John 19:28–42

Jesus Dies on the Cross—Matthew 27:45–56; Mark 15:33–41; Luke 23:44–49

²⁸After this, when Jesus knew that everything had now been finished, he said, “I’m thirsty.” He said this so that Scripture could finally be concluded. 

²⁹A jar filled with vinegar was there. So the soldiers put a sponge soaked in the vinegar on a hyssop stick and held it to his mouth. 

³⁰After Jesus had taken the vinegar, he said, “It is finished!” 

Then he bowed his head and died. 

³¹Since it was Friday and the next day was an especially important day of rest—a holy day, the Jews didn’t want the bodies to stay on the crosses. So they asked Pilate to have the men’s legs broken and their bodies removed. ³²The soldiers broke the legs of the first man and then of the other man who had been crucified with Jesus. 

³³When the soldiers came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they didn’t break his legs. ³⁴However, one of the soldiers stabbed Jesus’ side with his spear, and blood and water immediately came out. ³⁵The one who saw this is an eyewitness. What he says is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth so that you, too, will believe. 

³⁶This happened so that the Scripture would come true: “None of his bones will be broken.” ³⁷Another Scripture passage says, “They will look at the person whom they have stabbed.” 

Jesus Is Placed in a Tomb—Matthew 27:57–61; Mark 15:42–47; Luke 23:50–56

³⁸Later Joseph from the city of Arimathea asked Pilate to let him remove Jesus’ body. (Joseph was a disciple of Jesus but secretly because he was afraid of the Jews). Pilate gave him permission to remove Jesus’ body. So Joseph removed it. ³⁹Nicodemus, the one who had first come to Jesus at night, went with Joseph and brought 75 pounds of a myrrh and aloe mixture. 

⁴⁰These two men took the body of Jesus and bound it with strips of linen. They laced the strips with spices. This was the Jewish custom for burial. 

⁴¹A garden was located in the place where Jesus was crucified. In that garden was a new tomb in which no one had yet been placed. ⁴²Joseph and Nicodemus put Jesus in that tomb, since that day was the Jewish day of preparation and since the tomb was nearby.