By William Barnett
“So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.’ And all the people answered, ‘His blood be on us and on our children!’” — Matthew 27:24-25
This passage conveys the interaction between Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, and the crowd of Jews which gathered to call for Jesus of Nazareth to be put to death. Jesus had been arrested on charges of blasphemy and claiming kingship against Caesar based on his preaching of the gospel. Pilate knew that he was innocent of these things and sought to have him released.
When Pilate saw the crowd’s insistence that Jesus be condemned, he feared them and submitted to them. Washing his hands could not absolve him of guilt, but it did serve as a witness to the Jews. Perhaps he thought that this ceremony would cause them to turn from their unsubstantiated anger, but it was to no avail.
Whatever the purposes of Pilate in his actions, God was sovereignly carrying out his own purposes in these things. On this occasion the Lord was testifying that Jesus, his only begotten Son, was indeed innocent of any sin or wrong doing. This was to show that he was condemned not for any sin in him, but for our sins laid upon him.
The crowd spoke better than they understood when they cried out, “His blood be on us and on our children!” They thought themselves to be carrying out the will of God. They believed Jesus’s preaching of eternal life through faith in him was worthy of death. But in reality, they showed themselves to be condemned. God sent them a Savior and a King and they crucified him.
Therefore, the bloodguilt for Jesus’s death did fall upon them. This stands as a warning to all who reject Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior that bloodguilt is upon them. Their sins were not in fact laid upon him but remain upon themselves. This means that they will be the ones who must bear the judgment for their sins in eternity.
But this should in no way be taken to mean that Jesus’s death on the cross was the result of man’s will and not God’s. Certainly the wicked acts involved were the result of man’s will alone, but the wrath and judgment poured out upon Christ was the wrath and judgment of God. The Father laid the sins of his people upon his Son and the Son took them willingly, so that justice may be satisfied for all who would believe.
Now every person who hears this gospel is called to respond to it. All are warned against unbelief. Yet this passage also gives hope even to those who have formerly rejected Christ. If a person repents and believes in Jesus, resting in his finished work on the cross, then that person is forgiven, redeemed, and secured to eternal life.
