Matthew 27:32-66

32When they were going to that place, they met a man called Simon. He came from the city of Cyrene. The Roman soldiers told Simon that he must carry Jesus' cross.

33The soldiers took Jesus to the place that is called Golgotha. (Golgotha means the place of a skull. )

34They tried to give Jesus some wine to drink. They had mixed some medicine into the wine. Jesus tasted it, but he would not drink it.

35Then the soldiers fixed Jesus onto the cross. They took his clothes for themselves. They played a game to find out who would receive each piece of his clothes.

36Then the soldiers sat down and they watched Jesus carefully.

37Above his head they fixed a notice. This showed the reason why they were killing him. It said, ‘This man is Jesus, the king of the Jews.’

38Then the soldiers also fixed two robbers to crosses near to Jesus. One robber was at Jesus' right side, and one was at his left side.

39The people who walked near there insulted Jesus. They laughed at him,

40and they said, ‘You said that you could destroy the temple and then build it again in three days. If you really are the Son of God, save yourself. Come down from the cross.’

41The leaders of the priests and the teachers of God's Law and the important Jews also laughed at him.

42They said, ‘This man saved other people, did he? But he cannot save his own life! He says that he is the king of Israel. So he should come down from the cross now. Then we will believe in him.

43He says that he trusts in God. So if God wants him, God should save him now. He did say that he is the Son of God.’

44Then the two robbers who were on the crosses next to Jesus also insulted him.

45It was now midday. The whole country became dark for three hours.

46At about three o'clock in the afternoon, Jesus shouted loudly, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ That means, ‘My God, my God, why have you left me alone?’

47Some people who were standing there heard him. They said to each other, ‘He is shouting to Elijah.’

48One of these people ran quickly and he brought a piece of cloth. He poured cheap wine on it, and he put it on the end of a stick. He lifted it up to Jesus so that he could drink the wine from it.

49The other people said, ‘Wait! Now we will see if Elijah comes to save him.’

50Then Jesus shouted again with a loud voice, and after that he died.

51At that moment, the curtain inside the temple tore completely into two parts. It tore from the top down to the bottom. The ground shook and rocks broke into pieces.

52Places in the ground where people had buried dead bodies opened up. Many of God's people who had died now became alive again.

53After Jesus became alive again, those people came up out of those places. They went into God's city, Jerusalem. Many people saw them there.

54The captain and his soldiers had been watching Jesus. They saw the ground shaking. They saw everything that had happened. They were very frightened and they said, ‘It must be true! This man really was the Son of God.’

55There were also many women there. They were standing a long way away and they were watching these events. They had come with Jesus from Galilee to help him.

56Mary from Magdala was there. Mary the mother of James and Joses, and Mary the mother of Zebedee's sons, were also there.

57That evening a rich man who came from a town called Arimathea went to Pilate. The man's name was Joseph, and he had become a disciple of Jesus.

58Joseph asked Pilate for the dead body of Jesus. Pilate told his soldiers to give Jesus' body to Joseph.

59So Joseph took Jesus' body. He put a clean piece of linen cloth around it.

60Then he put the body in a large hole in a rock. He had made the hole for his own body when he died. After he put Jesus' body there, he rolled a very big stone across the front of the hole to shut it. Then he went away.

61Mary from Magdala and Mary the mother of James were there. They were sitting where they could see the hole in the rock where Joseph had put Jesus' body.

62The next day was the Jewish day of rest. The leaders of the priests and the Pharisees met together with Pilate.

63They said to him, ‘Sir, that man told lies. When he was still living, he said, “Three days after I die, I will become alive again.” We know that is what he said.

64So you should tell some soldiers to watch the place where Joseph put Jesus' body. They should watch there for the next three days. Then his disciples cannot come to take his body away. If they did that, then they could say to the people, “God has caused Jesus to become alive again.” This will be worse than the lies that Jesus told when he was alive.’

65Pilate said to them, ‘OK. You may take a group of soldiers to watch the place. Let them fix the rock well, so that nobody can open it.’

66So the Jewish leaders and the soldiers went to the place where Joseph had put Jesus' body. They fixed the big stone that closed the front of the hole with a seal. Then they would know if someone had moved it. The soldiers stayed there to watch the place very carefully.