God Speaks
Very early in the morning the leading priests, the elders, and the teachers of religious law—the entire high council—met to discuss their next step. They bound Jesus, led him away, and took him to Pilate, the Roman governor.
2 Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
Jesus replied, “You have said it.”
3 Then the leading priests kept accusing him of many crimes, 4 and Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer them? What about all these charges they are bringing against you?” 5 But Jesus said nothing, much to Pilate’s surprise.
6 Now it was the governor’s custom each year during the Passover celebration to release one prisoner—anyone the people requested. 7 One of the prisoners at that time was Barabbas, a revolutionary who had committed murder in an uprising. 8 The crowd went to Pilate and asked him to release a prisoner as usual.
9 “Would you like me to release to you this ‘King of the Jews’?” Pilate asked. 10 (For he realized by now that the leading priests had arrested Jesus out of envy.) 11 But at this point the leading priests stirred up the crowd to demand the release of Barabbas instead of Jesus. 12 Pilate asked them, “Then what should I do with this man you call the king of the Jews?”
13 They shouted back, “Crucify him!”
14 “Why?” Pilate demanded. “What crime has he committed?”
But the mob roared even louder, “Crucify him!”
15 So to pacify the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified.
16 The soldiers took Jesus into the courtyard of the governor’s headquarters (called the Praetorium) and called out the entire regiment. 17 They dressed him in a purple robe, and they wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head. 18 Then they saluted him and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!” 19 And they struck him on the head with a reed stick, spit on him, and dropped to their knees in mock worship. 20 When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified.
21 A passerby named Simon, who was from Cyrene, was coming in from the countryside just then, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. (Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus.) 22 And they brought Jesus to a place called Golgotha (which means “Place of the Skull”). 23 They offered him wine drugged with myrrh, but he refused it.
24 Then the soldiers nailed him to the cross. They divided his clothes and threw dice to decide who would get each piece. 25 It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. 26 A sign announced the charge against him. It read, “The King of the Jews.” 27 Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.
29 The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. “Ha! Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. 30 Well then, save yourself and come down from the cross!”
31 The leading priests and teachers of religious law also mocked Jesus. “He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself! 32 Let this Messiah, this King of Israel, come down from the cross so we can see it and believe him!” Even the men who were crucified with Jesus ridiculed him.
33 At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. 34 Then at three o’clock Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
35 Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah. 36 One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on a reed stick so he could drink. “Wait!” he said. “Let’s see whether Elijah comes to take him down!”
37 Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last. 38 And the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.
39 When the Roman officer who stood facing him saw how he had died, he exclaimed, “This man truly was the Son of God!”
40 Some women were there, watching from a distance, including Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James the younger and of Joseph), and Salome. 41 They had been followers of Jesus and had cared for him while he was in Galilee. Many other women who had come with him to Jerusalem were also there.
42 This all happened on Friday, the day of preparation, the day before the Sabbath. As evening approached, 43 Joseph of Arimathea took a risk and went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. (Joseph was an honored member of the high council, and he was waiting for the Kingdom of God to come.) 44 Pilate couldn’t believe that Jesus was already dead, so he called for the Roman officer and asked if he had died yet. 45 The officer confirmed that Jesus was dead, so Pilate told Joseph he could have the body. 46 Joseph bought a long sheet of linen cloth. Then he took Jesus’ body down from the cross, wrapped it in the cloth, and laid it in a tomb that had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a stone in front of the entrance. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where Jesus’ body was laid.
Source: New Living Translation: BibleGateway.com
We Respond
Reflection: After the entire high council had rigorously questioned Him, they bound Jesus and delivered Him to Pilate. Although He could have come to His own defense, Jesus remained silent, to Pilate’s surprise. Pilate offered to crucify Barabbas and release Jesus, but the crowd insisted that Jesus be crucified! Listening to the mob, Pilate delivered Jesus to be flogged and crucified. First, the Roman soldiers flogged Him, then they mocked Jesus as king of the Jews with a purple robe, a crown of thorns, a reed staff and by kneeling down in fake homage. Because he stumbled and couldn’t carry it, the soldiers conscripted Simon of Cyrene carry the cross to the place of the crucifixion. Once they had nailed Him to the cross between two criminals, the crowd mocked Him, and the soldiers gambled for His robe. At the death of Jesus, the veil in the Temple was torn from top to bottom, and the centurion in charge exclaimed, “This man truly was the Son of God!”* Many women (including Mary Magdalene and Mary, His mother) had watched the crucifixion from a distance and had seen where Joseph of Arimathea buried Jesus in a tomb he owned.
*Mark 15:39 NLT
Prayer: Dear Lord God, thank You for loving us so much that You gave Your unique Son to die for our sins. Like Jesus before Pilate, may I always remember who I am (in Christ). May I (and other true believers) acknowledge that truth, and not be upset when false accusations are brought against me (them). Again, like Jesus, may I (they) continue to trust You when the crowd chooses a murdering insurrectionist over me (them). May I (they) hold up under mocking, torture, and humiliation. [Thank You, Jesus, for doing that for me (us).] Please show me (them) how I (they) can come alongside other people who are suffering as Simon of Cyrene did for Jesus. May many people around the world see that You, Jesus, are the Christ, the King of Israel (the King of all kingdoms and people groups). May they each believe that You endured the cross on their behalf and be saved. I declare, with the centurion at Your death, “Truly this man was the Son of God.” May I, like Joseph of Arimathea, keep looking for the kingdom of God, take courage, go to those in authority, and seek to care for the body of Christ (the visible and invisible church) however I can. For the glory of Your name, Jesus. AMEN
Action: (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, if He wants you to work on one of the suggestions below or something else more personal that He points out.)
- I will show my gratitude to Jesus for dying for my sins by living according to what He shows me today in His Word and through interactive prayer.
- I will tell someone who doesn’t yet believe in Jesus who He is and what He has done for them this week.
- I will stand up for someone who is being mocked, bullied, ostracized, or “cancelled” for their faith in Jesus or any other viewpoint on various issues.
- I will pray about it and then go to those in authority about any truly wrong doings I witness.
Share: I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________