Now when morning had come, all the chief priests and the elders of the people made plans how to have Jesus put to death. They bound him, led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate, the governor.
Judas Dies by Suicide
When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.”
But they said, “What is that to us? You take care of that yourself.”
So Judas threw the pieces of silver into the sanctuary and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.
The chief priests took the pieces of silver and said, “It’s not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is blood money.” They decided to buy the Potter’s Field with the money as a burial place for strangers. Therefore that field has been called “The Field of Blood” to this day. Then that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying,
“They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of the one whose price had been set, by the children of Israel, and they used them to buy the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”+Zech 11:12Pilate Before Jesus
Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”
Jesus said, “You have said so.”
When he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he gave no answer. Then Pilate said to him, “Don’t you hear how many charges they testify against you?”
He gave him no answer, not even one word, so the governor marveled greatly.
Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release one prisoner to the crow, whom they desired. At that time, they had a notable prisoner named Jesus Barabbas. So when the people had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do y’all want me to release to y’all? Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” For he knew that they had handed him over out of envy.
While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife a message to him: “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of him.”
Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Jesus Barabbas and to have Jesus put to death. But the governor answered them, “Which of the two do y’all want me to release to y’all?”
They said, “Barabbas!”
Pilate said to them, “What then shall I do to Jesus who is called Christ?”
They all said to him, “Crucify him!”
But the governor said, “Why? What evil has he done?”
But they cried out even louder, “Crucify him!”
So when Pilate saw that nothing was being gained, but that instead a disturbance was starting, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this righteous person. Y’all take care of it.”
All the people answered, “His blood shall be on us and on our children!”
Then he released Barabbas to them, but he had Jesus flogged and delivered to be crucified.
The Soldiers Mock Jesus
Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium, and gathered the whole garrison around him. They stripped him naked and put a scarlet robe on him. They twisted a crown of thorns and put it on his head. Then they a reed in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head repeatedly. After they had mocked him, they took the robe off him, and put his clothes on him, and led him away to crucify him.
The Crucifixion
As they were coming out, they found a man from Cyrene named Simon, and they forced him to carry his cross.
They came to a place called “Golgotha” (which means, “The place of a skull”). They gave him sour wine to drink mixed with gall, but after tasted it, he would not drink it. When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes among them by casting lots. Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. They set up over his head the charge against him which read, “THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
Then there were two robbers crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.
Those who passed by blasphemed him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who are going destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!”
In the same way the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders, also mocked him, saying, “He saved others, but he can’t save himself. He is the King of Israel! Let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God deliver him now, if ʜᴇ delights in him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” The robbers who were crucified with him also insulted him.
Now from noon until three there was darkness over all the land.+27:45 3:00 p.m. About the three in the afternoon Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” (which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”+Psa 22:1).
When some of the bystanders heard this, they said, “This man is calling for Elijah.”
Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with vinegar, put it on a reed, and offered it to him to drink. But the rest of them said, “Let him be. Let’s see whether Elijah comes to save him.”
Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and gave up his spirit.
Suddenly, the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom. The earth quaked and the rocks were split. The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. (After his resurrection, they came out of the tombs, went into the holy city, and appeared to many people.)
When the centurion and those who were with him watching Jesus saw the earthquake and the things that were done, they were terrified and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”
Many women who had followed Jesus from Galilee and cared for his needs were there, watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.
A Tomb for Jesus
When evening had come, a rich man from Arimathaea named Joseph, who had become a disciple of Jesus, came. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut out in the rock. Then he rolled a large stone in front of the entrance of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.
The Guard at the Tomb
The next day, which was the day after the Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said: ‘After three days I will rise again.’ So give an order that the tomb be made secure until the third day. Otherwise his disciples may come at night, steal his body, and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.’ And the last deception will be worse than the first.”
Pilate said to them, “Y’all take a guard, and y’all go make the tomb as secure as you can.” So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and leaving the guard.