When the Jewish leaders brought Jesus to Pilate, they wanted Pilate to kill Him. Pilate tried several ways to figure out how not to find Jesus guilty unto death. He finally made them choose between Jesus and a known murderer, Barabbas (Mark 15:7). To his surprise, the Jewish leaders managed to influence the crowd to ask for the release of Barabbas (Matthew 27:20). Pilate wanted to know what he should do with Jesus.
The crowd cried out that they wanted Him crucified, but they went even further in their insistence that He be killed. It is recorded in Matthew 27:25 that they stated, “His blood be on us, and on our children.” That is a remarkable statement. They wanted it on record that they desired His blood to be shed, and they wanted it known that they took responsibility for it. It is sad that this was not the way Jesus wanted His blood to be used. They took their rejection of His life and love for them as a badge of honor. Jesus intended to shed His blood, but He was doing so to save them. Instead, they rejected Him.
Later, the Jewish leaders got extremely angry when an inspired Christian accused them of having Christ’s blood on their hands. In Acts 5:28, the Jews told the apostles to stop bringing Jesus’ blood upon them. This is an amazing indication of hypocrisy. They took responsibility for His death when it was convenient. Then, they wanted to deny their responsibility when it was not convenient. It is also sad that Jesus and the apostles would have loved for the Jewish leaders to have accepted the blood of Jesus in the right way. Rather than taking credit for His death in a gloating way, they should have been acknowledging guilt in killing Him, and then, allowing the blood of Jesus to immerse them and cleanse them as entrance into the kingdom of Christ. Study your Bible. Learn all you can about our great Savior. Learn how to let His blood be upon you. Then obey Jesus. If any of this is hard to understand, ask an adult to help you.
[Editor’s Note: Happily, about 3,000 Jews, on the birthday of the Lord’s church, did acknowledge their guilt in the death of Jesus Christ. They were baptized for the remission of their sins (Acts 2:22-23, 36-38, 41). ~ Louis Rushmore, Editor]
