CHAPTER 15
Early
in the morning,
the
chief priests,
elders,
scribes,
and
the
whole
Sanhedrin
devised
a plan.
They bound
Jesus,
led Him away,
and
handed Him over
to Pilate.
Then
Pilate
questioned
Him
again,
“Do You not answer?
Look
how many charges
they are bringing against
You!”
And
a man
named
Barabbas
was
imprisoned
with
the
rebels
who
had committed
murder
during
the
insurrection.
So
Pilate
asked
them
again,
“What
then
do you want
me to do
with the One
you call
the
King
of the
Jews?”
And
wishing
to
satisfy
the
crowd,
Pilate
released
Barabbas
to them.
But
he had Jesus
flogged,
and handed Him over
to
be crucified.
Then
the
soldiers
led Jesus away
into
the
palace
(that
is,
the Praetorium)
and
called
the
whole
company together.
They kept striking
His
head
with a staff
and
spitting on
Him.
And
they knelt down
and bowed
before Him.
After
they had mocked
Him,
they removed
the
purple robe
and
put
His
own
clothes back
on Him.
Then
they led Him out
to
crucify
Him.
Now
Simon
of Cyrene,
the
father
of Alexander
and
Rufus,
was passing by
on his way in
from
the country,
and
the soldiers forced him
to
carry
the
cross
of Jesus.
And
they crucified
Him.
They also divided
His
garments
by casting
lots
to decide
what
each of them
would take.
Those who
passed by
heaped abuse on
Him,
shaking
their
heads
and
saying,
“Aha!
You who are going to destroy
the
temple
and
rebuild it
in
three
days,
In the same way,
the
chief priests
and
scribes
mocked Him
among
themselves,
saying,
“He who saved
others
cannot even
save
Himself!
Let the
Christ,
the
King
of Israel,
descend
now
from
the
cross,
so that
we may see
and
believe!”
And even
those who
were crucified
with
Him
berated
Him.
At the
ninth
hour,
Jesus
cried out
in a loud voice,
“Eloi,
Eloi,
lema
sabachthani?”
which
means,
“My
God,
My
God,
why
have You forsaken
Me?”
And
someone
ran
and
filled
a sponge
with vinegar.
He put it on
a stick
and offered it to Jesus to drink.
“Wait!”
he said.
“Let us see
if
Elijah
comes
to take Him down.”
When
the
centurion
standing there
in front of
Jesus
saw
how
He had breathed His last,
he said,
“Truly
this
man
was
the Son
of God!”
And
there were
also
women
watching
from
a distance.
Among
them
were
Mary
Magdalene,
Mary
the
mother
of James
the
younger
and
of Joseph,
and
Salome.
These women
had followed
Jesus
and
ministered
to Him
while
He was
in
Galilee,
and there were
many
other
women who
had come up
to
Jerusalem
with Him.
Joseph
of
Arimathea,
a prominent
Council member
who
himself
was
waiting for
the
kingdom
of God,
boldly
went
to
Pilate
to ask for
the
body
of Jesus.
Pilate
was surprised to hear
that
Jesus was already dead,
so
he summoned
the
centurion
to ask
if
this was so.
Joseph bought
a linen cloth,
took down
the body of Jesus,
wrapped it in
the
cloth,
and
laid
it
in
a tomb
that
had been
cut
out of
the rock.
Then
he rolled
a stone
against
the
entrance
to the
tomb.