Do you hear what I hear?

Matthew 27:25
And all the people answered, Let His blood be on us and on our children!

It’s funny how sometimes the things we say have different meanings to the people to whom we are speaking than what we intended. We may inadvertently offend a person or a culture just by saying something that we think is completely harmless. We may ask for something and get exactly what we asked for, only not at all what we asked for. What?

Take this story from my wife, Maggie. When we moved to North Carolina from Vermont she had to get a job as a waitress at IHOP. On her first night, someone came in and ordered tea to drink. Being a northerner, Maggie went and poured the person a cup of hot tea and returned to the table. When she put it down, the customer exclaimed, “What is that? I ordered tea!” Maggie replied, “That is tea.” What she didn’t realize was that in North Carolina, unlike in Vermont, when someone orders tea, they want a tall glass of sweet, ICED tea. Because these two people were from two completely different areas of the United States, a simple “tea” had two different meanings.

The same holds true for what happened in Matthew 27. The Jewish leaders had brought Jesus before Pilate to be crucified. Pilate, however, after talking with Jesus was ready to release Him back to the crowd, finding no fault with Him. But the people wanted Him dead. Imagine Jesus and Pilate standing side by side, and these famous words come to rest on their ears, “Let His blood be on us and on our children!” Pilate, being from Rome, heard one thing. But Jesus, being from Heaven, heard something completely different. Pilate and Jesus both chose to give the people what they had requested.

Pilate, being of this world, answered as we have all been taught; He handed Jesus over to be crucified. He responded in a human way to what we have all assumed to be a human statement. Jesus, who came from Heaven, answered in a spiritual way. What the people shouted as a statement of rebellion against their Messiah, Jesus answered as a prayer request, because He is the Messiah. Instead of hearing what Pilate heard, Jesus, in my opinion, heard the crowd say, “God, let His blood be on us and our children!” It was a request for the ultimate atoning sacrifice, not a request for blame!

Just like the story of Joseph in the Old Testament, everything that they meant for harm, God used for good. The people cried out for the blood of Jesus to be upon them, that they be held liable for His death. God, in His infinite grace, chose to hear their speech and thoughts as a request for redemption. In hearing their cries through His grace, God allowed His only Son to be crucified, and fulfilled their every desire, whether they realized it or not.

The blood of Christ is now upon them and their children. It’s on us and our children. It’s washed clean the sins of the world, past, present, and future. The Sacrifice was once for all men for all time.(1 Peter 3:18) Now it’s just a matter of accepting the gift.