Walk with the Innocent One
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. The Word of God through which the Holy Spirit touches our hearts is record in Mark 14:
The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find any. Many testified falsely against him, but their statements did not agree.
Then some stood up and gave this false testimony against him: “We heard him say, ’I will destroy this man-made temple and in three days will build another, not made by man.’” Yet even then their testimony did not agree.
Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus. “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer.
Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?”
“I am,” said Jesus, “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
The high priest tore his clothes. “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked. “You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?”
They all condemned him as worthy of death.(Mark 14:55-64 NIV)
This is the the word of our Lord.
Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
One of the blessing we have in America is a fair court system. It’s far from perfect, but the accused in our land usually get a chance to defend themselves. They are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt. I realize that some defendants may not get the best attorneys if they don’t have the, but at least they get an attorney. And in order to assure that police and the government do not abuse their powers, a defendant may go free because the evidence against him was obtained in an illegitimate way. The accused have many protections
How different it was for Jesus! He was truly innocent. He not only was innocent of all crime. He was innocent of all sins both outward and inward. He is the Innocent One. But what a trial he endured! Tonight as we walk with our Savior in his passion, we walk with the Innocent One. First of all we want to see that 1) no guilt was his and secondly we want to see that 2) all guilt was his.
1) No guilt was his
Try to picture Jesus’ trial as you heard it described in the Passion History. The Jewish council probably would be seated in tiered seats in a semi circle with Jesus beneath them. Note how much it was unlike a modern American trial. Jesus had no rights, no attorney. The judges, jury, and prosecutors were all the same group. How would you like it if your judges and jury were the ones trying to prove you guilty?
They met at night, under cover of darkness, even though night time trials were illegal. When the sun came up, they then had another hasty meeting right, so that everything would seem legal.
But what crime could they condemn him off? After carefully watching Jesus and scrutinizing what he said and did for three years, they had no charge against him. So they tried to manufacture charges by having witnesses come in, false witnesses. And yet they couldn’t even make their false testimony agree with each other.
Two of them twisted Jesus words. They claimed Jesus had said “I will destroy this man-made temple and in three days will build another, not made by man.” (NIV). If they could make this charge stick, Jesus would be guilty of desecrating the temple. But even their testimony didn’t agree because Jesus had never spoken against the temple building. John told us what Jesus had really said early in his ministry when he first cleared the temple of money changers. Jesus had said, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days” (John 2:19 NIV). He wasn’t talking about the building, but his his body. The Jews would destroy the temple of Jesus’ body and on the third day Jesus would raise his body from the dead. Even false witnesses against Jesus couldn’t agree. He had no guilt. He was the Innocent One.
As the Innocent One Jesus did not need to answer these charges. Why even acknowledge such lies by arguing against them? Caiaphas, the High Priest tries to badger him into incriminating himself: “Are you not going to answer. What is this testimony these men are bringing against you” (NIV). The Innocent One remains silent.
One more question Caiaphas has. He asks, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One.” “I am” Jesus answers (NIV). Here was what Caiaphas wanted. Jesus was claiming to be equal to God. Now if Jesus were just a man, it would be making fun of God, mocking him, blaspheming him to say that. But Jesus had told the truth. From all eternity, he was the one and only Son of the Father -- true God from true God, of one being with the Father.
But this was the charge that Caiaphas could make look like blasphemy. The council agreed. They found Jesus guilty, worthy of death. Why? Because Jesus, the Innocent One, told the truth of who he really was. Even though condemned, no guilt was his.
And even more important, in God’s courtroom Jesus was also innocent. Even before the eyes of the holy, all-knowing, all-seeing God, Jesus had done no wrong , no sin in his thoughts, words, actions, desires, or attitude. Twice during Jesus’ life, we heard the Father declare, “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17, 17:5). He was well pleased, for Jesus was guilty of no wrong. He is the spotless Lamb of God, without blemish or defect. No spot of sin, no blemish of heart or soul, no defect in love or goodness. He is the Innocent One.
Be glad that Jesus is the Innocent One. If Jesus had committed even one sin, no matter how small or secret, even if it were just a passing evil desire that he quickly stamped out – if he had committed even one sin, he could not be our Savior. His death would have been for his own sin, not yours or mine. If Jesus were not the Innocent One, then when we die, we would have no hope, no heaven, only hell and punishment. All our sins and their just punishment would belong to us. Rejoice that Jesus is the Innocent One. No guilt was his.
2)All guilt was his
Yet we can also truthfully say, All guilt was his. No guilt from his own doing, but all the guilt from your doings and mine belonged to him. All the guilt from all the sinners of the world belonged to him. He willingly carried that guilt in our place. For he is “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29 NIV).
That brings to mind a picture from the Old Testament. On the Great Day of Atonement, one of the ceremonies God commanded was to take a goat. The high priest laid both hands on the goat’s head and confessed over it all the sins of the people. Then the goat was taken out into the desert and released. He carried away the sins of the people.
Consider your sins of this past day and week. Think of the sins that trouble your conscience and those sins that we have become too use to. Consider how often you have thought of yourself before others. Consider how you have failed to love, honor, and serve God above all. Consider the weaknesses in your faith, your slowness to pray, your laziness in his word. My sins are a burden I cannot bear. They crush me to the pit of hell. And your sins are no different for you.
Jesus, the Innocent One, lifts that burden off of you and me. He carries your guilt. He carries my guilt. For he carries the guilt of all sinners. Just like that goat in the desert, he carries our sins far, far away. He takes away the sins of the world. No sin is too great that Jesus has not carried the guilt – carried it to the cross. All the guilt was his.
“A Lamb goes uncomplaining forth, Our guilt and evil bearing And, laden with the sins of earth, None else the burden sharing. Goes patient on, grows weak and faint, to slaughter led without complaint, That spotless life to offer. Bears shame and stripes and wounds and death, Anguish and mockery and says, ’Willing all this I suffer.’ This Lamb is Christ” (Christian Worship 100:1,2; “A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth”)
This Lamb is Christ, the Innocent One, but the one who willingly bore all guilt in our place. As he carried our guilt, God treated Jesus as the most guilty sinner of all for he carried the sins of all. That’s what Jesus willingly suffered for you and me. God forsook his Son, counting him as the Guilty One. Jesus became sin for us. He became the curse of the law for us. All the guilt was his.
But the death of the Innocent One is not the end of the story. If it all ended there at the cross, then Jesus would not have been the Innocent One and our guilt would still crush us into hell. No! God raised Jesus from the dead. When God raised Jesus from the dead, he declared Jesus not guilty. And since Jesus had carried our guilt, we share in that verdict of not guilty. Our guilt remains buried in the tomb, because our Savior lives. Jesus is the Innocent One because he never sinned. Through faith you and I stand before God forgiven and justified, for the Innocent One has taken away our guilt. Do we need any more reason to say no to sin and to live for him who has done all that for us?
No matter how good our court system is, none of us want to end up in court, even if we are innocent. Yet we can go into God’s court rejoicing. Yes, we know that we are sinners and deserve to be damned. But you who trust in Jesus will stand before God in joyful faith that points to Jesus and says, “He, the Innocent One, has taken my guilt away.” Amen.
