Read the Gospels in 40 Days

Chapter 19

Behold, the Man! ¹ Then Pilate ordered that Jesus be scourged.^{[a] 2} The soldiers twisted together some thorns into a crown and placed it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. ³ They kept going up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews,” while striking him on the face repeatedly.

⁴ Once again, Pilate went out and said to the Jews, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no evidence of a crime in him.” ⁵ Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold, the man!”

⁶ When they saw him, the chief priests and the temple guards shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him. I find no evidence of a crime in him.” ⁷ The Jews answered, “We have a Law, and according to that Law he ought to die because he has claimed to be the Son of God.”

The Second Hearing before Pilate. ⁸ Now when Pilate heard this, he was more frightened than ever. ⁹ Returning to the praetorium, he asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus offered no response. ¹⁰ Pilate then said to him, “Are you refusing to speak to me? Do you not realize that I have the power to release you and the power to crucify you?” ¹¹ Jesus answered him,

¹² Jesus Is Condemned to Death. From that moment on, Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews kept shouting, “If you release this man, you are no Friend of Caesar.^[b] Everyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”

¹³ When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and seated him on the judge’s bench at a place known as the Stone Pavement^[c] (in Hebrew, “Gabbatha”). ¹⁴ It was the day of Preparation for the Passover, and it was about noon.^[d] Pilate said to the Jews, “Behold, your King!” ¹⁵ They shouted, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” “Am I to crucify your King?” Pilate asked them. The chief priests replied, “We have no king but Caesar.” ¹⁶ Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.

Jesus Is Crucified. Then they took him away, ¹⁷ and, carrying the cross^[e] by himself, he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull (in Hebrew, “Golgotha”). ¹⁸ There they crucified him^[f] along with two others, one on either side, with Jesus in the middle.

¹⁹ Pilate also had an inscription written and fastened to the cross. It read, “Jesus the Nazorean, King of the Jews.”^{[g] 20} This inscription, in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, was read by many Jews, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. ²¹ Therefore, the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “You should not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man claimed to be the King of the Jews.’ ” ²² Pilate responded, “What I have written, I have written.”^[h]

^23 [i]When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four shares, one share for each soldier. They also took his tunic, which was woven seamless, top to bottom. ²⁴ They said to one another, “Instead of tearing it, let us cast lots for it to see who is to get it.” In this way, the Scripture was fulfilled that says,

And that is what the soldiers did.

²⁵ Mary and John at the Cross. Standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶ When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” ²⁷ Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

²⁸ Jesus Dies on the Cross. After this, aware that everything had now been completed, and in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I thirst.” ²⁹ A jar filled with sour wine was standing nearby, so they soaked a sponge in the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it up to his lips. ³⁰ When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, “It is finished.”^[j] Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

³¹ The Blood and the Water. It was the day of Preparation, and the Jews did not want to have the bodies remain on the cross on the Sabbath, especially since that Sabbath day was a great solemnity. Therefore, they requested Pilate to order that their legs be broken and the bodies taken down.

³² So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man and then of the other who had been crucified with him. ³³ However, when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, ³⁴ but one of the soldiers thrust a lance into his side, and immediately a flow of blood and water came forth. ³⁵ An eyewitness has testified to this, and his testimony is true. He knows that what he says is true, so that you also may believe.

³⁶ This happened so that the Scripture might be fulfilled,

³⁷ And again, in another passage Scripture says,

³⁸ Jesus Is Buried.^[k] Shortly thereafter, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate for permission to remove the body of Jesus. Pilate granted him permission, and so he came and took his body away.

³⁹ Nicodemus, who had first come to Jesus at night, also came, bringing with him a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about one hundred pounds.^{[l] 40} They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, in accordance with the burial custom of the Jews.

⁴¹ At the place where Jesus had been crucified there was a garden, and in that garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been buried. ⁴² And so, since it was the Jewish day of Preparation and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

The Appearances of the Risen One^[m]

Chapter 20

The Mystery of the Empty Tomb.^{[n] 1} Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been moved away from the tomb. ² Therefore, she ran to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him.”

³ Then Peter and the other disciple set out and made their way toward the tomb. ⁴ They both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵ He bent down and saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in.

⁶ When Simon Peter caught up with him, he entered the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, ⁷ and also the cloth that had covered his head not lying with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. ⁸ Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went inside, and he saw and believed. ⁹ They still did not understand the Scripture indicating that he must rise from the dead. ¹⁰ Then the disciples returned to their homes.

¹¹ Mary Magdalene Recognizes Jesus.^[o] Mary Magdalene remained weeping outside the tomb. And as she wept, she bent down to look into the tomb, ¹² and she saw two angels in white sitting there where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head and the other at the feet. ¹³ They asked her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She answered, “They have taken my Lord away, and I do not know where they have put him.”

¹⁴ As she said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. ¹⁵ Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have removed him, tell me where you have put him, and I will take him away.” ¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!”^[p] (which means “Teacher”).

¹⁷ Jesus then said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to my Father. But go to my brethren and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ”^{[q] 18} Mary Magdalene then went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and repeated what he had said to her.

¹⁹ Jesus Appears to the Disciples.^[r] On the evening of that same day, the first day of the week, the doors of the house where the disciples had gathered were locked because of their fear of the Jews. Jesus then came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” ²⁰ After saying this, he showed them his hands and his side.

The disciples were filled with joy when they saw the Lord. ²¹ “Peace be with you,” Jesus said to them again.

²² After saying this, he breathed on them and said,

²⁴ Jesus Appears to Thomas.^[s] Now Thomas, called the Twin, who was one of the Twelve, was not with the rest when Jesus came. ²⁵ When the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord,” he replied, “Unless I see the mark of the nails on his hands and put my finger into the place where the nails pierced and insert my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

²⁶ Eight days later, the disciples were again in the house, and on this occasion Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood in their midst, and he said, “Peace be with you.” ²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Do not doubt any longer, but believe.” ²⁸ Thomas exclaimed, “My Lord and my God!” ²⁹ Then Jesus said to him,

³⁰ Believe in Order To Live.^[t] Now Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not recorded in this work. ³¹ But those written here have been recorded so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through your belief you may have life in his name.