Readings for Lent and Easter

Pilate Questions Jesus^(A)

15 Early in the morning the chief priests immediately came to a decision with the leaders and the experts in Moses’ Teachings. The whole Jewish council decided to tie Yeshua up, lead him away, and hand him over to Pilate.

² Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

“Yes, I am,” Yeshua answered him.

³ The chief priests were accusing him of many things.

⁴ So Pilate asked him again, “Don’t you have any answer? Look how many accusations they’re bringing against you!”

⁵ But Yeshua no longer answered anything, so Pilate was surprised.

The Crowd Rejects Jesus^(B)

⁶ At every Passover festival, Pilate would free one prisoner whom the people asked for. ⁷ There was a man named Barabbas in prison. He was with some rebels who had committed murder during a riot. ⁸ The crowd asked Pilate to do for them what he always did. ⁹ Pilate answered them, “Do you want me to free the king of the Jews for you?” ¹⁰ Pilate knew that the chief priests had handed Yeshua over to him because they were jealous.

¹¹ The chief priests stirred up the crowd so that Pilate would free Barabbas for them instead.

¹² So Pilate again asked them, “Then what should I do with the king of the Jews?”

¹³ “Crucify him!” they shouted back.

¹⁴ Pilate said to them, “Why? What has he done wrong?”

But they shouted even louder, “Crucify him!”