October 5

Day 205: Defend and Deny

We're not good at accepting our own guilt, our own culpability. Our fallen nature motivates us to employ defensiveness. And when defensiveness doesn't work, we resort to denial.

People haven't changed all that much over time. In Matthew 27, when Pilate said to the crowd, "I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves," the leaders, agreeing with the crowd astonishingly answered with:

"His blood be on us and on our children." (That's pretty clear!)

Not even more than a couple of months later, they changed their tune. In Acts 5 the very same leaders are put out; Peter and John have been publicly preaching about the risen Jesus. People are believing and joining the Church in droves.

The leaders are "filled with jealousy." They put Peter and John in prison. Peter and John are then miraculously released in the middle of the night.

Not unlike toward Jesus bearing the mock trial against Him, Peter and John find themselves facing false charges. The leaders go and fetch the apostles again the next day. And their charges are: We told you not to do what you're doing...and..."You intend to bring this man's [Jesus's] blood upon us."

Peter says, they can't but preach Jesus. And, their accusers in fact do have Jesus's blood on their hands.

In other words, the leaders are saying, "We gladly accepted the responsibility for Jesus's execution then, but now we do not. Don't try to pin the death of Jesus on us!"

Peter brings them back to reality, just in case their collective memory had failed them. "The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree."

Of course, when they heard this, the leaders "were enraged, and wanted to kill them." Like mob bosses, that was their typical response to not getting their way. Not unlike their emotional state when begging the Roman Governor to kill Jesus just a month or two before.

If to be defensive, the leaders could have redirected the blame on to Pilate and the Roman soldiers. But they didn't go there.

Instead, not denying their culpability, they instead accuse Peter and John of trying to make them accept their responsibility. They had killed Jesus. And God had raised Him from that death.

When any of us say or do something wrong, our first inclination is to go defensive. We'll talk about our otherwise always pure motives, or we'll mention those people or circumstances who should be more guilty than ourselves. In other words, "Someone/something made me do it. It's not my fault."

But, when a defensive posture doesn't work, we resort to denial. "I didn't say or do that" is our line, or softened, "I didn't mean to say or do that." In either sense, we don't want to be held culpable. We don't want to own our stuff.

A mark of Christian maturity is the observable vulnerability to say, "I sinned. I sinned against you. I am responsible." A mature Christian lives in the knowledge he/she has been forgiven much. so defending against, or denying our sin no longer makes any sense at all.

So why is it so hard to accept our sin, and accept the gracious forgiveness of God, instead of continuing to defend and deny?

-Mike Rydman, Lead Pastor, Radiant Church | Juneau