John 19:31

Plain English Version

All this happened on the day before the Jewish people’s rest day. And it was going to be a really special rest day, because it was the time of the Passover ceremony. The Jewish leaders didn’t want the bodies to be on those crosses on their rest day, and in their culture a new day started when the sun went down. It was already afternoon, so they asked Pilate to get the soldiers to break the legs of the men on the crosses, so those men can die more quickly, and then they can take their bodies down before the sun went down.

Cross References

Matthew 27:62

The bosses of the Jewish ceremonies got together with the Pharisee mob, that were strong for the Jewish law, and they went to Pilate. He was the Roman boss at that time.

Mark 15:42

That day that Jesus died was the day when the Jewish people got everything ready for their rest day. That rest day was going to start when it got dark.

John 19:1

Pilate told the soldiers to take Jesus away and hit him a lot with whips.

John 19:14

It was the time of the Passover ceremony, and it was the day when Jewish people got ready for their rest day, and it was about the middle of the day. Then Pilate said to the Jewish leaders, “Look, here is your big boss.”

John 19:42

Joseph and Nicodemus put Jesus’s body in that cave, and they blocked that cave with a big stone. You see, the sun was starting to go down, and soon the Jewish rest day was going to start, so they had to be quick, and that cave was close to the place where Jesus died.