“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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