Trial and Crucifixion – Matthew 27:11-56

The Story in a Nutshell

The story continues…

The next day, after Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, the chief priests and religious leaders decided they wanted Jesus put to death.  So, they handed him over to Pilate, the Roman governor.

Pilate asked Jesus, Are you the king of the Jews?”  Jesus answered, “Yes.”  But when Jesus was accused of crimes by the chief priests and religious leaders, he said nothing.
That amazed Pilate.  “Didn’t you hear the charges brought against you?” Pilate asked.  Jesus gave no reply.  This fulfilled prophecy of the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 53:7).

Pilate knew that the chief priests and religious leaders were plotting against Jesus.  He wanted to let Jesus go, but the case was causing so much turmoil that he couldn’t.  He did, however, have an idea.

At the Feast of the Passover it was the governor’s custom to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd.  He decided to give the crowd the choice of releasing a very bad prisoner named Barabbas or releasing Jesus who had done nothing.  Pilate was hoping that the crowd would ask him to release Jesus, but the chief priests and religious leaders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas. When the crowd cried out for Barabbas, Pilate asked, “What then shall I do with Jesus?  And they replied, “Crucify him!”

Now Pilate was stuck.  The crowd was growing restless, so he had to do something fast.  Pilate took a basin of water, washed his hands, and said to the crowd, “I am innocent of this man’s blood.”  To which the crowd replied, “Let his blood be on us and our children.”  Pilate then handed Jesus over to his soldiers to be crucified.

The governor’s soldiers took Jesus away, stripped him of his clothes, and put a scarlet robe on him.  Then they made a crown of thorns and set it on his head.  They put a staff in his right hand, knelt before him and mocked him saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!”  Next they spit on him and beat him about the head again and again.  Finally, they led him away to be crucified.

Jesus would be crucified at Golgotha; two criminals would be crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.  As Jesus was on the cross, onlookers passed by shouting insults.  They shouted, “Save yourself!  If you are the Son of God come down from the cross.” 

The chief priests and religious leaders also mocked him.  “He saved others,” they said, but he can’t save himself.”  They also said that if he came down from the cross they would believe in him.  And, if he was the Son of God as he claimed, then God should rescue him.  But that wasn’t going to happen because Scripture needed to be fulfilled.

From noon until 3 pm while Jesus was on the cross darkness filled the land.  Then Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “My God, My God why have you forsaken me?”  Some in the crowd thought he was calling for Elijah, so they got a sponge, filled it with wine vinegar and offered Jesus a drink.  Others said, “Leave him alone.  Let’s see if Elijah will come and rescue him.”  Then Jesus cried out again in a loud voice and gave up his spirit.

At the moment Jesus cried out the second time, the curtain of the temple was torn apart from top to bottom, the earth shook and rocks spit apart, and many tombs broke open with bodies of holy people coming out and being raised to life.   After Jesus was resurrected these bodies would go into the city and appear to many people.

When the soldiers guarding the crucifixion felt the earthquake and witnessed everything that happened, they were terrified.  They said, “Surely he was the Son of God!”

And from a distance many women watched – Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, the mother of Zebedee’s sons James and John and others. 

To be continued…

What did you learn from the story?

If you want to gain a full understanding of the complete story, and for help in answering some of the questions below, you may want to have the following items as additional resources:  a Bible, a dictionary, and a Bible commentary on the Book of Matthew (optional).

1. After Jesus was arrested, what did the religious leaders decide they wanted to do?
2. How were they going to do this?
3. What did Jesus do when the chief priests and religious leaders accused him of crimes?
4. What did Pilate think of this?  What did Pilate ask Jesus?
5. Why didn’t Jesus give a reply to the chief priests and religious leaders?
6. What did Pilate want to do with Jesus?  Why didn’t he do it?
7. What was the governor’s custom at the Passover festival?
8.  Why didn’t Pilate release Jesus?
9. What did the crowd want done with Jesus?
10. What did Pilate do to remove himself from problem with Jesus?
11. When Jesus was turned over to the governor’s soldiers, what did they do?
12. What do you know about the actual crucifixion of Jesus?
13. What did onlookers, the chief priests, and religious leaders do while Jesus was on the cross?  What were they saying?
14. What happened from about noon to about 3 pm?
15. What did Jesus cry out at about 3 pm?
16. Who did the crowd think Jesus was calling out to? 
17. What did some of the crowd say to do?
18.  What happened when Jesus cried out the second time?
19. What did the soldiers who were guarding the crucifixion think when the earthquake occurred?  What did they say?
20. Who was watching from a distance everything that was going on?
21. What did you learn about God, Jesus, and people from the story?

Have questions about God, Jesus, and the Bible? An excellent source for answers to your questions is gotquestions.org. Check it out. gotquestions.org.

Would you like to know more about God and his plan of salvation? Then Click Here.