INTRODUCTION
A couple of weeks ago I showed you several pictures of Jesus throughout the Bible. Let’s have some fun and see if you can name them. There were nine: seven from the Old Testament and two from the New Testament. Anyone remember? As I have been thinking about Easter and what the Lord might have me to preach, I turned to the account of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus with a desire to see the symbolism on and surrounding the events of the cross. Today I want us to read Matthew 27:24-26 and notice the first of these that I will share with you today and next Sunday.
You are familiar with the circumstances leading up to this event. Judas had betrayed Jesus into the hands of the mob, and then they brought Him before the Sanhedrin to be formally charged. The Sanhedrin led Him to Pilate and wanted him to take care of Jesus, but Pilate sent Him to Herod. Herod however sent Jesus back to Pilate, and this is where we find Him in our text. Pilate had examined Jesus, but had found no fault in Him. He most likely would have let Jesus go had it not been for his fear of the people who were crying out for the death of Christ. Even Pilate’s wife tried to get him to leave Jesus alone, but the people persisted. Let’s read our text now.
When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it. Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children. Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.
There are three thoughts in this account that I want to deal with this morning. As we consider them, we’re going to get an insider’s look at decisions that were made that day about Jesus, and here’s the good news, today you’ll have that same opportunity! That’s what makes the gospel so great! Nowhere are we allowed to sit by passively and give to the Lord our bodies without also giving Him our minds and wills also.
For the Word of God is living, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
Isn’t that wonderful? No matter who you are or why you came today, God wants to take His living, powerful Word and do soul surgery on you during this hour. He already knows your thoughts and motives and secret desires. He already knows whether Jesus is real in your life. He already knows what you’re thinking and whether or not you’re following Him like He desires for you to, but today He’s going to take His living Word and help you to know your thoughts, your motives, and desires and give you the opportunity to bring them into the light. God is calling you to know His Son. He is calling you to a life of consecration, to a life of service because you love Jesus and want to show Him that you love Him.
As you listen this morning, open your heart and mind to Jesus and allow Him to search out those dark corners in your life, in your mind, in your heart. Allow Him the room to take inventory and go to work on what needs worked on in you – be responsive to the Spirit’s leading as we consider these three thoughts:
WASHED HANDS
It wouldn’t have mattered what Pilate said to these folk; Jesus was to be crucified. The Jews wanted Him dead and weren’t going to stop until it was done, so Pilate took a bowl of water and washed his hands in front of the people in plain sight to send a message to them. You see, this hand washing was a Jewish custom that dated back to the early days of the law. In Deuteronomy 21, the Lord instructed His people,
If a dead body is found on the ground, this ground that God, your God, has given you, lying out in the open, and no one knows who killed him, your leaders and judges are to go out and measure the distance from the body to the nearest cities. The leaders and judges of the city that is nearest the corpse will then take a heifer that has never been used for work, never had a yoke on it. The leaders will take the heifer to a valley with a stream, a valley that has never been plowed or planted, and there break the neck of the heifer…Finally, all the leaders of that town that is nearest the body will wash their hands over the heifer that had its neck broken at the stream and say, We didn’t kill this man and we didn’t see who did it. Purify your people Israel whom you redeemed, O God. Clear your people Israel from any guilt in this murder. (The Message)
For a Roman Governor to use a Jewish ritual in this manner would have had an impact on all those who saw it, but they were so emotionally pumped up with their hatred for Jesus they didn’t care. Pilate will always be remembered as the man who washed his hands clean of Jesus, but did he really wash them clean?
Perhaps to the men present he had. He was in essence saying that he wasn’t going to do anything with Jesus and he had no reason to. If you want to kill him then I’ll let you, but I’ve got no part in it. Let me tell you, whether the people of Jesus’ day accepted what he did or not, Pilate was a man who failed miserably. Here he was face to face with Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, a man in whom he could find no fault, and he didn’t know what to do with Him. He was so close, but yet still so far. Remember last week we talked about the thieves on the crosses. While the one was railing against Jesus, the other rebuked him and said, We’re hanging here because we deserve to be, but this man has done nothing wrong. In other words, he found no fault in Jesus either. He came to the same conclusion Pilate did, but while this thief cried out to Jesus in repentance, Pilate was washing his hands of the same Jesus.
What Pilate didn’t know though was that he’d never be able to wash his hands free. Could he have prevented the Jews from killing Jesus? I don’t think so, but could he have changed the way he responded to Jesus himself. Pilate was an indecisive man who chose power and position and prestige over repentance and faith in the Son of God. He could have believed in Jesus that day, but there were more important things going on in his life, or so he thought. He washed his hands and said, I am innocent of the blood of this just person… But Paul said in Romans 3:19 that when sinful men stand before the Lord, every mouth will be stopped, and all the world will be guilty before God.
You’ll never be able to wash your hands free of Jesus. You’ll never escape your personal responsibility before Him! In the life of every one in this room Jesus will find that moment to bring Himself before you and instantly in that moment you are forced to make a decision about Him, will you believe or will you try to wash your hands free of Jesus? Listen, this message isn’t just for those who have never been saved, we believers could learn a thing or two as well.
Many people say they follow Jesus, but in the pursuit of success, they sacrifice everything. They sacrifice their integrity, their standards, their friends, their faith and even their families. Some choose people over Jesus. They are more concerned about what is in and acceptable instead of what God thinks. This is what Pilate did. He knew these Jews were wrong, but he was afraid. He knew Jesus was innocent, but he gave in to their pressure and missed out on the greatest relationship he would ever have. He justified what he did that day and I fear that many of you may be guilty trying to justify your indecision about Christ as well. Here He is, Jesus! What will you do with Him?
THE BLOOD OF CHRIST
When the Jews heard Pilate’s declaration of innocence in the matter, they cried out, His blood be on us, and on our children! What a statement! They had no idea what they were saying, and yet they were very adamant about every word of it. We don’t care who wears his blood, we just want him dead!
Who were these men? Were they wicked men? Were they social low-lives? These were the religious leaders of the day! These were the teachers and preachers, the religious elite who possessed the Word of God and held prestigious positions in the land – and here they were demanding the death of the very God they claimed to love and serve! Let his blood be upon us!
These were the men Jesus condemned in only a short while earlier. Look with me at Matthew 23:34.
Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
Did you catch what Jesus said? He said He was holding the Pharisees responsible for the murders of the Old Testament prophets – men who were killed before these were ever born! How could they be responsible? Jesus is trying to show you the bigger picture here. You see, who killed Jesus? Who killed the prophets and wise men and scribes? Was it the Pharisees? Who murdered the saints through the ages up till today? Who are murdering believers today in Kenya and Sudan and Afghanistan and Korea? Is it the Pharisees? Of course not! But it is the group the Pharisees were representative of – and that’s false religion. The blood of Abel was specifically on Cain, but it was a false works religion at work. The blood of Zechariah was specifically on the princes of Judah, but it was a false idolatrous religion at work.
Now what does that have to do with us? It is just this: anyone who rejects the gift of salvation offered by God is rejecting the blood of Christ, and God will hold you responsible whether you took part in the crucifixion or not. The writer of Hebrews compares it to trampling under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant…an unholy thing and has insulted the Spirit of grace. Listen, when you reject Jesus, you reject the blood payment He made for your sins and you stamp on the sacrifice He made for you. The next verse in Hebrews says that vengeance belongs to me, I will recompense, saith the Lord.
Here’s something that is very interesting to me – whether you accept or reject Jesus, His blood is upon you. When you repent and place your faith in Jesus, you’re washed in the blood of the Lamb we say. His blood covers you, so that when God looks upon you He’s not looking at your sinfulness and your worthlessness – He’s looking at the blood payment of His Son Jesus. However, if you choose to reject Jesus, it is not the blood of a sin sacrifice that is upon you, it is the blood of condemnation.
Imagine a courtroom scene where someone is standing before the judge and is being tried for murder. He is pleading his case of innocence, but his hands are covered with his victim’s blood. He is guilty, and the blood testifies against him. The lost man is no different. Remember what I read from Romans 3:19 a while ago? When you stand before the Judge, why is every mouth stopped and all the world guilty? Because the blood is on their hands!
But I didn’t murder Jesus! No you didn’t, but false religion did. If you’re counting on your good life, your heritage, your works or anything besides Jesus Christ to save you, then you’re counting on false religion – and you’re guilty of the blood of Christ by association. Look with me to Acts 2:36. This is the multitude that had gathered for the feast of Pentecost – the multitude to whom Peter preached this powerful message of repentance. It was a multitude made up of people from over 15 nationalities. Peter said to this group,
Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
Were all those people there? I doubt it – but they were guilty nonetheless. Now look at Acts 4:10,
Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.
Let me make something clear to you this morning – the only way you want the blood of Jesus Christ on you is as your Savior, not as your condemnation before the throne of God.
IN A MURDERER’S PLACE
Well how can Jesus’ blood be upon you so that you stand before God whole and cleansed? How was it made possible? Look back to Matthew 27. Pilate washed his hands of the deal, the Jews gladly accepted it, and verse 26 tells us that Pilate released Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. Remember that the Scriptures tell us that it was a custom to release one of the prisoners at the Passover. Instead of releasing Jesus who was innocent, they demanded Pilate release Barabbas, who was guilty of murder.
Jesus died in a guilty man’s place! But He died for more than Barabbas – He died for you and me too! I’d like for you to find and read Isaiah 53:5 with me. It says,
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him: and with his stripes we are healed.
Now look at 1 Peter 2:21.
For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
There’s beautiful symbolism here that takes us all the way back to Leviticus 16. In that chapter, the Lord gave instructions for the sin offering. The High Priest was to take two goats and present them before the Lord. One was to be killed for the sacrifice; the other was to be released as a scapegoat. Listen to the Lord’s instructions:
Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat: and he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins…[then] he shall bring the live goat: and Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: and the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.
The writer of Hebrews explains that the blood of bulls and goats doesn’t do anything for us – they are a picture, a symbol of the One who does! Listen, in one loving sacrifice Jesus was both of those goats. He was crucified – He shed His blood in payment for your sin, and He was the scapegoat – your sin was placed on Him and He carried it away never to be seen again!
What will you do with Jesus today? Pilate tried to wash his hands of Jesus. The Jews wanted His blood to be upon them. Barabbas walked away a free man because of Him. Are you like Pilate? You know the truth about Jesus – but you really would prefer not to go any further with Him? Truth be known you’d like to walk away from Him and everything to do with Him, but you can’t. You can’t wash your hands of Jesus. He’s always there glaring at you, speaking to you in that silent whisper in your conscience. Follow me… Believe… I love you…
Maybe you see yourself in Barabbas - guilty of sin – it doesn’t matter what sin, just that you have sinned and you deserve death. The wages of sin is death… but Jesus took your place and today offers you the gift of salvation if you’ll but repent of your sin and place your faith in Jesus Christ to save you. …the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. The question for you now is what will you do with that great love? Christ didn’t just die for all of us – He died for you – and today He stands before you with a simple request – will you trust Him? Will you accept the payment He made for you? Will you respond to His great love and give your life to Him?
