New Testament in a Year
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,
“You would have no authority over me at all
unless it had been given to you from above.
Therefore, the one who handed me over to you
is guilty of a greater sin.”
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]
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