Thursday, March 1, 2007
Matthew 27:22-25 Pilate said to them, "What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?" They all said to him, "Let Him be crucified!" Then the governor said, "Why, what evil has He done?" But they cried out all the more, saying, "Let Him be crucified!" 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 this just Person. You see to it." And all the people answered and said, "His blood be on us and on our children."
PICTURES FROM THE PASSION -- "HIS BLOOD BE ON US"
Have you ever been at a sporting event where the crowd is enthusiastically chanting? It's fun to cheer and chant for our team, but it can be a little bothersome when the crowd is cheering and chanting against our team. Maybe the most bothersome cheers and chants of all time came on the day that Jesus was to be crucified, as the crowd chanted "Crucify Him" and "His blood be on us and on our children".
What a terrible picture. The Savior of the world stands beaten and alone before a crowd of His own people who actually wanted to be held responsible for His execution. Some have said that this is why such terrible things have plagued the Jewish people throughout their history, such as the Holocaust. We have to say that God has not specifically told us this. One thing that God has told us specifically is that He "desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." This includes you and me, this includes the Jewish people, and this even includes those who chanted such terrible things that day.
The people called for Jesus' blood to come on them out of contempt for Him. God wished for Jesus' blood to come upon them out of love for them. Our prayer is that many of those who chanted against Jesus later realized who He was and repented of their unbelieving attitude and their unbelieving words. Our prayer is that Jesus' blood may be on us and our children; not as a curse through unbelief, but as a blessing through faith, so that we may be washed of our sins and made clean in God's sight.
