Lu-ca 23

Jesus is brought to Pilate

¹Then the whole assembly got up and brought him before Pilate. ²They started to bring charges against him: “We have found this man leading our nation astray. He forbids paying taxes to Caesar, and he claims to be Christ, a king.” ³So Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” He answered him, “You say so.”^{a 4}Pilate told the chief priests and the crowds, “I find this man guilty of nothing.” ⁵But they pressed the charge harder: “He is stirring up the people with his teaching all over Judea. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.” ⁶When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was from Galilee. ⁷When he learned that he came under Herod’s authority, he sent him on to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time. ⁸Herod was delighted when he saw Jesus. He had wanted to see him for a long time because of what he had heard about him, and he hoped to watch him perform some sign. ⁹He put question after question to him, but Jesus gave him no answer at all. ¹⁰The chief priests and the scribes stood by, accusing him fiercely. ¹¹Herod and his soldiers treated him with scorn and made fun of him. Herod had him dressed in a bright robe and sent him back to Pilate. ¹²That same day Herod and Pilate became friends. Until then there had been hostility between them. ¹³Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people ¹⁴and said to them, “You brought this man before me on the charge that he was turning the people from their loyalty. I have questioned him in your presence, and I have found him guilty of none of the things you accuse him of. ¹⁵Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Plainly he has done nothing that deserves death.^{b 16}So I will have him flogged and then let him go.”^c

The crowd asks for Barabbas

¹⁸But the whole crowd shouted as one, “Take this man away! Set Barabbas free for us!” ¹⁹He had been put in prison for a riot that broke out in the city, and for murder. ²⁰Pilate spoke to them once more, because he wanted to set Jesus free. ²¹But they kept shouting back, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” ²²For the third time he said to them, “Why? What wrong has this man done? I have found no reason to put him to death. So I will have him flogged and then let him go.” ²³But they pressed their demand with loud shouts, calling for him to be crucified, and their shouting won the day.^{d 24}So Pilate ruled that what they asked for should be done. ²⁵He set free the man they asked for, the one who had been put in prison for revolt and murder. But Jesus he gave up to them to do as they wished.

On the way to the Skull

²⁶As they led him away, they took hold of a man named Simon from Cyrene, who was coming in from the countryside. They laid the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.

²⁷A large crowd of the people followed him, among them women who were mourning and wailing for him. ²⁸Jesus turned toward them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, it is not me you should be weeping over. Weep over yourselves and over your children. ²⁹Days are coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are the women who could not have children, the wombs that never gave birth and the breasts that never fed a baby.’ ³⁰Then they will start saying to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’ ³¹For if this is how they treat wood that is green, what will become of wood that is dry?”^{e 32}Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. ³³When they reached the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, with the criminals, one at his right hand and one at his left. ³⁴Jesus kept saying, “Father, forgive them. They do not know what they are doing.”^f They shared out his clothes among themselves by casting lots. ³⁵The people stood there looking on. The rulers joined in the scoffing. “He saved others,” they said. “So let him save himself, if this man is God’s Christ, the one God chose.” ³⁶The soldiers made fun of him as well. They came up and held out sour wine to him, ³⁷saying, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself!” ³⁸Above him there was also a written notice: “This is the king of the Jews.”^g

The two criminals

³⁹One of the criminals hanging beside him kept abusing him. “You are Christ, are you not? Then save yourself, and us too!” ⁴⁰But the other criminal rebuked him: “Have you no fear even of God, when you are under the same sentence of death? ⁴¹For us it is fair: we are paying the due price for what we did. But this man has done nothing amiss.” ⁴²Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom.”^{h 43}Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, this very day you will be with me in paradise.”ⁱ

Darkness at midday and Jesus’ last words

⁴⁴It was already about midday when darkness covered the whole land, and it lasted until three in the afternoon. ⁴⁵The light of the sun failed, and the curtain in the sanctuary was torn down the middle.^{jk 46}Then Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Father, I place my spirit in your hands.” With these words he breathed out his last breath.

⁴⁷The centurion saw what had taken place, and he gave glory to God, saying, “Truly this man was righteous.”^{l 48}All the crowds who had gathered to watch this spectacle saw what had happened, and they turned back home, striking their breasts. ⁴⁹Everyone who knew him stood far off. The women who had come with him from Galilee were standing there too, and they saw these things.

Joseph lays Jesus in a tomb

⁵⁰There was a man named Joseph who was a member of the council, a good and righteous man ⁵¹who had not given his consent to what the council planned and did. He came from Arimathea, a town of the Jews, and he was waiting for the kingdom of God. ⁵²He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. ⁵³He took the body down from the cross and wrapped it in a linen sheet. Then he laid him in a tomb cut out of the rock, where no one had ever been buried. ⁵⁴It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was drawing near. ⁵⁵The women who had come with him from Galilee went after Joseph. They saw the tomb and the way his body was laid there. ⁵⁶Then they went back and got spices and fragrant oils ready.

On the Sabbath they rested, as the commandment required.