New Testament in a Year

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:

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.”^{[b] 37} Again another Scripture says, “They will look at the one they pierced.”^[c]

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.^[d]

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.