Luke Chapter 23 *
Pilate Questions Jesus
Everyone in the council got up and led Jesus off
to Pilate. They started accusing him and said, "We caught this
man trying to get our people to riot and to stop paying taxes to the
Emperor. He also claims that he is the Messiah, our king."
Pilate asked Jesus, "Are you the king of the Jews?"
"Those are your words," Jesus answered. Pilate told the
chief priests and the crowd, "I don't find him guilty of
anything." But they all kept on saying, "He has been
teaching and causing trouble all over Judea. He started in Galilee
and has now come all the way here."
Jesus Is Brought before Herod
When Pilate heard this, he asked, "Is this
man from Galilee?" After Pilate learned that Jesus came from
the region ruled by Herod, he sent him to Herod, a who was in
Jerusalem at that time. For a long time Herod had wanted to see
Jesus and was very happy because he finally had this chance. He had
heard many things about Jesus and hoped to see him work a miracle.
Herod asked him a lot of questions, but Jesus did not answer. Then
the chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses stood up and
accused him of all kinds of bad things. Herod and his soldiers made
fun of Jesus and insulted him. They put a fine robe on him and sent
him back to Pilate. That same day Herod and Pilate became friends,
even though they had been enemies before this.
The Death Sentence
Pilate called together the chief priests, the
leaders, and the people. He told them, "You brought Jesus to me
and said he was a troublemaker. But I have questioned him here in
front of you, and I have not found him guilty of anything that you
say he has done. Herod didn't find him guilty either and sent him
back. This man doesn't deserve to be put to death! I will just have
him beaten with a whip and set free." But the whole crowd
shouted, "Kill Jesus! Give us Barabbas!" Now Barabbas was
in jail because he had started a riot in the city and had murdered
someone. Pilate wanted to set Jesus free, so he spoke again to the
crowds. But they kept shouting, "Nail him to a cross! Nail him
to a cross!" Pilate spoke to them a third time, "But what
crime has he done? I have not found him guilty of anything for which
he should be put to death. I will have him beaten with a whip and
set free." The people kept on shouting as loud as they could
for Jesus to be put to death. Finally, Pilate gave in. He freed the
man who was in jail for rioting and murder, because he was the one
the crowd wanted to be set free. Then Pilate handed Jesus over for
them to do what they wanted with him.
Jesus Is Nailed to a Cross
As Jesus was being led away, some soldiers grabbed
hold of a man from Cyrene named Simon. He was coming in from the
fields, but they put the cross on him and made him carry it behind
Jesus. A large crowd was following Jesus, and in the crowd a lot of
women were crying and weeping for him. Jesus turned to the women and
said: Women of Jerusalem, don't cry for me! Cry for yourselves and
for your children. Someday people will say, "Women who never
had children are really fortunate!" At that time everyone will
say to the mountains, "Fall on us!" They will say to the
hills, "Hide us!" If this can happen when the wood is
green, what do you think will happen when it is dry?
Two criminals were led out to be put to death with
Jesus. When the soldiers came to the place called "The
Skull," they nailed Jesus to a cross. They also nailed the two
criminals to crosses, one on each side of Jesus. Jesus said,
"Father, forgive these people! They don't know what they're
doing." While the crowd stood there watching Jesus, the
soldiers gambled for his clothes. The leaders insulted him by
saying, "He saved others. Now he should save himself, if he
really is God's chosen Messiah!" The soldiers made fun of Jesus
and brought him some wine. They said, "If you are the king of
the Jews, save yourself!" Above him was a sign that said,
"This is the King of the Jews." One of the criminals
hanging there also insulted Jesus by saying, "Aren't you the
Messiah? Save yourself and save us!" But the other criminal
told the first one off, "Don't you fear God? Aren't you getting
the same punishment as this man? We got what was coming to us, but
he didn't do anything wrong." Then he said to Jesus,
"Remember me when you come into power!" Jesus replied,
"I promise that today you will be with me in paradise."
The Death of Jesus
Around noon the sky turned dark and stayed that
way until the middle of the afternoon. The sun stopped shining, and
the curtain in the temple split down the middle. Jesus shouted,
"Father, I put myself in your hands!" Then he died. When
the Roman officer saw what had happened, he praised God and said,
"Jesus must really have been a good man!" A crowd had
gathered to see the terrible sight. Then after they had seen it,
they felt brokenhearted and went home. All of Jesus' close friends
and the women who had come with him from Galilee stood at a distance
and watched.
