Bloodguilt

"We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, he said, "and yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man's blood." Acts 5:28

The 'name' being referred to in this verse is the name of Jesus. The reference to 'this man' at the end of the verse also refers to Jesus. Early believers had been commanded by the Jews, (you see at this time Christianity is still seen as a sect of Judaism) not to speak of the name of Jesus. The apostles were determined to spread the gospel of the Messiah all throughout Jerusalem and to teach the good news of salvation. The Jewish leaders saw this as an effort to pin on them the death of Jesus. Who is responsible for the death of Jesus anyway? Nobody wants to be saddled with the guilt of His blood, especially His blood.

As people come to believe in the redemption that Jesus brings they ask who killed Him. Why did He have to die? I imagine a lot of folks felt a sense of blood-guiltiness. Bloodguilt if you were in the crowd crying for 'Barabbas' to be released instead of Jesus, if you were a soldier who had been part of His beating. Bloodguilt if you were on the way to Calvary and spit on Him or joined in the mockery of Him. Everybody wants to be exonerated from any responsibility for Jesus dying, including the Jewish leaders. They want to blame it on the Romans. The Romans carried out the wishes of the people. The people were only following their spiritual leaders. So the blame game goes around and around. I have an idea... we can pin it on Judas, after all He sold Jesus out for 30 pieces of silver. I am sure Peter has residual guilt for his denial. The other disciples who fled certainly feel like they abandoned Him and were guilty. His mother must have wondered what she could have done. Nobody wants to take responsibility for the most heinous thing that ever happened to anybody. So, where does the guilt for Jesus blood lay? Who is responsible for Jesus dying on the cross? What killed Him? Was it the soldier who put the spear in Him, or the one who drove the last nail? We are compelled to fix blame and to settle matters when it comes to guilt.

Let me pose a different view. Perhaps we all did it. Maybe every sin ever committed is what nailed Him to the cross. Maybe from the beginning with Adam and Eve and ever since, each and every sin that humans have committed actually nailed Him to the cross. Maybe every sin since still crucifies Him. Were there no sin, He wouldn't have needed to die. I think I am guilty. I know I am. It is only in admitting it that I can experience the grace and forgiveness that He paid for, because of my sin. Not yours, mine. You can deal with yours; I have to deal with mine. Every time I sin, let it remind me that it is sin that put Him on the cross. I know this is a brutal thought and not pleasant to consider, but we have become so glib and flippant about the cost of sin. If we do not think deeper about our sin, we make a mockery of the cross.

The symbol of the cross always reminds me of my part in it. My conscience works, how is yours doing? Like the verse says, maybe today you will feel that I am 'determined to make you guilty of this man's blood'. Actually, I just want to share that guilt with you. It is only when I take responsibility for my sin that I can stop. Join me today in experiencing afresh His grace and appreciating it anew. I am so grateful to be forgiven.

With His mercy,
Pastor Fred

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