Let His Blood Be On Us.

“What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?” Pilate asked.
They all answered, “Crucify him!”
“Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!”
All the people answered, “Let his blood be on us and on our children!”
Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

Matthew 27:22-26, NIV

When Pilate famously washed his hands of the responsibility of sentencing Jesus, the crowd willingly took it upon themselves. You can see what they were thinking. “We don’t care. We just want Him dead. We’ll take the rap for it. Just hand him over to us.”

“Let His blood be on us and our children.”

You know what I find so amazing about this verse? God could have taken them at their word and given them eternal damnation. After all, didn’t they deserve it?

But instead of judgement, He chose mercy. He turned it around for them. He allowed the blood of His only begotten Son to be shed, then he poured that blood on them and their children. Not in the sense of damning them but in order to cover their sins and wash them away for ever. Not quite what they had in mind when they said, “Let His blood be on us and our children.”

Why did Jesus die? Because God is a friend of sinners. And he loves each and every sinful one of us so much that he took the punishment we richly deserve in our stead.

Prayer
Loving Father, thank you for loving the whole world so much that you gave your only begotten son to die that we might share eternity with you.
Amen.

Study by Peter Mill