Washing Our Hands of it
Have you ever wondered where the expression - to wash your hands of something, came from?
The Bible says that when Pontius Pilate sentenced Jesus to be crucified he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying,
“I am innocent of the blood of this just Person.” (Matthew 27:24)
The expression came into popular use to mean abandoning a connection with something after we have been involved with it so as not to take any responsibility for it.
Just as Pilate was responsible for sentencing Jesus to die, we are all guilty of sin – the sin which took Jesus to the cross.
As it is written: There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one. (Romans 3:10-12)
We will gain nothing by trying to avoid any responsibility for our sin, as Pilate and so many others have done, but we will be eternally blessed as we let Jesus cleanse us from that sin, with His own precious blood.