Matthew 27:1-31

Early in the morning all the chief priests and elders of the people consulted together and decided to have Jesus put to death. They bound him, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate, the governor. When Judas, the one who'd betrayed Jesus, saw that Jesus had been condemned to death, he regretted what he'd done and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. “I've sinned! I've betrayed innocent blood!” he told them. “What's that got to do with us?” they replied. “That's your problem!” Judas threw the silver coins into the sanctuary and left. He went away and hanged himself. The chief priests took the silver coins and said, “This is blood money, so it's not lawful to put this in the Temple treasury.” So they agreed to buy the potter's field as a place to bury foreigners. That's why the field is still called today the “Field of Blood.” This fulfilled the prophecy spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: “They took thirty silver coins—the ‘value’ of the one who was bought at the price set by some of the children of Israel— and used them to pay for the potter's field, just as the Lord instructed me to do.” Jesus was brought before Pilate the governor who asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” “You said it,” Jesus replied. But when the chief priests and elders brought charges against him, Jesus did not answer. “Don't you hear how many charges they're bringing against you?” Pilate asked him. But Jesus didn't say anything, not a single word. This greatly surprised the governor. Now it was the custom of the governor to release to the crowd during the festival whichever prisoner they wanted. At that time a notorious prisoner was being held, a man named Barabbas. So Pilate asked the crowds that had gathered, “Who do you want me to release to you? Barabbas, or Jesus, called the Messiah?” (He had realized it was because of jealousy that they had handed Jesus over to him to be tried.) While he was sitting on the judge's seat, his wife sent a message to him that said, “Don't do anything to this innocent man, for I've suffered terribly today as a result of a dream about him.” But the chief priests and the elders convinced the crowds to ask for Barabbas, and to have Jesus put to death. When the governor asked them, “So which of the two do you want me to release to you?” they answered, “Barabbas.” “Then what shall I do with Jesus, called the Messiah?” he asked them. They all shouted out, “Have him crucified!” “Why? What crime has he committed?” Pilate asked. But they shouted even louder, “Crucify him!” When Pilate saw it was a lost cause, and that a riot was developing, he took some water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I'm innocent of this man's blood. It's on your heads!” he told them. All the people answered, “His blood is on us, and on our children!” Then he released Barabbas to them, but he had Jesus flogged and sent to be crucified. The governor's soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and the whole battalion surrounded him. They stripped him and put a scarlet cloak on him. They made a crown of thorns and placed it on his head, and put a stick in his right hand. They kneeled down in front of him and mocked him, saying, “We salute you, King of the Jews!” They spat on him, and took the stick and beat him over the head with it. When they'd finished mocking him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes back on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.