Mark 15

₁Early the next morning the chief_priests came together with the Jewish_Council. The family leaders and teachers_of_the_Laws were also there. They tied Jesus' hands and they took Him away to Pilate. They asked Pilate to punish Jesus. ₂Pilate asked Jesus: ‘Are You the King_of_the_Jews?’ Jesus answered him: ‘Yes, it is as you say.’

₃The chief_priests accused Jesus of many things. ₄Pilate asked Jesus again: ‘Why don't You say something? They accuse You of so many things.’ ₅Pilate was surprised because Jesus did not say anything more.

₆Every year on the Passover, Pilate took one prisoner from jail and he let him go free. The people could choose which prisoner they wanted to let go free. ₇One of the men in jail was Barabbas. He was in jail with other men because they had killed a man when they rebelled_against the Romans. ₈Many people went to Pilate and asked him to let someone go free from jail as he did every year. ₉Pilate asked them: ‘Do you want me to let the King_of_the_Jews go free?’

₁₀Pilate knew that the chief_priests had brought Jesus to him because they were jealous. ₁₁The chief_priests told the crowd of people to ask Pilate to let Barabbas go free, not Jesus. ₁₂Then Pilate asked them: ‘What do you want me to do with this Man who you say is the King_of_the_Jews?’ ₁₃The people shouted: ‘You must crucify Him.’

₁₄Pilate asked them: ‘What has He done wrong?’ But the people shouted_more_loudly: ‘You must crucify Him.’

₁₅Pilate decided to do what the crowd of people wanted. He let Barabbas go free from jail. He told the soldiers to beat Jesus with a whip and crucify Him.

₁₆The soldiers took Jesus to a place in front of the Roman governor's house. They called all the other soldiers to come. ₁₇They put a purple_robe on Jesus and they made a crown of thorn branches and put it on his head. ₁₈The soldiers laughed at Jesus and said: ‘We greet You, King_of_the_Jews.’

₁₉They continued to beat Jesus on his head with a thick stick. They kept on spitting on Him and they knelt before Him as people kneel before a king. ₂₀After they had mocked Jesus, they took off the purple_robe and they put on his own clothes.

The soldiers took Jesus away to crucify Him. ₂₁A man walked past them. His name was Simon and he was from the town of Cyrene. He was the father of Alexander and Rufus. He came from outside the city. The soldiers told Simon to carry the cross of Jesus. ₂₂They took Jesus to Golgotha. The name Golgotha means: ‘Place of the Skull’. ₂₃They tried to give Jesus wine and myrrh but He did not drink it. ₂₄Then they crucified Jesus and they took his clothes for themselves. They drew_lots to see what piece of the clothes each one would get.

₂₅It was about the 3rd hour (9 o'clock in the morning) when they crucified Jesus. ₂₆Above his head they wrote why they had crucified Him. They wrote: ‘The King_of_the_Jews’.

_27-28They also crucified 2 thieves with Jesus, one on his right hand side and the other on his left hand side. ₂₉The people who walked past the cross wanted to humiliate Jesus. They showed that they were pleased about what had happened to Him and they said: ‘You said You would break down the temple and build it again in 3 days. ₃₀Save Yourself and come down from the cross.’

₃₁The chief_priests and the teachers_of_the_Laws also mocked Jesus. They said to each other: ‘He saved other people but He can not save Himself. ₃₂If He is the Messiah, the King_of_Israel, let Him come down from the cross. If we see that, we will believe in Him.’

The 2 thieves on the crosses next to Jesus also said bad things to Him.

₃₃About the 6th hour (12 o'clock) it became dark in the whole land and it was dark for 3 hours. ₃₄Then Jesus shouted with a loud voice: ‘Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?’ It means: ‘My God, my God, why have You left Me?’

₃₅Some of the people who were standing there heard what Jesus said and they said: ‘He is calling for Elijah.’

₃₆One of the soldiers ran and took a sponge. He put it in vinegar wine and he put it on a stick and tried to give it to Jesus. He said: ‘We must wait and see if Elijah will come and take Him down from the cross.’

₃₇Jesus shouted_loudly and then He died. ₃₈The curtain in the temple tore from the top down to the bottom and there were 2 pieces.

₃₉The Roman officer was standing in front of Jesus. When he saw how Jesus died, he said: ‘This Man was really the Son of God.’

₄₀There were a few women who stood a little further away and looked at Jesus. They were Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of little James, Joses and Salome. ₄₁When Jesus was in the province of Galilee, these women had always followed Him and helped Him. There were also a lot of other women who followed Him to Jerusalem.

₄₂It was late on the Friday afternoon on the day that the Jews prepared everything for the Sabbath day. ₄₃Joseph from the town of Arimathea was an important man in the Jewish_Council. He also waited for the time when God would be King over everyone. Joseph went to Pilate. He was brave to ask if he could take the body of Jesus. ₄₄Pilate was surprised when they told him that Jesus was already dead. He called the captain of the Roman soldiers and asked him if Jesus was dead. ₄₅The captain said: ‘Yes, He has died.’

Then Pilate gave the body to Joseph. ₄₆Joseph bought a linen cloth and he took Christ's body down from the cross. He put the body in the cloth and he put it into a tomb that was cut into a big rock. Then he rolled a big stone in front of the door to the tomb. ₄₇Mary Magdalene and Mary, Joses' mother, saw where Joseph buried Jesus.