19Then Pilate took Jesus and had him whipped. ²The soldiers twisted thorns together to make a crown. They put it on Jesus’ head. Then they put a purple robe on him. ³They went up to him again and again. They kept saying, “We honor you, king of the Jews!” And they hit him in the face.

⁴Once more Pilate came out. He said to the Jews, “Look, I am bringing Jesus out to you. I want to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.”

⁵Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Then Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”

⁶As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. I myself find no basis for a charge against him.”

⁷The Jews replied, “We have a law. That law says he must die. He claimed to be the Son of God.”

⁸When Pilate heard that, he was even more afraid. ⁹He went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus.

But Jesus did not answer him.

¹⁰“Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you understand? I have the power to set you free or to nail you to a cross.”

¹¹Jesus answered, “You were given power from heaven. If you weren’t, you would have no power over me. So the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

¹²From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free. But the Jews kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are not Caesar’s friend! Anyone who claims to be a king is against Caesar!”

¹³When Pilate heard that, he brought Jesus out. Pilate sat down on the judge’s seat. It was at a place called The Stone Walkway. In the Aramaic language it was called Gabbatha. ¹⁴It was about noon on Preparation Day in Passover Week.

“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.

¹⁵But they shouted, “Kill him! Kill him! Crucify him!”

“Should I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.

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

¹⁶Finally, Pilate handed Jesus over to them to be nailed to a cross.

Jesus Is Nailed to a Cross

So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. ¹⁷He had to carry his own cross. He went out to a place called The Skull. In the Aramaic language it was called Golgotha. ¹⁸There they nailed Jesus to the cross. Two other men were crucified with him. One was on each side of him. Jesus was in the middle.

¹⁹Pilate had a notice prepared. It was fastened to the cross. It read, Jesus of Nazareth, The King of the Jews. ²⁰Many of the Jews read the sign. The place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. The sign was written in the Aramaic, Latin and Greek languages.

²¹The chief priests of the Jews argued with Pilate. They said, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews.’ Write that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”

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

²³When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes. They divided them into four parts. Each soldier got one part. Jesus’ long, inner robe was left. It did not have any seams. It was made out of one piece of cloth from top to bottom.

²⁴“Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s cast lots to see who will get it.”

This happened so that Scripture would come true. It says,

“They divided up my clothes among them.

They cast lots for what I was wearing.”

So that is what the soldiers did.

²⁵Jesus’ mother stood near his cross. So did his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

²⁶Jesus saw his mother there. He also saw the disciple he loved standing nearby. Jesus said to his mother, “Dear woman, here is your son.” ²⁷He said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, the disciple took her into his home.

Jesus Dies

²⁸Later Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” He knew that everything was now finished. He knew that what Scripture said must come true. ²⁹A jar of wine vinegar was there. So they soaked a sponge in it. They put the sponge on a stem of the hyssop plant. Then they lifted it up to Jesus’ lips.

³⁰After Jesus drank he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and died.

³¹It was Preparation Day. The next day would be a special Sabbath. The Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath. So they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. ³²The soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus. Then they broke the legs of the other man.

³³But when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead. So they did not break his legs. ³⁴Instead, one of the soldiers stuck his spear into Jesus’ side. Right away, blood and water flowed out. ³⁵The man who saw it has given witness. And his witness is true. He knows that he tells the truth. He gives witness so that you also can believe.

³⁶These things happened in order that Scripture would come true. It says, “Not one of his bones will be broken.” ³⁷Scripture also says, “They will look to the one they have pierced.”

Jesus Is Buried

³⁸Later Joseph asked Pilate for Jesus’ body. Joseph was from the town of Arimathea. He was a follower of Jesus. But he followed Jesus secretly because he was afraid of the Jews. After Pilate gave him permission, Joseph came and took the body away.

³⁹Nicodemus went with Joseph. He was the man who had earlier visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought some mixed spices, about 75 pounds. ⁴⁰The two men took Jesus’ body. They wrapped it in strips of linen cloth, along with the spices. That was the way the Jews buried people’s bodies.

⁴¹At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden. A new tomb was there. No one had ever been put in it before. ⁴²That day was the Jewish Preparation Day, and the tomb was nearby. So they placed Jesus there.

The Tomb Is Empty

20Early on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb. It was still dark. She saw that the stone had been moved away from the entrance. ²So she ran to Simon Peter and another disciple, the one Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb! We don’t know where they have put him!”

³So Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. ⁴Both of them were running. The other disciple ran faster than Peter. He reached the tomb first. ⁵He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there. But he did not go in.

⁶Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived. He went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there. ⁷He also saw the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself. It was separate from the linen.

⁸The disciple who had reached the tomb first also went inside. He saw and believed. ⁹They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

¹⁰Then the disciples went back to their homes. ¹¹But Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she cried, she bent over to look into the tomb. ¹²She saw two angels dressed in white. They were seated where Jesus’ body had been. One of them was where Jesus’ head had been laid. The other sat where his feet had been placed.

¹³They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said. “I don’t know where they have put him.”

¹⁴Then she turned around and saw Jesus standing there. But she didn’t realize that it was Jesus.

¹⁵“Woman,” he said, “why are you crying? Who are you looking for?”

She thought he was the gardener. So she said, “Sir, did you carry him away? Tell me where you put him. Then I will go and get him.”

¹⁶Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him. Then she cried out in the Aramaic language, “Rabboni!” Rabboni means Teacher.

¹⁷Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me. I have not yet returned to the Father. Instead, go to those who believe in me. Tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ”

¹⁸Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news. She said, “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

Jesus Appears to His Disciples

¹⁹On the evening of that first day of the week, the disciples were together. They had locked the doors because they were afraid of the Jews.

Jesus came in and stood among them. He said, “May peace be with you!” ²⁰Then he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were very happy when they saw the Lord.

²¹Again Jesus said, “May peace be with you! The Father has sent me. So now I am sending you.” ²²He then breathed on them. He said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Jesus Appears to Thomas

²⁴Thomas was one of the Twelve. He was called Didymus. He was not with the other disciples when Jesus came. ²⁵So they told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “First I must see the nail marks in his hands. I must put my finger where the nails were. I must put my hand into his side. Only then will I believe what you say.”

²⁶A week later, Jesus’ disciples were in the house again. Thomas was with them. Even though the doors were locked, Jesus came in and stood among them.

He said, “May peace be with you!” ²⁷Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here. See my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

²⁸Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

²⁹Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen me but still have believed.”

³⁰Jesus did many other miraculous signs in front of his disciples. They are not written down in this book. ³¹But these are written down so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. If you believe this, you will have life because you belong to him.

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