Jesus is Sentenced to Death

(Matthew 27:15-31; Mark 15:6-20; Luke 23:13-25)

1Then Pilate had Jesus taken away and whipped. 2The soldiers twisted some thorns into a victor’s crown, put it on his head, and threw a purple robe on him. 3They kept coming up to him and saying, “Long live the king of the Jews!” Then they began to slap him on the face.

4Pilate went outside again and told the Jews,a “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” 5Then Jesus came outside, wearing the victor’s crown of thorns and the purple robe.

Pilate told them, “Here is the man!”

6When the high priests and the officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

Pilate told them, “You take him and crucify him. I find no basis for a charge against him.”

7The Jewish leadersb answered Pilate,c “We have a law, and according to that Law he must die because he made himself out to be the Son of God.”

8When Pilate heard this, he became even more afraid. 9Returning to his headquarters,d he asked Jesus, “Where are you from?”

But Jesus did not answer him.

10So Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to speak to me? You realize, don’t you, that I have the authority to release you and the authority to crucify you?”

11Jesus answered him, “You have no authority over me at all, except what was given to you from above. That’s why the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

12From then on, Pilate tried to release him, but the Jewish leaderse kept shouting, “If you release this fellow, you’re not a friend of Caesar! Anyone who claims to be a king is defying Caesar!”

13When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat down on the judgment seat in a place called The Pavement, which in Hebrew is called Gabbatha. 14Now it was the Preparation Day for the Passover, about noon.f He told the Jewish leaders,g “Here is your king!”

15Then they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”

Pilate asked them, “Should I crucify your king?”

The high priests responded, “We have no king but Caesar!” 16Then Pilateh handed him over to be crucified, and they took Jesus away.

Jesus is Crucified

(Matthew 27:32-44; Mark 15:21-32; Luke 23:26-43)

17Carrying the cross all by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of a Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. 18There they crucified him, along with two others, one on each side of him with Jesus in the middle. 19Pilate wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus from Nazareth,i the King of the Jews.” 20Many Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. It was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek.

21Then the Jewish high priests told Pilate, “Don’t write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this fellow said, ‘I am the King of the Jews.’”

22Pilate replied, “What I have written I have written.”

23When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier, and took his cloakj as well. The cloak was seamless, woven in one piece from the top down. 24So they told each other, “Let’s not tear it. Instead, let’s throw dice to see who gets it.” This was to fulfill the Scripture that says,

“They divided my clothes among themselves,

and for my clothing they threw dice.”k

So that is what the soldiers did.

25Meanwhile, standing near Jesus’ cross were his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.l 26When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he kept loving standing there, he told his mother, “Dear lady,m here is your son.” 27Then he told the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

Jesus Dies on the Cross

(Matthew 27:45-56; Mark 15:33-41; Luke 23:44-49)

28After this, when Jesus realized that everything was now completed, he said (in order to fulfill the Scripture), “I’m thirsty.” 29A jar of sour wine was standing there, so they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. 30After Jesus had taken the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and released his spirit.

Jesus’ Side is Pierced

31Since it was the Preparation Day, the Jewish leadersn did not want to leave the bodies on the crosses during the Sabbath, because that was a particularly important Sabbath. So they asked Pilate to have the men’s legs broken and the bodieso removed. 32So the soldiers went and broke the legs of the first man and then of the other man who had been crucified with him. 33But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and blood and water immediately came out. 35The one who saw this has testified, and his testimony is true. He knows he is telling the truth so that you, too, may believe, 36because these things happened so that the Scripture might be fulfilled:

“None of his bones will be broken.”p

37In addition, another passage of Scripture says,

“They will look on the one whom they pierced.”q

Jesus is Buried

(Matthew 27:57-61; Mark 15:42-47; Luke 23:50-56)

38Later on, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus (though a secret one because he was afraid of the Jewish leaders),r asked Pilate to let him remove the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission, and he came and removed his body. 39Nicodemus, the man who had first come to Jesus at night, also arrived, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about 100 litra.s 40They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in linen cloths along with spices, according to the burial custom of the Jews. 41A garden was located in the place where he was crucified, and in that garden was a new tomb in which no one had yet been placed. 42Because it was the Jewish Preparation Day, and because the tomb was nearby, they put Jesus there.