John 18:28–19:16

Jesus Before Pilate

^28qThen they led Jesus ^rfrom the house of Caiaphas to ^sthe governor’s headquarters.⁶ It was early morning. They themselves did not enter the governor’s headquarters, ^tso that they would not be defiled, ^ubut could eat the Passover. ^29vSo Pilate went outside to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?” ³⁰They answered him, “If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.” ³¹Pilate said to them, ^w“Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” The Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.” ^32xThis was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken ^yto show by what kind of death he was going to die.

My Kingdom Is Not of This World

^33zSo Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, ^a“Are you the King of the Jews?” ³⁴Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” ³⁵Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” ³⁶Jesus answered, ^b“My kingdom ^cis not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, ^dmy servants would have been fighting, that ^eI might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” ³⁷Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, ^f“You say that I am a king. ^gFor this purpose I was born and for this purpose ^hI have come into the world—ⁱto bear witness to the truth. ^jEveryone who is ^kof the truth ^llistens to my voice.” ³⁸Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”

After he had said this, ^mhe went back outside to the Jews and told them, ⁿ“I find no guilt in him. ^39oBut you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” ⁴⁰They cried out again, ^p“Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber.⁷

Jesus Delivered to Be Crucified

19Then Pilate took Jesus and ^qflogged him. ^2rAnd the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. ³They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. ⁴Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that ^sI find no guilt in him.” ⁵So Jesus came out, wearing ^tthe crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, ^u“Behold the man!” ⁶When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, ^v“Take him yourselves and crucify him, for ^wI find no guilt in him.” ⁷The Jews¹ answered him, “We have a law, and ^xaccording to that law he ought to die because ^yhe has made himself the Son of God.” ⁸When Pilate heard this statement, ^zhe was even more afraid. ^9aHe entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, ^b“Where are you from?” But ^cJesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” ¹¹Jesus answered him, ^d“You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore ^ehe who delivered me over to you ^fhas the greater sin.”

¹²From then on ^gPilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. ^hEveryone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” ¹³So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on ⁱthe judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic² Gabbatha. ¹⁴Now it was ^jthe day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour.³ He said to the Jews, ^k“Behold your King!” ¹⁵They cried out, ^l“Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” ^16mSo he ⁿdelivered him over to them to be crucified.

The Crucifixion

So they took Jesus,