Jesus Sentenced to Death

1Then Pilate had Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip. 2The soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they put a purple robe on him. 3“Hail! King of the Jews!” they mocked, as they slapped him across the face.

4Pilate went outside again and said to the people, “I am going to bring him out to you now, but understand clearly that I find him not guilty.” 5Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said, “Look, here is the man!”

6When they saw him, the leading priests and Temple guards began shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

“Take him yourselves and crucify him,” Pilate said. “I find him not guilty.”

7The Jewish leaders replied, “By our law he ought to die because he called himself the Son of God.”

8When Pilate heard this, he was more frightened than ever. 9He took Jesus back into the headquartersa again and asked him, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave no answer. 10“Why don’t you talk to me?” Pilate demanded. “Don’t you realize that I have the power to release you or crucify you?”

11Then Jesus said, “You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above. So the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”

12Then Pilate tried to release him, but the Jewish leaders shouted, “If you release this man, you are no ‘friend of Caesar.’b Anyone who declares himself a king is a rebel against Caesar.”

13When they said this, Pilate brought Jesus out to them again. Then Pilate sat down on the judgment seat on the platform that is called the Stone Pavement (in Hebrew, Gabbatha). 14It was now about noon on the day of preparation for the Passover. And Pilate said to the people,c “Look, here is your king!”

15“Away with him,” they yelled. “Away with him! Crucify him!”

“What? Crucify your king?” Pilate asked.

“We have no king but Caesar,” the leading priests shouted back.

16Then Pilate turned Jesus over to them to be crucified.

The Crucifixion

So they took Jesus away. 17Carrying the cross by himself, he went to the place called Place of the Skull (in Hebrew, Golgotha). 18There they nailed him to the cross. Two others were crucified with him, one on either side, with Jesus between them. 19And Pilate posted a sign on the cross that read, “Jesus of Nazareth,d the King of the Jews.” 20The place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, so that many people could read it.

21Then the leading priests objected and said to Pilate, “Change it from ‘The King of the Jews’ to ‘He said, I am King of the Jews.’”

22Pilate replied, “No, what I have written, I have written.”

23When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they divided his clothes among the four of them. They also took his robe, but it was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. 24So they said, “Rather than tearing it apart, let’s throw dicee for it.” This fulfilled the Scripture that says, “They divided my garments among themselves and threw dice for my clothing.”f So that is what they did.

25Standing near the cross were Jesus’ mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary (the wife of Clopas), and Mary Magdalene. 26When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, “Dear woman, here is your son.” 27And he said to this disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from then on this disciple took her into his home.

The Death of Jesus

28Jesus knew that his mission was now finished, and to fulfill Scripture he said, “I am thirsty.”g 29A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to his lips. 30When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

31It was the day of preparation, and the Jewish leaders didn’t want the bodies hanging there the next day, which was the Sabbath (and a very special Sabbath, because it was Passover week). So they asked Pilate to hasten their deaths by ordering that their legs be broken. Then their bodies could be taken down. 32So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the two men crucified with Jesus. 33But when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead, so they didn’t break his legs. 34One of the soldiers, however, pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out. 35(This report is from an eyewitness giving an accurate account. He speaks the truth so that you also may continue to believe.h) 36These things happened in fulfillment of the Scriptures that say, “Not one of his bones will be broken,”i 37and “They will look on the one they pierced.”j

The Burial of Jesus

38Afterward Joseph of Arimathea, who had been a secret disciple of Jesus (because he feared the Jewish leaders), asked Pilate for permission to take down Jesus’ body. When Pilate gave permission, Joseph came and took the body away. 39With him came Nicodemus, the man who had come to Jesus at night. He brought about seventy-five poundsk of perfumed ointment made from myrrh and aloes. 40Following Jewish burial custom, they wrapped Jesus’ body with the spices in long sheets of linen cloth. 41The place of crucifixion was near a garden, where there was a new tomb, never used before. 42And so, because it was the day of preparation for the Jewish Passoverl and since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.