Not Guilty

Sunday, July 12th, 2026

7 am

Good morning! Today I am in Matthew 27:15-26, Mark 15:6-15, Luke 23:13-25, and John 18:38-19:16. When Jesus told Pilate that He came into the world to testify to the truth, Pilate said, "What is truth?" Then he went back out to the people and told them that he found Jesus not guilty of any crime. And told them that they had a custom of releasing one prisoner each year at Passover, and asked them if they would like him to release the King of the Jews or Barabbas, who was in prison for rebellion against the government and murder. The leading priests had persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas. Meanwhile, Pilates wife sent him a message telling him to leave Jesus alone because she had had a terrible dream about Him the night before. When the crowd shouted back Barabbas, he asked them again, "Why? What crime has He committed? I have found no reason to put Him to death, neither did Herod. So I will have Him flogged and released." Pilate gave Jesus to the soldiers to flog, and they flogged Him with a lead-tipped whip. And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and put a purple robe on Him. They mocked Him saying, "Hail! King of the Jews!", and smacked Him across His face. Pilate went outside again and told the people he was going to bring Jesus out to them now, but for them to understand he found Him innocent. They brought Jesus out wearing the purple robe and crown of thorns, and Pilate told them, "Look here is the man!" They shouted again to crucify Him. Pilate told them to take Him themselves and crucify Him. The leaders told Pilate that Jesus had called Himself the Son of God, so by their law He ought to die. This frightened Pilate, and he took Jesus back to his headquarters and asked Him again where He came from. But Jesus gave no answer. Pilate said to Him,"Why don't You talk to me? Don't You realize that I have the power to release You or crucify You?" Jesus told Him, "You would have no power over me at all if it wasn't given to You from above. So the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.(John 19:11)" Pilate tried to release Him, but the leaders shouted that if he released Jesus, he was no friend of Caesar because anyone who declares himself a king is a rebel against Caesar. When they said this, Pilate brought Jesus out to them again, and sat down in the judgment seat. It was about noon on the day of preparation for the Passover. Pilate called for a bowl of water, and he washed his hands before the crowd saying that he was innocent of Jesus' blood, and the responsibility was theirs. The people shouted that they and their children would take the responsibility for His death. Pilate told the people, "Look, here is your King!" The people shouted back, "Crucify Him!" Saying they have no king but Caesar. And he turned Jesus over to the people, and they took Him away.

Pilate found Jesus not guilty, and he tried several times to get the people to understand that he thought Jesus was innocent and did not deserve to die. But the people did not want Jesus released, they wanted Him dead because like He told Pilate, He came into the world to testify of the truth, and that truth threatened all the religious leaders and priests. That same truth has the same effects on us today. We either accept what Jesus is telling us or we reject it. When we reject the truth, we are doing the same thing the religious leaders did to Jesus. We are rejecting Him so we can keep living in the sin that keeps us separated from God. Causing Jesus' death to mean nothing to us.

Instead of releasing Him, they asked for Barabbas to be released. Barabbas had committed the exact crimes that Jesus was being accused of. It's very interesting that Barabbas means "Son of Abba" in Jewish. He was the son of an unnamed man. So Jesus, the Son of God (our Abba), took the place of the criminal. Jesus, an innocent man, took the place of the criminal that actually committed a crime. When they crucified Jesus on that cross, Jesus took our sin with Him. He never committed a crime, He was innocent, but everyone of us have sinned. Jesus took the sin of the world on that cross, so now we can be set free from the penalty of death, just like He did for the criminal that was released. We are all guilty of something. But Jesus was completely innocent.

Pilate knew that, and He had the chance to do something about it, but he was to afraid of the mob that was rising up against Jesus. Pilate could not stand the pressure, and gave into the crowd. Just because he washed his hands of the matter, did not make him any less guilty of killing Jesus. He had a chance to let Him go, but he chose to give in. We have the same choice today. Jesus was innocent. We can read the Bible and the accounts of the apostles to see that. Jesus loved everyone and died for everyone. But if we choose sin over Jesus, we are just like Pilate as well. Allowing the world to persuade us.

What do you choose? If you are choosing to remain in sin, then you are not choosing Jesus. You are choosing to not be a part of His Kingdom. You are choosing to be a slave to this world instead of set free. The penalty for sin is death. But Jesus paid that price for you, if you choose Him. That doesn't mean we won't make mistakes, but means that God will forgive us when we choose to repent and turn from those sinful ways. But we must make the choice. Because if we say we choose Him and continue in the same sin over and over again, we are not truly repentant. God knows our hearts. If we are sincere or not. If we are sincere, our actions must follow through. Our actions show what we truly believe or not. Don't allow the pressures of this world to persuade you to reject Jesus. He is the only way to be saved. And He gives that opportunity to everyone of us.