This was the sixth day of the last week of Jesus’ life and he knew it. As we explore his last week, we can learn some things about how he, and others, handled it. The next thing we learn occurs surrounding the trials of Jesus. This was the day that Jesus underwent 6 corrupt trials before being crucified. The last of which was before Pilate.

After condemning Jesus, Judas is consumed by his guilt and does something about it. Following 5 other trials, the 6th puts Jesus standing before Pilate, who presumes Jesus to be an innocent man. Pilate could have freed Jesus yet condemns him as well.

We see from this passage (Matthew 27:1-26) that Judas acknowledged his sin and chose death instead of going to God, while Pilate avoided his sin and chose to distance himself from it and God. Both condemned Jesus but neither wanted to deal with it – they washed their hands of it. We have a choice to make when we sin too. Will we go to God for the cleansing power of forgiveness that only comes from confession? Or will we wash our hands of it, to our detriment and our death. That is a choice we all must make whenever we do anything that is a sin against God. Wash your hands to prevent the spread of viruses, but don’t wash your hands of your sin. Confess it instead and be forgiven instead.