Bible Reading Plan – Day 299

₁The whole group rose up and took Jesus before Pilate, ₂where they began to accuse him: “We caught this man misleading our people, telling them not to pay taxes to the Emperor and claiming that he himself is the Messiah, a king.”

₃Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

“So you say,” answered Jesus.

₄Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no reason to condemn this man.”

₅But they insisted even more strongly, “With his teaching he is starting a riot among the people all through Judea. He began in Galilee and now has come here.”

₆When Pilate heard this, he asked, “Is this man a Galilean?” ₇When he learnt that Jesus was from the region ruled by Herod, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time. ₈Herod was very pleased when he saw Jesus, because he had heard about him and had been wanting to see him for a long time. He was hoping to see Jesus perform some miracle. ₉So Herod asked Jesus many questions, but Jesus made no answer. ₁₀The chief priests and the teachers of the Law stepped forward and made strong accusations against Jesus. ₁₁Herod and his soldiers mocked Jesus and treated him with contempt; then they put a fine robe on him and sent him back to Pilate. ₁₂On that very day Herod and Pilate became friends; before this they had been enemies.

₁₃Pilate called together the chief priests, the leaders, and the people, ₁₄and said to them, “You brought this man to me and said that he was misleading the people. Now, I have examined him here in your presence, and I have not found him guilty of any of the crimes you accuse him of. ₁₅Nor did Herod find him guilty, for he sent him back to us. There is nothing this man has done to deserve death. ₁₆So I will have him whipped and let him go.”

₁₈The whole crowd cried out, “Kill him! Set Barabbas free for us!” ₁₉(Barabbas had been put in prison for a riot that had taken place in the city, and for murder.)

₂₀Pilate wanted to set Jesus free, so he appealed to the crowd again. ₂₁But they shouted back, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

₂₂Pilate said to them the third time, “But what crime has he committed? I cannot find anything he has done to deserve death! I will have him whipped and set him free.”

₂₃But they kept on shouting at the top of their voices that Jesus should be crucified, and finally their shouting succeeded. ₂₄So Pilate passed the sentence on Jesus that they were asking for. ₂₅He set free the man they wanted, the one who had been put in prison for riot and murder, and he handed Jesus over for them to do as they wished.

₂₆The soldiers led Jesus away, and as they were going, they met a man from Cyrene named Simon who was coming into the city from the country. They seized him, put the cross on him, and made him carry it behind Jesus.

₂₇A large crowd of people followed him; among them were some women who were weeping and wailing for him. ₂₈Jesus turned to them and said, “Women of Jerusalem! Don't cry for me, but for yourselves and your children. ₂₉For the days are coming when people will say, ‘How lucky are the women who never had children, who never bore babies, who never nursed them!’ ₃₀That will be the time when people will say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Hide us!’ ₃₁For if such things as these are done when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

₃₂Two other men, both of them criminals, were also led out to be put to death with Jesus. ₃₃When they came to the place called “The Skull”, they crucified Jesus there, and the two criminals, one on his right and the other on his left. ₃₄Jesus said, “Forgive them, Father! They don't know what they are doing.”

They divided his clothes among themselves by throwing dice. ₃₅The people stood there watching while the Jewish leaders jeered at him: “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah whom God has chosen!”

₃₆The soldiers also mocked him: they came up to him and offered him cheap wine, ₃₇and said, “Save yourself if you are the king of the Jews!”

₃₈Above him were written these words: “This is the King of the Jews.”

₃₉One of the criminals hanging there hurled insults at him: “Aren't you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

₄₀The other one, however, rebuked him, saying, “Don't you fear God? You received the same sentence he did. ₄₁Ours, however, is only right, because we are getting what we deserve for what we did; but he has done no wrong.” ₄₂And he said to Jesus, “Remember me, Jesus, when you come as King!”

₄₃Jesus said to him, “I promise you that today you will be in Paradise with me.”

_44-45It was about twelve o'clock when the sun stopped shining and darkness covered the whole country until three o'clock; and the curtain hanging in the Temple was torn in two. ₄₆Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Father! In your hands I place my spirit!” He said this and died.

₄₇The army officer saw what had happened, and he praised God, saying, “Certainly he was a good man!”

₄₈When the people who had gathered there to watch the spectacle saw what happened, they all went back home, beating their breasts in sorrow. ₄₉All those who knew Jesus personally, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance to watch.

_50-51There was a man named Joseph from Arimathea, a town in Judea. He was a good and honourable man, who was waiting for the coming of the Kingdom of God. Although he was a member of the Council, he had not agreed with their decision and action. ₅₂He went into the presence of Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. ₅₃Then he took the body down, wrapped it in a linen sheet, and placed it in a tomb which had been dug out of solid rock and which had never been used. ₅₄It was Friday, and the Sabbath was about to begin.

₅₅The women who had followed Jesus from Galilee went with Joseph and saw the tomb and how Jesus' body was placed in it. ₅₆Then they went back home and prepared the spices and perfumes for the body.

On the Sabbath they rested, as the Law commanded.

₁Very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, carrying the spices they had prepared. ₂They found the stone rolled away from the entrance to the tomb, ₃so they went in; but they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ₄They stood there puzzled about this, when suddenly two men in bright shining clothes stood by them. ₅Full of fear, the women bowed down to the ground, as the men said to them, “Why are you looking among the dead for one who is alive? ₆He is not here; he has been raised. Remember what he said to you while he was in Galilee: ₇‘The Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, be crucified, and three days later rise to life.’ ”

₈Then the women remembered his words, ₉returned from the tomb, and told all these things to the eleven disciples and all the rest. ₁₀The women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; they and the other women with them told these things to the apostles. ₁₁But the apostles thought that what the women said was nonsense, and they did not believe them. ₁₂But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; he bent down and saw the linen wrappings but nothing else. Then he went back home amazed at what had happened.

₁₃On that same day two of Jesus' followers were going to a village named Emmaus, about eleven kilometres from Jerusalem, ₁₄and they were talking to each other about all the things that had happened. ₁₅As they talked and discussed, Jesus himself drew near and walked along with them; ₁₆they saw him, but somehow did not recognize him. ₁₇Jesus said to them, “What are you talking about to each other, as you walk along?”

They stood still, with sad faces. ₁₈One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who doesn't know the things that have been happening there these last few days?”

₁₉“What things?” he asked.

“The things that happened to Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered. “This man was a prophet and was considered by God and by all the people to be powerful in everything he said and did. ₂₀Our chief priests and rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and he was crucified. ₂₁And we had hoped that he would be the one who was going to set Israel free! Besides all that, this is now the third day since it happened. ₂₂Some of the women of our group surprised us; they went at dawn to the tomb, ₂₃but could not find his body. They came back saying they had seen a vision of angels who told them that he is alive. ₂₄Some of our group went to the tomb and found it exactly as the women had said, but they did not see him.”

₂₅Then Jesus said to them, “How foolish you are, how slow you are to believe everything the prophets said! ₂₆Was it not necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things and then to enter his glory?” ₂₇And Jesus explained to them what was said about himself in all the Scriptures, beginning with the books of Moses and the writings of all the prophets.

₂₈As they came near the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther; ₂₉but they held him back, saying, “Stay with us; the day is almost over and it is getting dark.” So he went in to stay with them. ₃₀He sat down to eat with them, took the bread, and said the blessing; then he broke the bread and gave it to them. ₃₁Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he disappeared from their sight. ₃₂They said to each other, “Wasn't it like a fire burning in us when he talked to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?”

₃₃They got up at once and went back to Jerusalem, where they found the eleven disciples gathered together with the others ₃₄and saying, “The Lord is risen indeed! He has appeared to Simon!”

₃₅The two then explained to them what had happened on the road, and how they had recognized the Lord when he broke the bread.

₃₆While the two were telling them this, suddenly the Lord himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

₃₇They were terrified, thinking that they were seeing a ghost. ₃₈But he said to them, “Why are you alarmed? Why are these doubts coming up in your minds? ₃₉Look at my hands and my feet, and see that it is I myself. Feel me, and you will know, for a ghost doesn't have flesh and bones, as you can see I have.”

₄₀He said this and showed them his hands and his feet. ₄₁They still could not believe, they were so full of joy and wonder; so he asked them, “Have you anything here to eat?” ₄₂They gave him a piece of cooked fish, ₄₃which he took and ate in their presence.

₄₄Then he said to them, “These are the very things I told you about while I was still with you: everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the writings of the prophets, and the Psalms had to come true.”

₄₅Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, ₄₆and said to them, “This is what is written: the Messiah must suffer and must rise from death three days later, ₄₇and in his name the message about repentance and the forgiveness of sins must be preached to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem. ₄₈You are witnesses of these things. ₄₉And I myself will send upon you what my Father has promised. But you must wait in the city until the power from above comes down upon you.”

₅₀Then he led them out of the city as far as Bethany, where he raised his hands and blessed them. ₅₁As he was blessing them, he departed from them and was taken up into heaven. ₅₂They worshipped him and went back into Jerusalem, filled with great joy, ₅₃and spent all their time in the Temple giving thanks to God.