Mat 27 | Comm | STEP | When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death.

‏ Matthew 27

1 When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. 2 And they bound him, and led him away and delivered him to Pilate the governor. 3 When Judas, his betrayer, saw that he was condemned, he repented and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, 4 saying, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood." And they said, "What is that to us? You see to it!" 5 Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself. 6 But the chief priests took the silver pieces and said, "It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since they are the money of blood." 7 So they took counsel, and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. 8 Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. 9 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, "And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, 10 and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me."

11 Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" So Jesus said to him, "It is as you say." 12 But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he made no answer. 13 Then Pilate said to him, "Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?" 14 But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge; so that the governor wondered greatly. 15 Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. 16 And at that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. 17 So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want me to release for you, Barabbas or Jesus who is called Christ?" 18 For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed him over. 19 While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, "Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered greatly today in a dream because of him." 20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the multitudes to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. 21 The governor answered them, "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" They said, "Barabbas!" 22 Pilate said to them, "Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?" They all said, "Let him be crucified!" 23 And he said, "Why, what evil has he done?" But they shouted all the more, "Let him be crucified!" 24 When Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of this man’s blood. See to it yourselves." 25 And all the people answered, "His blood be on us and on our children!"

26 Then he released Barabbas to them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. 27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around him. 28 And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and when they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on his head, and a reed in his right hand. And they bowed the knee before him and mocked him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" 30 And they spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. 31 And when they had mocked him, they took the robe off him, put his own clothes on him, and led him away to crucify him. 32 Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name, and they compelled him to carry his cross.

33 And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull), 34 they offered him wine to drink, mingled with gall; but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. 35 And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots; 36 and sitting down, they kept watch over him there. 37 And they put up over his head the charge written against him: THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 38 Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. 39 And those who passed by hurled insults at him, wagging their heads 40 and saying, "You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross." 41 So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, 42 "He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him; for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’" 44 And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way. 45 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" 47 When some of those standing there heard this, they said, "This man is calling Elijah." 48 Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with wine vinegar and put it on a reed, and offered it to him to drink. 49 The rest said, "Let him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save him."

50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up his spirit. 51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom; and the earth shook, and the rocks were split; 52 the tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, 53 and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. 54 So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they were terrified, and said, "Truly this was the Son of God!" 55 And many women were also there, looking on from afar, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him; 56 among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

57 And when it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself also become a disciple of Jesus. 58 He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. 59 When Joseph took the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb, and departed. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb. 62 The next day, the one after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered to Pilate 63 and said, "Sir, we remember how that deceiver said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 Therefore order that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night and steal him away, and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.’ So the last deception will be worse than the first." 65 Pilate said to them, "You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how." 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.