John 19

Chapter 19

Pilate tries to let Jesus go free

1Then Pilate told the soldiers to take Jesus outside. He told them to hit Jesus many times with a whip.

2The soldiers used some branches with thorns to make a crown for Jesus. They put it on his head. Then they put a purple coat on him too. They did all this as if he was a king. #19:2 A crown and a purple coat were things that a king would wear. 3They came to him many times and they were saying to him, ‘Hello, king of the Jews, you are great!’ At the same time they hit his face with their hands.

4Pilate went outside once more. He said to the crowd, ‘Listen to me. I will bring Jesus out here to you. You should know this: I do not say that this man is guilty of anything wrong. I have no reason to punish him.’ 5Then Jesus came out. He was still wearing the crown of thorns on his head and the purple coat. Pilate said to them, ‘Look. Here is the man!’

6When the leaders of the priests and their officers saw Jesus, they shouted, ‘Kill him! Kill him on a cross!’

Pilate said to them, ‘Take him for yourselves and kill him on a cross. I can find no reason why I should punish him.’

7The Jews answered, ‘We have a law which says that he must die. He must die because he said, “I am the Son of God.” ’

8When Pilate heard that, he was even more afraid. 9He went back into the house. He asked Jesus, ‘Where are you really from?’ But Jesus did not answer him. 10Pilate said to him, ‘Are you refusing to speak to me? Remember that I have authority. I can let you go free, or I can let them kill you on a cross.’

11Jesus answered, ‘You could have no power against me unless God had given it to you. So the man who sold me to you has done a worse thing than you have done.’

12From that moment, Pilate tried to let Jesus go free. But the Jewish leaders shouted back, ‘If you let him go, you are not Caesar's friend. Nobody should say that he himself is a king. That shows that he is against Caesar!’ #19:12 Caesar was the most important Roman ruler. He lived in Rome, the capital city. In Jesus' time, the Romans ruled over many countries in the world.

13When Pilate heard those words, he brought Jesus outside. Pilate sat down on a special seat for the judge. The seat was in a place called ‘Gabbatha’ in the Jewish language. There were large flat stones there, which covered the ground. 14It was about noon on the day when they prepared the Passover meal.

Pilate said to the Jews, ‘Here is your king!’

15But they shouted, ‘Take him away! Take him away! Kill him on a cross!’

Pilate asked them, ‘Do you want me to kill your king on a cross?’

The leaders of the priests answered, ‘Caesar is the only ruler that we call king.’

16Then Pilate gave Jesus to them, so that they could kill him on a cross.

Soldiers fix Jesus to a cross

The soldiers took hold of Jesus. 17He was carrying the cross on which they would kill him. He went out to the place called ‘The Place of the Skull’. This place is called ‘Golgotha’ in the Jewish language. #19:17 Golgotha is the place where Jesus died. The word means Skull Hill. The place is also called Calvary.

18When they arrived there, the soldiers fixed Jesus to the cross. They put two other men on crosses near to him. They were on each side of him and Jesus was between them.

19Pilate wrote a notice. Then the soldiers put it on the cross. It said: ‘Jesus from Nazareth, the King of the Jews’. 20The place where they put Jesus on the cross was near to the city. So many of the Jews read this notice. They could read it because Pilate had written the words in three languages. He had written it in the Jewish language and in the languages of the Roman people and the Greek people.

21The leaders of the Jewish priests said to Pilate, ‘Do not write, “The King of the Jews”. Instead, write, “This man said that he is the king of the Jews.” ’

22Pilate answered, ‘I will not change what I have written.’

23After the soldiers had put Jesus on the cross, they took his clothes. They made them into four parts, one part for each soldier. They also took his long shirt, which was one single piece of cloth. 24So they said to each other, ‘We will not tear it. Instead, we will play a game with dice to decide who will have the shirt.’ This happened in the way that the Bible had already said:

‘Each of them took some of my clothes.

They played a game with dice to win what I was wearing.’

And that is what the soldiers did. #19:24 See Psalms 22:18.

Jesus tells John to take care of his mother

25Some women stood near to Jesus while he was on the cross. They were his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleopas, and Mary from Magdala. 26Jesus saw his mother there. He also saw the disciple that he loved. That disciple was standing there, near Jesus' mother. So Jesus said to his mother, ‘Woman, look! There is your son.’ 27Then he said to the disciple, ‘Look! There is your mother.’ From that time, the disciple took Jesus' mother to live in his own home.

Jesus dies

28After this, Jesus knew that everything was now finished. Then he said, ‘I am thirsty.’ He said this so that things would happen in the way the Bible already said. #19:28 See Psalms 22:15. God had already given his people a picture of how the Messiah would die. 29There was a pot full of bitter wine there. So someone put a piece of cloth into the wine. They fixed the cloth to the end of a branch of hyssop. Then they lifted the cloth up to Jesus' mouth. 30Jesus drank the wine. Then he said, ‘Everything is finished.’ He bent his head down and he let his spirit go.

A soldier pushes a spear into Jesus' side

31It was the day when the Jews prepare everything for their day of rest. The next day was the day for the Passover meal, so it was a very important day. The Jews did not want the men's bodies to stay on the crosses during that day of rest. So they asked Pilate to tell the soldiers to break the legs of those men. #19:31 If the soldiers broke the person's legs, he would die more quickly on the cross. Then they could take the dead bodies down from the crosses.

32So the soldiers went there. They broke the legs of the two men who were on the crosses next to Jesus. 33Then they went to Jesus. They saw that he was dead already. So they did not break his legs. 34But one of the soldiers pushed a spear into Jesus' side. Immediately, blood and water came out of his body. 35The man who saw these things has spoken about them. What he says is true. He knows that it really happened. He is telling you the truth so that you can believe. 36The Bible already said how it would happen. It says:

‘Nobody will break any of his bones.’ #19:36 See Psalms 34:20. Also see Numbers 9:12.

37In another place, the Bible says:

‘People will push a spear into that man's body,

and then they will look at him.’ #19:37 See Zechariah 12:10.

And that is how it really happened.

Joseph takes Jesus' dead body to bury it

38There was a man called Joseph who came from the town of Arimathea. He was one of Jesus' disciples, but he was afraid of the Jewish leaders. So he had not told people that he was a disciple of Jesus. Joseph went to Pilate and asked if he could take Jesus' dead body away. Pilate agreed. So Joseph went there and he took the body away.

39Nicodemus went with Joseph. He was the man who had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought about 33 kilograms of spices called myrrh and aloes. #19:39 Spices are oils or plants that have a lovely smell. The Jews used them to rub onto dead bodies. 40The two men covered Jesus' dead body with these spices. And they tied long pieces of linen cloth around it many times. That is how the Jewish people prepare a dead body before they bury it. 41There was a garden near the place where they had killed Jesus on the cross. In that garden there was a place where they could bury the bodies of dead people. It was a new hole in the rock, where nobody had ever put a dead body before. #19:41 At that time, people buried dead bodies in a hole in a rock, like a small cave. They closed the front of the hole with a big stone. 42The next day was the Jewish day of rest. So they put Jesus in that grave hole, because it was near.

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