Jesus Is Brought Before Pilate^(A)

²⁸ Early in the morning they [^Cthe Jewish leaders] led Jesus from Caiaphas’s house to the ·Roman governor’s palace [or governor’s headquarters; ^LPraetorium]. They would not go inside the ·palace [^LPraetorium], because they did not want to make themselves ·unclean [^Caccording to early Jewish sources a Jew who entered the house of a Gentile would become ritually unclean]; they wanted to eat the Passover meal. ²⁹ So Pilate [^CPontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea from ad 26 to 37] went outside to them and asked, “What ·charges [accusation] do you bring against this man?”

³⁰ They answered, “If he were not a ·criminal [^Levildoer], we wouldn’t have brought him to you.”

³¹ Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.”

“But ·we are not allowed [it is not legal for us] to put anyone to death,” the Jews answered. [^CThe Jewish people had to concede the authority for capital punishment to their Roman occupiers.] ³² (This happened so that what Jesus said about how he would die [^Cby crucifixion rather than stoning] would ·come true [^Lbe fulfilled; see 12:32–33].)

³³ Then Pilate went back inside the ·palace [headquarters; ^LPraetorium] and called Jesus to him and asked, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

³⁴ Jesus ·said [answered], “Is that your own question, or did others tell you about me?”

³⁵ Pilate answered, “·I am not one of you [^LAm I a Jew?]. It was your own ·people [nation] and their ·leading [^Tchief] priests who ·handed you over [or betrayed you] to me. What have you done wrong?”

³⁶ Jesus answered, “My kingdom ·does not belong to [^Tis not of] this world. If it belonged to this world, my servants would have fought to keep me from being ·given over [betrayed; handed over] to the ·Jewish leaders [^LJews]. But my kingdom is from another place.”

³⁷ Pilate said, “So you are a king!”

Jesus answered, “You are the one saying I am a king. This is why I was born and came into the world: to ·tell people [testify/witness to] the truth. And everyone ·who belongs to the [on the side of] truth ·listens to me [^Lhears my voice].”

³⁸ Pilate said, “What is truth?” After he said this, he went out to the ·crowd [^LJews] again and said to them, “I find ·nothing [no case; no basis for a charge] against this man. ³⁹ But it is your custom that I ·free [release] one prisoner to you at Passover time. Do you want me to ·free [release] the ‘king of the Jews’?”

⁴⁰ They shouted back, “No, not him! Let Barabbas ·go free [be released]!” (Barabbas was a ·robber [bandit; revolutionary; terrorist; ^Cthe Romans referred to insurrectionists as “robbers” or “criminals”].)

19 Then Pilate ordered that Jesus be taken away and ·whipped [flogged]. ² The soldiers ·made [wove; twisted together] a crown ·from some thorny branches [^Tof thorns] and put it on Jesus’ head and put a purple robe [^Cpurple was the color of royalty] around him. ³ Then they came to him many times and said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and ·hit him in the face [slapped/struck him].

⁴ Again Pilate came out and said to them, “Look, I am bringing Jesus out to you. I want you to know that I find ·nothing [no case; 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, “·Here is the man [^TBehold the man]!”

⁶ When the ·leading [^Tchief] priests and the ·guards [officials; temple police] saw Jesus, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

But Pilate answered them, “Crucify him yourselves, because I find ·nothing [no case; no basis for a charge] against him.”

⁷ The ·leaders [Jewish leaders; ^LJews] answered [^Lhim], “We have a law [Lev. 24:16] that says he should die, because he ·said he is [made himself; claimed to be] the Son of God.”

⁸ When Pilate heard this [^Lstatement; word], he was even more afraid. ⁹ He went back inside the ·palace [headquarters; ^LPraetorium] and asked Jesus, “Where do you come from?” But Jesus did not answer him. ¹⁰ Pilate said [^Lto him], “You refuse to speak to me? Don’t you know I have ·power [authority] to ·set you free [release you] and ·power [authority] to have you crucified?”

¹¹ Jesus answered [him], “The only ·power [authority] you have over me is the ·power [authority] given to you ·by God [^Lfrom above]. The man who ·turned me in to you [betrayed me; ^CCaiaphas or perhaps Judas] is guilty of a greater sin.”

¹² ·After this [or For this reason], Pilate tried to let Jesus go. But ·some in the crowd [^Lthe Jews] ·cried out [shouted], “Anyone who makes himself king ·is against [opposes] Caesar [^Cthe Roman emperor]. If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar.”

¹³ When Pilate heard ·what they were saying [^Lthese words], he brought Jesus out and ·sat down [or seated him] on the judge’s seat at the place called The Stone Pavement. (In the ·Hebrew language [^Cmore specifically, Aramaic, the native language of the Jews at the time] the name is Gabbatha.) ¹⁴ It was about ·noon [^Lthe sixth hour; ^Chours were counted from dawn, about 6 AM] on Preparation Day of Passover week. Pilate said to ·the crowd [^Lthe Jews], “·Here is your king! [^LLook, your king! or Look at your king!]”

¹⁵ They shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”

Pilate asked them, “Do you want me to crucify your king?”

The ·leading [^Tchief] priests answered, “The only king we have is Caesar.”

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

Jesus Is Crucified^(B)

The soldiers took charge of Jesus.

Jesus Is Taken to Pilate^(A)

27 Early the next morning, all the ·leading [^Tchief] priests and elders of the people ·decided that Jesus should die [or met together to plan Jesus’ death]. ² They ·tied [bound] him, led him away, and turned him over to Pilate, the governor.

Pilate Questions Jesus^(A)

¹¹ Jesus stood before Pilate the governor, and Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

Jesus answered, “·Those are your words [It is as you say; ^LYou say so; ^Can indirect affirmation].”

¹² When the ·leading [^Tchief] priests and the elders accused Jesus, he ·said nothing [did not answer].

¹³ So Pilate said to Jesus, “Don’t you hear them accusing you of ·all these [so many] things?”

¹⁴ But Jesus ·said nothing in answer to Pilate [did not answer a single charge], and ·Pilate [^Lthe governor] was very ·surprised [amazed] at this.

Pilate Tries to Free Jesus^(B)

¹⁵ Every year at the ·time of Passover [festival/feast] the governor would free [^Lfor the crowd] one prisoner whom the people chose. ¹⁶ At that time there was a man in prison, named Barabbas,^[a] who was ·known to be very bad [well known; notorious]. ¹⁷ When the people gathered, Pilate said, “Whom do you want me to set free: Barabbas^[b] or Jesus who is called the ·Christ [Messiah]?” ¹⁸ [^LFor] Pilate knew that they turned Jesus in to him because they were jealous.

¹⁹ While Pilate was sitting there on the judge’s seat [^Ca special seat for speeches or judicial pronouncements], his wife sent this message to him: “·Don’t do anything to [or Have nothing to do with] that man, because he is ·innocent [righteous]. Today I had a dream about him, and it ·troubled me very much [caused me great pain/anguish].”

²⁰ But the ·leading [^Tchief] priests and elders convinced the crowd to ask for Barabbas to be freed and for Jesus to be ·killed [executed].

²¹ Pilate said, “Which of these two do you want me to set free for you?”

The people answered, “Barabbas.”

²² Pilate asked, “So what should I do with Jesus, the one called the ·Christ [Messiah]?”

They all answered, “Crucify him!”

²³ Pilate asked, “Why? What ·wrong [crime; evil] has he done?”

But they shouted louder, “Crucify him!”

²⁴ When Pilate saw that he ·could do nothing about this [was getting nowhere; was gaining nothing] and that a riot was starting, he took some water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. Then he said, “I am ·not guilty [innocent] of this man’s ·death [^Lblood]. ·You are the ones who are causing it [It is your responsibility now; or Take care of it yourselves]!”

²⁵ All the people answered, “·We and our children will be responsible for his death [^LHis blood be on us and on our children].”

²⁶ Then he set Barabbas free. But he had Jesus ·beaten with whips [scourged; flogged] and handed over to the soldiers to be crucified.

Pilate Questions Jesus^(A)

15 Very early in the morning, the ·leading [^Tchief] priests, the elders, the ·teachers of the law [scribes], and all the ·Jewish council [Sanhedrin; see 14:55] decided what to do with Jesus. They ·tied [bound] him, led him away, and turned him over to Pilate, the governor.

² Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

Jesus answered, “·Those are your words [It is as you say; ^LYou say so; ^Can indirect affirmation].”

³ The ·leading [^Tchief] priests accused Jesus of many things. ⁴ So Pilate asked Jesus another question, “You can see that they are accusing you of many things. Aren’t you going to answer?”

⁵ But Jesus still said nothing, so Pilate was ·very surprised [amazed].

Pilate Tries to Free Jesus^(B)

⁶ Every year at the ·time of the Passover [festival/feast] the governor would free one prisoner whom the people ·chose [requested]. ⁷ At that time, there was a man named Barabbas in prison, one of a group of rebels who had committed murder during ·a riot [the uprising/insurrection]. ⁸ The crowd came to Pilate and began to ask him to free a prisoner as he always did.

⁹ So Pilate asked them, “Do you want me to free the king of the Jews?” ¹⁰ Pilate knew that the ·leading [^Tchief] priests had turned Jesus in to him because they were jealous. ¹¹ But the ·leading [^Tchief] priests had ·persuaded [stirred up] the people to ask Pilate to free Barabbas, not Jesus.

¹² Then Pilate asked the crowd again, “So what should I do with this man you call the king of the Jews?”

¹³ They shouted, “Crucify him!”

¹⁴ Pilate asked, “Why? What ·wrong [crime; evil] has he done?”

But they shouted even louder, “Crucify him!”

¹⁵ Pilate wanted to ·please [satisfy] the crowd, so he freed Barabbas for them. After having Jesus ·beaten with whips [flogged; scourged], he handed Jesus over to the soldiers to be crucified.

Pilate Questions Jesus^(A)

23 Then the whole group stood up and led Jesus to Pilate [^CPontius Pilate, governor of Judea from ad 26 to 36; see 3:1]. ² They began to accuse Jesus, saying, “We caught this man ·misleading [subverting] our ·people [nation]. He ·says that we should not pay [opposes/forbids paying] taxes to Caesar, and he ·calls himself [claims to be] the ·Christ [Messiah], a king.”

³ Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

Jesus answered, “·Those are your words [or It is as you say; ^LYou say so; ^Can indirect affirmation; see 22:70].”

⁴ Pilate said to the ·leading [^Tchief] priests and the ·people [crowd], “I find ·nothing against [no basis for a charge against; no guilt in] this man.”

⁵ [^LBut] They were insisting, saying, “But Jesus ·makes trouble with [is inciting/stirring up] the people, teaching all around Judea. He began in Galilee, and now he is here.”

Jesus Must Die^(A)

¹³ Pilate called together the ·leading [^Tchief] priests, the ·rulers [leaders] and the people. ¹⁴ He said to them, “You brought this man to me, saying he ·makes trouble among [misleads; subverts; incites] the people. But I have questioned him before you all, and I have not found ·him guilty of what you say [any basis for the charges]. ¹⁵ Also, Herod found nothing wrong with him; [^Lbecause] he sent him back to us. Look, he has done nothing ·for which he should die [worthy/deserving of death]. ¹⁶ So, after I ·punish him [have him flogged], I will let him go free.” |¹⁷ Every year at the Passover Feast, Pilate had to release one prisoner to the people.|^[a]

¹⁸ But ·the people [^Lthey] shouted together, “Take this man away [^Cfor execution]! ·Let Barabbas go free [^LRelease Barabbas to/for us]!” ¹⁹ (Barabbas was a man who was in prison for his part in a ·riot [insurrection] in the city and for murder.)

²⁰ Pilate wanted to let Jesus go free and [^Lagain] ·told this to [appealed to; addressed] the crowd. ²¹ But they shouted again, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

²² A third time Pilate said to them, “Why? What ·wrong [crime; evil] has he done? I can find no reason to kill him. So I will have him ·punished [flogged] and set him free.”

²³ But they continued to shout, demanding that Jesus be crucified. Their ·yelling became so loud [^Lvoices prevailed so] that ²⁴ Pilate decided to give them what they ·wanted [requested; demanded]. ²⁵ He set free the man who was in jail for ·rioting [insurrection] and murder, and he handed Jesus over ·to them to do with him as they wished [or as they requested; ^Lto their will].