Jesus’ Trial before Pilate
1Very early in the morning the leading priests, the elders, and the teachers of religious law—the entire high council*—met to discuss their next step. They bound Jesus, led him away, and took him to Pilate, the Roman governor.
2Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
Jesus replied, “You have said it.”
3Then the leading priests kept accusing him of many crimes, 4and Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer them? What about all these charges they are bringing against you?” 5But Jesus said nothing, much to Pilate’s surprise.
6Now it was the governor’s custom each year during the Passover celebration to release one prisoner—anyone the people requested. 7One of the prisoners at that time was Barabbas, a revolutionary who had committed murder in an uprising. 8The crowd went to Pilate and asked him to release a prisoner as usual.
9“Would you like me to release to you this ‘King of the Jews’?” Pilate asked. 10(For he realized by now that the leading priests had arrested Jesus out of envy.) 11But at this point the leading priests stirred up the crowd to demand the release of Barabbas instead of Jesus. 12Pilate asked them, “Then what should I do with this man you call the king of the Jews?”
13They shouted back, “Crucify him!”
14“Why?” Pilate demanded. “What crime has he committed?”
But the mob roared even louder, “Crucify him!”
15So to pacify the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified.
The Soldiers Mock Jesus
16The soldiers took Jesus into the courtyard of the governor’s headquarters (called the Praetorium) and called out the entire regiment. 17They dressed him in a purple robe, and they wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head. 18Then they saluted him and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!” 19And they struck him on the head with a reed stick, spit on him, and dropped to their knees in mock worship. 20When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified.
The Crucifixion
21A passerby named Simon, who was from Cyrene,* was coming in from the countryside just then, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. (Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus.) 22And they brought Jesus to a place called Golgotha (which means “Place of the Skull”). 23They offered him wine drugged with myrrh, but he refused it.
24Then the soldiers nailed him to the cross. They divided his clothes and threw dice* to decide who would get each piece. 25It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. 26A sign announced the charge against him. It read, “The King of the Jews.” 27Two revolutionaries* were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.*
29The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. “Ha! Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. 30Well then, save yourself and come down from the cross!”
31The leading priests and teachers of religious law also mocked Jesus. “He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself! 32Let this Messiah, this King of Israel, come down from the cross so we can see it and believe him!” Even the men who were crucified with Jesus ridiculed him.
The Death of Jesus
33At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. 34Then at three o’clock Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”*
35Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah. 36One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on a reed stick so he could drink. “Wait!” he said. “Let’s see whether Elijah comes to take him down!”
37Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last. 38And the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.
39When the Roman officer* who stood facing him* saw how he had died, he exclaimed, “This man truly was the Son of God!”
40Some women were there, watching from a distance, including Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James the younger and of Joseph*), and Salome. 41They had been followers of Jesus and had cared for him while he was in Galilee. Many other women who had come with him to Jerusalem were also there.
The Burial of Jesus
42This all happened on Friday, the day of preparation,* the day before the Sabbath. As evening approached, 43Joseph of Arimathea took a risk and went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. (Joseph was an honored member of the high council, and he was waiting for the Kingdom of God to come.) 44Pilate couldn’t believe that Jesus was already dead, so he called for the Roman officer and asked if he had died yet. 45The officer confirmed that Jesus was dead, so Pilate told Joseph he could have the body. 46Joseph bought a long sheet of linen cloth. Then he took Jesus’ body down from the cross, wrapped it in the cloth, and laid it in a tomb that had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a stone in front of the entrance. 47Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where Jesus’ body was laid.