27 Then Pilate's soldiers took Jesus into the yard of the ruler's house. All the other soldiers in their group were there. 28 They removed Jesus' clothes from him. They put a dark red coat on him. 29 They used some branches with thorns to make a crown for him. Then they put it on his head. They put a long stick in his right hand. They went down on their knees in front of him. They laughed at him and they said, ‘Hello, King of the Jews, you are great!’
27:29A crown is a special hat that a king wears on his head. The dark red coat was like a coat that a king would wear. Roman soldiers also wore red coats.
30 Then the soldiers spat into Jesus' face. They took the stick and they hit Jesus on his head with it many times. 31 After they had laughed at him, they took the special coat off him. They put his own clothes back on him. Then they took him out to the place where they would kill him on a cross.
The soldiers kill Jesus on a cross
32 When they were going to that place, they met a man called Simon. He came from the city of Cyrene. The Roman soldiers told Simon that he must carry Jesus' cross. 33 The soldiers took Jesus to the place that is called Golgotha. (Golgotha means the place of a skull. )
27:33A skull is the bone inside a person's head.
34 They tried to give Jesus some wine to drink. They had mixed some medicine into the wine. Jesus tasted it, but he would not drink it. 35 Then the soldiers fixed Jesus onto the cross. They took his clothes for themselves. They played a game to find out who would receive each piece of his clothes. 36 Then the soldiers sat down and they watched Jesus carefully. 37 Above his head they fixed a notice. This showed the reason why they were killing him. It said, ‘This man is Jesus, the king of the Jews.’ 38 Then the soldiers also fixed two robbers to crosses near to Jesus. One robber was at Jesus' right side, and one was at his left side.
39 The people who walked near there insulted Jesus. They laughed at him, 40 and they said, ‘You said that you could destroy the temple and then build it again in three days. If you really are the Son of God, save yourself. Come down from the cross.’
41 The leaders of the priests and the teachers of God's Law and the important Jews also laughed at him. 42 They said, ‘This man saved other people, did he? But he cannot save his own life! He says that he is the king of Israel. So he should come down from the cross now. Then we will believe in him. 43 He says that he trusts in God. So if God wants him, God should save him now. He did say that he is the Son of God.’ 44 Then the two robbers who were on the crosses next to Jesus also insulted him.
Jesus dies
45 It was now midday. The whole country became dark for three hours. 46 At about three o'clock in the afternoon, Jesus shouted loudly, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ That means, ‘My God, my God, why have you left me alone?’
47 Some people who were standing there heard him. They said to each other, ‘He is shouting to Elijah.’
48 One of these people ran quickly and he brought a piece of cloth. He poured cheap wine on it, and he put it on the end of a stick. He lifted it up to Jesus so that he could drink the wine from it. 49 The other people said, ‘Wait! Now we will see if Elijah comes to save him.’
50 Then Jesus shouted again with a loud voice, and after that he died.
51 At that moment, the curtain inside the temple tore completely into two parts. It tore from the top down to the bottom. The ground shook and rocks broke into pieces. 52 Places in the ground where people had buried dead bodies opened up. Many of God's people who had died now became alive again. 53 After Jesus became alive again, those people came up out of those places. They went into God's city, Jerusalem. Many people saw them there.
54 The captain and his soldiers had been watching Jesus. They saw the ground shaking. They saw everything that had happened. They were very frightened and they said, ‘It must be true! This man really was the Son of God.’
55 There were also many women there. They were standing a long way away and they were watching these events. They had come with Jesus from Galilee to help him. 56 Mary from Magdala was there. Mary the mother of James and Joses, and Mary the mother of Zebedee's sons, were also there.
