I am innocent of the blood of this just Person

 When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this just Person.  You see to it."  And all the people answered and said, "His blood be on us and on our children."  Then he released Barabbas to them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified. 

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around Him.  And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him.  When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand.  And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!"  Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head.  And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified.

- Matthew 27:24-31

On Saturday, we read that Jesus stood before the governor, Pontius Pilate.  And the governor asked Him, saying, "Are You the King of the Jews?"  Jesus said to him, "It is as you say."  And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He answered nothing.  Then Pilate said to Him, "Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?"  But He answered him not one word, so that the governor marveled greatly.  Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to releasing to the multitude one prisoner whom they wished.  And at that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas.  Therefore, when they had gathered together, Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want me to release to you?  Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?"  For he knew that they had handed Him over because of envy.  While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, "Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him."  But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus.  The governor answered and said to them, "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?"  They said, "Barabbas!"  Pilate said to them, "What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?"  They all said to him, "Let him be crucified!"  Then the governor said, "Why, what evil has He done?"  But they cried out all the more, saying, "Let Him be crucified!"

 When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this just Person.  You see to it."  And all the people answered and said, "His blood be on us and on our children."  Then he released Barabbas to them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified.   That all the people answered Pilate and said, "His blood be on us and on our children" has been used by certain groups to justify persecuting Jews, which my study bible calls a grave and terrible sin.  In fact, what many may have seen as a curse is an unwittingly invoked blessing -- the Lord's blood is the source of their redemption.  Moreover, my study bible says, these words are implicitly spoken by anyone who sins.  St. John Chrysostom teaches that even though these Jews "acted with such madness, so far from confirming a sentence on them or their children, Christ instead received those who repented and counted them worthy of good things beyond number."  Furthermore, according to my study bible, Chrysostom additionally notes the thousands who were converted in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:41) as evidence of Christ's mercy.

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around Him.  And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him.  When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand.  And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!"  Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head.  And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified.   My study bible notes here that every king is proclaimed by his soldiers.  Although the intention here is to mock Jesus, it is, in fact, prophetic that He is crowned and hailed as King by soldiers of the governor (see also John 11:49-51, in which Caiaphas unwittingly prophesies of Christ's redemptive work).  The mockery on display here shows Jesus as the One despised and rejected by human beings who bears the iniquity of all (see Isaiah 53:3-9).  He is clothed in scarlet, representing both Jesus' royalty and the sins of humanity which He has taken upon Himself. 

In Saturday's reading and commentary, we noted the peculiar sort of "mirroring" that the scenes of Jesus' trial and punishment seem to invoke.  Barabbas means "son of the father" and Jesus is the true "Son of the Father."  Barabbas, whom the crowds prefer, is seen as liberator and redeemer in his role as brigand or rebel outlaw, but Christ is our true Redeemer of all, in whom is the true continuation of Israel, the "people of God" who would be comprised out of all the nations of the world (Psalm 22:27-28).  Here in today's reading, revelations abound where they are not meant and are inadvertent.  The people in this crowd stirred up for Jesus' crucifixion by the leadership call for Christ's blood to "be on us and our children."  But they quite literally "know not what they do" (Luke 23:34).   In effect they are calling for their own redemption in unwittingly speaking of the power of the blood of Christ.   Unknown to us may be many who participated in this scene who later came to follow Christ.  The soldiers of the Roman guard of the governor mock Christ.  They call Him King and dress Him in a scarlet robe.  They "bowed the knee" before Him.  They don't know that He is the One to whom "every knee shall bow" (Isaiah 45:23), but the Gospel tells us that among them there is a leader, a centurion, who will come to faith before these events finish (27:54).  In the changes that would eventually come to the Roman Empire, it is perhaps the faith of so many of its soldiers that made the greatest difference in the eventual establishment of the religion of "New Rome" as that of Christ.  Although the images of Christ's persecution, humiliation, and sentencing are perversions of justice and of truth, the truth of Who Christ is remains hidden in plain sight, so to speak.  The twisting of truth cannot entirely prevail over the identity of Christ and the Truth that He is and brings (John 14:6).  This is important for us to remember:   that lies cannot really change what actually is.  Regardless of the attempts of evil to pervert this truth, despite injustice, deliberate lies and manipulation, envy that would destroy even the Son of God and His followers, the truth remains.  People may be deceived, and lies may be told, the truth "officially" banished, but the presence of this reality nevertheless remains and is present for those with faith and whose hearts will come to faith.  It is important to understand that manipulation does not have the power it seeks.  It deceives for a time, but it lacks the substance of truth, of reality.  Let us consider, then, the futility of what is before us in this scene in the Gospel.  Evil causes pain and suffering, it wastes the time of our lives, it seeks to delude, it uses sleight of hand to deceive and to create a false allure.  But Christ's truth will prevail.   Faith will not be dissolved; far from it (Romans 8:28).  The people who call down a curse actually call down a blessing.  The truth is there, and it always will be.  It is only lost to those who are blind and do not wish to see.