Luke 23

Jesus before Pilate

Then the entire council took Jesus to Pilate, the Roman governor. ²They began to state their case: “This man has been leading our people astray by telling them not to pay their taxes to the Roman government and by claiming he is the Messiah, a king.” ³So Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus replied, “You have said it.” ⁴Pilate turned to the leading priests and to the crowd and said, “I find nothing wrong with this man!” ⁵Then they became insistent. “But he is causing riots by his teaching wherever he goes—all over Judea, from Galilee to Jerusalem!”

Jesus before Herod

⁶“Oh, is he a Galilean?” Pilate asked. ⁷When they said that he was, Pilate sent him to Herod Antipas, because Galilee was under Herod’s jurisdiction, and Herod happened to be in Jerusalem at the time. ⁸Herod was delighted at the opportunity to see Jesus, because he had heard about him and had been hoping for a long time to see him perform a miracle.

⁹He asked Jesus question after question, but Jesus refused to answer. ¹⁰Meanwhile, the leading priests and the teachers of religious law stood there shouting their accusations. ¹¹Then Herod and his soldiers began mocking and ridiculing Jesus. Finally, they put a royal robe on him and sent him back to Pilate.

¹²(Herod and Pilate, who had been enemies before, became friends that day.)

The crowd chooses Barabbas

¹³Then Pilate called together the leading priests and other religious leaders, along with the people, ¹⁴and he announced his verdict. “You brought this man to me, accusing him of leading a revolt. I have examined him thoroughly on this point in your presence and find him innocent. ¹⁵Herod came to the same conclusion and sent him back to us. Nothing this man has done calls for the death penalty.

¹⁶So I will have him flogged, and then I will release him.” ¹⁷Then a mighty roar rose from the crowd, and with one voice they shouted, “Kill him, and release Barabbas to us!” ¹⁸(Barabbas was in prison for taking part in an insurrection in Jerusalem against the government, and for murder.)

¹⁹Pilate argued with them, because he wanted to release Jesus. ²⁰But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” ²¹For the third time he demanded, “Why? What crime has he committed? I have found no reason to sentence him to death. So I will have him flogged, and then I will release him.” ²²But the mob shouted louder and louder, demanding that Jesus be crucified, and their voices prevailed.

²³So Pilate sentenced Jesus to die as they demanded. ²⁴As they had requested, he released Barabbas, the man in prison for insurrection and murder. But he turned Jesus over to them to do as they wished. ²⁵As they led Jesus away, a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, happened to be coming in from the countryside. The soldiers seized him and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.

Father, forgive them

²⁶A large crowd trailed behind, including many grief-stricken women. ²⁷But Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. ²⁸For the days are coming when they will say, ‘Fortunate indeed are the women who are childless, the wombs that have not borne a child and the breasts that have never nursed.’ ²⁹People will beg the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and plead with the hills, ‘Bury us.’a ³⁰For if these things are done when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”b ³¹Two others, both criminals, were led out to be executed with him.

³²When they came to a place called The Skull, they nailed him to the cross. And the criminals were also crucified—one on his right and one on his left.c ³³Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” And the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice. ³⁴The crowd watched and the leaders scoffed. “He saved others,” they said, “let him save himself if he is really God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”d ³⁵The soldiers mocked him, too, by offering him a drink of sour wine.e

³⁶They called out to him, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” ³⁷A sign was fastened above him with these words: “This is the King of the Jews.” ³⁸One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!” ³⁹But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die?f

⁴⁰We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” ⁴¹Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” ⁴²And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”g ⁴³By this time it was about noon, and darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock.h

Into your hands I commit my spirit

⁴⁴The light from the sun was gone. And suddenly, the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn down the middle.i ⁴⁵Then Jesus shouted, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” And with those words he breathed his last.j ⁴⁶When the Roman officer overseeing the execution saw what had happened, he worshiped God and said, “Surely this man was innocent.”k ⁴⁷And when all the crowd that came to see the crucifixion saw what had happened, they went home in deep sorrow.l

⁴⁸But Jesus’ friends, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching. ⁴⁹Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph. He was a member of the Jewish high council,

The burial of Jesus

⁵⁰but he had not agreed with the decision and actions of the other religious leaders. He was from the town of Arimathea in Judea, and he was waiting for the Kingdom of God to come. ⁵¹He went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. ⁵²Then he took the body down from the cross and wrapped it in a long sheet of linen cloth and laid it in a new tomb that had been carved out of rock.

⁵³This was done late on Friday afternoon, the day of preparation, as the Sabbath was about to begin. ⁵⁴As his body was taken away, the women from Galilee followed and saw the tomb where his body was placed. ⁵⁵Then they went home and prepared spices and ointments to anoint his body. But by the time they were finished the Sabbath had begun, so they rested as required by the law.