John 18–19

Jesus Is Arrested

18When Jesus finished praying, he went with his followers across the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was a garden, and Jesus and his followers went into it.

²Judas knew where this place was, because Jesus met there often with his followers. Judas was the one who turned against Jesus. ³So Judas came there with a group of soldiers and some guards from the leading priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns, and weapons.

⁴Knowing everything that would happen to him, Jesus went out and asked, “Who is it you are looking for?”

⁵They answered, “Jesus from Nazareth.”

“I am he,” Jesus said. (Judas, the one who turned against Jesus, was standing there with them.) ⁶When Jesus said, “I am he,” they moved back and fell to the ground.

⁷Jesus asked them again, “Who is it you are looking for?”

They said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”

⁸“I told you that I am he,” Jesus said. “So if you are looking for me, let the others go.” ⁹This happened so that the words Jesus said before would come true: “I have not lost any of the ones you gave me.”

¹⁰Simon Peter, who had a sword, pulled it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) ¹¹Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back. Shouldn’t I drink the cup ⁿ the Father gave me?”

Jesus Is Brought Before Annas

¹²Then the soldiers with their commander and the guards arrested Jesus. They tied him ¹³and led him first to Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. ¹⁴Caiaphas was the one who told the Jews that it would be better if one man died for all the people.

Peter Says He Doesn’t Know Jesus

¹⁵Simon Peter and another one of Jesus’ followers went along after Jesus. This follower knew the high priest, so he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard. ¹⁶But Peter waited outside near the door. The follower who knew the high priest came back outside, spoke to the girl at the door, and brought Peter inside. ¹⁷The girl at the door said to Peter, “Aren’t you also one of that man’s followers?”

Peter answered, “No, I am not!”

¹⁸It was cold, so the servants and guards had built a fire and were standing around it, warming themselves. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself.

The High Priest Questions Jesus

¹⁹The high priest asked Jesus questions about his followers and his teaching. ²⁰Jesus answered, “I have spoken openly to everyone. I have always taught in synagogues and in the Temple, where all the Jews come together. I never said anything in secret. ²¹So why do you question me? Ask the people who heard my teaching. They know what I said.”

²²When Jesus said this, one of the guards standing there hit him. The guard said, “Is that the way you answer the high priest?”

²³Jesus answered him, “If I said something wrong, then show what it was. But if what I said is true, why do you hit me?”

²⁴Then Annas sent Jesus, who was still tied, to Caiaphas the high priest.

Peter Says Again He Doesn’t Know Jesus

²⁵As Simon Peter was standing and warming himself, they said to him, “Aren’t you one of that man’s followers?”

Peter said it was not true; he said, “No, I am not.”

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

²⁷Again Peter said it wasn’t true. At once a rooster crowed.

Jesus Is Brought Before Pilate

²⁸Early in the morning they led Jesus from Caiaphas’s house to the Roman governor’s palace. They would not go inside the palace, because they did not want to make themselves unclean; ⁿ they wanted to eat the Passover meal. ²⁹So Pilate went outside to them and asked, “What charges do you bring against this man?”

³⁰They answered, “If he were not a criminal, we wouldn’t have brought him to you.”

³¹Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.”

“But we are not allowed to put anyone to death,” the Jews answered. ³²(This happened so that what Jesus said about how he would die would come true.)

³³Then Pilate went back inside the palace and called Jesus to him and asked, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

³⁴Jesus said, “Is that your own question, or did others tell you about me?”

³⁵Pilate answered, “I am not one of you. It was your own people and their leading priests who handed you over to me. What have you done wrong?”

³⁶Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If it belonged to this world, my servants would have fought to keep me from being given over to the Jewish leaders. But my kingdom is from another place.”

³⁷Pilate said, “So you are a king!”

Jesus answered, “You are the one saying I am a king. This is why I was born and came into the world: to tell people the truth. And everyone who belongs to the truth listens to me.”

³⁸Pilate said, “What is truth?” After he said this, he went out to the crowd again and said to them, “I find nothing against this man. ³⁹But it is your custom that I free one prisoner to you at Passover time. Do you want me to free the ‘king of the Jews’?”

⁴⁰They shouted back, “No, not him! Let Barabbas go free!” (Barabbas was a robber.)

19Then Pilate ordered that Jesus be taken away and whipped. ²The soldiers made a crown from some thorny branches and put it on Jesus’ head and put a purple robe around him. ³Then they came to him many times and said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and hit him in the face.

⁴Again Pilate came out and said to them, “Look, I am bringing Jesus out to you. I want you to know that I find nothing against him.” ⁵So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”

⁶When the leading priests and the guards saw Jesus, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

But Pilate answered, “Crucify him yourselves, because I find nothing against him.”

⁷The leaders answered, “We have a law that says he should die, because he said he is the Son of God.”

⁸When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid. ⁹He went back inside the palace and asked Jesus, “Where do you come from?” But Jesus did not answer him. ¹⁰Pilate said, “You refuse to speak to me? Don’t you know I have power to set you free and power to have you crucified?”

¹¹Jesus answered, “The only power you have over me is the power given to you by God. The man who turned me in to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

¹²After this, Pilate tried to let Jesus go. But some in the crowd cried out, “Anyone who makes himself king is against Caesar. If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar.”

¹³When Pilate heard what they were saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at the place called The Stone Pavement. (In the Hebrew language ⁿ the name is Gabbatha.) ¹⁴It was about noon on Preparation Day of Passover week. Pilate said to the crowd, “Here is your king!”

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

Pilate asked them, “Do you want me to crucify your king?”

The leading priests answered, “The only king we have is Caesar.”

¹⁶So Pilate handed Jesus over to them to be crucified.

Jesus Is Crucified

The soldiers took charge of Jesus. ¹⁷Carrying his own cross, Jesus went out to a place called The Place of the Skull, which in the Hebrew language ⁿ is called Golgotha. ¹⁸There they crucified Jesus. They also crucified two other men, one on each side, with Jesus in the middle. ¹⁹Pilate wrote a sign and put it on the cross. It read: jesus of nazareth, the king of the jews. ²⁰The sign was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. Many of the people read the sign, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. ²¹The leading priests said to Pilate, “Don’t write, ‘The King of the Jews.’ But write, ‘This man said, “I am the King of the Jews.” ’ ”

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

²³After the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, with each soldier getting one part. They also took his long shirt, which was all one piece of cloth, woven from top to bottom. ²⁴So the soldiers said to each other, “We should not tear this into parts. Let’s throw lots to see who will get it.” This happened so that this Scripture would come true:

“They divided my clothes among them,

and they threw lots for my clothing.”

So the soldiers did this.

²⁵Standing near his cross were Jesus’ mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶When Jesus saw his mother and the follower he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Dear woman, here is your son.” ²⁷Then he said to the follower, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, the follower took her to live in his home.

Jesus Dies

²⁸After this, Jesus knew that everything had been done. So that the Scripture would come true, he said, “I am thirsty.” ^{n 29}There was a jar full of vinegar there, so the soldiers soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a branch of a hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ mouth. ³⁰When Jesus tasted the vinegar, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and died.

³¹This day was Preparation Day, and the next day was a special Sabbath day. Since the religious leaders did not want the bodies to stay on the cross on the Sabbath day, they asked Pilate to order that the legs of the men be broken ⁿ and the bodies be taken away. ³²So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man on the cross beside Jesus. Then they broke the legs of the man on the other cross beside Jesus. ³³But when the soldiers came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. ³⁴But one of the soldiers stuck his spear into Jesus’ side, and at once blood and water came out. ³⁵(The one who saw this happen is the one who told us this, and whatever he says is true. And he knows that he tells the truth, and he tells it so that you might believe.) ³⁶These things happened to make the Scripture come true: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” ^{n 37}And another Scripture says, “They will…