Saturday Scripture: Luke 23-24

Jesus Before Pilate and Herod

Then the whole body of them got up and brought him before Pilate. And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.

So Pilate asked him, saying, Are you the king of the Jews? And he answered him and said, It is as you say. Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, I find no guilt in this man. But they kept on insisting, saying, He stirs up the people, teaching all over Judea, starting from Galilee even as far as this place.

When Pilate heard it, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. And when he learned that he belonged to Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who himself also was in Jerusalem at that time. Now Herod was very glad when he saw Jesus, for he had wanted to see him for a long time, because he had been hearing about him and was hoping to see some sign performed by him.

And he questioned him at some length, but he answered him nothing. And the chief priests and the scribes were standing there, accusing him vehemently. And Herod with his soldiers, after treating him with contempt and mocking him, dressed him in a gorgeous robe and sent him back to Pilate.

Now Herod and Pilate became friends with one another that very day, for before they had been enemies with each other. Pilate summoned the chief priests and the rulers and the people and said to them, You brought this man to me as one who incites the people to rebellion.

And behold, having examined him before you, I have found no guilt in this man regarding the charges which you make against him. No, nor has Herod, for he sent him back to us. And behold, nothing deserving death has been done by him.

Therefore I will punish him and release him. Now he was obliged to release to them at the feast one prisoner. But they cried out all together, saying, Away with this man, and release for us Barabbas. He was one who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection made in the city and for murder.

Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again. But they kept on calling out, saying, Crucify, crucify him. And he said to them the third time, Why? What evil has this man done? I have found in him no guilt demanding death.

Therefore I will punish him and release him. But they were insistent, with loud voices, asking that he be crucified. And their voices began to prevail. And Pilate pronounced sentence, that their demand be granted.

And he released the man they were asking for, who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder. But he delivered Jesus to their will. When they led him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, coming in from the country, and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus.

The Crucifixion and the Two Criminals

And following him was a large crowd of people, and of women who were mourning and lamenting him. But Jesus turning to them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.

For behold, the days are coming when they will say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed. Then they will begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us, and to the hills cover us.

For if they do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry? Two others, also who were criminals, were being led away to be put to death with him. When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left.

But Jesus was saying, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. And they cast lots, dividing up his garments among themselves. And the people stood by, looking on, and even the rulers were sneering at him, saying, He saved others, let him save himself, if this is the Christ of God, his chosen one.

The soldiers also mocked him, coming up to him, offering him sour wine, and saying, If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself. Now there was also an inscription above him, This is the king of the Jews.

One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at him, saying, Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us. But the other answered, and rebuking him, said, Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?

And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds. But this man has done nothing wrong. And he was saying, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And he said to him, Truly I say to you, Today you shall be with me in paradise.

It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, because the sun was obscured, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.

Having said this, he breathed his last. Now, when the centurion saw what had happened, he began praising God, saying, Certainly this man was innocent. And all the crowds who came together for this spectacle, when they observed what had happened, began to return, beating their breasts.

And all his acquaintances, and the women who accompanied him from Galilee, were standing at a distance, seeing these things. And a man named Joseph, who was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, he had not consented to their plan and action, a man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was waiting for the kingdom of God, this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.

And he took it down, and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain. It was the preparation day, and the sabbath was about to begin. Now the women who had come with him out of Galilee followed, and saw the tomb and how his body was laid.

The Empty Tomb and the Angels' Message

Then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes, and on the sabbath they rested according to the commandment. Luke chapter 24. But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared, and they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.

But when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing. And as the women were terrified, and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, Why do you seek the living one among the dead?

He is not here, but he has risen. Remember how he spoke to you while he was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.

And they remembered his words, and returned from the tomb, and reported all these things to the eleven, and to all the rest. Now they were Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James. Also the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles.

But these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb, stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings only, and he went away to his home, marveling at what had happened.

The Road to Emmaus and the Scriptures Concerning Christ

And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place.

While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself approached and began traveling with them. But their eyes were prevented from recognizing him. And he said to them, What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?

And they stood still, looking sad. One of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to him, Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days? And he said to them, What things?

And they said to him, The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet, mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to the sentence of death and crucified him.

But we were hoping that it was he who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened. But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive.

Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it exactly as the women also had said, but him they did not see. And he said to them, O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken, was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into his glory?

Then, beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, he explained to them the things concerning himself in all the scriptures. And they approached the village where they were going, and he acted as though he were going farther.

But they urged him, saying, Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day is now nearly over. So he went in to stay with them. When he had reclined at the table with them, he took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, he began giving it to them.

Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he vanished from their sight. They said to one another, Were not our hearts burning within us while he was speaking to us on the road, while he was explaining the scriptures to us?

And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found gathered together the eleven and those who were with them, saying, The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon. They began to relate their experiences on the road and how he was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.

The Risen Christ Appears to the Disciples

While they were telling these things, he himself stood in their midst and said to them, Peace be to you. But they were startled and frightened and thought that they were seeing a spirit. And he said to them, Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?

See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see that I have. And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While they still could not believe it, because of their joy and amazement, he said to them, Have you anything here to eat?

They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it before them. Now he said to them, These are my words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.

Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. And he said to them, Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

You are witnesses of these things, and behold, I am sending forth the promise of my Father upon you, but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high. And he led them out as far as Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them.

While he was blessing them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they, after worshipping him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple, praising God.

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