Blog Archives
The Hands, washed and innocent? A Lenten Sermon about Jesus… and Pilate
By My Hands, for My Sake
The Hands, Washed and Innocent?
Matthew 27
May the grace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ help you understand what it means to have clean hands, and therefore no guilt or shame….
- Who was Pilate kidding?
Barabba’s hands were freed, Judas’s hands threw back the money, Nicodemus’s hands took the Lord Jesus, down from the victorious cross. Adam’s hands would not die, but would work the ground…While their sin was the factor in Christ’s death, only one set of hands could had done anything about it…
And he decided to wash his hands.
As if that would remove the blood that was shed, as the spikes entered the wrists and ankles, and the blood and water which poured out as the centurion’s spear entered Christ’s sacred side…
Who the heck did Pilate think he was kidding?
He wasn’t fooling the Jewish leaders, they realized that with enough voices shouting, they could get him to back down.
He wasn’t fooling his army, they would go ahead, and crucify him according to Roman standards
He wasn’t fooling his wife, who told him to have nothing to do with the holy man.
And he wasn’t fooling Jesus… for God knew his heart.
While Pilate claims he isn’t guilty of the death of Jesus, he needed Jesus to die as much as any of us.
Paul will write of Pilate and his friend Herod,
“7 No, the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God—his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began. 8 But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord. 1 Corinthians 2:7-8 (NLT2)
Pilate, no matter how hard he tried, was as guilty as any of the death of Jesus…it was by his hand the order was given to crucify Jesus….
He didn’t fool anyone… it was by his hands… and ours.
- Do We Try to Duck Responsibility for our Decisions?
Over the years, I have heard people talk about Christ’s death, and “who killed him.” Even today some people want to blame the Jews, or at least the Jesus leaders. Others want to blame the soldiers, or the Roman politicians.
Like so much of what goes on in this world, we want someone to blame! Someone to hold responsible for causing the mess, so that we have someone to hold responsible for cleaning up the mess caused by the sin.
I don’t care if it is a big issue, like wars and homelessness. Or something in your home, like who left the garage door open, or who forgot to flush the toilet.
We all know the name of the guilty person, some illusive guy named “not me!” or perhaps, “not us!”
Pilate’s answer would work to- “I am innocent – you are responsible!” And so more damage is done, as sin breaks apart another relationship.
Some of us even have the nerve to blame God for the mess, the sin, the decision.
And we like Pilate – try to wash our hands to prove we are innocent!
- It was for Our Sake…
In researching this sermon, I came across an interesting passage about Pilate. It was written by an early church writer and leader named Tertullian, who wrote, “All these things Pilate did to Christ; and now in fact a Christian in his own convictions, he sent word of Him to the reigning Cæsar, who was at the time Tiberius[1]” Other writers insist that he was a martyr, who was killed because he wouldn’t give up on his being a witness to Jesus’ death… and came to believe he rose from the dead.
I hope these testimonies are true!
The man who tried to wash his hands of the sin of signing the death warrant, cleansed of the sin by being united in baptism with the Lord?
The hands that once tried to place the responsibility in other hands accepting it, and having it forgiven! What an incredible story!
It is almost as good as our sins, which we blamed on others, being forgiven!
We don’t have to pass the buck anymore, and the buck doesn’t stop here. It stops there – Paul says it is nailed to the cross, where Jesus took on its incredible burden.
That’s the point – Jesus died at our hands, but He died for our sake.
He washed us, as He did the disciples’ feet, and to quote what He said to Peter,– you are clean indeed.
This is true for all who have confessed their sin, seeking not to justify it, but to accept and receive God’s promise of forgiveness.
[1] Tertullian. “The Apology.” Latin Christianity: Its Founder, Tertullian, edited by Alexander Roberts et al., translated by S. Thelwall, vol. 3, Christian Literature Company, 1885, p. 35.
Blessed to Be in His Presence: Free from Blame and made Partners: An Advent Sermon on 1 Cor 1
We Are Blessed to Be in His Presence
Free from Blame and Made His Partners!
1 Corinthians 1:3-9
† I.H.S †
As the Apostle Paul desired for the Corinthians, may God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace!
Thank God you belong to Jesus!
An observation I heard more times than I could count yesterday is one familiar.
“How do people get through this without Jesus?”
“How does the secular world deal with this?
And to be honest, I don’t know, but I have an answer to their problem, at the end of this message.
So when I got back to church yesterday, and I looked again at the passage, what caught my eye more than it did before was Paul giving thanks to God for his people and the grace He’s given, for they belong to Jesus.
And so memories of after the service came back, so many of your faces, resonating with these words of Paul.
I have to thank God that it the grace He has given so evident, as is that you belong to Jesus, you are His! All of the words of comfort you offer each other confirms it, as we seemingly do it month after month, year after year. The gospel I share with you from up here, or in the MPR, I get to see them lived out far more clearly, as the riches of God’s gifts is seen in you.
I don’t have to prove His presence is true, you know that, even if you are little hazy about all the details, we cannot deny that God carries us in times like these.
Look at what we do, this isn’t possibly without God’s work being true
I don’t know how often you think about Jesus coming back, never mind are eagerly waiting for His return. Most of the time for me, it is a prayer of desperation, a prayer because I don’t know how we are going to cope any longer, or dare I say, how much more of a challenging life we can endure.
That’s the same kind of feeling Isaiah had in the Old Testament, when he cried, Lord, just burst open the heavens and come down!!!!
We’re waiting Lord! Just rip open those skies and get down here!
I mean what are you waiting for Lord?
We’re not the first people to struggle, and we aren’t the only people who think the struggle’s gone on long enough. According to the Book of Revelation, even those in heaven, those who testified to God’s love cry out, “How long, O Holy and true Lord, how long until the suffering is dealt with?” (Rev. 6:10)
God’s answer to them is rest a little longer, the number of your brothers and sisters aren’t complete. Remember that please. That the number isn’t complete….
The church is like Maxwell house….
So how do we endure all the suffering? All the pain that sin causes in our lives? If God won’t come and take us all home right now, how will we get past tomorrow?
How can we endure to the end? How will we be strong and faithful from this moment until Christ returns?
While Jesus isn’t coming back for the final judgment yet, He promised that God would never abandon us, that He would never leave us alone. Here he promises it again,
“He will keep you strong to the end,”
But it doesn’t end there, there is more , “so you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus returns”
Hear that guys? All blame! By guys I was talking to the men who are to blame for everything! You know who you are!
Seriously, that promise is twofold. The first is that God will personally sustain us, and keep us strong until Jesus returns. The second is that we will be blameless – completely righteous, innocent of all sin, completely cleansed by God, our soul completely healed.
What we can’t do, He did already. For our strength comes from our being untied to Jesus’ death and resurrection in our baptism, in God claiming us as His, for it is when we were united to Jesus that we became His, new creatures, that He fully cares for and sustains.
Because of Him we were sinners, and now we are forgiven, righteous, holy, and this is how Jesus will find us, the very work He did on the cross made it possible, and made it happen
Partnership with Christ – from His death till He comes again
So let me bring back up the idea of how people get through this life without knowing God.
It’s not supposed to be that way, and in fact, even as God planned for us to be blameless and holy, and strong to the last drop, he planned for those people who didn’t know His comfort.
Just as the Father sent Jesus to us, Jesus sends us to them.
You heard me right, that’s what the idea the Apostle is getting to, when he says, “God will do this, for he is faithful to do what He says, and he has invited you into partnership with His son, Jesus Christ our Lord!”
Our partnership, our communion, our fellowship with Jesus is so complete, we share in His vocation of Savior. Not that we are crucified for their sins, but they hear about that incredible act of love, and the resurrection through us. They hear of the love of God that will sustain us through this seemingly broken, shattered life.
And our words will confirm the work of Jesus, as the Holy Spirit draws them to Him, as we share the hope we have.
They don’t have to go through this life without Christ, and certainly, we know that God doesn’t desire that they go through life without hope, and for that reason, He isn’t come back yet…
You and I are Jesus partners, have been since our baptism, and through us, through the gospel, we share with family and friends, they will know that God is with them as well…
And then on the days when they like us are broken and exhausted, or tire of crying, and dealing with the guilt and shame of sin, they will know the power and beauty and strength and peace found in these words,
The Lord, who loves you, is with you!
AMEN!
