The chapter
Simply He is taken to Pilate, who finds nothing against him and sends him to Herod, who wants a miracle and gets silence and sends him back. Pilate says three times that he finds no guilt, and gives way anyway. On the road he tells the women crying for him to cry for themselves. He is crucified between two criminals, and one of them asks to be remembered. At the end he says he puts his spirit into his Father's hands, and the officer in charge says he was a righteous man.
Context Three scenes in this chapter are in no other Gospel: the hearing before Herod at verses 6 to 12, the women of Jerusalem at verses 27 to 31, and the exchange with the second criminal at verses 39 to 43. The chapter also states its own verdict four times over. Pilate says he finds no fault at verses 4, 14 and 22; Herod sends him back without a charge; and the centurion at verse 47 says he was righteous. The book records an execution carried out by people who say, on the record, that there is nothing to execute him for.
Verses 1-25
Simply They accuse him in front of Pilate of stirring up the nation, forbidding taxes to Caesar and calling himself a king. Pilate says he finds no fault. Hearing he is a Galilean, he sends him to Herod, who is pleased because he has wanted to see him for a long time and hopes for a miracle. Jesus does not answer him at all. Herod's soldiers mock him and send him back, and the two men become friends that day. Pilate tells the chief priests that neither he nor Herod found anything deserving death, offers to punish and release him, and finally gives them what they ask.
Context Herod's question is finally answered, and the answer is nothing. At 9:9 he had asked WHO IS THIS ABOUT WHOM I HEAR SUCH THINGS and sought to see him; verse 8 says he had wanted this for a long time and hoped to see a miracle, and verse 9 says Jesus gave him no answer at all, though he questioned him at length. This is the only hearing in the chapter where the accused says nothing whatever. Verse 12 adds the detail the scene turns on: Herod and Pilate had been enemies and became friends that day.
Verses 26-43
Simply Simon of Cyrene is made to carry the cross behind him. A crowd follows, with women beating their breasts, and he turns and tells them not to weep for him but for themselves and their children. Two criminals are crucified with him, one on each side. He says: Father, forgive them, they do not know what they are doing. Soldiers and rulers mock him, and an inscription is put above him. One of the criminals joins in the mockery; the other tells him off, says they are getting what they deserve and this man has done nothing, and asks to be remembered. He is told: today you will be with me in Paradise.
Context The two criminals do not behave the same way in every book, and the difference is not a nuance. Mark 15:32 says those crucified with him ALSO INSULTED HIM, and Matthew 27:44 says the robbers cast the same reproach on him, so in both of those accounts both men mock. Here one mocks and one defends him, and this is the only place in the four Gospels where anyone on a cross is promised anything. The inscription at verse 38 also differs by edition rather than by book: eight of the thirteen say it was written in Greek, Latin and Hebrew, and five give no languages at all, those five being Segond 1910, La Biblia en Espanol Sencillo, the Riveduta 1927, the Petrus Canisiusvertaling and the Vietnamese 1934. That is the same set of five that groups together at John 6:11, checked by printing both. Verse 34 was read in all thirteen and every one carries FATHER, FORGIVE THEM, so no split is claimed there.
Verses 44-56
Simply From about noon until three the sun is darkened and the curtain of the temple is torn. Jesus cries out that he places his spirit in his Father's hands, and dies. The officer in charge praises God and says this man was righteous. The crowd goes home beating their breasts. His acquaintances and the women who came with him from Galilee stand at a distance and watch. Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the council who had not agreed with what they did, asks for the body and lays it in an unused tomb. The women see where it is put, go home, prepare spices, and rest on the Sabbath.
Context The last words are different in three of the four books, and all four are in this app. Mark 15:34 and Matthew 27:46 have MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME, which is the opening of Psalm 22. John 19:30 has IT IS FINISHED. Verse 46 has FATHER, INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT, which is Psalm 31:5 and can be opened here. Both of the sung lines are quotations, and they are not the same quotation. The officer's verdict changes with them: at Mark 15:39 and Matthew 27:54 he says this was the Son of God, and at verse 47 he says this was a RIGHTEOUS MAN, which is the same word the second criminal used at verse 41. This file reports the four endings side by side and does not merge them into one.