Luke 23–24

Jesus Before Pilate

23^cThen the whole company of them arose and brought him before Pilate. ²And they began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man ^dmisleading our nation and ^eforbidding us to give tribute to ^fCaesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, ^ga king.” ^3hAnd Pilate asked him, ⁱ“Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, ^j“You have said so.” ⁴Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, ^k“I find no guilt in this man.” ⁵But they were urgent, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, ^lfrom Galilee even to this place.”

Jesus Before Herod

⁶When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. ⁷And when he learned that he belonged to ^mHerod’s jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time. ⁸When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, ⁿfor he had long desired to see him, ^obecause he had heard about him, and he was hoping ^pto see some sign done by him. ⁹So he questioned him at some length, but he made no answer. ¹⁰The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. ¹¹And Herod with his soldiers ^qtreated him with contempt and ^rmocked him. Then, ^sarraying him in splendid clothing, he sent him back to Pilate. ¹²And ^tHerod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before this they had been at enmity with each other.

¹³Pilate then called together the chief priests and ^uthe rulers and the people, ¹⁴and said to them, “You brought me this man ^vas one who was misleading the people. And ^wafter examining him before you, behold, I ^xdid not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him. ¹⁵Neither did Herod, for ^yhe sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him. ^16zI will therefore punish and release him.”¹

Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified

^18aBut they all cried out together, ^b“Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas”— ¹⁹a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city and ^cfor murder. ²⁰Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus, ²¹but they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!” ²²A third time he said to them, “Why? ^dWhat evil has he done? ^eI have found in him no guilt deserving death. ^fI will therefore punish and release him.” ²³But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. And their voices prevailed. ²⁴So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted. ²⁵He released the man who had been thrown into prison ^gfor insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, ^hbut he delivered Jesus over to their will.

The Crucifixion

²⁶ⁱAnd as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. ²⁷And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were ^jmourning and lamenting for him. ²⁸But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹For behold, ^kthe days are coming when they will say, ^l‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ ^30mThen they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ ³¹For ⁿif they do these things when ^othe wood is green, what will happen ^owhen it is dry?”

^32pTwo others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. ^33qAnd when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, ^pone on his right and one on his left. ³⁴And Jesus said, “Father, ^rforgive them, ^sfor they know not what they do.”² And they cast lots ^tto divide his garments. ³⁵And ^uthe people stood by, watching, ^vbut ^wthe rulers ^xscoffed at him, saying, ^y“He saved others; ^zlet him save himself, ^aif he is ^bthe Christ of God, ^chis Chosen One!” ³⁶The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and ^doffering him sour wine ³⁷and saying, ^e“If you are ^fthe King of the Jews, save yourself!” ^38gThere was also an inscription over him,³ “This is ^fthe King of the Jews.”

^39hOne of the criminals who were hanged ⁱrailed at him,⁴ saying, “Are you not ^jthe Christ? Save yourself and us!” ⁴⁰But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? ⁴¹And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴²And he said, “Jesus, remember me ^kwhen you come into your kingdom.” ⁴³And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in ^lparadise.”

The Death of Jesus

^44mIt was now about the sixth hour,⁵ and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour,^{6 45}while the sun’s light failed. And ⁿthe curtain of the temple was torn in two. ⁴⁶Then Jesus, ^ocalling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, ^pinto your hands I ^qcommit my spirit!” And having said this ^rhe breathed his last. ⁴⁷Now ^swhen the centurion saw what had taken place, ^the praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!” ⁴⁸And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home ^ubeating their breasts. ⁴⁹And all ^vhis acquaintances and ^wthe women who had followed him from Galilee ^xstood at a distance watching these things.

Jesus Is Buried

^50yNow there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, ⁵¹who had not consented to their decision and action; and he ^zwas looking for the kingdom of God. ⁵²This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. ⁵³Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and ^alaid him in a tomb cut in stone, ^bwhere no one had ever yet been laid. ⁵⁴It was the day of ^cPreparation, and the Sabbath was beginning.^{7 55d}The women ^ewho had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. ⁵⁶Then they returned and ^fprepared spices and ointments.

On the Sabbath they rested ^gaccording to the commandment.

The Resurrection

24^hBut on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, ⁱtaking the spices they had prepared. ²And they found ^jthe stone rolled away from the tomb, ³but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴While they were perplexed about this, behold, ^ktwo ^lmen stood by them in dazzling apparel. ⁵And as they were ^mfrightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? ⁶He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, ⁿwhile he was still in Galilee, ⁷ⁿthat the Son of Man ^omust be delivered into the hands of sinful men and ^pbe crucified and on ^qthe third day rise.” ⁸And ^rthey remembered his words, ⁹and returning from the tomb they ^stold all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. ¹⁰Now it was ^tMary Magdalene and ^uJoanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, ¹¹but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and ^vthey did not believe them. ¹²But ^wPeter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw ^xthe linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.

On the Road to Emmaus

¹³That very day ^ytwo of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles¹ from Jerusalem, ¹⁴and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. ¹⁵While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. ^16zBut their eyes were kept from recognizing him. ¹⁷And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. ¹⁸Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” ¹⁹And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was ^aa prophet ^bmighty in deed and word before God and all the people, ²⁰and ^chow our chief priests and ^drulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. ²¹But we had hoped that he was ^ethe one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now ^fthe third day since these things happened. ²²Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. ^gThey were at the tomb early in the morning, ²³and ^hwhen they did not find his body, they came back saying that ⁱthey had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. ^24jSome of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” ²⁵And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ^26kWas it not necessary that ^lthe Christ should suffer these things and enter into ^mhis glory?” ²⁷And ⁿbeginning with ^oMoses and ^pall the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

²⁸So they drew near to the village to which they were going. ^qHe acted as if he were going farther, ²⁹but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and ^rthe day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. ³⁰When he was at table with them, he took the bread and ^sblessed and broke it and gave it to them. ^31tAnd their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And ^uhe vanished from their sight. ³²They said to each other, ^v“Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he ^wopened to us the Scriptures?” ³³And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they ^xfound the eleven and ^ythose who were with them gathered together, ³⁴saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and ^zhas appeared to Simon!” ³⁵Then they told what had happened on the road, and ^ahow he was known to them in ^bthe breaking of the bread.

Jesus Appears to His Disciples

³⁶As they were talking about these things, ^cJesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” ³⁷But…