ken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will
disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept
bitterly.
The guards mock Jesus
Luke 22:63-65
The men who were guarding Jesus began mocking
and beating him. They blindfolded him and demanded,
“Prophesy! Who hit you?”
And they said many other insulting things to him.
Judas hangs himself
Matthew 27:1-5
Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the
elders of the people came to the decision to put Jesus
to death.
They bound him, led him away and handed him over
to Pilate, the governor.
When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus
was condemned, he was seized with remorse and re-
turned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and
the elders.
“I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed inno-
cent blood.”
“What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your re-
sponsibility.”
So Judas threw the money into the temple and left.
Then he went away and hanged himself.
Jesus before Pilate and Herod
Luke 22:66 - 23:25
At daybreak the council of the elders of the people,
both the chief priests and teachers of the law, met to-
gether, and Jesus was led before them. “If you are the
Christ,” they said, “tell us.”
Jesus answered, “If I tell you, you will not believe
me, and if I asked would not answer. But from now on,
the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the
mighty God.”
They all asked, “Are you then the Son of God?”
He replied, “You are right in saying I am.”
Then they said, “Why do we need any more testi-
mony? We have heard it from his own lips.”
Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to
Pilate. And they began to accuse him, saying, “We
have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes
payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a
king.”
So Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the
Jews?”
“Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied.
Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the
crowd, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”
But they insisted, “He stirs up the people all over
Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has
come all the way here.”
On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Gali-
lean. When he learned that Jesus was under Herod’s
jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Je-
rusalem at that time.
When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, be-
cause for a long time he had been wanting to see him.
From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him
perform some miracle.
He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave
him no answer. The chief priests and the teachers of the
law were standing there, vehemently accusing him.
Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked
him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him
back to Pilate.
That day Herod and Pilate became friends – before
this they had been enemies.
Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and
the people, and said to them, “You brought me this man
as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have
examined him in your presence and have found no basis
for your charges against him. Neither has Herod, for he
sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing
to deserve death. Therefore, I will punish him and then
release him.”
With one voice they cried out, “Away with this man!
Release Barabbas to us!” (Barabbas had been thrown
into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for mur-
der.)
Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them
again. But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify
him!”
For the third time he spoke to them: “Why? What
crime has this man committed? I have found in him
no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have
him punished and then release him.”
But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that
he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. So Pilate
decided to grant their demand.
He released the man who had been thrown into pris-
on for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for,
and surrendered Jesus to their will.
Jesus sentenced to be crucified
John 19:1-16
Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. The sol-
diers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on
his head. They clothed him in a purple robe and went
up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the
Jews!” And they struck him in the face.
Once more 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.”
When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns
and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the
man!”
As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw
him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”
But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him.
As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”
The Jews insisted, “We have a law, and according to
that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son
of God.”
When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, and
he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come
from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer.
“Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t
you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify
you?”
Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me
if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the
one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater
sin.”
From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the
Jews kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no
friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king op-
poses Caesar.”
When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat
down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone
Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). It was the
day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth
hour.
“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.
But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away!
Crucify him!”
“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.
Senior Connections HJ.COM
Senior
�����������������������������������������
������������������������������������������
�����������������������������
����������������
�����������
��������������
��������������������
������������������
������������������������
��������������������������
�����������������
“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests an-
swered.
Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be cruci-
fied.
The crucifixion
Luke 23:26-43
As they led him away, they seized Simon from
Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and
put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Je-
sus.
More EASTER on Pg 4
Connections April 2019
3