Luke 23–24

23Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate.^{u 2}And they began to accuse him, saying, “We have found this man subverting our nation.^v He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar^w and claims to be Messiah, a king.”^x

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

“You have said so,” Jesus replied.

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

⁵But they insisted, “He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee^z and has come all the way here.”

⁶On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean.^{a 7}When he learned that Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod,^b who was also in Jerusalem at that time.

⁸When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him.^c From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform a sign of some sort. ⁹He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer.^{d 10}The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him. ¹¹Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe,^e they sent him back to Pilate. ¹²That day Herod and Pilate became friends^f—before this they had been enemies.

¹³Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, ¹⁴and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him.^{g 15}Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. ¹⁶Therefore, I will punish him^h and then release him.” ^[17]a

¹⁸But the whole crowd shouted, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!”^{i 19}(Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)

²⁰Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. ²¹But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

²²For the third time he spoke to them: “Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him.”^j

²³But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. ²⁴So Pilate decided to grant their demand. ²⁵He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.

The Crucifixion of Jesus

23:33–43pp—Mt 27:33–44; Mk 15:22–32; Jn 19:17–24

²⁶As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene,^k who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.^{l 27}A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed^m for him. ²⁸Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children.^{n 29}For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’^{o 30}Then

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

and to the hills, “Cover us!” ’^bp

³¹For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”^q

³²Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed.^{r 33}When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. ³⁴Jesus said, “Father,^s forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”^ct And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.^u

³⁵The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him.^v They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”^w

³⁶The soldiers also came up and mocked him.^x They offered him wine vinegar^{y 37}and said, “If you are the king of the Jews,^z save yourself.”

³⁸There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews.^a

³⁹One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”^b

⁴⁰But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? ⁴¹We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”^c

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

⁴³Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”^e

The Death of Jesus

23:44–49pp—Mt 27:45–56; Mk 15:33–41; Jn 19:29–30

⁴⁴It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon,^{f 45}for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple^g was torn in two.^{h 46}Jesus called out with a loud voice,ⁱ “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”^ej When he had said this, he breathed his last.^k

⁴⁷The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God^l and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” ⁴⁸When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts^m and went away. ⁴⁹But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee,ⁿ stood at a distance,^o watching these things.

The Burial of Jesus

23:50–56pp—Mt 27:57–61; Mk 15:42–47; Jn 19:38–42

⁵⁰Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, ⁵¹who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea, and he himself was waiting for the kingdom of God.^{p 52}Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body. ⁵³Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. ⁵⁴It was Preparation Day,^q and the Sabbath was about to begin.

⁵⁵The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee^r followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. ⁵⁶Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes.^s But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.^t

Jesus Has Risen

24:1–10pp—Mt 28:1–8; Mk 16:1–8; Jn 20:1–8

24On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared^u and went to the tomb. ²They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.^{v 4}While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning^w stood beside them. ⁵In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? ⁶He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee:^{x 7}‘The Son of Man^y must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ”^{z 8}Then they remembered his words.^a

⁹When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. ¹⁰It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them^b who told this to the apostles.^{c 11}But they did not believe^d the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. ¹²Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves,^e and he went away,^f wondering to himself what had happened.

On the Road to Emmaus

¹³Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles^a from Jerusalem.^{g 14}They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. ¹⁵As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them;^{h 16}but they were kept from recognizing him.ⁱ

¹⁷He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”

They stood still, their faces downcast. ¹⁸One of them, named Cleopas,^j asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”

¹⁹“What things?” he asked.

“About Jesus of Nazareth,”^k they replied. “He was a prophet,^l powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. ²⁰The chief priests and our rulers^m handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; ²¹but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.ⁿ And what is more, it is the third day^o since all this took place. ²²In addition, some of our women amazed us.^p They went to the tomb early this morning ²³but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. ²⁴Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”^q

²⁵He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?”^{r 27}And beginning with Moses^s and all the Prophets,^t he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.^u

²⁸As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. ²⁹But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.

³⁰When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it^v and began to give it to them. ³¹Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him,^w and he disappeared from their sight. ³²They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us^x while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures^y to us?”

³³They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together ³⁴and saying, “It is true! The Lord^z has risen and has appeared to Simon.”^{a 35}Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.^b

Jesus Appears to the Disciples

³⁶While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”^c

³⁷They were startled…