Examples of Our Sin at the Cross (Matthew 27:11-50)
Was it for sins that I had done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!
Pilate is a fascinating example. As the reigning judge over Jesus’ fate he is incredulous. He sees the miscarriage of justice going on and wonders why Jesus does not even try to defend himself. He even tries to let Jesus go—not by pronouncing a just verdict, but through a loophole. The crowd will have none of it, however, and we see that Pilate is not a leader, but a mere politician. He grants them their wish and allows Jesus to be killed but washes his hands of the matter. This is where we get the idiom, but it is an empty gesture and does not free Pilate from the guilt of his inaction.
Pilate’s wife has a foreboding dream about Jesus and tries to warn her husband to avoid the situation. Again, at face value this looks like she trying to be on the side of right, but we can’t say that. There is a big difference between avoiding self-harm out of fear, and the attempt to do the right thing while risking personal danger. In both Pilate and his wife, we see examples of people who fail to do the right thing out of a sense of self-preservation. We can empathize. We all likely have examples where we have committed sins of inaction out of fear. Jesus died, in part, due to and for those sins.
The religious leaders incite the crowds to demand Jesus’ death. This mob is the same group of the masses who, days earlier, had chanted “Hosanna!” at Jesus’ arrival. That the leaders are able to sway the masses to do evil is a strong damnation against those leaders, but it also does not let the mob off the hook. Behavioral scientists have observed the strange things that “group think” can cause. Mild-mannered, otherwise “good” people have joined in chants urging suicidal people to jump to their death. It is crazy—and scary—to see what we will do as a part of the herd. The sins of inciting mobs to evil, as well as the sins that we all fall prey to as a part of the mob, are also the same sins that led Jesus to the cross.
The soldiers in charge of executing Jesus didn’t just carry out the orders they were given. They beat Him, spat on Him, and mocked Him. They did what we all have done at some point in our lives. They saw Him as a lesser, guilty, outcast of society; an “other.” He was someone who they could use to elevate themselves. This sin of dehumanizing human beings to make ourselves feel better is also an example of the kinds of sins that we have all embraced that drove Jesus to the cross.
Next, we see Simon of Cyrene. The man forced into carrying the cross of Christ. He is a sort of de facto hero in the story. The “innocent” man who has to carry the cross of Jesus, and thereby—in helping the Lord—he must be seen as good, right? But, as we have seen, Jesus died for the sins that affect everyone universally in humanity. In carrying Jesus’ cross, Simon is actually carrying the symbolic burden of his own sin. The Bible teaches us that we all have earned the penalty of death, but that Jesus paid that price. Simon could be any of us. We carry the burden of our rebellion that has earned us death and separation from God, only to hand it over to the Lamb of God who takes our place. Well, some of us hand it over.
When Jesus is finally on the cross, suffering for the sins of the world, everyone around Him mocks and jeers: those passing by, the religious leaders, even the criminals dying for their own, actual crimes. That sad reality is evident to this day. The majority of people never see their own guilt in the cross. They do not recognize the gift being offered. They do not improve their condition through repentance, but rather puff themselves up in continued rebellion.
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