ You and I are guilty. We deserve to die because we did wrong. But this man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴² Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you begin ruling as king!”

⁴³ Then Jesus said to him, “I promise you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Jesus Dies^(D)

⁴⁴ It was about noon, but it turned dark throughout the land until three o’clock in the afternoon, ⁴⁵ because the sun stopped shining. The curtain in the Temple was torn into two pieces. ⁴⁶ Jesus shouted, “Father, I put my life in your hands!”^[e] After Jesus said this, he died.

⁴⁷ The army officer there saw what happened. He praised God, saying, “I know this man was a good man!”

⁴⁸ Many people had come out of the city to see all this. When they saw it, they felt very sorry and left. ⁴⁹ The people who were close friends of Jesus were there. Also, there were some women who had followed Jesus from Galilee. They all stood far away from the cross and watched these things.

Jesus Is Buried^(E)

^50-51 A man named Joseph was there from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a good man, who lived the way God wanted. He was waiting for God’s kingdom to come. Joseph was a member of the Jewish council. But he did not agree when the other Jewish leaders decided to kill Jesus. ⁵² He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. ⁵³ He took the body down from the cross and wrapped it in cloth. Then he put it in a tomb that was dug in a wall of rock. This tomb had never been used before. ⁵⁴ It was late on Preparation day. When the sun went down, the Sabbath day would begin.

⁵⁵ The women who had come from Galilee with Jesus followed Joseph. They saw the tomb. Inside they saw where he put Jesus’ body. ⁵⁶ Then they left to prepare some sweet-smelling spices to put on the body.

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

News That Jesus Has Risen From Death^(F)

24 Very early Sunday morning, the women came to the tomb where Jesus’ body was laid. They brought the sweet-smelling spices they had prepared. ² They saw that the heavy stone that covered the entrance had been rolled away. ³ They went in, but they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴ They did not understand this. While they were wondering about it, two men in shining clothes stood beside them. ⁵ The women were very afraid. They bowed down with their faces to the ground. The men said to them, “Why are you looking for a living person here? This is a place for dead people. ⁶ Jesus is not here. He has risen from death. Do you remember what he said in Galilee? ⁷ He said the Son of Man must be handed over to the control of sinful men, be killed on a cross, and rise from death on the third day.” ⁸ Then the women remembered what Jesus had said.

⁹ The women left the tomb and went to the eleven apostles and the other followers. They told them everything that happened at the tomb. ¹⁰ These women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary, the mother of James, and some others. They told the apostles everything that happened. ¹¹ But the apostles did not believe what they said. It sounded like nonsense. ¹² But Peter got up and ran to the tomb to see. He looked in, but he saw only the cloth that Jesus’ body had been wrapped in. It was just lying there. Peter went away to be alone, wondering what had happened.^[f]

On The Road to Emmaus^(G)

¹³ That same day two of Jesus’ followers were going to a town named Emmaus. It is about seven miles^[g] from Jerusalem. ¹⁴ They were talking about everything that had happened. ¹⁵ While they were talking, discussing these things, Jesus himself came near and walked with them. ¹⁶ (But the two men were not allowed to recognize Jesus.) ¹⁷ He asked them, “What’s this I hear you discussing with each other as you walk?”

The two men stopped, their faces looking very sad. ¹⁸ The one named Cleopas said, “You must be the only person in Jerusalem who doesn’t know what has just happened there.”

¹⁹ Jesus said, “What are you talking about?”

They said, “It’s about Jesus, the one from Nazareth. To God and to all the people he was a great prophet. He said and did many powerful things. ²⁰ But our leaders and the leading priests handed him over to be judged and killed. They nailed him to a cross. ²¹ We were hoping that he would be the one to free Israel. But then all this happened.

“And now something else: It has been three days since he was killed, ²² but today some of our women told us an amazing thing. Early this morning they went to the tomb where the body of Jesus was laid. ²³ But they did not find his body there. They came and told us they had seen some angels in a vision. The angels told them Jesus was alive! ²⁴ So some of our group went to the tomb too. It was just as the women said. They saw the tomb, but they did not see Jesus.”

²⁵ Then Jesus said to the two men, “You are foolish and slow to realize what is true. You should believe everything the prophets said. ²⁶ The prophets said the Messiah must suffer these things before he begins his time of glory.” ²⁷ Then he began to explain everything that had been written about himself in the Scriptures. He started with the books of Moses and then he talked about what the prophets had said about him.

²⁸ They came near the town of Emmaus, and Jesus acted as if he did not plan to stop there. ²⁹ But they wanted him to stay. They begged him, “Stay with us. It’s almost night. There’s hardly any daylight left.” So he went in to stay with them.

³⁰ Joining them at the supper table, Jesus took some bread and gave thanks. Then he broke some off and gave it to them. ³¹ Just then the men were allowed to recognize him. But when they saw who he was, he disappeared. ³² They said to each other, “When he talked to us on the road, it felt like a fire burning in us. How exciting it was when he explained to us the true meaning of the Scriptures!”

³³ So the two men got up then and went back to Jerusalem. There they found the followers of Jesus meeting together. The eleven apostles and the people with them ³⁴ said, “The Lord really has risen from death! He appeared to Simon.”

³⁵ Then the two men told what had happened on the road. They talked about how they recognized Jesus when he shared the bread with them.

Jesus Appears to His Followers^(H)

³⁶ While the two men were saying these things to the other followers, Jesus himself came and stood among them. He said to them, “Peace be with you.”

³⁷ This surprised the followers. They were afraid. They thought they were seeing a ghost. ³⁸ But Jesus said, “Why are you troubled? Why do you doubt what you see? ³⁹ Look at my hands and my feet. It’s really me. Touch me. You can see that I have a living body; a ghost does not have a body like this.”

⁴⁰ After Jesus told them this, he showed them his hands and his feet. ⁴¹ The followers were amazed and very, very happy to see that Jesus was alive. They still could not believe what they saw. He said to them, “Do you have any food here?” ⁴² They gave him a piece of cooked fish. ⁴³ While the followers watched, he took the fish and ate it.

⁴⁴ Jesus said to them, “Remember when I was with you before? I said that everything written about me must happen—everything written in the Law of Moses, the books of the prophets, and the Psalms.”

⁴⁵ Then Jesus helped the followers understand these Scriptures about him. ⁴⁶ Jesus said to them, “It is written that the Messiah would be killed and rise from death on the third day. ^47-48 You saw these things happen—you are witnesses. You must go and tell people that they must change and turn to God, which will bring them his forgiveness. You must start from Jerusalem and tell this message in my name to the people of all nations. ⁴⁹ Remember that I will send you the one my Father promised. Stay in the city until you are given that power from heaven.”

Jesus Goes Back to Heaven^(I)

⁵⁰ Jesus led his followers out of Jerusalem almost to Bethany. He raised his hands and blessed his followers. ⁵¹ While he was blessing them, he was separated from them and carried into heaven. ⁵² They worshiped him and went back to Jerusalem very happy. ⁵³ They stayed at the Temple all the time, praising God.