Luke 23:1-32

Then the whole group stood up and led Jesus to Pilate. They began to accuse Jesus, saying, “We caught this man telling things that mislead our people. He says that we should not pay taxes to Caesar, and he calls himself the Christ, a king.” Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Those are your words.” Pilate said to the leading priests and the people, “I find nothing against this man.” They were insisting, saying, “But Jesus makes trouble with the people, teaching all around Judea. He began in Galilee, and now he is here.” Pilate heard this and asked if Jesus was from Galilee. Since Jesus was under Herod’s authority, Pilate sent Jesus to Herod, who was in Jerusalem at that time. When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, because he had heard about Jesus and had wanted to meet him for a long time. He was hoping to see Jesus work a miracle. Herod asked Jesus many questions, but Jesus said nothing. The leading priests and teachers of the law were standing there, strongly accusing Jesus. After Herod and his soldiers had made fun of Jesus, they dressed him in a kingly robe and sent him back to Pilate. In the past, Pilate and Herod had always been enemies, but on that day they became friends. Pilate called the people together with the leading priests and the rulers. He said to them, “You brought this man to me, saying he makes trouble among the people. But I have questioned him before you all, and I have not found him guilty of what you say. Also, Herod found nothing wrong with him; he sent him back to us. Look, he has done nothing for which he should die. So, after I punish him, I will let him go free.” [Every year at the Passover Feast, Pilate had to release one prisoner to the people.] But the people shouted together, “Take this man away! Let Barabbas go free!” (Barabbas was a man who was in prison for his part in a riot in the city and for murder.) Pilate wanted to let Jesus go free and told this to the crowd. But they shouted again, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” A third time Pilate said to them, “Why? What wrong has he done? I can find no reason to kill him. So I will have him punished and set him free.” But they continued to shout, demanding that Jesus be crucified. Their yelling became so loud that Pilate decided to give them what they wanted. He set free the man who was in jail for rioting and murder, and he handed Jesus over to them to do with him as they wished. As they led Jesus away, Simon, a man from Cyrene, was coming in from the fields. They forced him to carry Jesus’ cross and to walk behind him. A large crowd of people was following Jesus, including some women who were sad and crying for him. But Jesus turned and said to them, “Women of Jerusalem, don’t cry for me. Cry for yourselves and for your children. The time is coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are the women who cannot have children and who have no babies to nurse.’ Then people will say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ And they will say to the hills, ‘Cover us!’ If they act like this now when life is good, what will happen when bad times come?” There were also two criminals led out with Jesus to be put to death.