Luke 23–24

23Then the whole group got up and led Jesus off to Pilate. ²They began to bring charges against Jesus. They said, “We have found this man misleading our people. He is against paying taxes to Caesar. And he claims to be Christ, a king.”

³So Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

“Yes. It is just as you say,” Jesus replied.

⁴Then Pilate spoke to the chief priests and the crowd. He announced, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”

⁵But they kept it up. They said, “His teaching stirs up the people all over Judea. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.”

⁶When Pilate heard this, he asked if the man was from Galilee. ⁷He learned that Jesus was from Herod’s area of authority. So Pilate sent Jesus to Herod. At that time Herod was also in Jerusalem.

⁸When Herod saw Jesus, he was very pleased. He had been wanting to see Jesus for a long time. He had heard much about him. He hoped to see Jesus do a miracle.

⁹Herod asked him many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there. With loud shouts they brought charges against him.

¹¹Herod and his soldiers laughed at him and made fun of him. They dressed him in a beautiful robe. Then they sent him back to Pilate. ¹²That day Herod and Pilate became friends. Before this time they had been enemies.

¹³Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people. ¹⁴He said to them, “You brought me this man. You said he was turning the people against the authorities. I have questioned him in front of you. I have found no basis for your charges against him. ¹⁵Herod hasn’t either. So he sent Jesus back to us. As you can see, Jesus has done nothing that is worthy of death. ^16/17So I will just have him whipped and let him go.”

¹⁸With one voice the crowd cried out, “Kill this man! Give Barabbas to us!” ¹⁹Barabbas had been thrown into prison. He had taken part in a struggle in the city against the authorities. He had also committed murder.

²⁰Pilate wanted to let Jesus go. So he made an appeal to the crowd again. ²¹But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

²²Pilate spoke to them for the third time. “Why?” he asked. “What wrong has this man done? I have found no reason to have him put to death. So I will just have him whipped and let him go.”

²³But with loud shouts they kept calling for Jesus to be crucified. The people’s shouts won out.

²⁴So Pilate decided to give them what they wanted. ²⁵He set free the man they asked for. The man had been thrown in prison for murder and for fighting against the authorities. Pilate gave Jesus over to them so they could carry out their plans.

Jesus Is Nailed to a Cross

²⁶As they led Jesus away, they took hold of Simon. Simon was from Cyrene. He was on his way in from the country. They put a wooden cross on his shoulders. Then they made him carry it behind Jesus.

²⁷A large number of people followed Jesus. Some were women whose hearts were filled with sorrow. They cried loudly because of him.

²⁸Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not cry for me. Cry for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹The time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the women who can’t have children! Blessed are those who never gave birth or nursed babies!’ ³⁰It is written,

“ ‘The people will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”

They’ll say to the hills, “Cover us!” ’

³¹People do these things when trees are green. So what will happen when trees are dry?”

³²Two other men were also led out with Jesus to be killed. Both of them had broken the law. ³³The soldiers brought them to the place called The Skull. There they nailed Jesus to the cross. He hung between the two criminals. One was on his right and one was on his left.

³⁴Jesus said, “Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing.” The soldiers divided up his clothes by casting lots.

³⁵The people stood there watching. The rulers even made fun of Jesus. They said, “He saved others. Let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.”

³⁶The soldiers also came up and poked fun at him. They offered him wine vinegar. ³⁷They said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”

³⁸A written sign had been placed above him. It read, This Is the King of the Jews.

³⁹One of the criminals hanging there made fun of Jesus. He said, “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself! Save us!”

⁴⁰But the other criminal scolded him. “Don’t you have any respect for God?” he said. “Remember, you are under the same sentence of death. ⁴¹We are being punished fairly. We are getting just what our actions call for. But this man hasn’t done anything wrong.”

⁴²Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

⁴³Jesus answered him, “What I’m about to tell you is true. Today you will be with me in paradise.”

Jesus Dies

⁴⁴It was now about noon. The whole land was covered with darkness until three o’clock. ⁴⁵The sun had stopped shining. The temple curtain was torn in two. ⁴⁶Jesus called out in a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my very life.” After he said this, he took his last breath.

⁴⁷The Roman commander saw what had happened. He praised God and said, “Jesus was surely a man who did what was right.”

⁴⁸The people had gathered to watch that sight. When they saw what happened, they beat their chests and went away. ⁴⁹But all those who knew Jesus stood not very far away, watching those things. They included the women who had followed him from Galilee.

Jesus Is Buried

⁵⁰A man named Joseph was a member of the Jewish Council. He was a good and honest man. ⁵¹He had not agreed with what the leaders had decided and done. He was from Arimathea, a town in Judea. He was waiting for God’s kingdom.

⁵²Joseph went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. ⁵³He took it down and wrapped it in linen cloth. Then he put it in a tomb cut in the rock. No one had ever been buried there. ⁵⁴It was Preparation Day. The Sabbath was about to begin.

⁵⁵The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph. They saw the tomb and how Jesus’ body was placed in it. ⁵⁶Then they went home. There they prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath day in order to obey the Law.

Jesus Rises From the Dead

24It was very early in the morning on the first day of the week. The women took the spices they had prepared. Then they went to the tomb. ²They found the stone rolled away from it. ³When they entered the tomb, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴They were wondering about this.

Suddenly two men in clothes as bright as lightning stood beside them. ⁵The women were terrified. They bowed down with their faces to the ground.

Then the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? ⁶Jesus is not here! He has risen! Remember how he told you he would rise. It was while he was still with you in Galilee. ⁷He said, ‘The Son of Man must be handed over to sinful people. He must be nailed to a cross. On the third day he will rise from the dead.’ ”

⁸Then the women remembered Jesus’ words.

⁹They came back from the tomb. They told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. ¹⁰Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them were the ones who told the apostles. ¹¹But the apostles did not believe the women. Their words didn’t make any sense to them.

¹²But Peter got up and ran to the tomb. He bent over and saw the strips of linen lying by themselves. Then he went away, wondering what had happened.

On the Road to Emmaus

¹³That same day two of Jesus’ followers were going to a village called Emmaus. It was about seven miles from Jerusalem. ¹⁴They were talking with each other about everything that had happened.

¹⁵As they talked about those things, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them. ¹⁶But God kept them from recognizing him.

¹⁷Jesus asked them, “What are you talking about as you walk along?”

They stood still, and their faces were sad. ¹⁸One of them was named Cleopas. He said to Jesus, “You must be a visitor to Jerusalem. If you lived there, you would know the things that have happened there in the last few days.”

¹⁹“What things?” Jesus asked.

“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet. He was powerful in what he said and did in the eyes of God and all of the people. ²⁰The chief priests and our rulers handed Jesus over to be sentenced to death. They nailed him to a cross. ²¹But we had hoped that he was the one who was going to set Israel free. Also, it is the third day since all this happened.

²²“Some of our women amazed us too. Early this morning they went to the tomb. ²³But they didn’t find his body. So they came and told us what they had seen. They saw angels, who said Jesus was alive. ²⁴Then some of our friends went to the tomb. They saw it was empty, just as the women had said. They didn’t see Jesus’ body there.”

²⁵Jesus said to them, “How foolish you are! How long it takes you to believe all that the prophets said! ²⁶Didn’t the Christ have to suffer these things and then receive his glory?”

²⁷Jesus explained to them what was said about himself in all the Scriptures. He began with Moses and all the Prophets.

²⁸The two men approached the village where they were going. Jesus acted as if he were going farther. ²⁹But they tried hard to keep him from leaving. They said, “Stay with us. It is nearly evening. The day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.

³⁰He joined them at the table. Then he took bread and gave thanks. He broke it and began to give it to them. ³¹Their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. But then he disappeared from their sight.

³²They said to each other, “He talked with us on the road. He opened the Scriptures to us. Weren’t our hearts burning inside us during that time?”

³³They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them. They were all gathered together. ³⁴They were saying, “It’s true! The Lord has risen! He has appeared to Simon!”

³⁵Then the two of them told what…