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Judas’ Remorse

27 When it was morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court) conferred together against Jesus, [plotting how] to put Him to death [since under Roman rule they had no power to execute anyone]; so they bound Him, and led Him away and handed Him over to Pilate the governor [of Judea, who had the authority to condemn prisoners to death].

When Judas, His betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was gripped with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders,(A) saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They replied, “What is that to us? See to that yourself!” And throwing the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary, he left; and went away and [a]hanged himself. The chief priests, picking up the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put these in the treasury [of the temple], because it is the price of blood.” So after consultation they used the money to buy the Potter’s Field as a burial place for strangers. Therefore that piece of ground has been called the Field of Blood to this day. Then the words spoken by Jeremiah the prophet were fulfilled: “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of Him on whom a price had been set by the sons of Israel;(B) 10 and they gave them for the Potter’s Field, as the Lord directed me.”(C)

Jesus before Pilate

11 Now Jesus stood before [Pilate] the governor, and the governor asked Him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” [In affirmation] Jesus said to him, It is as you say.”(D) 12 But when the charges were brought against Him by the chief priests and elders, He did not answer.(E) 13 Then Pilate said to Him, “Do You not hear how many things they are testifying against You?” 14 But Jesus did not reply to him, not even to a single accusation, so that the governor was greatly astonished.

15 Now at the feast [of the Passover] the governor was in the habit of setting free any one prisoner whom the people chose.(F) 16 And at that time they were holding a notorious prisoner [guilty of insurrection and murder], called Barabbas. 17 So when they had assembled [for this purpose], Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to set free for you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” 18 For Pilate knew that it was because of jealousy that the chief priests and elders had handed Jesus over to him.

19 While he was seated on the judgment seat, his wife sent him a message, saying, “Have nothing to do with that righteous and innocent Man; for last night I suffered greatly in a dream because of Him.” 20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to put Jesus to death. 21 The governor said to them, “Which of the two do you wish me to set free for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” 22 Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all replied, “Let Him be crucified!” 23 And he said, “Why, what has He done that is evil?” But they continued shouting all the louder, “Let Him be crucified!”(G)

24 So when Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but rather that a riot was breaking out, he took water and washed his hands [to ceremonially cleanse himself of guilt] in the presence of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this [righteous] Man’s blood; see to that yourselves.”(H) 25 And all the people answered, “Let [the responsibility for] His blood be on us and on our children!”(I) 26 So he set Barabbas free for them; but after having Jesus severely whipped (scourged), he handed Him over to be crucified.

Jesus Is Mocked

27 Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into [b]the Praetorium, and they gathered the whole Roman cohort around Him.(J) 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet [c]robe on Him [as a king’s robe]. 29 And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and put a reed in His right hand [as a scepter]. Kneeling before Him, they ridiculed Him, saying, “Hail (rejoice), King of the Jews!” 30 They spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him repeatedly on the head. 31 After they finished ridiculing Him, they stripped Him of the scarlet robe and put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him.

32 Now as they were coming out, they found a man of [d]Cyrene named [e]Simon, whom they forced into service [f]to carry the cross of Jesus.(K)

The Crucifixion

33 And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means [g]Place of a Skull,(L) 34 they offered Him wine mixed with gall (myrrh, a bitter-tasting narcotic) to drink; but after tasting it, He refused to drink it.

35 And when they had crucified Him, they divided His clothes among them by casting [h]lots.(M) 36 Then sitting down there, they began to keep watch over Him [to guard against any rescue attempt]. 37 And above His head they put the accusation against Him which read, “[i]THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

38 At the same time two robbers were crucified with Jesus, one on the right and one on the left. 39 Those who passed by were hurling abuse at Him and jeering at Him, wagging their heads [in scorn and ridicule],(N) 40 and they said [tauntingly], “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself [from death]! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” 41 In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, mocked Him, saying, 42 “He saved others [from death]; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him and acknowledge Him. 43 He trusts in God; let God rescue Him now, if He delights in Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”(O) 44 The robbers who had been crucified with Him also began to insult Him in the same way.

45 Now from the sixth hour (noon) there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour (3:00 p.m.).(P) 46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud [agonized] voice, [j]Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”(Q) 47 When some of the bystanders there heard it, they began saying, “This man is calling for [k]Elijah.” 48 Immediately one of them ran, and took a sponge, soaked it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink.(R) 49 But the rest said, “Let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him [from death].” 50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud [agonized] voice, and gave up His spirit [voluntarily, sovereignly dismissing and releasing His spirit from His body in submission to His Father’s plan].(S) 51 And [at once] the veil [of the Holy of Holies] of the temple was [l]torn in two from top to bottom; the earth shook and the rocks were split apart.(T) 52 The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints (God’s people) who had fallen asleep [in death] were raised [to life]; 53 and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection, they entered the holy city (Jerusalem) and appeared to many people. 54 Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, they were terribly frightened and filled with awe, and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

55 There were also many women there looking on from a distance, who had accompanied Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him. 56 Among them was [m]Mary Magdalene, and [n]Mary the mother of [o]James and Joseph, and [Salome] the [p]mother of Zebedee’s sons [James and John].

Jesus Is Buried

57 When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus.(U) 58 He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus [so that he might bury Him], and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. 59 And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth (burial wrapping), 60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock; and he rolled a large stone over the entrance of the tomb and went away. 61 And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other [q]Mary, sitting opposite the tomb.

62 The next day, that is, the day after the [day of] preparation [for the Sabbath], the chief priests and the Pharisees assembled before Pilate, 63 and said, “Sir, we have remembered that when He was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise [from the dead].’ 64 Therefore, give orders to have the tomb made secure and safeguarded until the third day, otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last deception [the reporting of His resurrection] will be worse than the first [the reporting that He is the Messiah].” 65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard [of soldiers]; go [with them], make the tomb as secure as you know how.” 66 So they went and [r]made the tomb secure, and along with [stationing] a guard of soldiers [to be on watch] they set a seal on the stone.

Footnotes

  1. Matthew 27:5 Possibly people later threw Judas’ body over the cliff into the Valley of Hinnom where his body was mangled on the rocks below (Acts 1:18). Suicides were not given a proper burial.
  2. Matthew 27:27 The official residence of a governor of a Roman province.
  3. Matthew 27:28 A ranking Roman officer’s outer cloak.
  4. Matthew 27:32 A port city in north Africa.
  5. Matthew 27:32 The father of Alexander and Rufus, disciples in Rome.
  6. Matthew 27:32 The crossbeam was usually placed on the nape of the neck like a yoke.
  7. Matthew 27:33 Latin: Calvarius; or Calvary; Aram: Golgotha; Greek: Kranion.
  8. Matthew 27:35 This fulfilled the prophecy of Ps 22:18, “They divide My clothes among them.”
  9. Matthew 27:37 The wording of the inscription, which was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, varies slightly in each Gospel account and was probably a combination of them all, “This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”
  10. Matthew 27:46 See note John 19:30.
  11. Matthew 27:47 The Jews believed that the prophet Elijah would return before the Messiah appeared.
  12. Matthew 27:51 God tearing the veil of the Holy of Holies is significant in that it symbolizes that God’s presence was now open to all people and not just the High Priest.
  13. Matthew 27:56 Jesus delivered this woman from seven demons (Luke 8:2). She was from the town of Magdala in Galilee.
  14. Matthew 27:56 Perhaps the same Mary identified as the wife of Clopas (Gr Alphaeus). See John 19:25. Believed to be a sister or sister-in-law of Mary the mother of Jesus.
  15. Matthew 27:56 This apostle was known as James the Less or James the Younger (Mark 15:40).
  16. Matthew 27:56 Salome, believed to be a sister of Mary the mother of Jesus (John 19:25).
  17. Matthew 27:61 The mother of the apostle known as James the Less or James the Younger.
  18. Matthew 27:66 In ancient times a tomb was secured by stretching a cord across the stone, then sealing each end of the cord to the rock wall with wax. The wax was marked with the official Roman seal.

Judas Hangs Himself

27 Very early in the morning the leading priests and the elders of the people met again to lay plans for putting Jesus to death. Then they bound him, led him away, and took him to Pilate, the Roman governor.

When Judas, who had betrayed him, realized that Jesus had been condemned to die, he was filled with remorse. So he took the thirty pieces of silver back to the leading priests and the elders. “I have sinned,” he declared, “for I have betrayed an innocent man.”

“What do we care?” they retorted. “That’s your problem.”

Then Judas threw the silver coins down in the Temple and went out and hanged himself.

The leading priests picked up the coins. “It wouldn’t be right to put this money in the Temple treasury,” they said, “since it was payment for murder.”[a] After some discussion they finally decided to buy the potter’s field, and they made it into a cemetery for foreigners. That is why the field is still called the Field of Blood. This fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah that says,

“They took[b] the thirty pieces of silver—
    the price at which he was valued by the people of Israel,
10 and purchased the potter’s field,
    as the Lord directed.[c]

Jesus’ Trial before Pilate

11 Now Jesus was standing before Pilate, the Roman governor. “Are you the king of the Jews?” the governor asked him.

Jesus replied, “You have said it.”

12 But when the leading priests and the elders made their accusations against him, Jesus remained silent. 13 “Don’t you hear all these charges they are bringing against you?” Pilate demanded. 14 But Jesus made no response to any of the charges, much to the governor’s surprise.

15 Now it was the governor’s custom each year during the Passover celebration to release one prisoner to the crowd—anyone they wanted. 16 This year there was a notorious prisoner, a man named Barabbas.[d] 17 As the crowds gathered before Pilate’s house that morning, he asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you—Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” 18 (He knew very well that the religious leaders had arrested Jesus out of envy.)

19 Just then, as Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him this message: “Leave that innocent man alone. I suffered through a terrible nightmare about him last night.”

20 Meanwhile, the leading priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas to be released and for Jesus to be put to death. 21 So the governor asked again, “Which of these two do you want me to release to you?”

The crowd shouted back, “Barabbas!”

22 Pilate responded, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?”

They shouted back, “Crucify him!”

23 “Why?” Pilate demanded. “What crime has he committed?”

But the mob roared even louder, “Crucify him!”

24 Pilate saw that he wasn’t getting anywhere and that a riot was developing. So he sent for a bowl of water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. The responsibility is yours!”

25 And all the people yelled back, “We will take responsibility for his death—we and our children!”[e]

26 So Pilate released Barabbas to them. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified.

The Soldiers Mock Jesus

27 Some of the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into their headquarters[f] and called out the entire regiment. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. 29 They wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head, and they placed a reed stick in his right hand as a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!” 30 And they spit on him and grabbed the stick and struck him on the head with it. 31 When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified.

The Crucifixion

32 Along the way, they came across a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene,[g] and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. 33 And they went out to a place called Golgotha (which means “Place of the Skull”). 34 The soldiers gave Jesus wine mixed with bitter gall, but when he had tasted it, he refused to drink it.

35 After they had nailed him to the cross, the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice.[h] 36 Then they sat around and kept guard as he hung there. 37 A sign was fastened above Jesus’ head, announcing the charge against him. It read: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” 38 Two revolutionaries[i] were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.

39 The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. 40 “Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. Well then, if you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross!”

41 The leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders also mocked Jesus. 42 “He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself! So he is the King of Israel, is he? Let him come down from the cross right now, and we will believe in him! 43 He trusted God, so let God rescue him now if he wants him! For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 Even the revolutionaries who were crucified with him ridiculed him in the same way.

The Death of Jesus

45 At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. 46 At about three o’clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli,[j] lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”[k]

47 Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah. 48 One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on a reed stick so he could drink. 49 But the rest said, “Wait! Let’s see whether Elijah comes to save him.”[l]

50 Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit. 51 At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart, 52 and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead. 53 They left the cemetery after Jesus’ resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared to many people.

54 The Roman officer[m] and the other soldiers at the crucifixion were terrified by the earthquake and all that had happened. They said, “This man truly was the Son of God!”

55 And many women who had come from Galilee with Jesus to care for him were watching from a distance. 56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James and Joseph), and the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee.

The Burial of Jesus

57 As evening approached, Joseph, a rich man from Arimathea who had become a follower of Jesus, 58 went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. And Pilate issued an order to release it to him. 59 Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a long sheet of clean linen cloth. 60 He placed it in his own new tomb, which had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance and left. 61 Both Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting across from the tomb and watching.

The Guard at the Tomb

62 The next day, on the Sabbath,[n] the leading priests and Pharisees went to see Pilate. 63 They told him, “Sir, we remember what that deceiver once said while he was still alive: ‘After three days I will rise from the dead.’ 64 So we request that you seal the tomb until the third day. This will prevent his disciples from coming and stealing his body and then telling everyone he was raised from the dead! If that happens, we’ll be worse off than we were at first.”

65 Pilate replied, “Take guards and secure it the best you can.” 66 So they sealed the tomb and posted guards to protect it.

Footnotes

  1. 27:6 Greek since it is the price for blood.
  2. 27:9 Or I took.
  3. 27:9-10 Greek as the Lord directed me. Zech 11:12-13; Jer 32:6-9.
  4. 27:16 Some manuscripts read Jesus Barabbas; also in 27:17.
  5. 27:25 Greek “His blood be on us and on our children.”
  6. 27:27 Or into the Praetorium.
  7. 27:32 Cyrene was a city in northern Africa.
  8. 27:35 Greek by casting lots. A few late manuscripts add This fulfilled the word of the prophet: “They divided my garments among themselves and cast lots for my robe.” See Ps 22:18.
  9. 27:38 Or criminals; also in 27:44.
  10. 27:46a Some manuscripts read Eloi, Eloi.
  11. 27:46b Ps 22:1.
  12. 27:49 Some manuscripts add And another took a spear and pierced his side, and out flowed water and blood. Compare John 19:34.
  13. 27:54 Greek The centurion.
  14. 27:62 Or On the next day, which is after the Preparation.