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Giovedi, 28 marzo 2024 - San Castore di Tarso ( Letture di oggi)

Matthew 27


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1When morning came, al the chief priests and the elders of the people met in council to bring about thedeath of Jesus.2They had him bound and led him away to hand him over to Pilate, the governor.3When he found that Jesus had been condemned, then Judas, his betrayer, was fil ed with remorse andtook the thirty silver pieces back to the chief priests and elders4saying, 'I have sinned. I have betrayed innocent blood.' They replied, 'What is that to us? That is yourconcern.'5And flinging down the silver pieces in the sanctuary he made off, and went and hanged himself.6The chief priests picked up the silver pieces and said, 'It is against the Law to put this into the treasury;it is blood-money.'7So they discussed the matter and with it bought the potter's field as a graveyard for foreigners,8and this is why the field is stil cal ed the Field of Blood.9The word spoken through the prophet Jeremiah was then fulfil ed: And they took the thirty silverpieces, the sum at which the precious One was priced by the children of Israel,10and they gave them for the potter's field, just as the Lord directed me.11Jesus, then, was brought before the governor, and the governor put to him this question, 'Are you theking of the Jews?' Jesus replied, 'It is you who say it.'12But when he was accused by the chief priests and the elders he refused to answer at al .13Pilate then said to him, 'Do you not hear how many charges they have made against you?'14But to the governor's amazement, he offered not a word in answer to any of the charges.15At festival time it was the governor's practice to release a prisoner for the people, anyone they chose.16Now there was then a notorious prisoner whose name was Barabbas.17So when the crowd gathered, Pilate said to them, 'Which do you want me to release for you:Barabbas, or Jesus who is cal ed Christ?'18For Pilate knew it was out of jealousy that they had handed him over.19Now as he was seated in the chair of judgement, his wife sent him a message, 'Have nothing to dowith that upright man; I have been extremely upset today by a dream that I had about him.'20The chief priests and the elders, however, had persuaded the crowd to demand the release ofBarabbas and the execution of Jesus.21So when the governor spoke and asked them, 'Which of the two do you want me to release for you?'they said, 'Barabbas.'22Pilate said to them, 'But in that case, what am I to do with Jesus who is cal ed Christ?' They al said,'Let him be crucified!'23He asked, 'But what harm has he done?' But they shouted all the louder, 'Let him be crucified!'24Then Pilate saw that he was making no impression, that in fact a riot was imminent. So he took somewater, washed his hands in front of the crowd and said, 'I am innocent of this man's blood. It is your concern.'25And the people, every one of them, shouted back, 'Let his blood be on us and on our children!'26Then he released Barabbas for them. After having Jesus scourged he handed him over to becrucified.27Then the governor's soldiers took Jesus with them into the Praetorium and col ected the whole cohortround him.28And they stripped him and put a scarlet cloak round him,29and having twisted some thorns into a crown they put this on his head and placed a reed in his righthand. To make fun of him they knelt to him saying, 'Hail, king of the Jews!'30And they spat on him and took the reed and struck him on the head with it.31And when they had finished making fun of him, they took off the cloak and dressed him in his ownclothes and led him away to crucifixion.32On their way out, they came across a man from Cyrene, cal ed Simon, and enlisted him to carry hiscross.33When they had reached a place cal ed Golgotha, that is, the place of the skul ,34they gave him wine to drink mixed with gal , which he tasted but refused to drink.35When they had finished crucifying him they shared out his clothing by casting lots,36and then sat down and stayed there keeping guard over him.37Above his head was placed the charge against him; it read: 'This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.'38Then two bandits were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left.39The passers-by jeered at him; they shook their heads40and said, 'So you would destroy the Temple and in three days rebuild it! Then save yourself if you areGod's son and come down from the cross!'41The chief priests with the scribes and elders mocked him in the same way,42with the words, 'He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the king of Israel; let him come downfrom the cross now, and we wil believe in him.43He has put his trust in God; now let God rescue him if he wants him. For he did say, "I am God'sson." '44Even the bandits who were crucified with him taunted him in the same way.45From the sixth hour there was darkness over al the land until the ninth hour.46And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, 'Eli, eli, lama sabachthani?' that is, 'MyGod, my God, why have you forsaken me?'47When some of those who stood there heard this, they said, 'The man is cal ing on Elijah,'48and one of them quickly ran to get a sponge which he fil ed with vinegar and, putting it on a reed,gave it him to drink.49But the rest of them said, 'Wait! And see if Elijah wil come to save him.'50But Jesus, again crying out in a loud voice, yielded up his spirit.51And suddenly, the veil of the Sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom, the earth quaked, therocks were split,52the tombs opened and the bodies of many holy people rose from the dead,53and these, after his resurrection, came out of the tombs, entered the holy city and appeared to anumber of people.54The centurion, together with the others guarding Jesus, had seen the earthquake and al that wastaking place, and they were terrified and said, 'In truth this man was son of God.'55And many women were there, watching from a distance, the same women who had followed Jesusfrom Galilee and looked after him.56Among them were Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother ofZebedee's sons.57When it was evening, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, cal ed Joseph, who had himself becomea disciple of Jesus.58This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be handed over.59So Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean shroud60and put it in his own new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock. He then rol ed a large stoneacross the entrance of the tomb and went away.61Now Mary of Magdala and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the sepulchre.62Next day, that is, when Preparation Day was over, the chief priests and the Pharisees went in a bodyto Pilate63and said to him, 'Your Excel ency, we recal that this impostor said, while he was still alive, "Afterthree days I shall rise again."64Therefore give the order to have the sepulchre kept secure until the third day, for fear his disciplescome and steal him away and tel the people, "He has risen from the dead." This last piece of fraud would beworse than what went before.'65Pilate said to them, 'You may have your guard; go and make al as secure as you know how.'66So they went and made the sepulchre secure, putting seals on the stone and mounting a guard.