19
The Soldiers Mock Jesus
1 So then Pilate took Jesus and flogged Him. 2 And the soldiers twisted a crown out of thorns and put it on His head, and they put a purple robe around Him. 3 And they kept saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they were striking Him with their hands.
4 Pilate then went out again, and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, so that you may know that I find no fault in Him.”
Jesus Sentenced to Death
5 Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, “Behold, the Man!”
6 Therefore, when the chief priests and the attendants saw Him, they cried out, saying, “Crucify, crucify Him!”
Pilate said to them, “You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him.”
7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God.”
8 Therefore, when Pilate heard this saying, he was even more afraid, 9 and he entered into the Praetorium again, and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.
10 Then Pilate said to Him, “Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have authority to crucify You, and I have authority to release You?”
11 Jesus answered, “You would have no authority at all against Me unless it had been given to you from above. Therefore the one who betrayed Me to you has a greater sin.”
12 From this point Pilate was seeking to release Him, but the Jews kept crying out, saying, “If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar's. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar.”
13 Therefore Pilate, having heard this saying, led Jesus outside and sat down on the judgment seat in a place that is called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. 14 Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”
15 But they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!”
Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?”
The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!”
16 Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus and led Him away.
The Crucifixion of Jesus
17 And bearing His cross, He went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, 18 where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on each side, and Jesus in the middle. 19 Now Pilate wrote a title and he put it on the cross. And it was written:
JESUS THE NAZARENE,
THE KING OF THE JEWS.
20 Then many of the Jews read this title, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Greek, and in Latin.
21 Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘He said, “I am the King of the Jews.” ’ ”
22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
23 Then the soldiers, when they crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was seamless, woven from the top in one piece. 24 Therefore they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but let us cast lots for it, whose it will be,” so that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says:
“They divided My garments among them,
and for My clothing they cast lots.”
Therefore the soldiers did these things.
25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 Therefore Jesus, seeing His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” 27 Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her into his own care.
It Is Finished
28 After this, Jesus, seeing that all things already had been fulfilled, so that the Scripture might be fulfilled, He said, “I thirst!” 29 Now a vessel was set full of sour wine; and they, having filled a sponge with sour wine, put it around a hyssop, they held it to His mouth. 30 Therefore when Jesus received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
Jesus' Side Is Pierced
31 Therefore the Jews, since it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and they might be taken away. 32 Then the soldiers came and they broke the legs of the first man, and of the other who was crucified with Him. 33 But having come to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. 35 And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he tells the truth, so that you may believe. 36 For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, “Not a bone of His shall be broken.” 37 And again another Scripture says, “They shall look at Him whom they pierced.”
The Burial of Jesus
38 After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away the body of Jesus. 39 And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. 40 Then they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen strips with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury. 41 Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been buried. 42 So there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews' Preparation Day, because the tomb was near.