Jesus Handed Over to Pilate
15 1 Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders and the scribes and the whole council, reached their decision. They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. 2 Pilate asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" "You say so," Jesus replied.
3 The chief priests kept accusing him of many things. 4 So Pilate questioned him again: "Have you no answer? See how many charges they bring against you."
5 But Jesus said nothing more, and Pilate was amazed.
6 Now at the festival, Pilate used to release one prisoner for them—whoever they asked for. 7 A man called Barabbas was in prison with the rebels who had committed murder during the uprising. 8 The crowd came up and began asking Pilate to do for them what he always did. 9 "Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?" Pilate answered, 10 for he knew it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed him over. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead. 12 "Then what do you want me to do with the man you call the King of the Jews?" Pilate asked them again.
13 "Crucify him!" they shouted back.
14 "Why? What evil has he done?" Pilate asked. But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!"
15 Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
The Soldiers Mock the King
16 The soldiers led him away into the palace (that is, the governor's headquarters) and called together the whole company of soldiers. 17 They dressed him in purple, twisted together a crown of thorns, and set it on him. 18 And they began to salute him: "Hail, King of the Jews!" 19 Again and again they struck his head with a staff, spat on him, and knelt down in mock homage to him. 20 When they had finished mocking him, they stripped off the purple and put his own clothes back on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.
The Son Is Crucified
21 A man named Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the countryside, and they forced him to carry the cross. 22 They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). 23 They offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.
24 And they crucified him. They divided his clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each would take. 25 It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. 26 The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS. 27 They crucified two rebels with him, one on his right and one on his left. 28 a a v28 This verse is not in the earliest manuscripts; later copies add: “And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, 'He was numbered with the transgressors.'”
29 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, "Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30 save yourself and come down from the cross!"
31 In the same way the chief priests and the scribes mocked him among themselves. "He saved others," they said, "but he cannot save himself! 32 Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe!" Even those crucified with him heaped insults on him.
The Father's Son Breathes His Last
33 At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34 And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My Father, my Father, why have you forsaken me?"
35 When some of those standing nearby heard this, they said, "Listen, he's calling Elijah."
36 One man ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a staff, and offered it to him to drink. "Leave him alone," he said. "Let's see if Elijah comes to take him down."
37 With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. 38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion standing there in front of Jesus saw how he breathed his last, he said, "Truly this man was the Son of our Father."
40 Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. 41 In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there.
Laid in the Tomb
42 It was now evening, and since it was the Day of Preparation (that is, the day before the Sabbath), 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the council who was himself waiting for the kingdom of our Father, went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him whether Jesus had been dead for some time. 45 When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he granted the body to Joseph. 46 So Joseph bought a linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and laid it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.