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Monday, August 10, 2015

It’s all about Jesus: Washing our hands of Christ (Pt.1)

(Part 1 of 2)


When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of the just Person. You see to it.”-Matthew 27:24
Of all those who played a role in Christ’s crucifixion, including Judas, the Pharisees, and the Roman soldiers; Pontius Pilate may be the personality that more people emulate than any other.  Pilate was the picture of compromise. His symbolic action of washing his hands was the means by which he attempted to release himself from the responsibility of Christ’s blood.
As much as Pilate would have liked to have been able to wash his hands of this situation; it is impossible to wash our hands of the blood of Jesus Christ. Gethsemane to Calvary was a bloody scene and when we consider His death on the cross we must ponder the significance of the blood that Jesus shed.
Hebrews 9:22 declares that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. In Luke 22:20 Jesus said “this cup in the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” The Apostle John states in 1 John 1:7 that it is the blood of Jesus that purifies us from all sin and Revelation 12:11 affirms that we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony.
The writer of Hebrews expounds on the blood of Christ when he writes:
How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from the acts that lead to death.”-Hebrews 9:14.
How could a man think that he could wash his hands of the responsibility of Christ’s blood? Pilate stood face to face with the Savior of the world. He gazed upon his form, he peered into the eyes of truth; yet failed to act on what he knew. Nonetheless, Scripture tells us that Pilate’s conscious bore witness to Christ’s innocence:
Pilate then went out again, and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him.”-John 19:4
Pilate was not ignorant of whom this man may be, for not only did his conscience bear witness; but Jesus went as far as to reveal Himself to Pilate:
Now Jesus stood before the governor. And the governor asked Him, saying, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said to him, “It is as you say.”-Matthew 27:11.
Pilate was even approached by his own wife, who pleaded with him to reconsider what he may do in regards to Jesus:
While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, “Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him.”-Matthew 27:19.
Yet, in spite of all this, when Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere with the Pharisees and  instead an uproar was commencing; Pilate compromised his convictions of right and wrong on the altar of peer pressure and surrendered Jesus to their will!
 
Pastor Scott Burr
Dayspring Community Church

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