Chapter Twenty
Yehudah Kir'yot knew that Yeshua often withdrew with His disciples to the garden, which was {eastward} beyond the brook Kidron. A mob and officers from the chief Kohanim, P'rushim, and Zakenim, were led there by Yehudah with lanterns, torches and weapons. Then he went ahead and came up to Yeshua and kissed Him, saying "Hello, Rabbi." For Yehudah had told the officers to arrest whomever he kissed; that one would be Yeshua.
"Friend," Yeshua responded to him, "you have finished what you came to do."
Yeshua knew all the things that would happen to Him. So, He went forward, and said to the mob, "Who are you seeking?"
"Yeshua HaNatzeret," they answered.
"I AM," He said.
They all fell backwards onto the ground. Then asked He them again, "Who are you seeking?"
They said, "Yeshua HaNatzeret."
Yeshua said, "I have told you that I AM. If you seek me, let the others go on their way."
Then Shimon Kefa drew his sword and struck Melekh the Kohen Gadol's servant, cutting off his right ear.
"Put your sword back into the sheath!" commanded Yeshua. "For all who use the sword will die by the sword. Shall I not drink the cup which Avi has given to me? Allow it to be. For don't you consider that I could request Avi, and He would at this moment send me more than twelve thousand messengers {from Heaven}! But then, how would the scriptures be fulfilled? Thus, it must be this way."
Then Yeshua reached out and healed Melekh's ear.
"Have you come out here to arrest me like you would a robber, with swords and spears?" Yeshua said to the mob. "I was sitting every day in the Mikdash teaching and you didn't arrest me, but this is the time for you and the power of darkness. All this is being done so that the scriptures of the Prophets are fulfilled."
Then the disciples ran swiftly away and left Yeshua standing alone, except for one young man covered in a talit. The mob with {leadership from} the captain of the officers arrested Yeshua, and they took hold of the young man, but he got free and left the talit as he ran away. So they tied Yeshua's hands, and led Him away.
TRIAL BEFORE RELIGIOUS LEADERS
They took Him to Chanan and Chaiyafa, because Chanan was the father-in-law to Chaiyafa, who was the Kohen Gadol that year. {They shared the office of Kohen Gadol.} {Remember,} it was Chaiyafa, who counseled the leaders of the Yehudim, that it was best for one man to die for the people. With him were assembled the chief Kohanim, Zakenim, and Soferim. It was early in the morning.
From a distance Shimon Kefa followed Yeshua, and also another disciple {Yochanan}, who was known to the Kohen Gadol, so he went in with Yeshua into the palace of the Kohen Gadol. Kefa stood outside by the door. Then the other disciple, who was known by the Kohen Gadol, spoke to the doorkeeper woman and he brought in Kefa.
Then the doorkeeper woman said to Kefa, "Aren't you one of this man's disciples?"
"I am not," he said {denying Yeshua the first time). The servants and officers who stood there made a fire of coals, because it was cold and they warmed themselves. So Kefa stood with them and warmed himself.
The Kohen Gadol asked Yeshua about his disciples and his doctrine.
Yeshua answered him, "I spoke openly to the world. I always was teaching in the synagogue and in the Mikdash; wherever our people are. I have not spoken secretly. Why ask me? Ask those who heard me, as to what I've said to them. They know what I said."
Then one of the officers who stood there struck Yeshua with the palm of his hand, saying, "Do you dare answer the Kohen Gadol that way?
"If I have spoken evil, then testify to that evil," Yeshua answered. "But if {I speak} correctly, why do you hit me?"
Then the chief Kohenim and all the council sought for a witness against Yeshua {in order to find cause} to put him to death, but could not find any. Many gave a false witness against Him, but their reports did not agree. Some gave a false witness against Him, saying, "We heard him say, I will destroy this Mikdash which is made with hands, and within three days I will build another one made without hands." But their testimony was inconsistent.
The Kohen Gadol stood up among them and asked Yeshua, "Will you not answer this? What is it that these are saying against you?"
But Yeshua kept silent. Again the Kohen Gadol asked Him, "Are you the Mashiach, the Son of the Blessed One?"
"If I tell you, you will not trust me. Also, if I ask you, you will not answer me, nor free me." Yeshua said.
"I command you by the living Elohim! Are you or are you not the Mashiach?" he demanded.
"I AM, as you have said, and you will see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of Heaven." Yeshua answered.
Then the Kohen Gadol tore his clothes, and said {to the council}, "You have heard the blasphemy from his own mouth! What do you think?"
The council answered, "What further witness do we need?"
They all judged Him to be guilty of blasphemy and condemned Him to death. Some began to spit on Him. They covered His face and beat Him, then commanded Him, "Prophesy! You Mashiach! Which one of us struck you?" Then, as the officers took Him into custody, they hit him with their hands."
One of the maids of the Kohen Gadol who saw Kefa warming himself, said to him, "You also were with Yeshua of Natzeret."
He denied Him {the second time), saying, "I don't know or understand what you are saying." He went out into the porch, and the rooster crowed.
Another maid saw him and told those standing there, "This is one of them." A little later, those who standing there said to Kefa, "Surely you are one of them, for you are from the Galil. Your speech gives you away!"
Then a relative of Melekh, whose ear Kefa had cut off, said, "Didn't I see you in the garden with him?"
Then Kefa began to curse and swear, "I do not know this man you are talking about." {Denying Yeshua the third time.}
The rooster crowed once again. Then Kefa remembered the word that Yeshua gave him, "Before the rooster crows three times, you will deny me three times." Thinking about what he had done, he went out and cried bitter tears.
When Yehudah, who had betrayed Yeshua, saw that He had been condemned, he was sorry for himself. He brought the thirty pieces of silver to the chief Kohenim and Zakenim, and said, "I have sinned, because I have betrayed innocent blood."
"What is that to us? Take care of it yourself!" they replied.
Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the Mikdash and departed, and went and hanged himself. The chief Kohenim took the silver pieces, and said, "It is not proper Torah to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood."
So, they counseled to buy a potter's field with them to bury strangers in. Therefore that field is called to this day, Acheldahma, Field of Blood. Then what was spoken by the Prophet Yirmi'yahu was fulfilled which says, "They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price for which He was valued, whom those from the children of Yisrael had valued, and gave them for the potter's field, as YHVH appointed me."
Then the chief Kohenim held a consultation with Zakenim, Soferim and the council, and led Yeshua way bound to the judgement hall of Pilate {the Roman governor}. They themselves did not go into the judgment hall, for fear they would be defiled, and they were attempting to continue to celebrate the Pesach Feast.
Pilate went out to them, and said, "What accusation do you bring against this man?"
They answered him, "If he was not a criminal, we would not have brought him to you."
Then Pilate said, "You take him and judge him according to your law."
"According to your law we are not allowed to put any man to death," they replied. "We found this man corrupting our nation, forbidding to give taxes to Caesar, and proclaiming that He is Mashiach, a king."
Then Pilate entered into his palace and called Yeshua to him, and asked, "Are you the King of the Yehudim?"
Yeshua answered, "Do you ask this about me because of your own knowledge, or did someone tell it to you?"
"Am I a Yehudah?" Pilate said. "Your own nation and the chief Kohenim have brought you to me. What have you done?"
Yeshua answered, "My Kingdom is not from this world. If my Kingdom was from this world, then my servants would fight for me, and I would not be arrested by the leaders of the Yehudim, but as of now my Kingdom is not from here."
"Are you a king then?" Pilate asked.
Yeshua answered, "You say that I am a king. I was born for that end. But I came into the world for this reason: that I would testify to the Remembrance. Every one who belongs to the Remembrance hears my voice."
Pilate said to Him, "What is the remembrance?" But Yeshua no longer answered Him.
Pilate asked again, "Do you not hear how many charges they bring against you?" Yeshua spoke nothing. Not one word. So Pilate was amazed, and he went out again to the leaders of the Yehudim and said, "I do not find he has committed any crime."
They became more insistent, saying, "He stirs up the people by teaching throughout all the Yehudim, beginning from the Galil to this here."
When Pilate heard 'the Galil,' he asked whether the man was from the Galil. As soon as he learned that Yeshua belonged in Herod's jurisdiction, he sent Him to Herod, who was also in Yerushalaim at that time.
Herod was very happy to see Yeshua. He had wanted to see Him for a long time, because he heard many things about Him, and he hoped to see some miracle performed by Him. So Herod questioned Yeshua with many words, but Yeshua gave him no answer. The chief Kohenim and Soferim stood there and strongly accused Him. So, Herod, along with his men of war, viewed Yeshua as nothing and mocked Him, and arrayed Him in a majestic robe, then sent Him back to Pilate.
On that day Pilate and Herod became friends, but before then they were enemies. Pilate once again went before the chief Kohenim and leaders of the people and said, "You have brought this man to me, as one who corrupts the people. Take note of this! I have examined him before you, and have found this man 'not guilty' concerning those things which you have accused him. Nor has Herod. For I sent you all to Herod, and, look, nothing requiring death has been found against him. Therefore, I will punish him and release him."
At the Feast {of Pesach} the governor was willing to release to the people a prisoner they wanted freed. In custody was a famous prisoner, called Bar-Abba, who was bound in prison, along with others, for committing insurrection and murder. Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want me to release to you? Bar-Abba, or Yeshua who is called Mashiach, the King of the Yehudim?" For Pilate knew that it was because of envy they had arrested Yeshua.
When Pilate sat down on the judgment seat, his wife sent a message to him, saying, "Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for a dream I had today about him has caused me great distress." But the chief Kohenim and Zakenim persuaded the crowd that they should ask for Bar-Abba and execute Yeshua.
Then the governor asked them, "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?"
The crowd said, "Away with this man! Release Bar-Abba to us."
Pilate said to them, "Then what will I do with Yeshua, who is called Mashiach, the King of the Yehudim?"
"Allow him to be executed on the stake," they all answered.
The governor asked, "Why, what evil has he done?"
They shouted even more, "Allow him to be executed on the stake."
Then Pilate released Bar-Abba to them, and had Yeshua scourged.
Then the governor's soldiers took Yeshua to the common hall, and the whole troop gathered around Him. They stripped Him, and put a regal-purple robe on Him. They formed a crown from thorn branches and put it on His head. They put a rod in His right hand, then they bowed on their knee before Him, and made fun of Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Yehudim!" They spat on Him, hit Him with their fists, and took the rod and struck Him on the head.
Pilate therefore went out to the crowd again, and said, "Look! I bring him out to you, so you will know that I find him 'not guilty.' "
Then Yeshua came out wearing the crown of thorns, and the regal-purple robe, and Pilate said, "Look at the man!"
When the chief Kohanim and officers saw Him they shouted, "Execution on the stake! Execution on the stake!"
Pilate said to them, "You take him, and execute him on the stake, because I find him, 'not guilty!'"
The leaders of the Yehudim said, "We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself out to be the Son of Elohim."
When Pilate heard that saying, he was very afraid. So he went again into the judgment hall, and said to Yeshua, "Where are you from?" But Yeshua gave no answer.
Then Pilate said, "You do not speak to me? Don't you know I have the power to execute you on the stake or to release you?"
"You would have no power against me," said Yeshua, "unless it was given to you from above." Therefore the one who brought me to you has sinned more."
Pilate tried even harder to release him, but then leaders of the people shouted, "If you let this man go, you are not Caesar's friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar."
When Pilate heard that, he brought Yeshua out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. Pilate understood that he could not change their view, and that a riot was in the making. So, he took some water and washed his hands in the sight of the mob. He said, "See this! I am innocent of the blood of this righteous person."
Then the people answered, "His blood be on us and on our children." {So then, Yisrael in a type accepted His blood as a Pesach sprinkling.}
It was about noon now on {the day of Pesach, 14 Abib, a} preparation for the Feast. Pilate says unto the Yehudim there, "Look! Here is your King!"
They yelled, "Away, away, execute him on the stake!"
"Shall I crucify your King?" Pilate said.
Chief Kohenim answered, "We have no king except Caesar!"
Then Pilate turned Yeshua over to be executed on the stake. They took Yeshua out. After they mocked Him, they removed the robe from Him and put His garments on Him, then led Him away to be executed on the stake.
As Yeshua was going He was carrying His execution stake. {It was heavy and He was weak from His suffering,) so He fell under the weight of it. Therefore, they grabbed a man coming from the country named, Shimon, of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus. They laid the execution stake on him, to carry it behind Yeshua. Also, following Him was a great crowd of people, and women who mourned and travailed for Him.
Yeshua turned to them and said, "Daughters of Yerushalayim, do not shed tears for me, but weep instead for yourselves and for your children. For watch! The days are coming in the which they will say, "Blessed are the barren and the wombs which never gave birth, and the breasts which never nursed. Then they will begin to say to the mountains, 'Fall on us!' and to the hills, 'Cover us.' Because, if they do these things to a green tree, what will be done to a dry one?"
Also, there were two other criminals who were led with Him to be executed. When they came to the place call 'The Shull,' which is 'Golgata' in Hebrew and 'Kalvari' in Latin, they proceeded with His execution on the stake. The two criminals were put one each side; one on the right hand, and the other on the left. Someone offered Him wine mixed with bitter herbs to drink, but, learning what it was, He would not drink it. {These were Pesach elements, which He said He would not take until the Kingdom comes.}
Pilate had the accusation written and put on His stake, which said, "Yeshua HaNatzeret, Melekh Yehudim." Many of the Yehudim read this title, for the place where Yeshua was executed on the stake was near to the city. It was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.
Then the chief Kohanim said to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Yehudim,' but that 'he said, I am King of the Yehudim.'
Pilate answered, "What I have written I have written."
Four soldiers stripped Yeshua and put Him on the stake. They took His clothes and made four parts. Every soldier got one part. But His talit was without a seam, woven from the top to bottom. So they agreed together, "Let's not tear it, rather let's throw the dice to see who gets it." In this way the scripture was fulfilled which says, "They divided my garments among them, and they gambled for my talit."
Then Yeshua said, "Abba, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
The people stood there looking on. But rulers with them sneered at Him and said, "He healed others, now let him heal himself! That is, if he is Mashiach, the chosen of Elohim!"
Some others passed by and said, "Ha! You who destroys the Mikdash and builds it again in three days. If you are Mashiach save yourself and come down from the stake, if you are the Son of Elohim!"
Chief Kohenim mocked along with some Soferim, "He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Yisrael, the Mashiach, so let him now come down from the stake and we will trust in him when we see it. He trusts in Elohim, so let Him save him now if He wants him."
The soldiers also jeered at Him, coming to Him, offering Him vinegar, and saying, "If you are the King of the Yehudim, save yourself."
One of the criminals who was hanging there blasphemed, saying, "If you are Mashiach, save yourself and us."
The other one rebuked him, saying, "Don't you fear Elohim? Don't you realize you are getting the same condemnation as him? Yet, we are being treated with justice, for we are getting the due reward for our actions, but this man has not done anything wrong!"
Then he said to Yeshua, "Adonai, be mindful of me when you come into your Kingdom."
Yeshua said to him, "Amen! I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise."
Standing there beside the stake of Yeshua was His mother, His mother's sister, Miyam the wife of Cleophas, and Miryam of Migdal. When Yeshua saw His mother, and the disciple standing by, whom {it was said} he loved, He said to His mother, "Woman, look! Here is your son!"
Then He said to the disciple, "Look! Here is your mother!" From that time, that disciple took her in as part of his own household.
From noon until three o'clock {p.m. for three hours} darkness was over all the land. The Sun did not shine.
About three o'clock Yeshua yelled out {in Hebrew}, "Elohi, Elohi, l'mah sh'vaktani?" Which is, "My Elohim, my Elohim, why have you ceased being with me?"
Some of those who stood there said, "This one calls for Eliyahu {the Prophet}."
Immediately, one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with vinegar and put it on a branch, and was going to give it to Him to drink.
The others said, "Wait, let's see whether Eliyahu will come to save him."
After this, Yeshua knew that all things {concerning His suffering} were now completed. So that the scripture might be fulfilled, He said, "I am thirsty."
So they raised the sponge of vinegar, which was on a hyssop branch, to His mouth. When Yeshua had accepted the vinegar, He cried with a loud voice, "It is finished!" Then said, "Abba, into your hands I commit my spirit." Then He bowed His head, and breathed His last.
It was seen that the veil of the Mikdash was ripped in two from the top to the bottom. There was an earthquake and the rocks split. The tombs opened up, (and many bodies of the holy ones who were asleep {dead} arose. They were seen out of the tombs after His resurrection as they went into the holy city and appeared to many).
When the {Roman} centurion, and those with him who were watching Yeshua, felt the earthquake and saw the events, they became frightened and said, "This was a Son of Elohim, a righteous man, absolutely!"
When the great crowd of people who had gathered saw what had happened, they returned home beating their chests. Many of the women who followed Yeshua from the Galil and served His ministry, were watching from a distance. Also at the site were Miryam of Migdal, Miryam the mother of Ya'akov and Yosef {Yeshua's brothers}, the mother of Zavdai's children, and Shalomeh.
It was the preparation day {Pesach before Chag Matzah, the Feast of Unleavened Bread}, and the bodies should not remain upon the stake on a Shabbat, for that Shabbat day was a high holy day {the first day of Chag Matzah starting that evening, 15 Abib}. Therefore, the leaders implored Pilate for their legs to be broken and the bodies carried away.
Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first criminal, and of the other who was executed with him. Yet, when they came to Yeshua, they saw that He was already dead, so they did not break His legs. Instead, one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side, and immediately blood and water flowed out.
He who saw this is recording it, and his record is correct, and he knows that what he says is correct, so you can trust it. For this was done that the scripture should be fulfilled, "A bone of Him will not be broken." Also, "They will look on Him whom they have pierced."
After this, Yosef of Ramatayim, who though he was a secret disciple of Yeshua because he feared the leaders of Yehudah, boldly implored Pilate to let him take away the body of Yeshua. Pilate asked the centurion if Yeshua was already dead, and was amazed to learn He was already dead. Pilate gave Yosef permission, so he came and took the body of Yeshua at evening just before the Feast's Shabbat. Yosef was a member of the religious council; a rich nobleman who was a good and righteous man, and he did not consent to the council's deed {of condemning Yeshua}.
Nicodemus, who from the start came to Yeshua by night, also came and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. They took the body of Yeshua and wound it in linen cloth along with the spices, as is the burial practice of the Yehudim.
In the place where Yeshua was executed there was a garden, and in the garden was a new tomb which Yosef had hewn out of a rock, and no one had ever been buried there. They laid Yeshua there on preparation day {on Pesach, just before the Chag Matzah Shabbat}, because the tomb was near by. Then they rolled a large stone over the door to the tomb. Miryam of Migdal and Miryam the mother of Yosef watched where Yeshua was buried, and they sat down close to the tomb. Then they returned home and prepared spices and ointments.
Now the next day following the day of the preparation {Pesach}, the chief Kohenim and some P'rushim came to Pilate, and said, "Sir, we remember what that deceiver said while he was still living, 'After three days I will rise again.' "
So they asked Pilate to, "Command that the tomb be made secure until the three days are up, in case his disciples come by night and steal his body, then tell the people, 'He is risen from the dead.' Then the last error will be worse than the first."
Pilate said unto them, "Go ahead. You can set up a guard and make it as secure as you can."
So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone, and setting up a guard.