Matthew 27:15-54 (NLT)
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. 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!”
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.
27 Some of the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into their headquarters 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.
32 Along the way, they came across a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene,
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. 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 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.
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, lema sabachthani?”
which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
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.”
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 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!”

1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (NLT)
For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he
was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread 24 and gave thanks to God for it.
Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do
this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, he took the cup of wine after
supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an
agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as
you drink it.” 26 For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are
announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.