MAT 27
27
Jesus Brought Before Pilate
Mk. 15:1; Lk. 23:1-2; Jn. 18:28-32
1 When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people held a formal council meeting to take official action against Jesus with the goal of executing Him.
2 After binding Him with ropes, they led Him away and delivered Him over to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor.
Judas Hangs Himself
Acts 1:18-19
3 Then Judas, the one who had betrayed Jesus, saw that Jesus had been condemned to death by the Sanhedrin. Overcome with remorse, he returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders.
4 He said to them, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood—a righteous man who did no wrong." But they responded coldly, "What is that to us? That is your problem. See to it yourself."
5 Judas threw the pieces of silver onto the floor of the temple and departed from them. Then he went away and hanged himself in despair, unable to live with what he had done.
6 The chief priests picked up the silver coins and said, "It is not lawful to put these into the temple treasury, because this is blood money—the price paid for a man's life."
7 So after discussing the matter and taking counsel together, they used the money to purchase the potter's field as a burial place for foreigners and strangers who died in Jerusalem.
8 For this reason, that field has been called the Field of Blood from that day to this very day.
9 Then the prophecy spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, which said, "And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of the One who had been valued and appraised, on whom a price had been set by the sons of Israel.
10 And they gave the silver coins for the potter's field, just as the Lord commanded me."
Jesus Questioned by Pilate
Mk. 15:2-5; Lk. 23:3-5; Jn. 18:33-38
11 Jesus now stood before the governor Pontius Pilate for interrogation. The governor questioned Him directly, asking, "Are You the King of the Jews?" And Jesus said, “You say so.”
12 When Jesus was being accused by the chief priests and elders with many charges, He answered nothing in His own defence.
13 Then Pilate said to Him in amazement, "Do You not hear how many serious things they are testifying against You? Will You not defend Yourself?"
14 But Jesus did not respond to Pilate at all, not even to a single accusation, so that the governor was extremely amazed at His silence and composure.
Jesus Condemned to Death
Mk. 15:6-15; Lk. 23:13-25; Jn. 18:39–19:16
15 Now it was the governor's custom at the Passover Feast to release one prisoner to the crowd, whichever prisoner they preferred as an act of goodwill.
16 At that time, the Romans were holding a notorious and well-known prisoner named Barabbas, who was guilty of insurrection and murder.
17 So when the crowd had gathered together in front of Pilate's residence, Pilate asked them, "Which prisoner do you prefer that I release to you—Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?"
18 Pilate asked this because he understood clearly that the religious leaders had delivered Jesus over to him because of envy, not because of any real crime.
19 While Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat deliberating, his wife sent an urgent message to him, warning, "Have nothing to do with condemning that righteous Man, for I have suffered many disturbing things today in a dream because of Him."
20 But the chief priests and elders worked through the crowd, persuading and convincing them to ask for Barabbas to be released and for Jesus to be destroyed.
21 The governor asked them again, "Which of the two do you prefer that I release to you?" The crowd shouted back, "Barabbas!"
22 Pilate said to them, "What then shall I do with Jesus, the One who is called Christ?" They all shouted together, "Let Him be crucified!"
23 Pilate asked, "Why? What evil has He done? What crime has He committed?" But they kept crying out with even greater intensity and volume, "Let Him be crucified!"
24 When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing and making no progress, but rather that a riot was beginning to develop, he took water and washed his hands ceremonially before the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this Man. I bear no responsibility for His death. You must answer for it yourselves."
25 In response, all the people shouted, "His blood be upon us and upon our children! We accept responsibility for His death."
26 Then Pilate released Barabbas to them as they had requested. After having Jesus brutally scourged with a Roman whip embedded with metal and bone, Pilate delivered Him over to the soldiers to be crucified.
Jesus Derided by the Soldiers
Mk. 15:16-20; Jn. 19:2-3
27 Then the Roman soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium—the governor's headquarters—and gathered the entire cohort of soldiers around Him, numbering several hundred men.
28 They stripped off His clothes, humiliating Him, and put a scarlet military cloak around Him in mockery.
29 They twisted together a crown made of thorns and placed it on His head, causing Him pain and bleeding. They put a reed in His right hand as a mock sceptre. Then they knelt down before Him in false homage and derided Him cruelly, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!"
30 They spit on Him in contempt, took the reed from His hand, and repeatedly struck Him on the head, driving the thorns deeper into His skull.
31 After they had mocked and abused Him thoroughly, they stripped off the scarlet cloak and put His own clothes back on Him. Then they led Him away to crucify Him.
Jesus is Crucified
Mk. 15:21-32; Lk. 23:26-43; Jn. 19:17-27
32 As they were going out of the city towards the place of execution, they found a man from Cyrene named Simon. The soldiers compelled him to carry Jesus' cross, as Jesus was too weakened from the scourging to carry it Himself.
33 When they arrived at a place called Golgotha, which means "Place of a Skull" because of its appearance,
34 the soldiers offered Jesus wine mixed with gall—a bitter substance intended to dull pain. But after tasting it, Jesus refused to drink it, choosing to remain fully conscious during His suffering.
35 After they had crucified Him by driving nails through His hands and feet, they divided His garments among themselves by casting lots to determine who would receive which piece.
36 Then the soldiers sat down and kept watch over Him at that place, guarding Him to ensure He died and that His followers did not attempt a rescue.
37 Above His head they placed a written notice stating the charge against Him: "This is Jesus, the King of the Jews."
38 Two robbers were also crucified alongside Jesus, one on His right side and one on His left.
39 Those who passed by on the road hurled insults and spoke evil against Him, shaking their heads in contempt and mockery.
40 They said, "You who claimed You would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You really are the Son of God, come down from the cross and prove it!"
41 In the same manner, the chief priests, along with the scribes and elders, were also mocking Him among themselves.
42 They said sarcastically, "He saved others by His miracles, yet He cannot save Himself! He claims to be the King of Israel. Let Him come down from the cross right now, and then we will believe in Him.
43 He has put His trust and confidence in God. Let God rescue Him now, if God truly delights in Him and desires to save Him. After all, He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"
44 Even the two robbers who were crucified with Him were insulting and reviling Him in the same way.
The Death of Jesus
Mk. 15:33-41; Lk. 23:44-49; Jn. 19:28-30
45 From the sixth hour (noon) until the ninth hour (three o’clock in the afternoon), a supernatural darkness came over the whole land.
46 At approximately three o'clock in the afternoon, Jesus cried out with a loud voice in Aramaic, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
47 Some of those standing nearby, when they heard Him cry out, misunderstood and said, "This man is calling for Elijah the prophet to come and save Him."
48 Immediately, one of the bystanders ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a reed, and lifted it up to Jesus' lips to give Him a drink.
49 But the rest of the crowd said, "Leave Him alone for now. Let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him from death."
50 Then Jesus cried out once more with a loud voice and voluntarily yielded up His spirit.
51 At that very moment, the thick curtain of the temple that separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom by an unseen hand—signifying that the way into God's presence was now open to all. The earth shook violently, and the rocks were split apart by the earthquake.
52 The tombs were also opened by the earthquake, and many bodies of the saints—believers who had died in faith—were raised from death.
53 These resurrected saints came out of their tombs after Jesus' own resurrection, entered Jerusalem, the holy city, and appeared to many people as witnesses of the power of Christ's resurrection.
54 Now the Roman centurion and those soldiers who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, witnessed the earthquake and all the extraordinary things that happened. They were filled with great fear and awe, saying, "Truly, this was God's Son! This man was righteous and divine."
55 Many women were present at that place, watching from a distance. These were women who had followed Jesus from Galilee and had been ministering to Him and supporting His ministry with their resources.
56 Among these faithful women were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee's sons, James and John. They remained nearby, witnessing His death when most of the male disciples had fled.
The Burial of Jesus
Mk. 15:42-47; Lk. 23:50-56; Jn. 19:38-42
57 When evening had arrived, there came a rich man from the town of Arimathea named Joseph, who was himself also a disciple of Jesus, though he had kept this fact secret out of fear.
58 This man courageously came to Pilate and requested permission to take the body of Jesus for burial. Pilate ordered that the body be given to him.
59 Joseph took the body of Jesus down from the cross, wrapped it carefully in a clean linen cloth for burial.
60 He laid the body in his own new tomb, which he had recently cut out of the solid rock. Then he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb to seal it, and departed from the place.
61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary remained there, sitting opposite the tomb, keeping watch and observing where Jesus had been laid.
The Guard of Soldiers at the Tomb
62 On the following day, which was the day after the Preparation Day—the Sabbath—the chief priests and the Pharisees went together before Pilate with a request.
63 They said, "Sir, we remember that while He was still alive, that deceiver Jesus said, 'After three days I will rise from the dead.'
64 Therefore, we request that you order the tomb to be made secure and guarded until the third day. Otherwise, His disciples might come during the night and steal His body, then tell the people, 'He has been raised from the dead.' If that happens, this last deception will be worse than the first deception of His messianic claims."
65 Pilate said to them, "You have a guard of soldiers at your disposal. Go and make the tomb as secure as you know how to make it."
66 So they went to the tomb and secured it by sealing the stone and posting a guard of soldiers to watch it continuously.
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MAT 27: AFINT
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Copyright © 2026 Michael Adeyemi Adegbola. This Scripture text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).
