Matthew 27
27
Judas Hangs Himself
1Early in the morning, all the chief priests and elders of the people met to plan how to put Jesus to death. 2They tied him up, took him away, and turned him over to Pilate, the governor.
3When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus had been sentenced to die, he felt deep shame and sadness for what he’d done. So he returned the 30 silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. 4“I’ve sinned,” he told them. “I’ve handed over a man who isn’t guilty.”
“What do we care?” they answered. “That’s your problem.”
5So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.
6The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “It’s against the law to put this money into the temple fund because it’s blood money. It has paid for a man’s death.” 7So they decided to use the money to buy some land where foreigners could be buried. They chose the Potter’s Field. 8Because it was bought with the “blood money,” it has been called the Field of Blood ever since. 9In this way the words of Jeremiah the prophet came true. He had said, “They took the 30 silver coins, which was how much the people of Israel thought he was worth, 10and they used the coins to buy a potter’s field, just as the Lord commanded me.”
Jesus Is Brought to Pilate
11Meanwhile Jesus was being questioned publicly by the governor Pilate. He asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
“You have said so,” Jesus replied.
12But when the chief priests and the elders brought their charges against him, he didn’t respond. 13Then Pilate asked him, “Don’t you hear the charges they’re bringing against you?” 14But Jesus didn’t answer a single charge. The governor was amazed.
15Every year at the Passover Feast the governor would let one prisoner go free. The people could choose the one they wanted. 16At that time there was a notorious prisoner named Jesus Barabbas. 17So when the crowd gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to set free? Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who’s called the Messiah?” 18Pilate knew that the leaders had handed Jesus over because they were jealous.
19Pilate also wanted to release Jesus because he’d gotten a message from his wife while he was judging the case. The message said, “Don’t do anything to that man. He’s innocent. I had a terrible nightmare about him last night.”
20But the chief priests and the elders talked the crowd into asking Pilate to set Barabbas free and put Jesus to death.
21“Which of the two do you want me to set free?” asked the governor.
“Barabbas,” they answered.
22“Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” Pilate asked.
They all answered, “Crucify him!”
23“Why? What wrong has he done?” asked Pilate.
But they shouted even more loudly, “Crucify him!”
24Pilate saw that he wasn’t getting anywhere. Instead, the crowd was starting to get angry. So he took water and washed his hands in front of them. “I’m not guilty of this man’s death,” he said. “You’re accountable for that!”
25All the people answered, “Put the blame for his death on us and our children!”
26Then to make the people happy Pilate set Barabbas free. He had Jesus whipped, and then he handed him over to be crucified.
The Soldiers Make Fun of Jesus
27The governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the palace, which was called the Praetorium, and there they gathered all the other soldiers around him. 28They took off his regular clothes and put a purple robe on him. 29They twisted thorny branches together to make a crown and forced it onto his head. They put a stick in his right hand to look like a royal scepter, and then they fell on their knees in front of him and made fun of him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. 30Then they spit on him and beat him on the head with the stick. 31After they had made fun of him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes back on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.
Jesus Is Nailed to a Cross
32On their way out of the city, they met a man from Cyrene named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. 33They came to a place called Golgotha (which means the Place of the Skull). 34There they mixed wine with bitter spices and offered it to Jesus to drink. But after he had tasted it, he wouldn’t drink it. 35When they had nailed him to the cross, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 36Then they sat down to keep watch over him. 37Above his head they placed a written charge against him. It read,
this is Jesus, the king of the jews.
38Two men who had rebelled against Rome were crucified with him, one on his right and the other on his left. 39People who were passing by shouted insults at Jesus and made fun of him. They shook their heads 40and said, “So, you’re going to destroy the temple and build it again in three days? Then save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you’re the Son of God!” 41In the same way the chief priests, teachers of the law, and elders made fun of him. 42“He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s supposed to be the king of Israel. Let him come down from that cross, and we’ll believe in him! 43He trusts in God; let God rescue him now, if he’s so pleased with him. After all, he said, ‘I’m the Son of God.’ ” 44The rebels who were being crucified with Jesus also insulted him in the same way.
Jesus Dies
45From noon until three o’clock, the whole land was covered with darkness. 46At about three o’clock, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (That means, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”)
47When some of those who were standing there heard Jesus cry out, they said, “He’s calling for Elijah!”
48Right away one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, lifted it up on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. 49But the others said, “Leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”
50Jesus cried out again in a loud voice, and then he died.
51At that moment the curtain in front of the Most Holy Place in the temple was torn in half from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split, 52and tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53They came out of their tombs after Jesus was raised from the dead, and they went into the holy city and appeared to many people there.
54When the Roman commander and those who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and everything that had happened, they were terrified and exclaimed, “He had to be the Son of God!”
55Many women were watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to take care of his needs. 56Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.
Jesus Is Buried
57As evening approached, a rich man named Joseph from the town of Arimathea, who had become a follower of Jesus, 58went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. Pilate ordered it to be given to him. 59Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60and then he placed it in his own new tomb, which had been carved out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and then went away. But 61Mary Magdalene and the other Mary stayed there a while longer, sitting opposite the tomb.
The Guards at the Tomb
62The next day, which was the Sabbath day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 63“Sir,” they said, “we remember something that this liar said while he was still alive. He claimed, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64So give an order to make the tomb secure until the third day. If you don’t, his disciples might come and steal his body. Then they’ll tell the people that Jesus has risen from the dead, and that last lie will be worse than the first.”
65“Take some guards,” Pilate answered, “and go and make the tomb as secure as you can.” 66So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a royal seal on the stone and posting guards on duty.
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Matthew 27
27
Thirty Silver Coins
1-2In the first light of dawn, all the high priests and religious leaders met and put the finishing touches on their plot to kill Jesus. Then they tied him up and paraded him to Pilate, the governor.
3-4Judas, the one who betrayed him, realized that Jesus was doomed. Overcome with remorse, he gave back the thirty silver coins to the high priests, saying, “I’ve sinned. I’ve betrayed an innocent man.”
They said, “What do we care? That’s your problem!”
5Judas threw the silver coins into the Temple and left. Then he went out and hung himself.
6-10The high priests picked up the silver pieces, but then didn’t know what to do with them. “It wouldn’t be right to give this—a payment for murder!—as an offering in the Temple.” They decided to get rid of it by buying the “Potter’s Field” and use it as a burial place for the homeless. That’s how the field got called “Murder Meadow,” a name that has stuck to this day. Then Jeremiah’s words became history:
They took the thirty silver pieces,
The price of the one priced by some sons of Israel,
And they purchased the potter’s field.
And so they unwittingly followed the divine instructions to the letter.
Pilate
11Jesus was placed before the governor, who questioned him: “Are you the ‘King of the Jews’?”
Jesus said, “If you say so.”
12-14But when the accusations rained down hot and heavy from the high priests and religious leaders, he said nothing. Pilate asked him, “Do you hear that long list of accusations? Aren’t you going to say something?” Jesus kept silence—not a word from his mouth. The governor was impressed, really impressed.
15-18It was an old custom during the Feast for the governor to pardon a single prisoner named by the crowd. At the time, they had the infamous Jesus Barabbas in prison. With the crowd before him, Pilate said, “Which prisoner do you want me to pardon: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus the so-called Christ?” He knew it was through sheer spite that they had turned Jesus over to him.
19While court was still in session, Pilate’s wife sent him a message: “Don’t get mixed up in judging this noble man. I’ve just been through a long and troubled night because of a dream about him.”
20Meanwhile, the high priests and religious leaders had talked the crowd into asking for the pardon of Barabbas and the execution of Jesus.
21The governor asked, “Which of the two do you want me to pardon?”
They said, “Barabbas!”
22“Then what do I do with Jesus, the so-called Christ?”
They all shouted, “Nail him to a cross!”
23He objected, “But for what crime?”
But they yelled all the louder, “Nail him to a cross!”
24When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere and that a riot was imminent, he took a basin of water and washed his hands in full sight of the crowd, saying, “I’m washing my hands of responsibility for this man’s death. From now on, it’s in your hands. You’re judge and jury.”
25The crowd answered, “We’ll take the blame, we and our children after us.”
26Then he pardoned Barabbas. But he had Jesus whipped, and then handed over for crucifixion.
The Crucifixion
27-31The soldiers assigned to the governor took Jesus into the governor’s palace and got the entire brigade together for some fun. They stripped him and dressed him in a red robe. They plaited a crown from branches of a thornbush and set it on his head. They put a stick in his right hand for a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mocking reverence: “Bravo, King of the Jews!” they said. “Bravo!” Then they spit on him and hit him on the head with the stick. When they had had their fun, they took off the robe and put his own clothes back on him. Then they proceeded out to the crucifixion.
32-34Along the way they came on a man from Cyrene named Simon and made him carry Jesus’ cross. Arriving at Golgotha, the place they call “Skull Hill,” they offered him a mild painkiller (a mixture of wine and myrrh), but when he tasted it he wouldn’t drink it.
35-40After they had finished nailing him to the cross and were waiting for him to die, they killed time by throwing dice for his clothes. Above his head they had posted the criminal charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews. Along with him, they also crucified two criminals, one to his right, the other to his left. People passing along the road jeered, shaking their heads in mock lament: “You bragged that you could tear down the Temple and then rebuild it in three days—so show us your stuff! Save yourself! If you’re really God’s Son, come down from that cross!”
41-44The high priests, along with the religion scholars and leaders, were right there mixing it up with the rest of them, having a great time poking fun at him: “He saved others—he can’t save himself! King of Israel, is he? Then let him get down from that cross. We’ll all become believers then! He was so sure of God—well, let him rescue his ‘Son’ now—if he wants him! He did claim to be God’s Son, didn’t he?” Even the two criminals crucified next to him joined in the mockery.
45-46From noon to three, the whole earth was dark. Around mid-afternoon Jesus groaned out of the depths, crying loudly, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
47-49Some bystanders who heard him said, “He’s calling for Elijah.” One of them ran and got a sponge soaked in sour wine and lifted it on a stick so he could drink. The others joked, “Don’t be in such a hurry. Let’s see if Elijah comes and saves him.”
50But Jesus, again crying out loudly, breathed his last.
51-53At that moment, the Temple curtain was ripped in two, top to bottom. There was an earthquake, and rocks were split in pieces. What’s more, tombs were opened up, and many bodies of believers asleep in their graves were raised. (After Jesus’ resurrection, they left the tombs, entered the holy city, and appeared to many.)
54The captain of the guard and those with him, when they saw the earthquake and everything else that was happening, were scared to death. They said, “This has to be the Son of God!”
55-56There were also quite a few women watching from a distance, women who had followed Jesus from Galilee in order to serve him. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the Zebedee brothers.
The Tomb
57-61Late in the afternoon a wealthy man from Arimathea, a disciple of Jesus, arrived. His name was Joseph. He went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. Pilate granted his request. Joseph took the body and wrapped it in clean linens, put it in his own tomb, a new tomb only recently cut into the rock, and rolled a large stone across the entrance. Then he went off. But Mary Magdalene and the other Mary stayed, sitting in plain view of the tomb.
62-64After sundown, the high priests and Pharisees arranged a meeting with Pilate. They said, “Sir, we just remembered that that liar announced while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will be raised.’ We’ve got to get that tomb sealed until the third day. There’s a good chance his disciples will come and steal the corpse and then go around saying, ‘He’s risen from the dead.’ Then we’ll be worse off than before, the final deceit surpassing the first.”
65-66Pilate told them, “You will have a guard. Go ahead and secure it the best you can.” So they went out and secured the tomb, sealing the stone and posting guards.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.