John 18:28 – 19:16

John 18

Jesus Before Pilate

²⁸ Early in the morning, the Jews led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium. They did not enter the Praetorium themselves, so that they would not become ceremonially unclean. (They wanted to be able to eat the Passover meal.) ²⁹ So Pilate went out to them and said, “What charge do you bring against this man?”

³⁰ They answered him, “If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.”

³¹ Pilate told them, “Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law.”

The Jews said, “It’s not legal for us to put anyone to death.” ³² This happened so that the statement Jesus had spoken indicating what kind of death he was going to die would be fulfilled.

³³ Pilate went back into the Praetorium and summoned Jesus. He asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”

³⁴ Jesus answered, “Are you saying this on your own, or did others tell you about me?”

³⁵ Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?”

³⁶ Jesus replied, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight so that I would not be handed over to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from here.”

³⁷ “You are a king then?” Pilate asked.

Jesus answered, “I am, as you say, a king. For this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”

³⁸ “What is truth?” Pilate said to him.

After he said this, he went out again to the Jews and told them, “I find no basis for a charge against him. ³⁹ But you have a custom that I release one prisoner to you at the Passover. So do you want me to release the King of the Jews for you?”

⁴⁰ Then they shouted back, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” (Now Barabbas was a rebel.)

“Behold the Man!”

John 19

¹ Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. ² The soldiers also twisted together a crown of thorns and placed it on his head. Then they threw a purple robe around him. ³ They kept coming to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they kept hitting him in the face.

⁴ Pilate went outside again and said to them, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.”

⁵ So Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!”

⁶ When the chief priests and guards saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”

Pilate told them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no basis for a charge against him.”

⁷ The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”

⁸ When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. ⁹ He went back inside the palace again and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?”

But Jesus gave him no answer.

¹⁰ So Pilate asked him, “Are you not talking to me? Don’t you know that I have the authority to release you or to crucify you?”

¹¹ Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over me at all if it had not been given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”

¹² From then on Pilate tried to release Jesus. But the Jews shouted, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar! Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar!”

¹³ When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside. He sat down on the judge’s seat at a place called the Stone Pavement, or Gabbatha in Aramaic. ¹⁴ It was about the sixth hour ^[1] on the Preparation Day for the Passover. Pilate said to the Jews, “Here is your king!”

¹⁵ They shouted, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!”

Pilate said to them, “Should I crucify your king?”

“We have no king but Caesar!” the chief priests answered.

¹⁶ So then Pilate handed Jesus over to them to be crucified.

“They Crucified Him”

So they took Jesus away.