Mark 15:1-20

Living Bible

15 Early in the morning the chief priests, elders and teachers of religion—the entire Supreme Court—met to discuss their next steps. Their decision was to send Jesus under armed guard to Pilate, the Roman governor.^[a]

² Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”

“Yes,” Jesus replied, “it is as you say.”

^3-4 Then the chief priests accused him of many crimes, and Pilate asked him, “Why don’t you say something? What about all these charges against you?”

⁵ But Jesus said no more, much to Pilate’s amazement.

⁶ Now, it was Pilate’s custom to release one Jewish prisoner each year at Passover time—any prisoner the people requested. ⁷ One of the prisoners at that time was Barabbas, convicted along with others for murder during an insurrection.

⁸ Now a mob began to crowd in toward Pilate, asking him to release a prisoner as usual.

⁹ “How about giving you the ‘King of Jews’?” Pilate asked. “Is he the one you want released?” ¹⁰ (For he realized by now that this was a frameup, backed by the chief priests because they envied Jesus’ popularity.)

¹¹ But at this point the chief priests whipped up the mob to demand the release of Barabbas instead of Jesus.

¹² “But if I release Barabbas,” Pilate asked them, “what shall I do with this man you call your king?”

¹³ They shouted back, “Crucify him!”

¹⁴ “But why?” Pilate demanded. “What has he done wrong?” They only roared the louder, “Crucify him!”

¹⁵ Then Pilate, afraid of a riot and anxious to please the people, released Barabbas to them. And he ordered Jesus flogged with a leaded whip, and handed him over to be crucified.

^16-17 Then the Roman soldiers took him into the barracks of the palace, called out the entire palace guard, dressed him in a purple robe, and made a crown of long, sharp thorns and put it on his head. ¹⁸ Then they saluted, yelling, “Yea! King of the Jews!” ¹⁹ And they beat him on the head with a cane, and spat on him, and went down on their knees to “worship” him.

²⁰ When they finally tired of their sport, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him again, and led him away to be crucified.