Jesus said: “Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?” John 8:46
TOPIC: Jesus rightly claimed that he was holy.
BACKGROUND: Jesus was in his third year of ministry and he was once again caught up in deep discussions with the Pharisees and teachers of the law. This meeting is found only in John.
Taking a close look at Gabriel’s visit to Mary we find an interesting comment, “So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). Note the angel clearly tells Mary that the child she would carry and nurture was the holy one. Already before his birth Jesus was claimed to be without sin. Peter, who spent three years with Jesus, agreed with Gabriel when he wrote in 1 Peter 2:22, “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.”
The New Testament writers assured their readers that Jesus was indeed sinless. John tells us that “he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin” (1 John 3:5). And Hebrews 4:15 agrees, “We have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.”
We notice that even Satan acknowledged Christ’s holiness. After Jesus drove the demons from a possessed man the devil remarked, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” (Mark 1:24). Judas likewise confessed Jesus’ perfection when he admitted, “I have betrayed innocent blood” (Matthew 27:4).
The world needs a Savior who was himself sinless, for only then could he exchange his righteousness for our sinfulness. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
PRAYER THOUGHT: by Nellie W. Fawcett
Tell me the story of Jesus, the spotless Son of God,
Who carried our griefs and sorrows; the wine press of wrath He trod.
Tell me the story of Jesus, of how He died for me.
The sinless One for the guilty, He died to set me free.
PETER WRITES ABOUT JESUS: “It was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” 1 Peter 1:18,19
From At the Feet of Jesus by Reynold R. Kremer