And Pilate was much afraid of Cæsar, who was a cruel man. Then the Jews began to make a great disturbance; but Pilate took water, and washed his hands before them, and said, "I am innocent of the blood of this just Man; see ye to it." Was this true? No. Pilate ought to have rather died himself than let a good man be killed. But fear often makes men wicked. Be ashamed to be a coward.
Then the soldiers took the robe off Christ, and put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him. At first they made Him carry the great cross on which He was to be nailed; but He fainted under the weight and fell, and then they made a man they met carry it for Him.
They nailed the dear Lord's hands and feet to the cross; but first they wanted Him to drink some wine and myrrh that He might not feel the pain so much, but He would not drink it. Now, the mother of Jesus stood by the cross with his favourite apostle, John. How sad it was for her to see her dear Son in such pain! But Jesus still thought of her. He looked at John, and said, "Woman, behold thy son;" and to John He said, "Behold thy mother;" and from that hour John was a good son to the mother of his Lord.
Then Our Lord prayed to God for the cruel Jews. He said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do"—that is, they did not know that He was God's Son. There were two thieves crucified with Christ, one on each side. One of them was wicked; the other was sorry for his sin, and asked Jesus to forgive him. The Lord told him, "To-day you shall be with Me in Paradise"—the happy place, you know. Then a great darkness came on like night, and there was a hush—the cruel Jews had been mocking Our Lord; now, they were frightened. The darkness lasted for three hours; then light came back. Our Lord said, "I thirst." And the soldiers dipped a sponge in vinegar, and put it on a reed and held it to His lips. When He had tasted it, He said, "It is finished!" and bowed His head and died. Then the earth and the city shook, and the Roman Captain, close by, said, "This Man really was the Son of God."
The Jews asked Pilate to take Our Lord and the others down from the crosses, because the next day was their Sabbath. So he sent to see if they were dead. Jesus was, but, to make sure, one of the soldiers stabbed His side with a spear. The thieves were not dead; so their legs were broken, that when taken down they might not get away, and die sooner.
Then a rich man, named Joseph, begged Pilate to let him bury Our Lord, and Pilate said he might. So Joseph, and Nicodemus, who came to Jesus by night, wrapped Him in white linen and put Him in a grave that Joseph had made for himself in a garden, and a great stone was put for a door to it. The Jews begged Pilate to set a guard upon the tomb for fear the disciples should take the Lord away; for they remembered that He had said He would rise again. So Pilate sent a great many soldiers to watch. But at day-dawn an angel of the Lord came down from Heaven: his face was bright as the lightning, and his robe as white as snow; and the earth shook very much as he came down. He rolled away the stone that shut the tomb, and sat on it. The guards were nearly dead with fear, and made haste away.
Now, the women who loved the Lord were coming to put sweet spices on Him, even while it was dark. But when they came, they saw that the stone was rolled away, and that the grave was empty; so Mary Magdalene ran off at once to tell Peter and John of it. The other women went and looked into the tomb, and there they saw two bright angels, and they were afraid. But the angels said, "Do not be afraid. We know you are looking for Jesus; He is not here; He is risen. Go and tell Peter and the disciples that He is risen." And they made haste to take the message.