New Testament · Gospels and Acts
Luke chapter 23
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Then the whole got up and brought him to .They started accusing him: “We found this man , telling people not to pay taxes to , and claiming to be —a king.”So Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “.”Pilate told the and the crowd, “I find nothing criminal about this man.”But they kept pressing harder: “He’s stirring up the people with his teaching all over . He started in and now he’s made his way here!”When Pilate heard “Galilee,” he asked whether the man was a Galilean.Once he confirmed that Jesus fell under ’s jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at the time.Herod was thrilled to see Jesus. He’d been wanting to meet him for a long time because he’d heard so much about him, and he was hoping to see him do some kind of .He peppered Jesus with questions, but Jesus didn’t give him a single answer.Meanwhile, the chief priests and the stood there making their accusations with intense hostility.Then Herod and his soldiers treated him with contempt, mocking him. They dressed him up in an and sent him back to Pilate.That very day, Herod and Pilate became friends—before that, they’d been enemies.Pilate then called together the chief priests, the leaders, and the people.He said to them, “You brought this man to me, claiming he was leading the people into . Look—I’ve examined him right in front of you and I haven’t found him guilty of any of your charges.And neither did Herod—he sent him back to us. Clearly, he’s done nothing that deserves death.So I’ll have him and then release him.”For it was necessary for him to release one prisoner to them at each .But the whole crowd shouted together, “Get rid of him! Release to us!”Barabbas had been thrown in prison for starting a in the city and for murder.Pilate called out to them again, wanting to release Jesus.But they kept screaming, “Execute him! !”For the third time, Pilate said to them, “Why? What crime has he committed? I’ve found no reason to execute him. So I’ll have him flogged and release him.”But they kept up the pressure with loud shouts, demanding that he be . And their voices won out.So Pilate gave his ruling—he granted their demand.He released the man who had been thrown in prison for violent uprising and murder—the one they’d asked for—and handed Jesus over to whatever they wanted to do with him.As they led him away, they grabbed a man named who was coming in from the countryside, and they forced him to carry the behind Jesus.A huge crowd followed him, including women who were and crying for him.Jesus turned to them and said, “, don’t cry for me. Cry for yourselves and for your children.Because a time is coming when people will say, ‘ the women who are childless—the wombs that never bore children and the breasts that never nursed!’Then they’ll start saying to the mountains, ‘!’ and to the hills, ‘Bury us!’Because if they do these things , what’s going to happen when it’s dry?”Two other men—both criminals—were also led out to be executed with him.When they arrived at the place called , they there, along with the criminals—one on his right, one on his left.Jesus said, “Father, —they don’t know what they’re doing.” And they divided up his clothes by for them.The people stood watching. The leaders sneered at him: “He others—let him rescue himself if he’s really , God’s chosen.”The soldiers also came up to mock him, offering him .They said, “If you’re the king of the Jews, rescue yourself!”There was also an above him: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.One of the criminals hanging there kept insulting him: “Aren’t you The One? Rescue yourself—and us while you’re at it!”But the other one shut him down: “Don’t you have any ? You’re getting the same sentence he is.We’re getting what we deserve for what we did, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.”Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you step into your .”Jesus told him, “—today you’ll be with me in .”By now it was about noon, and fell over the whole land until three in the afternoon.The sun stopped shining. And was .Jesus called out in a loud voice, “Father, !” And with that, he .When the saw what happened, he and said, “There’s no question—this man was innocent.”When all the people who had gathered to watch this saw what took place, they went home beating their chests in grief.But all those who knew him—including the women who had followed him from Galilee—stood at a distance, watching everything.Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the . He was a good and man.He had not agreed with the council’s decision or their actions. He was from , a Jewish town, and he was living in anticipation of .This man went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’s body.He took it down, wrapped it in , and placed it in a where no one had ever been laid before.It was , and the was about to begin.The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed along and saw the tomb and how his body was placed in it.Then they went home and prepared . But they rested on the Sabbath, .