New Testament in a Year
26 They put a notice there to show the reason why they were killing him. It said, ‘The King of the Jews’. 27 They also put two robbers on crosses near to Jesus. One robber was on Jesus' right side. The other robber was on his left side. 28 [The Bible says that this would happen.[a] It says, ‘People thought of him as someone who did not obey God's Law.’][b]
29 The people who walked near there insulted Jesus. They laughed at him and they said, ‘Oh! You said that you would destroy the temple. And you said that in three days you would build it again. 30 If you can really do that, save yourself. Come down from the cross!’
31 The leaders of the priests and the teachers of God's Law laughed at him. They said to each other, ‘This man saved other people, did he? But he cannot save his own life! 32 If he is the Messiah, the king of Israel, he should come down from the cross now. Then we would see it and we would believe in him.’ The two men who were on the crosses next to Jesus also insulted him.
Jesus dies
33 At midday, the whole country became dark for three hours. 34 At three o'clock in the afternoon, Jesus shouted loudly, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?’ That means, ‘My God, my God, why have you left me alone?’
35 Some people who were standing near there heard him. They said to each other, ‘Look! He is shouting to Elijah.’
36 One man ran to get a piece of cloth. He poured cheap wine on it, and he put it on the end of a stick. Then he lifted it up to Jesus so that he could drink the wine from it. The man said, ‘Wait! Now we will see if Elijah comes to take him down from the cross.’
37 Then Jesus shouted loudly, and after that he died.
38 And the curtain inside the temple completely tore into two parts from the top down to the bottom.[c]
39 The captain of the soldiers was standing there in front of Jesus.[d] He saw how Jesus died. ‘It must be true!’ he said. ‘This man really was the Son of God.’
40 Some women were also there. They were watching these events from a long way away. Mary from Magdala was one of the women. Mary the mother of the younger James and Joses was also there. Salome was there too. 41 These women had travelled with Jesus when he was in Galilee and they had helped him. Many other women were also there near the cross. They had come to Jerusalem with Jesus.
Joseph buries Jesus' dead body
42 It was Friday and the Jews were preparing for their day of rest on the Sabbath. 43 That evening, a man called Joseph went to see Pilate. Joseph was from a town called Arimathea. He was a good man and he was one of the group of important Jewish leaders. He was waiting for the time when God would start to rule his people in his kingdom. Joseph bravely asked Pilate for the dead body of Jesus to bury it. 44 Pilate was surprised that Jesus had already died. He asked the captain of the soldiers to come to him. He asked him if Jesus had already died. 45 The captain told Pilate that Jesus was already dead. So then Pilate let Joseph go and take Jesus' dead body. 46 Joseph bought a piece of linen cloth. He took Jesus' body down from the cross and he put the cloth around it. Then he put the body in a large hole in a rock. People had made that hole to put dead bodies in. After this, Joseph rolled a big stone across the front of the hole to shut it.
47 Mary from Magdala and Mary the mother of Joses were watching. They saw where Joseph had put Jesus' dead body.
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