Chronological
Jesus’ Trial in Pilate’s Court
23 The whole group of them got up and brought him before Pilate. 2 They began to accuse him, saying, “We found this fellow misleading our nation, forbidding the payment of taxes to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.”
3 Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”
“It is as you say,” Jesus replied.
4 Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”
5 But they kept insisting, “He stirs up the people, teaching all through Judea, beginning from Galilee all the way here.”
Pilate Sends Jesus to Herod
6 When Pilate heard this, he asked if the man was a Galilean. 7 When he learned that he was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem during those days.
8 When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad. For a long time, he had wanted to see him, because he had heard many things about him. He hoped to see some miracle performed by him. 9 He questioned him with many words, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 The chief priests and the experts in the law stood there, vehemently accusing him. 11 Herod, along with his soldiers, treated him with contempt and ridiculed him. Dressing him in bright clothing, he sent him back to Pilate. 12 Herod and Pilate became friends with each other on that day. Before this they had been enemies of each other.
13 Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people, 14 and said to them, “You brought this man to me as one who is misleading the people. Look, I have examined him in your presence. I have found in this man no basis for the charges you are bringing against him. 15 Herod did not either, for he sent him back to us.[a] See, he has done nothing worthy of death. 16 So I will have him flogged and release him.”
Barabbas or Jesus?
17 Pilate needed to release one prisoner to them at the Festival.[b] 18 But they all shouted together with one voice: “Take him away! Release Barabbas to us!” 19 Barabbas had been thrown in prison for a rebellion in the city and for murder.
20 Pilate addressed them again, because he wanted to release Jesus. 21 But they kept shouting, “Crucify! Crucify him!”
22 He said to them the third time, “Why? What evil has he done? I have found no grounds for sentencing him to death. So I will whip him and release him.” 23 But they kept pressuring him with loud voices, demanding that he be crucified. And their voices[c] were overwhelming. 24 So Pilate decided that what they demanded would be done. 25 He released the one they had asked for, who had been thrown in prison for rebellion and murder, but he handed Jesus over to their will.
The Crucifixion
26 As they led him away, they seized Simon of Cyrene, who was coming from the country. They placed the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27 A large crowd of people was following him, including women who were mourning and wailing for him. 28 Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 Be sure of this: The days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never gave birth, and the breasts that never nursed.’ 30 Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’[d] 31 For if they do these things to the green wood, what will happen to the dry?”
32 Two other men, who were criminals, were led away with Jesus to be executed.
33 When they came to the place called The Skull, they crucified him there with the criminals, one on his right and the other on his left.
34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
They cast lots to divide his garments among them. 35 The people stood watching. The rulers were ridiculing him, saying, “He saved others. Let him save himself, if this is the Christ of God, the Chosen One!”
36 The soldiers also made fun of him. Coming up to him, they offered him sour wine, 37 saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”
38 There was also an inscription written above him: “This is the King of the Jews.”
39 One of the criminals hanging there was blaspheming him, saying, “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God, since you are under the same condemnation? 41 We are punished justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for what we have done, but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me[e] when you come in[f] your kingdom.”
43 Jesus said to him, “Amen I tell you: Today you will be with me in paradise.”
Jesus’ Death
44 It was now about the sixth hour,[g] and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour,[h] 45 while the sun was darkened. Then the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!”[i] When he had said this, he breathed his last.
47 When the centurion saw what had happened, he began to glorify God, saying, “This man really was righteous.” 48 When all the groups of people who had gathered to see this spectacle saw what had happened, they returned home beating their chests. 49 All those who knew Jesus, and the women who followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
Jesus’ Burial
50 Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea, who was a member of the Council, a good and righteous man. 51 He had not agreed with their plan and action. He was looking forward to the kingdom of God. 52 This man went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. 53 He took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and placed it in a tomb that was cut out of rock, where no one had yet been laid. 54 It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was beginning. 55 The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed after Joseph, and they observed the tomb and how his body was laid there. 56 Then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.
The Arrest
18 After saying these things, Jesus went out with his disciples across the Kidron Valley,[a] where there was a garden. He and his disciples went into it.
2 Now Judas, who was betraying him, also knew the place, because Jesus often met there with his disciples. 3 So Judas took the company of soldiers and some guards from the chief priests and the Pharisees, and came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.
4 Jesus, knowing everything that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who are you looking for?”
5 “Jesus the Nazarene,” they replied.
“I am he,” Jesus told them.
Judas, the betrayer, was standing with them. 6 When Jesus told them, “I am he,” they backed away and fell to the ground.
7 Then Jesus asked them again, “Who are you looking for?”
“Jesus the Nazarene,” they said.
8 “I told you that I am he,” Jesus replied. “So if you are looking for me, let these men go.” 9 This was to fulfill the statement he had spoken: “I did not lose any of those you have given me.”
10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus.
11 So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath. Shall I not drink the cup my Father has given me?”
12 Then the company of soldiers, their commander, and the Jewish guards arrested Jesus and bound him. 13 First they led him to Annas, because he was father-in-law to Caiaphas, who was the high priest that year. 14 Now it was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews, “It is better that one man die for the people.”
Peter Denies Jesus
15 Simon Peter and another disciple kept following Jesus. That disciple was known to the high priest, so he went into the high priest’s courtyard with Jesus. 16 But Peter stood outside by the door. So the other disciple, the one known to the high priest, went out and talked to the girl watching the door and brought Peter in.
17 “You are not one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” the girl at the door asked Peter.
“I am not!” he said.
18 The servants and guards were standing around a fire of coals that they had made because it was cold. While they warmed themselves, Peter was standing with them, warming himself too.
Jesus Before Annas
19 The high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching.
20 Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world. I always taught in a synagogue or at the temple, where all the Jews gather. I said nothing in secret. 21 Why are you questioning me? Ask those who heard what I told them. Look, they know what I said.”
22 When he said this, one of the guards standing there hit Jesus in the face. “Is that how you answer the high priest?” he demanded.
23 “If I said something wrong,” Jesus answered, “testify about what was wrong. But if I was right, why did you hit me?”
24 Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.
Peter Denies Again
25 Simon Peter continued to stand there warming himself. So they said to him, “You are not one of his disciples too, are you?”
He denied it, saying, “I am not!”
26 One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said, “Didn’t I see you with him in the garden?”
27 Peter denied it again, and just then a rooster crowed.
Jesus Before Pilate
28 Early in the morning, the Jews led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium. They did not enter the Praetorium themselves, so that they would not become ceremonially unclean. (They wanted to be able to eat the Passover meal.) 29 So Pilate went out to them and said, “What charge do you bring against this man?”
30 They answered him, “If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.”
31 Pilate told them, “Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law.”
The Jews said, “It’s not legal for us to put anyone to death.” 32 This happened so that the statement Jesus had spoken indicating what kind of death he was going to die would be fulfilled.
33 Pilate went back into the Praetorium and summoned Jesus. He asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”
34 Jesus answered, “Are you saying this on your own, or did others tell you about me?”
35 Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?”
36 Jesus replied, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight so that I would not be handed over to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from here.”
37 “You are a king then?” Pilate asked.
Jesus answered, “I am, as you say, a king. For this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”
38 “What is truth?” Pilate said to him.
After he said this, he went out again to the Jews and told them, “I find no basis for a charge against him. 39 But you have a custom that I release one prisoner to you at the Passover. So do you want me to release the King of the Jews for you?”
40 Then they shouted back, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” (Now Barabbas was a rebel.)
“Behold the Man!”
19 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 The soldiers also twisted together a crown of thorns and placed it on his head. Then they threw a purple robe around him. 3 They kept coming to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they kept hitting him in the face.
4 Pilate went outside again and said to them, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.”
5 So Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!”
6 When the chief priests and guards saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”
Pilate told them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no basis for a charge against him.”
7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”
8 When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. 9 He went back inside the palace again and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?”
But Jesus gave him no answer.
10 So Pilate asked him, “Are you not talking to me? Don’t you know that I have the authority to release you or to crucify you?”
11 Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over me at all if it had not been given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”
12 From then on Pilate tried to release Jesus. But the Jews shouted, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar! Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar!”
13 When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside. He sat down on the judge’s seat at a place called the Stone Pavement, or Gabbatha in Aramaic. 14 It was about the sixth hour[b] on the Preparation Day for the Passover. Pilate said to the Jews, “Here is your king!”
15 They shouted, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!”
Pilate said to them, “Should I crucify your king?”
“We have no king but Caesar!” the chief priests answered.
16 So then Pilate handed Jesus over to them to be crucified.
“They Crucified Him”
So they took Jesus away. 17 Carrying his own cross, he went out to what is called the Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified him with two others, one on each side, and Jesus in the middle.
19 Pilate also had a notice written and fastened on the cross. It read, “Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews.”
20 Many of the Jews read this notice, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek.
21 So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that ‘this man said, “I am the King of the Jews.”’”
22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
23 When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier. They also took his tunic, which was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. 24 So they said to one another, “Let’s not tear it. Instead, let’s cast lots to see who gets it.” This was so that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says:
They divided my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing.[c]
So the soldiers did these things.
Jesus’ Compassion for His Mother
25 Jesus’ mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene were standing near the cross.
26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son!” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother!” And from that time this disciple took her into his own home.
Jesus Gives Up His Life
28 After this, knowing that everything had now been finished, and to fulfill the Scripture, Jesus said, “I thirst.”
29 A jar full of sour wine was sitting there. So they put a sponge soaked in sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth.
30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished!” Then, bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.
The Piercing of Jesus’ Side
31 Since it was the Preparation Day, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses over the Sabbath (because that Sabbath was a particularly important day). They asked Pilate to have the men’s legs broken and the bodies taken away. 32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man who was crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other man.
33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear. Immediately blood and water came out. 35 The one who saw it has testified, and his testimony is true. He knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe. 36 Indeed, these things happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, “Not one of his bones will be broken.”[d] 37 Again another Scripture says, “They will look at the one they pierced.”[e]
Jesus’ Burial
38 After this, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him remove Jesus’ body. When Pilate gave him permission, he came and took Jesus’ body away. 39 Nicodemus, who earlier had come to Jesus at night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-two pounds.[f]
40 They took Jesus’ body and bound it with linen strips along with the spices, in accord with Jewish burial customs.
41 There was a garden at the place where Jesus was crucified. And in the garden was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. 42 So they laid Jesus there, because it was the Jewish Preparation Day, and the tomb was near.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.