|
Jesus before Pilate
1 Then the whole assembly rose
and led him off to Pilate. 2 And they began to accuse him,
saying, “We have found this man subverting our nation. He
opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Messiah,
a king.”
3 So Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the
Jews?” “You have said so,” Jesus replied.
4 Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the
crowd, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”
5 But they insisted, “He stirs up the people all over
Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come
all the way here.”
6 On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a
Galilean. 7 When he learned that Jesus was under Herod’s
jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in
Jerusalem at that time.
8 When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased,
because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From
what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform a
sign of some sort. 9 He plied him with many questions, but
Jesus gave him no answer. 10 The chief priests and the
teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing
him. 11 Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked
him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to
Pilate. 12 That day Herod and Pilate became friends—before
this they had been enemies.
13 Pilate called together the chief priests, the
rulers and the people, 14 and said to them, “You brought me
this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I
have examined him in your presence and have found no basis
for your charges against him. 15 Neither has Herod, for he
sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to
deserve death. 16 [17] Therefore, I will punish him and then
release him.”
18 With one voice they cried out, “Away with this man!
Release Barabbas to us!” 19 (Barabbas had been thrown into
prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)
20 Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them
again. 21 But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify
him!”
22 For the third time he spoke to them: “Why? What
crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds
for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished
and then release him.”
23 But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that
he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. 24 So Pilate
decided to grant their demand. 25 He released the man who
had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the
one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.
The Crucifixion of Jesus
26 As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon
from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put
the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27 A
large number of people followed him, including women who
mourned and wailed for him. 28 Jesus turned and said to
them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for
yourselves and for your children. 29 For the time will come
when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the
wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ 30
Then
“ ‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the
hills, “Cover us!” ’
31 For if people do these things when the tree is
green, what will happen when it is dry?”
32 Two other men, both criminals, were also led out
with him to be executed. 33 When they came to the place
called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the
criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus
said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they
are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even
sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save
himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”
36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They
offered him wine vinegar 37 and said, “If you are the king
of the Jews, save yourself.”
38 There was a written notice above him, which read:
this is the king of the jews.
39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults
at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”
40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear
God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We
are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds
deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come
into your kingdom.”
43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you
will be with me in paradise.”
The Death of Jesus
44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the
whole land until three in the afternoon, 45 for the sun
stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in
two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into
your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he
breathed his last.
47 The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised
God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” 48 When all
the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what
took place, they beat their breasts and went away. 49 But
all those who knew him, including the women who had followed
him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these
things.
The Burial of Jesus
50 Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the
Council, a good and upright man, 51 who had not consented to
their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea, and he himself was waiting for the kingdom of
God. 52 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body. 53 Then
he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in
a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been
laid. 54 It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about
to begin.
55 The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee
followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid
in it. 56 Then they went home and prepared spices and
perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the
commandment.
|
Cults 
Why Did God Permit Sin?
