Guilt and Innocence

Matthew 27:11-54

March 16, 2008 – ©Rev. Dr. Linnea E. Carnes

Introduction

Do you remember the story about the Israelites and the walls of Jericho, in Joshua 6? They marched around Jericho once for 6 days and then on the 7^th day they marched around the walls of Jericho 7 times and then blew their trumpets and the walls of Jericho fell down.

Not everybody knows that story. One new pastor, visiting a children’s Sunday school was introduced by the teacher and told they were learning about Joshua. So the pastor asked “Who tore down the walls of Jericho?” Little Johnny shyly raised his hand, saying, “Pastor, I didn’t do it.” Surprised by the response, the pastor asked, “Come on, now, who tore down the walls of Jericho?” The teacher interrupted and said, “Pastor, Johnny’s a good boy. If he says he didn’t do it, I believe he didn’t do it.”

The pastor left and went to the Sunday school director and told him the story. The director, looking worried, said, “Well, sir, we’ve had some problems with Johnny before. Let me talk to him and see what we can do.” Now the pastor was really bothered by these answers. So the pastor approached the deacons and related the whole story. One elderly deacon said, “Well, Pastor, I move we just take the money from the general fund to pay for the walls and leave it at that.” [PreachingToday.com, “Assuming the Worst” from Cregg Puckett, Florence, MI].

Little Johnny was truly innocent of tearing down the walls of Jericho, but his teacher, the Sunday school director and the deacons thought he was guilty. The truth was that they were the guilty ones – guilty of not knowing a simple Bible story.

The Innocent: Jesus

On Palm Sunday Jesus rode into Jerusalem as a king. The crowds shouted “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” [Mt. 21:9]. But on Friday Jesus was arrested, convicted and put to death. How strange that the very people Jesus had healed, set free from demons, and fed with only 5 loaves and 2 fish, would now turn on him and demand he be crucified.

Jesus was innocent of all charges. They had no case against him. The witnesses who appeared before Pilate couldn’t agree on what Jesus had done to deserve death.

Pilate knew Jesus was innocent. In Matthew 27:18 it says Pilate “knew that it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him.” All four gospels tell us that Pilate kept trying to set Jesus free because he could find no reason to put him to death. Pilate knew Jesus was innocent.

Pilate’s wife also knew Jesus was innocent. She told her husband to not get involved with “that innocent man” [Jesus] because of a dream she had had that day [Mt.27:19].

Then, when Jesus died, and the earthquake happened, the Roman centurion standing guard at the cross said, “Surely he was the Son of God.” [Mt.27:54]. “Surely this was a righteous man.” [Lk.23:47].

Jesus was innocent. These three people were not Jews. They had no reason to take Jesus’ side. They gained nothing from claiming that Jesus was innocent. Yet, they were the ones who knew Jesus was innocent.

The Guilty Ones

Matthew tells us that Barabbas was a man who was truly guilty. He was in prison because he led a revolution against Roman authorities. John called him a “bandit.” Barabbas was a criminal. He had probably killed Romans. He deserved to die. He was guilty.

The two rebels, or bandits, who were crucified with Jesus, were also guilty [Mt.27:38]. One continued to mock and curse Jesus, even as he hung on a cross. Both were guilty of crimes that deserved death. They deserved what they got. They were guilty.

Another guilty person was Pilate. Even though Pilate “washed his hands” of the whole thing, and declared that he was “innocent of this man’s blood” [Mt.27:24], he was still guilty. He had a choice. He was the Roman governor in that region. He could have set Jesus free or told the Jewish leaders to deal with Jesus themselves. But he didn’t. He condemned an innocent man to death. Pilate was guilty.

When you think about it, even the disciples were guilty. They all ran away in Jesus’ time of need. Peter – he was guilty. Even though just hours before he had sworn that he would never deny Jesus, he did deny him three times. When the rooster crowed, Peter looked up to see Jesus looking at him and ran away in tears. He failed his Lord. Peter was guilty.

The rebels crucified with Jesus were guilty. Pilate was guilty. Peter was guilty. But they weren’t the only guilty ones.

Those who brought Jesus to Pilate, the religious leaders, were guilty because they knew Jesus wasn’t guilty. Jesus was merely an aggravation to them because he showed them how far they had strayed from God. They condemned Jesus to death because he challenged their authority. So they were guilty.

Also those who the religious leaders persuaded to shout, “Crucify him!” were guilty. Did they really believe Jesus deserved death, or were they going along with the crowd? Joining their voices with the others, they joined in their guilt.

All these people were truly guilty. Yet Jesus, the innocent one, was judged guilty and condemned to die.

Of all the guilty people, Barabbas was guilty, yet found himself set free. In this strange turn of events, the guilty was set free and the innocent one was condemned to die.

N. T. Wright states that “Barabbas represents all of us. When Jesus dies, the brigand [bandit] goes free, the sinners go free, we all go free. … All are guilty. … with the death of Jesus, redemption is offered to all.” [Tom Wright, Matthew for Everyone, Part Two (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004) 178-179].

“Redemption is offered to all.” Jesus was found guilty so that all people, you and I, who are guilty can be set free – free from sin, free from the guilt that weighs us down, guilt that infects our soul and separates us from God.

We can wash our hands like Pilate did to rid ourselves of sin, but it doesn’t wash away. We can try to justify our sin with excuses, but we know we’re still guilty. We can look at ourselves in comparison to others who are worse sinners in our eyes, but we are still guilty. We too crucified our Lord Jesus Christ.

And just like Barabbas, we need Jesus to die in our place, so we can live. We need Jesus to take our guilty plea and set us free from our sin.

Every Knee Shall Bow

Philippians 2:5-8 reminds us that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, humbled himself by coming in flesh and then, in obedience to God the Father, died on the cross for our sake.

Our holy God came to earth in human form to make it possible for sinful men and women to be set free from sin and guilt. So when we realize our sinfulness, and humble ourselves before Jesus Christ, our guilt is taken away.

“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” [Php.2:9-11].

· One day all people will bow before Christ.

· One day every person who has ever lived will acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord.

· One day Barabbas will bow before Jesus.

· One day Pilate will bow before Jesus.

· One day the Jewish leaders who condemned him to death will bow before Jesus.

· One day all who have rejected him will bow before Jesus.

· One day you, one day I, will bow before Jesus.

And we will all acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord.

For some it will be too late. They have not accepted Jesus’ offer to set them free from sin by believing in him.

But for others, hopefully for each of you, you will stand before him, not as a sinner, not as one who is guilty, but as an innocent child of God.

Guilty or innocent?

Jesus Christ alone is innocent.

Jesus Christ alone can set you free from guilt.

For Jesus Christ alone is Lord and God. Amen.

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This sermon is copyright ©2008 by Rev. Dr. Linnea E. Carnes, Immanuel Evangelical Covenant Church, Chicago, Illinois.