NOT GUILTY
Today's reading: John 19-21

"...You crucify him, Pilate said. I find him not guilty..." John 19:6 NLT

Jesus Christ, born in Bethlehem, son of Mary, resident of Nazareth and traveling evangelist, died on the cross for my sins.

When He stood before Pilate, however, my sins must not have yet been piled upon His head, revealed in His eyes or listed and hung on a sign about His neck.

Had they been, even Pilate could not have overlooked the guilt.

The sins I've committed. The reactions I've not thought through. The words I've killed, maimed and wounded with. The thoughts I've not kept in check. The rumors I've refused to stop. The closeness I've chosen not to have with my Father. The discrepancies in what I know to be right and how I live.

Had they been written out for Pilate to see, he'd have had not the choice but to declare this man from Galilee guilty of the sins He carried for me to the cross.