Read the Gospels in 40 Days
19 Then Pilate ordered that Jesus be taken away and whipped. 2 The soldiers made a crown from some thorny branches and put it on Jesus’ head and put a purple robe around him. 3 Then they came to him many times and said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and hit him in the face.
4 Again Pilate came out and said to them, “Look, I am bringing Jesus out to you. I want you to know that I find nothing against him.” 5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”
6 When the leading priests and the guards saw Jesus, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
But Pilate answered, “Crucify him yourselves, because I find nothing against him.”
7 The leaders answered, “We have a law that says he should die, because he said he is the Son of God.”
8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid. 9 He went back inside the palace and asked Jesus, “Where do you come from?” But Jesus did not answer him. 10 Pilate said, “You refuse to speak to me? Don’t you know I have power to set you free and power to have you crucified?”
11 Jesus answered, “The only power you have over me is the power given to you by God. The man who turned me in to you is guilty of a greater sin.”
12 After this, Pilate tried to let Jesus go. But some in the crowd cried out, “Anyone who makes himself king is against Caesar. If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar.”
13 When Pilate heard what they were saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at the place called The Stone Pavement. (In the Hebrew language[a] the name is Gabbatha.) 14 It was about noon on Preparation Day of Passover week. Pilate said to the crowd, “Here is your king!”
15 They shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”
Pilate asked them, “Do you want me to crucify your king?”
The leading priests answered, “The only king we have is Caesar.”
16 So Pilate handed Jesus over to them to be crucified.
Jesus Is Crucified
The soldiers took charge of Jesus. 17 Carrying his own cross, Jesus went out to a place called The Place of the Skull, which in the Hebrew language[b] is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified Jesus. They also crucified two other men, one on each side, with Jesus in the middle. 19 Pilate wrote a sign and put it on the cross. It read: jesus of nazareth, the king of the jews. 20 The sign was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. Many of the people read the sign, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. 21 The leading priests said to Pilate, “Don’t write, ‘The King of the Jews.’ But write, ‘This man said, “I am the King of the Jews.”’”
22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
23 After the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, with each soldier getting one part. They also took his long shirt, which was all one piece of cloth, woven from top to bottom. 24 So the soldiers said to each other, “We should not tear this into parts. Let’s throw lots to see who will get it.” This happened so that this Scripture would come true:
“They divided my clothes among them,
and they threw lots for my clothing.” Psalm 22:18
So the soldiers did this.
25 Standing near his cross were Jesus’ mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the follower he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Dear woman, here is your son.” 27 Then he said to the follower, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, the follower took her to live in his home.
Jesus Dies
28 After this, Jesus knew that everything had been done. So that the Scripture would come true, he said, “I am thirsty.”[c] 29 There was a jar full of vinegar there, so the soldiers soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a branch of a hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ mouth. 30 When Jesus tasted the vinegar, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and died.
31 This day was Preparation Day, and the next day was a special Sabbath day. Since the religious leaders did not want the bodies to stay on the cross on the Sabbath day, they asked Pilate to order that the legs of the men be broken[d] and the bodies be taken away. 32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man on the cross beside Jesus. Then they broke the legs of the man on the other cross beside Jesus. 33 But when the soldiers came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 But one of the soldiers stuck his spear into Jesus’ side, and at once blood and water came out. 35 (The one who saw this happen is the one who told us this, and whatever he says is true. And he knows that he tells the truth, and he tells it so that you might believe.) 36 These things happened to make the Scripture come true: “Not one of his bones will be broken.”[e] 37 And another Scripture says, “They will look at the one they stabbed.”[f]
Jesus Is Buried
38 Later, Joseph from Arimathea asked Pilate if he could take the body of Jesus. (Joseph was a secret follower of Jesus, because he was afraid of some of the leaders.) Pilate gave his permission, so Joseph came and took Jesus’ body away. 39 Nicodemus, who earlier had come to Jesus at night, went with Joseph. He brought about seventy-five pounds of myrrh and aloes. 40 These two men took Jesus’ body and wrapped it with the spices in pieces of linen cloth, which is how they bury the dead. 41 In the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden. In the garden was a new tomb that had never been used before. 42 The men laid Jesus in that tomb because it was nearby, and they were preparing to start their Sabbath day.
Jesus’ Tomb Is Empty
20 Early on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb while it was still dark. When she saw that the large stone had been moved away from the tomb, 2 she ran to Simon Peter and the follower whom Jesus loved. Mary said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him.”
3 So Peter and the other follower started for the tomb. 4 They were both running, but the other follower ran faster than Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent down and looked in and saw the strips of linen cloth lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then following him, Simon Peter arrived and went into the tomb and saw the strips of linen lying there. 7 He also saw the cloth that had been around Jesus’ head, which was folded up and laid in a different place from the strips of linen. 8 Then the other follower, who had reached the tomb first, also went in. He saw and believed. 9 (They did not yet understand from the Scriptures that Jesus must rise from the dead.)
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
10 Then the followers went back home. 11 But Mary stood outside the tomb, crying. As she was crying, she bent down and looked inside the tomb. 12 She saw two angels dressed in white, sitting where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and one at the feet.
13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
She answered, “They have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 When Mary said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know it was Jesus.
15 Jesus asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Whom are you looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said to him, “Did you take him away, sir? Tell me where you put him, and I will get him.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
Mary turned toward Jesus and said in the Hebrew language,[g] “Rabboni.” (This means “Teacher.”)
17 Jesus said to her, “Don’t hold on to me, because I have not yet gone up to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going back to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
18 Mary Magdalene went and said to the followers, “I saw the Lord!” And she told them what Jesus had said to her.
Jesus Appears to His Followers
19 When it was evening on the first day of the week, Jesus’ followers were together. The doors were locked, because they were afraid of the elders. Then Jesus came and stood right in the middle of them and said, “Peace be with you.” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. His followers were thrilled when they saw the Lord.
21 Then Jesus said again, “Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, I now send you.” 22 After he said this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven. If you don’t forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Jesus Appears to Thomas
24 Thomas (called Didymus), who was one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 The other followers kept telling Thomas, “We saw the Lord.”
But Thomas said, “I will not believe it until I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were and put my hand into his side.”
26 A week later the followers were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. The doors were locked, but Jesus came in and stood right in the middle of them. He said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand here in my side. Stop being an unbeliever and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you see me. Those who believe without seeing me will be truly blessed.”
Why John Wrote This Book
30 Jesus did many other miracles in the presence of his followers that are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Then, by believing, you may have life through his name.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.