Luke 23
Jesus Before Pilate and Herod (cont.)
The whole company of
them rose up and brought him before Pilate. They began to accuse him, saying,
"We found this man perverting the nation, forbidding paying taxes to
Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king."
Pilate asked him,
"Are you the King of the Jews?"
He answered him, "So you say."
Pilate said to the
chief priests and the multitudes, "I find no basis for a charge
against this man."
But they insisted,
saying, "He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea,
beginning from Galilee even to this place." But when Pilate heard Galilee
mentioned, he asked if the man was a Galilean. When he found out that he was in
Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem
during those days.
Now when Herod saw
Jesus, he was exceedingly glad, for he had wanted to see him for a long
time, because he had heard many things about him. He hoped to see some
miracle done by him. He
questioned him with many words, but he gave no answers. The chief priests and the
scribes stood, vehemently accusing him. Herod with his soldiers
humiliated him and mocked him. Dressing him in luxurious clothing, they
sent him back to Pilate. Herod and Pilate became friends
with each other that very day, for before that they were enemies with each
other.
Pilate called
together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, and said to them, "You
brought this man to me as one that perverts the people, and see, I have
examined him before you, and found no basis for a charge against this man
concerning those things of which you accuse him. Neither has Herod, for I sent
you to him, and see, nothing worthy of death has been done by him. I will therefore chastise him
and release him."
Now he had to release
one prisoner to them at the feast. But they all cried out together,
saying, "Away with this man! Release to us Barabbas!"--one who was thrown into prison
for a certain revolt in the city, and for murder.
Then Pilate spoke to
them again, wanting to release Jesus, but they shouted, saying,
"Crucify! Crucify him!"
He said to them the
third time, "Why? What evil has this man done? I have found no
capital crime in him. I will therefore chastise him and release him."
But they were urgent
with loud voices, asking that he might be crucified. Their voices and the
voices of the chief priests prevailed. Pilate decreed that what they
asked for should be done. He released him who had been
thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, but
he delivered Jesus up to their will.
The Crucifixion
When they led him
away, they grabbed one Simon of Cyrene, coming from the country, and laid
on him the cross, to carry it after Jesus. A great multitude of the people
followed him, including women who also mourned and lamented him. But Jesus, turning to them,
said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, don't weep for me, but
weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming
in which they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never
bore, and the breasts that never nursed.' Then they will begin to tell the
mountains, 'Fall on us!' and tell the hills, 'Cover us.' For if they do these things in
the green tree, what will be done in the dry?"
There were also
others, two criminals, led with him to be put to death. When they came to the place that
is called The Skull, they crucified him there with the criminals, one on
the right and the other on the left.
Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are
doing."
Dividing his garments among them, they cast lots. The people stood watching. The
rulers with them also scoffed at him, saying, "He saved others. Let
him save himself, if this is the Christ of God, his chosen one!"
The soldiers also
mocked him, coming to him and offering him vinegar, and saying, "If you are the
King of the Jews, save yourself!"
An inscription was
also written over him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: "THIS
IS THE KING OF THE JEWS."
One of the criminals
who was hanged insulted him, saying, "If you are the Christ, save
yourself and us!"
But the other
answered, and rebuking him said, "Don't you even fear God, seeing you
are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we
receive the due reward for our deeds, but this man has done nothing
wrong." He said to
Jesus, "Lord, remember me when you come into your Kingdom."
Jesus said to him,
"Assuredly I tell you, today you will be with me in
Paradise."
Jesus' Death
It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole
land until the ninth hour. The sun was darkened, and the
veil of the temple was torn in two. Jesus, crying with a loud voice,
said, "Father, into your hands I commit my
spirit!" Having said this, he breathed his last.
When the centurion
saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, "Certainly this was a
righteous man." All
the multitudes that came together to see this, when they saw the things
that were done, returned home beating their breasts. All his acquaintances, and the
women who followed with him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching
these things.
Jesus' Burial
Behold, a man named
Joseph, who was a member of the council, a good and righteous man (he had not consented to their
counsel and deed), from Arimathaea, a city of the Jews, who was also
waiting for the Kingdom of God: this man went to Pilate, and
asked for Jesus' body. He took it down, and wrapped it
in a linen cloth, and laid him in a tomb that was cut in stone, where no
one had ever been laid. It was the day of the
Preparation, and the Sabbath was drawing near. The women, who had come with him
out of Galilee, followed after, and saw the tomb, and how his body was
laid. They returned, and
prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the
commandment.
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