One of the saddest, bleakest verses in the Bible is Matthew 27:25 when the mob that has brought Jesus to trial and insisted that he be crucified says, “And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” They were taking ownership of the murder of Jesus, accepting their part in it with pride. Little did they know in what evil they were participating (a fact Jesus made clear in Luke 26:34 when he said “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”)
As we consider this verse further, the news gets even worse. Each of us participated in the killing of Jesus with our sin and rebellion, so each of us has his blood on us, marking our guilt. But even as we see the twisted, prideful, blind evil in our hearts as part of that murderous mob, this verse points us to the eternal hope of salvation.
What is the very thing that cleanses us from the bloodguilt of sin? The blood of Christ. When we believe, when we surrender our lives to Christ, the stain of guilt is covered by the purifying blood of Jesus. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” (Isaiah 1:18)
Now, as followers of Jesus, when we say “his blood is on us” we are reveling in freedom from guilt and shame and rejoicing in purity and cleanliness. Once we bore the stain of his blood, but now we are cleansed by it.
I originally wrote this post for my church, Immanuel Nashville, in our Daily Pulse email. If you want encouragement from God’s word delivered Monday thru Friday to your inbox, I encourage you to subscribe.
