Matthew 27:11-54

¹¹Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor questioned Him, saying, “So You are the King of the Jews?” And Jesus said to him, “It is as you say.” ¹²And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He did not offer any answer. ¹³Then Pilate *said to Him, “Do You not hear how many things they are testifying against You?” ¹⁴And still He did not answer him in regard to even a single charge, so the governor was greatly amazed.

¹⁵Now at the Passover Feast the governor was accustomed to release for the people any one prisoner whom they wanted. ¹⁶And at that time they were holding a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. ¹⁷So when the people gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” ¹⁸For he knew that it was because of envy that they had handed Him over.

¹⁹And while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him a message, saying, “See that you have nothing to do with that righteous Man; for last night I suffered greatly in a dream because of Him.” ²⁰But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas, and to put Jesus to death. ²¹And the governor said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” ²²Pilate *said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all *said, “Crucify Him!” ²³But he said, “Why, what evil has He done?” Yet they kept shouting all the more, saying, “Crucify Him!”

²⁴Now when Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this Man’s blood; you yourselves shall see.” ²⁵And all the people replied, “His blood shall be on us and on our children!” ²⁶Then he released Barabbas for them; but after having Jesus flogged, he handed Him over to be crucified.

²⁷Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole Roman cohort to Him. ²⁸And they stripped Him and put a red cloak on Him. ²⁹And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and put a reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” ³⁰And they spit on Him, and took the reed and beat Him on the head. ³¹And after they had mocked Him, they took the cloak off Him and put His own garments back on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him.

³²As they were coming out, they found a man of Cyrene named Simon, whom they compelled to carry His cross.

³³And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means Place of a Skull, ³⁴they gave Him wine mixed with bile to drink; and after tasting it, He was unwilling to drink it.

³⁵And when they had crucified Him, they divided His garments among themselves by casting lots. ³⁶And sitting down, they began to keep watch over Him there. ³⁷And above His head they put up the charge against Him which read, “THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

³⁸At that time two rebels *were being crucified with Him, one on the right and one on the left. ³⁹And those passing by were speaking abusively to Him, shaking their heads, ⁴⁰and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” ⁴¹In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking Him and saying, ⁴²“He saved others; He cannot save Himself! He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him. ⁴³He has trusted in God; let God rescue Him now, if He takes pleasure in Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ” ⁴⁴And the rebels who had been crucified with Him were also insulting Him in the same way.

⁴⁵Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour. ⁴⁶And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabaktanei?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” ⁴⁷And some of those who were standing there, when they heard it, said, “This man is calling for Elijah.” ⁴⁸And immediately one of them ran, and taking a sponge, he filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink. ⁴⁹But the rest of them said, “Let us see if Elijah comes to save Him.” ⁵⁰And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and gave up His spirit. ⁵¹And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. ⁵²Also the tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; ⁵³and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection, they entered the holy city and appeared to many. ⁵⁴Now as for the centurion and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the other things that were happening, they became extremely frightened and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”