Matthew 27
27
Chapter 27
The important Jews take Jesus to stand in front of Pilate
1Early the next morning, all the leaders of the priests and the important Jews met together. They decided how to make the Roman rulers kill Jesus. 2They tied Jesus' hands and feet and then they took him to Pilate's house. They put him under the authority of Pilate, who was the Roman ruler. #27:2 Pilate ruled over this part of the Roman world for Caesar. Caesar ruled the whole Roman world.
Judas dies
3Judas heard that the Jewish leaders wanted the Roman rulers to kill Jesus. Judas was the man who had helped Jesus' enemies to take hold of him. Now he was very sorry about what he had done. So he took back the 30 silver coins to the leaders of the priests and the important Jews. 4He said to them, ‘I have done the wrong thing. I helped you to take hold of a man who has done nothing wrong.’
They said to Judas, ‘That is not important to us. That is your problem.’
5So Judas took the money and he threw it down on the floor in the temple. Then he went away. He hung himself from a rope so that he died.
6The leaders of the priests picked up the coins. They said, ‘We used this money to catch and kill a man. So it is against our Law to use this same money for the temple.’ 7They decided to use the money to buy a field. They wanted to use the field to bury foreign people who died in the city. The field had been called ‘The Pot-maker's Field’. 8After this, it was called ‘The Field of Blood’. It is still called that even today. 9So the words that the prophet Jeremiah wrote long ago now became true. #27:9 See Jeremiah 19:1-13; 32:6-9 He had said, ‘Then they took the 30 silver coins. It was the amount of money the people of Israel had agreed to pay for the man. 10They used this money to buy the pot-maker's field. The Lord God had told me to do this.’
Pilate asks Jesus some questions
11Now Jesus stood in front of the Roman ruler, Pilate. The ruler asked Jesus, ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’
Jesus replied, ‘You have said it.’
12The leaders of the priests and the important Jews spoke against Jesus. They said that he had done many bad things. Jesus did not answer them. 13So Pilate said to Jesus, ‘You hear what these men are saying against you. You should reply.’ 14But Jesus did not reply to what the men were saying against him, not even to one thing. Pilate was very surprised about this.
15Each year, at the time for the Passover festival, the Roman ruler would let one person go free out of the prison. The people could choose which person should go free. 16At that time, there was a man called Barabbas in prison. Everyone knew about the bad things that he had done. 17When the crowd came together at Pilate's house, Pilate asked them, ‘Who do you want me to let go free? Should Barabbas go free? Or should it be Jesus, who is called the Messiah?’ 18Pilate knew why the Jewish leaders had brought Jesus to him. They were jealous because people liked Jesus so much.
19Pilate was sitting on his special seat as a judge. Then his wife sent a message to him. She said, ‘Do not do anything to that man. He has done nothing wrong. Last night I had a dream about him. It gave me a lot of trouble in my mind.’
20But the leaders of the priests and the important Jews talked to the crowds of people. They said, ‘You must ask Pilate to let Barabbas go free. Then he must tell the soldiers to kill Jesus.’
21Pilate asked the people again, ‘Which of these two men should go free?’ The people answered, ‘Barabbas.’
22Then Pilate asked the people, ‘So what should I do with Jesus, who is called the Messiah?’ The people all shouted, ‘Take him and kill him on a cross!’
23So Pilate said, ‘Why should I kill him? What bad things has he done?’
But the people shouted even louder, ‘Kill him on a cross!’
24Then Pilate knew that he could not do anything to make them quiet. He thought that the people would start to fight his soldiers. So he took a dish of water and he washed his hands in front of the people. He said, ‘It is not because of me that this man will die. You are the people who have caused it to happen.’
25All the people answered Pilate, ‘Yes, God should punish us and our children, if we have done the wrong thing.’
26Then Pilate let Barabbas go free, as the crowd wanted. But he said to his soldiers, ‘Hit Jesus many times with a whip. Then take him and fix him to a cross to die.’
27Then Pilate's soldiers took Jesus into the yard of the ruler's house. All the other soldiers in their group were there. 28They removed Jesus' clothes from him. They put a dark red coat on him. 29They used some branches with thorns to make a crown for him. Then they put it on his head. They put a long stick in his right hand. They went down on their knees in front of him. They laughed at him and they said, ‘Hello, King of the Jews, you are great!’ #27:29 A crown is a special hat that a king wears on his head. The dark red coat was like a coat that a king would wear. Roman soldiers also wore red coats.
30Then the soldiers spat into Jesus' face. They took the stick and they hit Jesus on his head with it many times. 31After they had laughed at him, they took the special coat off him. They put his own clothes back on him. Then they took him out to the place where they would kill him on a cross.
The soldiers kill Jesus on a cross
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. #27:33 A skull is the bone inside a person's head. )
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.
Jesus dies
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.
Joseph from Arimathea buries Jesus' body
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.
Soldiers watch the place where Joseph had buried Jesus
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.
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Matthew 27: EASY
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Matthew 27
27
Jesus is Taken to Pilate
(Mk 15.1; Lk 23.1–2; Jn 18.28–32)
1Early in the morning all the chief priests and the elders made their plans against Jesus to put him to death. 2They put him in chains, led him off, and handed him over to Pilate, the Roman governor.
The Death of Judas
(Acts 1.18–19)
3 #
Acts 1.18–19
When Judas, the traitor, learnt that Jesus had been condemned, he repented and took back the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. 4“I have sinned by betraying an innocent man to death!” he said.
“What do we care about that?” they answered. “That is your business!”
5Judas threw the coins down in the Temple and left; then he went off and hanged himself.
6The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “This is blood money, and it is against our Law to put it in the temple treasury.” 7After reaching an agreement about it, they used the money to buy Potter's Field, as a cemetery for foreigners. 8That is why that field is called “Field of Blood” to this very day.
9 #
Zech 11.12–13
Then what the prophet Jeremiah had said came true: “They took the thirty silver coins, the amount the people of Israel had agreed to pay for him, 10and used the money to buy the potter's field, as the Lord had commanded me.”
Pilate Questions Jesus
(Mk 15.2–5; Lk 23.3–5; Jn 18.33–38)
11Jesus stood before the Roman governor, who questioned him. “Are you the king of the Jews?” he asked.
“So you say,” answered Jesus. 12But he said nothing in response to the accusations of the chief priests and elders.
13So Pilate said to him, “Don't you hear all these things they accuse you of?”
14But Jesus refused to answer a single word, with the result that the Governor was greatly surprised.
Jesus is Sentenced to Death
(Mk 15.6–15; Lk 23.13–25; Jn 18.39—19.16)
15At every Passover Festival the Roman governor was in the habit of setting free any one prisoner the crowd asked for. 16At that time there was a well-known prisoner named Jesus Barabbas. 17So when the crowd gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to set free for you? Jesus Barabbas or Jesus called the Messiah?” 18He knew very well that the Jewish authorities had handed Jesus over to him because they were jealous.
19While Pilate was sitting in the judgement hall, his wife sent him a message: “Have nothing to do with that innocent man, because in a dream last night I suffered much on account of him.”
20The chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask Pilate to set Barabbas free and have Jesus put to death. 21But Pilate asked the crowd, “Which one of these two do you want me to set free for you?”
“Barabbas!” they answered.
22“What, then, shall I do with Jesus called the Messiah?” Pilate asked them.
“Crucify him!” they all answered.
23But Pilate asked, “What crime has he committed?”
Then they started shouting at the top of their voices: “Crucify him!”
24 #
Deut 21.6–9
When Pilate saw that it was no use to go on, but that a riot might break out, he took some water, washed his hands in front of the crowd, and said, “I am not responsible for the death of this man! This is your doing!”
25The whole crowd answered, “Let the responsibility for his death fall on us and our children!”
26Then Pilate set Barabbas free for them; and after he had Jesus whipped, he handed him over to be crucified.
The Soldiers Mock Jesus
(Mk 15.16–20; Jn 19.2–3)
27Then Pilate's soldiers took Jesus into the governor's palace, and the whole company gathered round him. 28They stripped off his clothes and put a scarlet robe on him. 29Then they made a crown out of thorny branches and placed it on his head, and put a stick in his right hand; then they knelt before him and mocked him. “Long live the King of the Jews!” they said. 30They spat on him, and took the stick and hit him over the head. 31When they had finished mocking him, they took the robe off and put his own clothes back on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.
Jesus is Crucified
(Mk 15.21–32; Lk 23.26–43; Jn 19.17–27)
32As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene named Simon, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus' cross. 33They came to a place called Golgotha, which means, “The Place of the Skull”. 34#Ps 69.21There they offered Jesus wine mixed with a bitter substance; but after tasting it, he would not drink it.
35 #
Ps 22.18
They crucified him and then divided his clothes among them by throwing dice. 36After that they sat there and watched him. 37Above his head they put the written notice of the accusation against him: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” 38Then they crucified two bandits with Jesus, one on his right and the other on his left.
39 #
Ps 22.7; 109.25 People passing by shook their heads and hurled insults at Jesus: 40#Mt 26.61; Jn 2.19“You were going to tear down the Temple and build it up again in three days! Save yourself if you are God's Son! Come on down from the cross!”
41In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the Law and the elders jeered at him: 42“He saved others, but he cannot save himself! Isn't he the king of Israel? If he comes down off the cross now, we will believe in him! 43#Ps 22.8He trusts in God and claims to be God's Son. Well, then, let us see if God wants to save him now!”
44Even the bandits who had been crucified with him insulted him in the same way.
The Death of Jesus
(Mk 15.33–41; Lk 23.44–49; Jn 19.28–30)
45At noon the whole country was covered with darkness, which lasted for three hours. 46#Ps 22.1At about three o'clock Jesus cried out with a loud shout, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why did you abandon me?”
47Some of the people standing there heard him and said, “He is calling for Elijah!” 48#Ps 69.21One of them ran up at once, took a sponge, soaked it in cheap wine, put it on the end of a stick, and tried to make him drink it.
49But the others said, “Wait, let us see if Elijah is coming to save him!”
50Jesus again gave a loud cry and breathed his last.
51 #
Ex 26.31–33
Then the curtain hanging in the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split apart, 52the graves broke open, and many of God's people who had died were raised to life. 53They left the graves, and after Jesus rose from death, they went into the Holy City, where many people saw them.
54When the army officer and the soldiers with him who were watching Jesus saw the earthquake and everything else that happened, they were terrified and said, “He really was the Son of God!”
55 #
Lk 8.2–3
There were many women there, looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee and helped him. 56Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the wife of Zebedee.
The Burial of Jesus
(Mk 15.42–47; Lk 23.50–56; Jn 19.38–42)
57When it was evening, a rich man from Arimathea arrived; his name was Joseph, and he also was a disciple of Jesus. 58He went into the presence of Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate gave orders for the body to be given to Joseph. 59So Joseph took it, wrapped it in a new linen sheet, 60and placed it in his own tomb, which he had just recently dug out of solid rock. Then he rolled a large stone across the entrance to the tomb and went away. 61Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there, facing the tomb.
The Guard at the Tomb
62The next day, which was a Sabbath, the chief priests and the Pharisees met with Pilate 63#Mt 16.21; 17.23; 20.19; Mk 8.31; 9.31; 10.33–34; Lk 9.22; 18.31–33and said, “Sir, we remember that while that liar was still alive he said, ‘I will be raised to life three days later.’ 64Give orders, then, for his tomb to be carefully guarded until the third day, so that his disciples will not be able to go and steal the body, and then tell the people that he was raised from death. This last lie would be even worse than the first one.”
65“Take a guard,” Pilate told them; “go and make the tomb as secure as you can.”
66So they left and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and leaving the guard on watch.
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.