M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Jesus before Pilate
15 As soon as morning came, the chief priests held a council meeting with the elders, the legal experts, and the whole Sanhedrin. They bound Jesus, took him off to Pilate, and handed him over.
2 “Are you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate.
“You have said it,” replied Jesus.
3 The chief priests laid many accusations against him.
4 Pilate again interrogated him: “Aren’t you going to make any reply? Look how many accusations they’re making against you!”
5 But Jesus gave no reply at all, which astonished Pilate.
6 The custom was that at festival time he used to release for them a single prisoner, whoever they would ask for. 7 There was a man in prison named Barabbas, one of the revolutionaries who had committed murder during the uprising. 8 So the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do what he normally did.
9 “Do you want me,” answered Pilate, “to release for you ‘the king of the Jews’?”
10 He said this because he knew that the chief priests had handed him over out of envy. 11 The chief priests stirred up the crowd to ask for Barabbas instead to be released to them. So Pilate once again asked them, 12 “What then do you want me to do with the one you call ‘the king of the Jews’?”
13 “Crucify him!” they shouted again.
14 “Why?” asked Pilate. “What has he done wrong?”
“Crucify him!” they shouted all the louder.
15 Pilate wanted to satisfy the crowd; so he released Barabbas for them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
The crucifixion
16 The soldiers took Jesus into the courtyard, that is, the Praetorium, and called together the whole squad. 17 They dressed Jesus up in purple; then, weaving together a crown of thorns, they stuck it on him. 18 They began to salute him: “Greetings, King of the Jews!” 19 And they hit him over the head with a staff, and spat at him, and knelt down to do him homage. 20 Then, when they had mocked him, they took the purple robe off him, and put his own clothes back on.
Then they led him off to crucify him. 21 They compelled a man called Simon to carry Jesus’ cross. He was from Cyrene, and was coming in from out of town. He was the father of Alexander and Rufus.
22 They took Jesus to the place called Golgotha, which in translation means “Skull’s Place.” 23 They gave him a mixture of wine and myrrh, but he didn’t drink it.
24 So they crucified him; they “parted his clothing between them, casting lots” to see who would get what. 25 It was about nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. 26 The inscription, giving the charge, read: “The King of the Jews.” 27 They also crucified two bandits alongside him, one on his right and one on his left.
29 People who were passing by abused him. They shook their heads at him.
“Hah!” they said. “You were going to destroy the Temple, were you? And build it again in three days? 30 Why don’t you rescue yourself, and come down from the cross?”
31 The chief priests and the lawyers were mocking him in the same way among themselves.
“He rescued others,” they said, “but he can’t rescue himself. 32 Messiah, is he? King of Israel, did he say? Well, let’s see him come down from the cross! We’ll believe him when we see that!”
The two who were crucified alongside him taunted him as well.
The death of Jesus
33 At midday there was darkness over all the land until three in the afternoon. 34 At three o’clock Jesus shouted out in a powerful voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why did you abandon me?”
35 When the bystanders heard it, some of them said, “He’s calling for Elijah!”
36 One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a pole, and gave it him to drink.
“Well then,” he declared, “let’s see if Elijah will come and take him down.”
37 But Jesus, with another loud shout, breathed his last.
38 The Temple veil was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 When the centurion who was standing facing him saw that he died in this way, he said, “This fellow really was God’s son.”
The burial of Jesus
40 Some women were watching from a distance. They included Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of the younger James and of Joses, and Salome. 41 They had followed Jesus in Galilee, and had attended to his needs. There were several other women, too, who had come up with him to Jerusalem.
42 It was already getting towards evening, and it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath. 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a reputable member of the council who was himself eagerly awaiting God’s kingdom, took his courage in both hands, went to Pilate, and requested the body of Jesus.
44 Pilate was surprised that he was already dead. He summoned the centurion, and asked whether he had been dead for some time. 45 When he learned the facts from the centurion, he conceded the body to Joseph.
46 So Joseph bought a linen cloth, took the body down, wrapped it in the cloth, and laid it in a tomb cut out of the rock. He rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was buried.
Unity: modeled by the Messiah, encouraged by scripture
15 We, the “strong” ones, should bear with the frailty of the “weak,” and not please ourselves. 2 Each one of us should please our neighbor for his or her good, to build them up.
3 The Messiah, you see, did not please himself. Instead, as the Bible says, “the reproaches of those who reproached you are fallen on me.” 4 Whatever was written ahead of time, you see, was written for us to learn from, so that through patience, and through the encouragement of the Bible, we might have hope. 5 May the God of patience and encouragement grant you to come to a common mind among yourselves, in accordance with the Messiah, Jesus, 6 so that, with one mind and one mouth, you may glorify the God and father of our Lord Jesus the Messiah.
United praise under the Messiah’s universal rule
7 Welcome one another, therefore, as the Messiah has welcomed you, to God’s glory. 8 Let me tell you why: the Messiah became a servant of the circumcised people in order to demonstrate the truthfulness of God—that is, to confirm the promises to the patriarchs, 9 and to bring the nations to praise God for his mercy. As the Bible says:
That is why I will praise you among the nations,
and will sing to your name.
10 And again it says,
Rejoice, you nations, with his people.
11 And again,
Praise the Lord, all nations,
and let all the peoples sing his praise.
12 And Isaiah says once more:
There shall be the root of Jesse,
the one who rises up to rule the nations;
the nations shall hope in him.
13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the holy spirit.
Coming to Rome at last
14 When I think of you, my dear family, I myself am thoroughly convinced that you are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and well able to give one another instruction. 15 But I have written to you very boldly at some points, calling things to your mind through the grace which God has given me 16 to enable me to be a minister of Messiah Jesus for the nations, working in the priestly service of God’s good news, so that the offering of the nations may be acceptable, sanctified in the holy spirit.
17 This is the glad confidence I have in Messiah Jesus, and in God’s own presence. 18 Far be it from me, you see, to speak about anything except what the Messiah has accomplished through me for the obedience of the nations, in word and deed, 19 in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of God’s spirit. I have completed the announcement of the Messiah’s good news from Jerusalem round as far as Illyricum. 20 My driving ambition has been to announce the good news in places where the Messiah has not been named, so that I can avoid building on anyone else’s foundation. 21 Instead, as the Bible says,
People who hadn’t been told about him will see;
people who hadn’t heard will understand.
22 That’s why I have faced so many obstacles to stop me coming to you. 23 But now, finding myself with no more room in these regions, I have a great longing to come to you now at last after so many years, 24 and so to make my way to Spain. You see, I’m hoping to see you as I pass through, and to be sent on my way there by you, once I have been refreshed by you for a while.
Aid for Jerusalem
25 Now, though, I am going to Jerusalem to render service to God’s people there. 26 Macedonia and Achaea, you see, have happily decided to enter into partnership with the poor believers in Jerusalem. 27 They were eager to do this, and indeed they owe them a debt. If the nations have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, it is right and proper that they should minister to their earthly needs. 28 So when I have completed this, and tied up all the loose ends, I will come via you to Spain. 29 And I know that when I come to you I shall come with the full blessing of the Messiah.
30 I urge you, my dear family, through our Lord Jesus the Messiah and through the love of the spirit: fight the battle for me in your prayers to God on my behalf, 31 so that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judaea, and so that my service for Jerusalem may be welcomed gladly by God’s people. 32 If this happens, I will come to you in joy, through the will of God, and be refreshed by being with you. 33 May the God of peace be with you all. Amen.
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.