Pilate

They bound Him, led Him away, and handed Him over to Pilate the governor.

Then Pilate asked Him, “Do You not hear how many charges they are bringing against You?”

So when the crowd had assembled, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?”

“What then should I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” Pilate asked. They all answered, “Crucify Him!”

When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but that instead a riot was breaking out, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “You bear the responsibility.”

He went to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him.

The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and Pharisees assembled before Pilate.

“You have a guard,” Pilate said. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.”

Early in the morning, the chief priests, elders, scribes, and the whole Sanhedrin devised a plan. They bound Jesus, led Him away, and handed Him over to Pilate.

So Pilate questioned Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” “You have said so,” Jesus replied.

Then Pilate questioned Him again, “Have You no answer? Look how many charges they are bringing against You!”

But to Pilate’s amazement, Jesus made no further reply.

“Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” Pilate asked.

So Pilate asked them again, “What then do you want me to do with the One you call the King of the Jews?”

“Why?” asked Pilate. “What evil has He done?” But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify Him!”

And wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed Him over to be crucified.

Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent Council member who himself was waiting for the kingdom of God, boldly went to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus.

Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus was already dead, so he summoned the centurion to ask if this was so.

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,

At that time some of those present told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.

Then the whole council rose and led Jesus away to Pilate.

So Pilate asked Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” “You have said so,” Jesus replied.

Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”

When Pilate heard this, he asked if the man was a Galilean.

And even Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked Him. Dressing Him in a fine robe, they sent Him back to Pilate.

That day Herod and Pilate became friends; before this time they had been enemies.

Then Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people,

Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate addressed them again,

So Pilate sentenced that their demand be met.

He went to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus.

So Pilate went out to them and asked, “What accusation are you bringing against this man?”

“You take Him and judge Him by your own law,” Pilate told them. “We are not permitted to execute anyone,” the Jews replied.

Pilate went back into the Praetorium, summoned Jesus, and asked Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?”

“Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed You over to me. What have You done?”

“Then You are a king!” Pilate said. “You say that I am a king,” Jesus answered. “For this reason I was born and have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to My voice.”

“What is truth?” Pilate asked. And having said this, he went out again to the Jews and told them, “I find no basis for a charge against Him.

Then Pilate took Jesus and had Him flogged.

Once again Pilate came out and said to the Jews, “Look, I am bringing Him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against Him.”

As soon as the chief priests and officers saw Him, they shouted, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” “You take Him and crucify Him,” Pilate replied, “for I find no basis for a charge against Him.”

When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid,

So Pilate said to Him, “Do You refuse to speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You and authority to crucify You?”

From then on, Pilate tried to release Him, but the Jews kept shouting, “If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who declares himself a king is defying Caesar.”

When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat on the judgment seat at a place called the Stone Pavement, which in Hebrew is Gabbatha.

At this, they shouted, “Away with Him! Away with Him! Crucify Him!” “Shall I crucify your King?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” replied the chief priests.

Pilate also had a notice posted on the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but only that He said, ‘I am the King of the Jews.’”

Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

It was the day of Preparation, and the next day was a High Sabbath. In order that the bodies would not remain on the cross during the Sabbath, the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies removed.

Afterward, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus (but secretly for fear of the Jews), asked Pilate to let him remove the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission, so he came and removed His body.

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus. You handed Him over and rejected Him before Pilate, even though he had decided to release Him.

In fact, this is the very city where Herod and Pontius Pilate conspired with the Gentiles and the people of Israel against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed.

And though they found no ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have Him executed.

I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who made the good confession in His testimony before Pontius Pilate: