"While Pilate was sitting on the judge's seat, his wife sent him this message: 'Don't have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.' But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed."

 

         In Mathew's account of the cross, the repeated word that stands out for me is "innocent." So, the question is, "Who is innocent?"

• Judas says in verse 4, "I have betrayed innocent blood."
• Pilate's wife says in verse 19, "Don't have anything to do with that innocent man."
• Pilate says in verse 24, "I am innocent of this man's blood."
• Then in verse 17, we are introduced to this man Barabbas. He is described as being "well-known," which can mean "notable," a Robin Hood character loved by the common people; or it can mean "notorious," a rebel and a bandit who is a threat to the social order. So depending on your point of view, he is either a dangerous criminal, or he is a folk hero; perhaps some would call him "innocent."

         Pilate desired to proclaim his innocence with water. Pilate was not an upstanding character. He was Prefect of Judea from 26 to 36 A.D., and then he was deposed because of rising complaints of his heavy-handed suppression of a Samaritan uprising. He was a brutal man, with little understanding of his subjects. R.T. France writes that on plenty of other occasions he did not worry about provoking riots. But here, after trying to give Jesus amnesty, he washes his hands, a gesture of being "not responsible" for the death of Jesus. It is an empty gesture. He is the one who signs the order for the crucifixion of Jesus by Roman soldiers under his command.

         Pilate tries to gain innocence by covering his actions with superficial gestures. He shows us the folly of replacing moral character with looking good. Any superficial sign of righteousness soon collapses, whether it is acting in a charming manner, perfecting a smooth talking exterior, refining the art of empty apology, or making sure everyone sees our good actions. Self-interested behavior is not the same as innocence. Pilate is neither innocent nor righteous.

       Then we encounter the innocence of Jesus. Judas, in extreme regret and remorse, brings the money back to the chief priests and elders with his confession that he has sinned by betraying innocent blood.

Then there is the dream of Pilate's wife. She says, "Have nothing to do with that innocent (or righteous) man." This is not her opinion, or her faith in Jesus. The ancient church misread this as a Gentile woman coming to faith, and made up a legend about her, calling her "Claudia Procula" and making her a saint. The point made by Matthew is that her confession that Jesus is an innocent man comes from a dream. God speaks in dreams. This is the testimony of God that Jesus is innocent and righteous.

Finally there is the reluctance of Pilate to execute Jesus. R.T. France writes, "For Pilate the charge does not ring true. He understands that the motive behind the charge is not concern for Roman law and order, but is the Jewish leader's religious and political self-interest." Pilate sees through the charge, and believes that Jesus is innocent.

         But the innocence of Jesus is seen supremely on the cross. It comes through the words of Jesus as he is dying, and then the events that Matthew records at the moment of his death: the curtain of the temple was torn in two, opening the Holy of Holies. The earth shook, the rocks split and tombs broke open. And the Centurion and the guards with him said, "Surely he was the Son of God."

         In the resurrection of Jesus we see the vindication of God who does not abandon his son to the grave. Jesus is the Righteous one, the Innocent one, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

         This takes us back to Psalm 31, and to the lament that Jesus speaks as he commits his spirit to God. Gerald Wilson writes, "Christ, surrounded by taunting enemies and fearful, doubting disciples, enters into death as an act of commitment to the Righteous God of truth, who alone can be trusted to vindicate the enduring faith of the Righteous. 'Into your hands I commit my spirit.' With these words Christ slipped into the secure refuge of God that even death could not shake or overthrow."

         Jesus is the Innocent One, the Righteous Son of God.

         Who is guilty of the death of the Innocent One?

Matthew leads us to understand that it is not Pilate, even though he handed Jesus over to be crucified.

         It is not the Jewish leaders, even though they clearly conspired to kill Jesus and then persuaded the people of Jerusalem.

         Matthew shows us it is not the crowd, even though they shout, "Crucify him."

         The answer comes in verse 25, "All the people answered, 'His blood is on us and on our children.' "

         Matthew changes language here. Where he has been referring to "the crowd." people who in the heat of the moment suddenly become a mob, suddenly lose their sense of what they are doing, so that the crucifixion might be seen as a lynching; now he uses the word "people," Laos. He says, "All the people," which is a common way of referring to the chosen people of God.

         In Acts 2:36 Peter declares to the gathered people of Jerusalem that God has vindicated Jesus, "whom you crucified."

         This passage in Matthew has been horribly misused by Christians through the centuries to blame the Jewish people for the killing of Christ and to justify horrendous persecutions. But what Matthew is saying, borne out by the preaching of the early church, is that the crucifixion of Jesus, the Son of God, is not something that you can fix blame on one person, or one group of people. It is not something that others did. Matthew helps us to see that all of us were part of the crucifixion of Jesus.

         You have to recognize your place in the crucifixion before you can receive the forgiveness of sin offered on the cross. Surely all of us have been involved in some word, thought or deed which caused wounding to Jesus or his body, which mocked Jesus or his people, which opposed Jesus in doing the will of God. Matthew says that "all the people" have a part in the cross of Jesus.

         Our lack of innocence at the cross is not just in little ways. It is not just a matter of slight imperfections and easily remedied failures. Nor is our lack of innocence just in ways that get people's picture in the paper these days. It is not limited to the blatant moral failure of prominent people. Rather our guilt is in our opposition to the will of God. We fail to love God with heart and soul and strength. We fail to love our neighbor as ourselves. We come to the end of our strength daily before we have done God's will. We fool ourselves by thinking if we just had a little more time, a little better discipline, a little more energy, a little more Bible knowledge, then we could surely live in God's will.

         Here is the truth of the cross.

         The cross does not make us good.

         The cross does not proclaim our innocence.

         Rather, the cross of Jesus brings forgiveness of sin.

         The cross of Jesus breaks the power of sin that so easily dominates us.

         The cross is not for the self-proclaimed innocent, it is not for those who see themselves as pure, it is not for the righteous and the good.

         The cross is for people who know who they are.

         It is for people who come to the grace of Jesus: "Just as I am, without one plea, but that you died to set me free."

         O Lamb of God, I come.

         O Lamb of God, I come.

         Amen.