Pilate saw that he wasn’t getting anywhere and that a riot was developing. So he sent for a bowl of water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. The responsibility is yours!” And all the people yelled back, “We will take responsibility for his death—we and our children!”
Matthew 27:24-25 (NLT2)
It started with Adam and Eve and has continued to this very day. Jesus is the Lamb of God that was slain from the foundation of the earth—for your sins and mine. However, it was through our first parents that sin made its entry into the world. It was the sin of disobedience.
When Pilate tried to assuage the people by having Jesus beaten by Roman soldiers, they became even more adamant with their demand of crucifixion. Pilate tried to, symbolically, erase his guilt in Jesus’ death by washing his hands in a basin of water but the old song says it best with the words, “What can wash away my sins, nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again, nothing but the blood of Jesus.” So, even though, Pilate washed his hands in water; his guilt remained. He said, “I am innocent, you see to it.” Then some of the most regrettable words ever spoken were screamed out to Pilate. “His blood be on us and on our children.” In other words, we are not concerned about His blood, bring it on. I don’t think they knew the import of what they were saying, do you?
Those who, proverbially or otherwise, shake their fists in the face of Almighty God and reject His only remedy for sins are saying the same thing. They would, without hesitation, crucify Jesus all over again. But He will not be crucified again; but He is coming again. This time as the Lion of the tribe of Judah. This time as the King of kings and Lord of lords and there will be NO ONE shaking their fists in His face, they will be quaking in their boots. Pilate was not made innocent by washing his hands in water and we cannot be made pure by being good or thinking good thoughts. Only when we confess our sins and turn away from the life of sin and receive the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ the Lord is our sins dealt with. Then and only then are we free from the guilt of the blood that He did shed on the Cross. Why don’t you call on Him today He will readily hear your sincere prayer. Amen and amen.
