The Crown of Thorns

1So then Pilate took Jesus and had Him [a]scourged (flogged, whipped). 2And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and put a purple robe around Him; 3and they kept coming up to Him, saying [mockingly], “Hail, King of the Jews [Good health! Peace! Long life to you, King of the Jews]!” And they slapped Him in the face. 4Then Pilate came out again and said to them, “Look, I am bringing Him out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt in Him [no crime, no cause for an accusation].” 5So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and Pilate said to them, “Look! The Man!” 6When the chief priests and officers saw Him, they shouted, “Crucify [Him]! Crucify [Him]!” Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves and crucify Him, for I find no guilt in Him [no crime, no cause for an accusation].” 7The Jews answered him, “We have a law [regarding blasphemy], and according to that law He should die, because He made Himself out to be the Son of God.”

8So when Pilate heard this said, he was [even] more [b]alarmed and afraid. 9He went into the Praetorium again and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus did not answer him. 10So Pilate said to Him, “You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?” 11Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me at all if it had not been given to you from above. For this reason the sin and guilt of the [c]one who handed Me over to you is greater [than your own].” 12As a result of this, Pilate kept making efforts to release Him, but the Jews kept screaming, “[d]If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar! Anyone who makes himself out [to be] a king opposes Caesar [and rebels against the emperor]!”

13When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called [e]The Pavement, but in [f]Hebrew, Gabbatha. 14Now it was the day of Preparation for the [g]Passover [week], and it was about the sixth hour (noon). He said to the Jews, “Look, your King!” 15But they shouted, “Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!”

The Crucifixion

16Then he handed Him over to them to be crucified.

17So they took Jesus, and He went out, [h]bearing His own cross, to the place called [i]the Place of the Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha. 18There they crucified Him, and with Him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. 19Pilate also wrote an inscription [on a placard] and put it on the cross. And it was written: “JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” 20And many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. 21Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews’; but, ‘He said, “I am King of the Jews.”’” 22Pilate replied, “What I have written I have written [and it remains written].”

23Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His outer clothes and made four parts, a part for each soldier, and also the tunic. But the [j]tunic was seamless, woven [in one piece] from the top throughout. 24So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it will be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture, “THEY DIVIDED MY OUTER CLOTHING AMONG THEM, AND FOR MY CLOTHING THEY CAST LOTS.” 25So the soldiers did these things.

But standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, His mother’s sister [[k]Salome], [l]Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26So Jesus, seeing His mother, and the [m]disciple whom He loved (esteemed) standing near, said to His mother, “[Dear] woman, look, [here is] your son!” 27Then He said to the disciple (John), “Look! [here is] your mother [protect and provide for her]!” From that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

28After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said in fulfillment of the Scripture, “I am thirsty.” 29A jar full of [n]sour wine was placed there; so they put a sponge soaked in the sour wine on [a branch of] hyssop and held it to His mouth. 30When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and [voluntarily] [o]gave up His spirit.

Care of the Body of Jesus

31Since it was the day of Preparation [for the Sabbath], in order to prevent the bodies from hanging on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high holy day) the Jews asked Pilate to have their legs [p]broken [to hasten death] and the bodies taken away. 32So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man, and of the other who had been crucified with Him. 33But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. 34But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came [flowing] out. 35And he (John, the eyewitness) who has seen it has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also [who read this] may believe. 36For these things took place to fulfill the Scripture, “NOT A BONE OF HIS SHALL BE BROKEN.” 37And again another Scripture says, “THEY SHALL LOOK AT HIM WHOM THEY HAVE PIERCED.”

38And after this, Joseph of Arimathea--a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews--asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away His body. 39Nicodemus, who had first come to Him at night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, [weighing] about a hundred [Roman] [q]pounds. 40So they took Jesus’ body and bound it in linen wrappings with the fragrant spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 41Now there was a garden at the place where He was crucified, and in the garden a new tomb [cut out of solid rock] in which no one had yet been laid. 42Therefore, because of the Jewish day of Preparation, and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

[a] 1 Because Pilate viewed Jesus as innocent, he may have ordered the beating expecting that the Jews would consider it adequate punishment and consent to Jesus’ release. Scourging was a horrific, brutal form of punishment. The glass and metal of the whip tore the body apart, exposing the vital organs. Men frequently died of the scourging.
[b] 8 As a Roman pagan, Pilate would have been superstitious and may have feared that Jesus actually had some sort of magical or divine power.
[c] 11 This may refer to Judas Iscariot, but Caiaphas may be the more likely one since he was directly responsible for Jesus’ going before Pilate.
[d] 12 This put political pressure on Pilate. The Jews indicated if Pilate released Jesus they would inform Rome and Pilate’s career would be in jeopardy.
[e] 13 Gr The Lithostrotos, i.e. the Mosaic Pavement, the Stone Platform.
[f] 13 I.e. Jewish Aramaic.
[g] 14 See note 18:28.
[h] 17 The vertical post remained permanently in the ground. Jesus carried the cross beam.
[i] 17 Latin: Calvarius or Calvary; Aram: Golgotha; Greek: Kranion.
[j] 23 Gr khiton, the long shirtlike undergarment worn next to the skin.
[k] 25 The mother of the apostles John and James, the sons of Zebedee.
[l] 25 The mother of James the Younger (also called James the Less). Believed to be a sister or sister-in-law of Jesus’ mother.
[m] 26 John, the Apostle and author of this Gospel was Jesus’ cousin.
[n] 29 This sour wine was not to dull the senses, but to provide minimal relief to the victim. The wine mixed with gall (myrrh) that Jesus earlier had refused to drink (Matt 27:34; Mark 15:23) had narcotic qualities to deaden the pain.
[o] 30 This wording implies that Jesus voluntarily and sovereignly released His spirit from His body in submission to God’s plan.
[p] 31 After the legs were broken with a heavy blow, the condemned prisoner could no longer push upwards to assist his own breathing and would soon suffocate due to the awkward position that was forced on him by crucifixion. At the same time, breaking the legs was more painful than a quicker end with the point of a spear.
[q] 39 Lit litras, equal to 12 oz each.