Guilty Of The Blood

When Jesus was taken before Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor acknowledged that Jesus had done nothing worthy of death.  “Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ?  They all say unto him, Let him be crucified.  And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done?  But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified” (Matt. 27:22-23).  It was shortly after these interactions that the most innocent man of all time died on the cross.

Before the crucifixion occurred, Pilate attempted to deflect the blame of Jesus’ death upon the Jews instead of himself.  “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” (Matt. 27:24).  While it is commendable that Pilate declared Jesus’ innocence, the fact is that no amount of hand washing was adequate to remove Pilate’s blame in the death of Jesus.

In their desire to see Jesus dead, the Jewish people present said, “…His blood be on us, and on our children” (Matt. 27:25).  Little did they understand the statement that they made.

The truth is that no accountable person is innocent of the blood of Jesus.  Not Pontius Pilate!  Not the Jewish elders and chief priests!  Not me or you!  We are all guilty of the blood!  That is right, we are guilty of the blood of Jesus.  How, you might ask?  After all, none of us were even alive when Jesus was crucified.  How then can we be responsible for His death?

When writing to the church in Rome, Paul did a masterful job of explaining why mankind is guilty of the blood of Jesus.  Paul first dealt with those of a Gentile background.  He remarked, “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful,; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.  Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.  Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves:  Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever.  Amen” (Rom. 1:21-25).

Then Paul turned his attention to those of a Jewish/Hebrew background.  He wrote, “Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest:  for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things” (Rom. 2:1).  Paul further explained that the Jews were not exempt by stating, “But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto the thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds…Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil; of the Jew first, and also to the Gentile…For there is no respect of persons with God” (Rom. 2:5, 9, 11).

It is Romans chapter three where we find a summation of those that are guilty of the blood of Jesus.  “What then?  are we better than they?  No, in no wise:  for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:  There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.  They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one…For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:9-12, 23).

Today, sin is still prevalent amongst mankind.  There is not a single accountable person that can claim innocence.  We are all guilty of the blood of Jesus Christ.  Let us be thankful that even though that is the case, Jesus willing allowed His blood to be shed.  “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.  For scarcely for a righteous man will one die:  yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.  But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him” (Rom. 5:6-9).
~ Corey Barnette