Wise or Woke?

Matthew 27:25 And all the people answered and said,

"His blood be on us and on our children.”

Sometimes in our efforts to be "politically correct," or "woke," we create more problems and totally miss the truth. In my opinion, this has never been more true than with the condemnation of any use of Matt 27:25 in public settings.

For example, there was an outcry of disdain when Mel Gibson included it in the script for the movie, "The Passion of the Christ." When Pilot was deciding what to do with Jesus, the people call for his crucifixion. Pilot washes his hands of it and the people say, "(Let) his blood be on us and on our children." Progressives screamed intolerance, bigotry and claimed Gibson was antisemitic, making the Hebrews look bad, etc.

But...is quoting the Jewish people calling for Christ's blood to be on their hands antisemitic?

Actually, just the opposite. The truth is that the statement those people made was a prophetic one. The blood of Jesus is on the hands of all natural and spiritual Jews--physical Jews and Gentiles alike--for the forgiveness of all of our sins.

Both Jews and Roman Gentiles conspired to put to death Jesus the Messiah. As a result, the blood of Jesus can cover all who trust Him by faith for salvation (See I John 1:7, Rom. 3:9-10, etc.). We need the blood of Jesus on our hands and by his grace, we can have it!

That's great news...that's the gospel.

So the next time culture screams about some supposed politically incorrect statement or action, think it through. Who knows what glorious truth you might discover...making you wise, not necessarily woke.

To that end,

Pastor Joel