By Sandy Mayle
On the night that Judas betrayed Jesus, Peter stood before a servant girl and some others, and three times denied knowing his Lord:
“I don’t know what you’re talking about” (Matthew 26:70*).
“I do not know the Man!” (Matthew 26:72, New King James Version).
“I do not know the Man!” (Matthew 26:74, NKJV).
But only hours later, an unlikely man—an ungodly man—stood up for Jesus. Before a murderous mob, three times Pontius Pilate pronounced:
“I find no fault in Him at all” (John 18:38, NKJV).
“I find no fault in Him” (John 19:4, NKJV).
“I find no fault in him.” (John 19:6, NKJV).
Pilate ultimately caved to the crowd, handed Jesus over, and washed his hands of the matter, but before doing so, he stood in Jesus’ defense and spoke more truth than he knew: There was no fault in Jesus.
How tragic, and yet how necessary, that Jesus Christ came perfect to the tree, only to bear every fault of all time. He came guiltless, only to be declared guilty of every sin that ever has been or ever will be committed by the human race. Christ “suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring [us] to God” (1 Peter 3:18). Three days later, Jesus arose from the grave, victorious and . . . faultless.
Today we who have trusted Jesus for our salvation can find no fault in him, either—no shortcoming in the plan that brought him to earth, no imperfection in how he lived and conducted himself, no error in a single word he said, no flaw in his great, loving heart, no weakness in his sin-obliterating blood. And we can find no fault in who he has been to each of us, personally—in how he has redeemed us and led us and rescued us over and over from ourselves, the world, and Satan, the enemy of our soul.
So let us this day look to Jesus our Savior, who bore our fault and bought our pardon with his blood. Let us praise God the Father for offering forgiveness and eternal life to all who trust in his Son’s sacrifice for them. And let us rejoice that God “is able to keep [us] from stumbling and to present [us] before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!” (Jude 1:24-25).
*All Scripture verses are from the New International Version unless otherwise indicated.
Sandy Mayle is a freelance writer who lives in Erie, Pennsylvania.
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