John 19

Jesus Is Mocked as King

1Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns, put it on his head, and dressed him in a purple robe. 3They kept coming up to him and saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” and slapping him. 4Pilate went outside again and said to them, “Look, I am bringing him out to you so that you may know I find no basis for a charge against him.” 5Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Look—the man!” 6When the chief priests and officers saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!” Pilate said, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, because I find no basis for a charge against him.” 7The Jewish leaders answered, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he made himself God’s Son.” 8When Pilate heard this statement, he became even more afraid. 9He went back into the headquarters and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. 10Pilate said, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” 11Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you has greater sin.” 12From then on Pilate tried to release him, but the Jewish leaders shouted, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” 13When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place called Stone Pavement, and in Hebrew Gabbatha. 14It was the day of Preparation for Passover, about the sixth hour. Pilate said to the Jewish leaders, “Look—your king!” 15They shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” Pilate asked, “Shall I crucify your king?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” 16Then Pilate handed Jesus over to them to be crucified.

Jesus Is Crucified

17and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to the place called Place of the Skull, which is called Golgotha in Hebrew. 18There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on each side, with Jesus between them. 19Pilate also wrote a notice and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews.” 20Many Jewish people read this notice because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. 21The chief priests of the Jewish people said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” 22Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

The Soldiers Divide Jesus’ Clothing

23When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothing and divided it into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic. The tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. 24So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it will be.” This happened so that Scripture might be fulfilled:
“They divided my clothes among themselves,
and for my clothing they cast lots.”
So the soldiers did these things.

Jesus’ Mother and the Beloved Disciple

25Standing near Jesus’ cross were his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, look—your son.” 27Then he said to the disciple, “Look—your mother.” From that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

Jesus Dies

28After this, Jesus knew that everything had now been completed. So that Scripture might be fulfilled, he said, “I am thirsty.” 29A jar full of sour wine was standing there. They put a sponge full of sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30When Jesus received the sour wine, he said, “It is completed.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Jesus’ Side Is Pierced

31Because it was Preparation Day, the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies to remain on the crosses during the Sabbath—because that Sabbath was a great day—so they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken away. 32The soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man and then the other who had been crucified with Jesus. 33But when they came to Jesus and saw he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. 35The one who saw this has testified, and his testimony is true. He knows he is telling the truth so that you also may trust. 36These things happened so that Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” 37And again another Scripture says, “They will look on the one they pierced.”

Jesus Is Buried

38After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus secretly because of fear of the Jewish authorities, asked Pilate for permission to take Jesus’ body. Pilate gave permission, so he came and took the body. 39Nicodemus, the man who had first come to Jesus at night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about a hundred pounds. 40They took Jesus’ body and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to Jewish burial custom. 41There was a garden at the place where Jesus was crucified, and in the garden was a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. 42Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.