Study Desk

But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to ask, instead, that Pilate set Barabbas free for them.

Pilate wanted to please the crowd, so he set Barabbas free for them. Then he had Jesus whipped and handed him over to be crucified.

At noon the whole country was covered with darkness, which lasted for three hours.

Some of the people there heard him and said, "Listen, he is calling for Elijah!"

It was toward evening when Joseph of Arimathea arrived. He was a respected member of the Council, who was waiting for the coming of the Kingdom of God. It was Preparation day (that is, the day before the Sabbath), so Joseph went boldly into the presence of Pilate and asked him for the body of Jesus.

On the way they said to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?" (It was a very large stone.) Then they looked up and saw that the stone had already been rolled back.

"Don't be alarmed," he said. "I know you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is not here—he has been raised! Look, here is the place where he was placed.

And so, Your Excellency, because I have carefully studied all these matters from their beginning, I thought it would be good to write an orderly account for you.

He will go ahead of the Lord, strong and mighty like the prophet Elijah. He will bring fathers and children together again; he will turn disobedient people back to the way of thinking of the righteous; he will get the Lord's people ready for him."

In the meantime the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he was spending such a long time in the Temple.

Some time later his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and did not leave the house for five months.

He had a message for a young woman promised in marriage to a man named Joseph, who was a descendant of King David. Her name was Mary.

The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come on you, and God's power will rest upon you. For this reason the holy child will be called the Son of God.

For there is nothing that God cannot do."

For as soon as I heard your greeting, the baby within me jumped with gladness.

for he has remembered me, his lowly servant! From now on all people will call me happy,

because of the great things the Mighty God has done for me. His name is holy;

The time came for Elizabeth to have her baby, and she gave birth to a son.

Zechariah asked for a writing pad and wrote, "His name is John." How surprised they all were!

Everyone who heard of it thought about it and asked, "What is this child going to be?" For it was plain that the Lord's power was upon him.