John 19

The Crown of Thorns

1Pilate then took Jesus and 12scourged Him. 23And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and put a purple robe on Him; 3and they began to come up to Him and say, “4Hail, King of the Jews!” and to 5give Him slaps in the face. 4Pilate 6came out again and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you so that you may know that 7I find no guilt in Him.” 5Jesus then came out, 8wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold, the Man!” 6So when the chief priests and the 9officers saw Him, they cried out saying, “Crucify, crucify!” Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves and crucify Him, for 10I find no guilt in Him.” 7The Jews answered him, “11We have a law, and by that law He ought to die because He 12made Himself out to be the Son of God.”

8Therefore when Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid; 9and he 13entered into the 14Praetorium again and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But 15Jesus gave him no answer. 10So Pilate said to Him, “You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?” 11Jesus answered, “16You would have no authority 17over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason 18he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.” 12As a result of this Pilate 19made efforts to release Him, but the Jews cried out saying, “20If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself out to be a king 21opposes Caesar.”

13Therefore when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and 22sat down on the judgment seat at a place called 23The Pavement, but 24in 25Hebrew, Gabbatha. 14Now it was 26the day of preparation for the Passover; it was about the 2728sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold, 29your King!” 15So they cried out, “30Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.”

The Crucifixion

16So he then 31handed Him over to them to be crucified.

1732They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, 3334bearing His own cross, to the place called 35the Place of a Skull, which is called 36in 37Hebrew, Golgotha. 18There they crucified Him, and with Him 38two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between. 19Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It was written, “39JESUS THE NAZARENE, 40THE KING OF THE JEWS.” 20Therefore many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written 41in 42Hebrew, Latin and in Greek. 21So the chief priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘43The King of the Jews’; but that He said, ‘I am 44King of the Jews.’” 22Pilate answered, “45What I have written I have written.”

23Then 46the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His outer garments and made 47four parts, a part to every soldier and also the 48tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven 49in one piece. 24So they said to one another, “50Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it shall be”; 51this was to fulfill the Scripture: “They 52divided My outer garments among them, and for My clothing they cast 53lots.” 25Therefore the soldiers did these things.

54But standing by the cross of Jesus were 55His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and 56Mary Magdalene. 26When Jesus then saw His mother, and 57the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, “58Woman, behold, your son!” 27Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour the disciple took her into 59his own household.

28After this, Jesus, 60knowing that all things had already been accomplished, 61to fulfill the Scripture, said, “62I am thirsty.” 29A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so 63they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth. 30Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “64It is finished!” And He bowed His head and 65gave up His spirit.

Care of the Body of Jesus

31Then the Jews, because it was 66the day of preparation, so that 67the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (68for that Sabbath was a 69high day), asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. 32So the soldiers came, and broke the legs of the first man and of the other who was 70crucified with Him; 33but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. 34But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately 71blood and water came out. 35And he who has seen has 72testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe. 36For these things came to pass 73to fulfill the Scripture, “74Not a bone of Him shall be 75broken.” 37And again another Scripture says, “76They shall look on Him whom they pierced.”

3877After these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a 78secret one for 79fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate granted permission. So he came and took away His body. 3980Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, 81bringing a 82mixture of 83myrrh and aloes, about a 84hundred 85pounds weight. 40So they took the body of Jesus and 86bound it in 87linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 41Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a 88new tomb 89in which no one had yet been laid. 42Therefore because of the Jewish day of 90preparation, since the tomb was 91nearby, they laid Jesus there.