John 18–19

JESUS BETRAYED

18After^k Jesus had said these things, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron Valley, where there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it. ²Judas,^l who betrayed^m him, also knew the place, because Jesus often met there with his disciples. ³So Judas took a company of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Phariseesⁿ and came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.

⁴Then Jesus, knowing everything that was about to happen to him,^o went out and said to them, “Who is it that you’re seeking?”

⁵“Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered.

“I am he,”^p Jesus told them.

Judas, who betrayed him, was also standing with them. ⁶When Jesus told them, “I am he,” they stepped back and fell to the ground.

⁷Then he asked them again, “Who is it that you’re seeking?”

“Jesus of Nazareth,” they said.

⁸“I told you I am he,” Jesus replied. “So if you’re looking for me, let these men go.” ⁹This was to fulfill^q the words he had said: “I have not lost one of those you have given me.”^r

¹⁰Then Simon^s Peter,^t who had a sword,^u drew it, struck the high priest’s^v servant, and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)

¹¹At that, Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword away! Am I not to drink the cup^w the Father has given me?”

JESUS ARRESTED AND TAKEN TO ANNAS

¹²Then the company of soldiers, the commander, and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus and tied him up. ¹³First they led him to Annas,^x since he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas,^y who was high priest that year. ¹⁴Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it would be better for one man to die for the people.^z

PETER DENIES JESUS

¹⁵Simon Peter^aa was following Jesus, as was another disciple. That disciple was an acquaintance of the high priest; so he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard. ¹⁶But Peter remained standing outside by the door. So the other disciple, the one known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the girl who was the doorkeeper and brought Peter in.

¹⁷Then the servant girl who was the doorkeeper said to Peter, “You aren’t one of this man’s disciples too, are you?”

“I am not,” he said. ¹⁸Now the servants and the officials had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold. They were standing there warming themselves, and Peter was standing with them, warming himself.

JESUS BEFORE ANNAS

¹⁹The high priest^ab questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching.

²⁰“I have spoken openly to the world,” Jesus answered him. “I have always taught in the synagogue^ac and in the temple,^ad where all the Jews gather, and I haven’t spoken anything in secret. ²¹Why do you question me? Question those who heard what I told them. Look, they know what I said.”

²²When he had said these things, one of the officials standing by slapped Jesus, saying, “Is this the way you answer the high priest?”

²³“If I have spoken wrongly,” Jesus answered him, “give evidence^A about the wrong; but if rightly,^a why do you hit me?” ²⁴Then^b Annas^c sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

PETER DENIES JESUS TWICE MORE

²⁵Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They said to him, “You aren’t one of his disciples too, are you?”

He denied it and said, “I am not.”

²⁶One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said, “Didn’t I see you with him in the garden?”

²⁷Peter denied it again. Immediately a rooster crowed.^d

JESUS BEFORE PILATE

²⁸Then^e they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the governor’s headquarters.^f It was early morning. They did not enter the headquarters themselves; otherwise they would be defiled and unable to eat the Passover.

²⁹So Pilate^g came out to them and said, “What charge^h do you bring against this man?”

³⁰They answered him, “If this man weren’t a criminal,^A we wouldn’t have handed him over to you.”

³¹Pilate told them, “You take him and judge him according to your law.”

“It’s not legal for us to put anyone to death,” the Jews declared. ³²They said this so that Jesus’s words might be fulfilled indicating what kind of death he was going to die.ⁱ

³³Then Pilate went back into the headquarters, summoned Jesus, and said to him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”^j

³⁴Jesus answered, “Are you asking this on your own, or have others told you about me?”

³⁵“I’m not a Jew, am I?” Pilate replied. “Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?”

³⁶“My kingdom^k is not of this world,” said Jesus. “If my kingdom were of this world,^l my servants^m would fight, so that I wouldn’t be handed over to the Jews. But as it is,^B my kingdom is not from here.”ⁿ

³⁷“You are a king then?” Pilate asked.

“You say that I’m a king,” Jesus replied. “I was born for this, and I have come into the world^o for this: to testify^p to the truth.^q Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

³⁸“What is truth?” said Pilate.

JESUS OR BARABBAS

After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, “I find no grounds^r for charging him. ³⁹You^s have a custom that I release one prisoner to you at the Passover. So, do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?”

⁴⁰They shouted back, “Not this man, but Barabbas!”^t Now Barabbas was a revolutionary.^u

JESUS FLOGGED AND MOCKED

19Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. ²The soldiers also twisted together a crown^v of thorns, put it on his head, and clothed him in a purple robe. ³And they kept coming up to him^w and saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” and were slapping his face.

⁴Pilate went outside again and said to them, “Look, I’m bringing him out to you to let you know I find no grounds^x for charging him.” ⁵Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe.^y Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”^z

PILATE SENTENCES JESUS TO DEATH

⁶When the chief priests and the temple servants^D saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”

Pilate responded, “Take him and crucify him yourselves, since I find no grounds for charging him.”

⁷“We have a law,” the Jews replied to him, “and according to that law he ought to die,^aa because he made himself the Son of God.”^ab

⁸When Pilate heard this statement, he was more afraid than ever. ⁹He went back into the headquarters^ac and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus did not give him an answer.^{ad 10}So Pilate said to him, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Don’t you know that I have the authority to release you and the authority to crucify you?”

¹¹“You would have no authority over me at all,” Jesus answered him, “if it hadn’t been given you from above. This is why the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”^ae

¹²From that moment Pilate kept trying^A to release him. But the Jews shouted, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Anyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar!”

¹³When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside. He sat down on the judge’s seat in a place called the Stone Pavement (but in Aramaic, Gabbatha). ¹⁴It was the preparation day for the Passover, and it was about noon.^C Then he told the Jews, “Here is your king!”

¹⁵They shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”

Pilate said to them, “Should I crucify your king?”

“We have no king but Caesar!” the chief priests answered.

¹⁶Then he handed him over to be crucified.

THE CRUCIFIXION

Then they took Jesus away.^{D 17}Carrying^a the cross by himself,^b he went out to what is called Place of the Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. ¹⁸There they crucified him and two others with him, one on either side, with Jesus in the middle. ¹⁹Pilate also had a sign made and put on the cross. It said: Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. ²⁰Many of the Jews read this sign, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city,^c and it was written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek. ²¹So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Don’t write, ‘The king of the Jews,’^d but that he said, ‘I am the king of the Jews.’ ”

²²Pilate replied, “What I have written, I have written.”

²³When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, a part for each soldier. They also took the tunic, which was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. ²⁴So they said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it, to see who gets it.” This happened that the Scripture^e might be fulfilled^f that says: They divided my clothes among themselves, and they cast lots for my clothing.^Eg This is what the soldiers did.

JESUS’S PROVISION FOR HIS MOTHER

²⁵Standing^h by the crossⁱ of Jesus were his mother,^j his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.^{k 26}When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple he loved^l standing there, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” ²⁷Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

THE FINISHED WORK OF JESUS

²⁸After^m this, when Jesus knew that everything was now finishedⁿ that the Scripture might be fulfilled, he said, “I’m thirsty.”^{o 29}A jar full of sour wine was sitting there; so they fixed a sponge full of sour wine on a hyssop branch^p and held it up to his mouth.

³⁰When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished.”^q Then bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.^r

JESUS’S SIDE PIERCED

³¹Since it was the preparation day,^s the Jews did not want the bodies^t to remain on the cross^u on the Sabbath^v (for that Sabbath was a special^A day). They requested that Pilate have the men’s legs broken and that their bodies be taken away.^{w 32}So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man and of the other one who had been crucified with him. ³³When they came to Jesus, they did not break his legs since they saw that he was already dead.^{x 34}But one of the soldiers pierced^y his side^z with a spear, and at once blood and water^aa came out. ³⁵He who saw this has testified^ab so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows he is telling the truth.^{ac 36}For these things happened so…