The Passionنموونە

On days that I can be bothered, I’ll take my push bike out for a spin. Because I don’t regularly cycle, I usually have to fiddle around with the bike chain. I loathe this because of the oil stains that get onto my hands. It takes a few days of scrubbing before it finally comes off. You might have come across similar situations with beetroot staining your fingers, or even when cutting garlic, and the smell sticks to your hands for days!

Pilate, here, does a curious thing. He makes a symbolic gesture before the rioting crowd - he physically washes his hands of the impending murder of an innocent man. However, the crowd is more than willing to take responsibility for it. They would rather the guilty man, Barabbas, go free. It is a sobering scene, as the people of Israel condemn the Messiah sent to redeem them. No one is innocent in this picture.

But the Bible tells us that this heartbreaking episode is a necessary one in God’s redemption story. In Matthew 1:21 (ESV), the angel of the Lord declares to Joseph that Jesus, “will save his people from their sins.” While Barabbas goes free, God’s judgement on sinners falls upon Jesus instead.

No amount of sanitiser or soap can save us from our sins and wash us clean. It is as the Lord says in Isaiah 1:18 (ESV):

“Come now, let us reason together says the LORD:
Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall become like wool."

It is only the innocent blood of Jesus that cleanses the crimson stain of sin from us and makes us whole again.

Today, ponder this: Consider the cost of our redemption. Is there an area of sin in your life that you are ensnared in? There is grace and forgiveness in the blood of Jesus, but do not forget how much it cost. May we never take our Lord’s sacrifice for granted.