In spite of thinking to the contrary, everyone has faith in something. To reject the concept of faith is to reject something that is obviously intrinsic and inherent in all. The question in today’s society is not whether or not one has faith. The question is, “In what are you placing your faith?”

Faith differs subtly in meaning and varies greatly in degrees for different people, but it is frequently manifest in the lives of all. Some believe in God, a god or gods. Some believe in science. Some believe in another person. Some believe in a cause, an idea, a mantra, a platform, a philosophy. Some believe in themselves. To say you believe in nothing is, in and of itself, a belief. Therefore, to deny faith is folly.

At the trial of our Lord Jesus, the leaders of the Jews were determined to see Jesus die. The text says, “When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it.” (Matt. 27:24). Even more chilling is what came next, “And all the people answered and said, “His blood be on us and on our children.”” (Matt. 27:25). While the people who wanted Jesus’ death accepted that their hands were dirty in this matter, Pilate failed to grasp a critical reality that many today fail to grasp!

All of our hands are dirty with the blood of Jesus. As Pilate declared, Jesus was a just man! He died for our sins (Rom. 5:6-11)! The sins that you and I commit are as much responsible for nailing Him to that cross as the shouts of those who cried out, “Let Him be crucified!” (Matt. 27:22).

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Sin is terrible. The blood of a sacrifice is God's atonement for sin (Lev. 17:11). Being washed in the blood of God's Lamb, Jesus Christ, is the only way to wash away the blood of Christ that stains our hands!

This sermon challenges us to recognize belief and obedience to Christ in baptism as the only way to wash away the stain of sin from our soul. Our hands remain guilty of the blood of Christ until we come to Christ for forgiveness on His terms.

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Have we attempted to wash our hands of His death? OR have we accepted our share of the guilt for the blood of Jesus that was shed that day?

This sermon challenges us to not only accept our guilt for Christ's death on that day 2,000 years ago, but recognize other ways in which we wash our hands of Christ's blood on a daily basis.

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In our service to Christ, we often fail to see the small, seemingly insignificant, things because of all "big" things. We need to learn to value the small things done in the name of Christ.

This is part 1 of a 2 part lesson.