Explore the Bible
Read
Up Next
John 18:39-19:16
39And since I usually set a prisoner free for you at Passover, would you like for me to set free the king of the Jews?”
40They shouted, “No, not him! We want Barabbas.” Now Barabbas was a terrorist.
1Pilate gave orders for Jesus to be beaten with a whip. 2The soldiers made a crown out of thorn branches and put it on Jesus. Then they put a purple robe on him. 3They came up to him and said, “Hey, you king of the Jews!” They also hit him with their fists.
4Once again Pilate went out. This time he said, “I will have Jesus brought out to you again. Then you can see for yourselves that I have not found him guilty.”
5Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said, “Here is the man!”
6When the chief priests and the temple police saw him, they yelled, “Nail him to a cross! Nail him to a cross!”
Pilate told them, “You take him and nail him to a cross! I don't find him guilty of anything.”
7The crowd replied, “He claimed to be the Son of God! Our law says that he must be put to death.”
8When Pilate heard this, he was terrified. 9He went back inside and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus did not answer.
10“Why won't you answer my question?” Pilate asked. “Don't you know I have the power to let you go free or to nail you to a cross?”
11 Jesus replied, “If God had not given you the power, you couldn't do anything at all to me. But the one who handed me over to you did something even worse.”
12Then Pilate wanted to set Jesus free. But the crowd again yelled, “If you set this man free, you are no friend of the Emperor! Anyone who claims to be a king is an enemy of the Emperor.”
13When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out. Then he sat down on the judge's bench at the place known as “The Stone Pavement.” In Aramaic this pavement is called “Gabbatha.” 14It was about noon on the day before Passover, and Pilate said to the crowd, “Look at your king!”
15“Kill him! Kill him!” they yelled. “Nail him to a cross!”
“So you want me to nail your king to a cross?” Pilate asked.
The chief priests replied, “The Emperor is our king!” 16Then Pilate handed Jesus over to be nailed to a cross.
Jesus Is Nailed to a Cross
(Matthew 27.32-44; Mark 15.21-32; Luke 23.26-43)
Jesus was taken away,
John 18:39-19:16
39But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release “the king of the Jews”?’
40They shouted back, ‘No, not him! Give us Barabbas!’ Now Barabbas had taken part in an uprising.
Jesus sentenced to be crucified
1Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe 3and went up to him again and again, saying, ‘Hail, king of the Jews!’ And they slapped him in the face.
4Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, ‘Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.’ 5When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, ‘Here is the man!’
6As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, ‘Crucify! Crucify!’
But Pilate answered, ‘You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.’
7The Jewish leaders insisted, ‘We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.’
8When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, 9and he went back inside the palace. ‘Where do you come from?’ he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10‘Do you refuse to speak to me?’ Pilate said. ‘Don’t you realise I have power either to free you or to crucify you?’
11Jesus answered, ‘You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.’
12From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, ‘If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.’
13When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). 14It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon.
‘Here is your king,’ Pilate said to the Jews.
15But they shouted, ‘Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!’
‘Shall I crucify your king?’ Pilate asked.
‘We have no king but Caesar,’ the chief priests answered.
16Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.
The crucifixion of Jesus
So the soldiers took charge of Jesus.