Guilt

The irony is unmistakable. Pilate walks out to the Jews twice and declares that he can find no guilt in Jesus. The problem is that he, and every other person in the story, do not recognize their own guilt. In the end, everyone in the story has exposed the wickedness in their own heart and absolute guilt. The only innocent one in the story is the one led away to be crucified. The truth is, before we can really see the cross of Jesus as something done for us, we must see it as something done by us. I find myself in the crowd, jeering; in Pilate, weaseling my way out of doing what is right; in the Jews, trying to protect my place of power. What am I to do with my guilt? Clues to this question are found in the Scripture passage for today's sermon.