ACCOUNT BALANCE

A soldier is not a free man and is often cruel. The commander gives orders, and the soldier does. On that memorable spring day, the procurator ordered the soldiers to beat Yeshua. After numerous beatings, Jesus was crowned with thorns, dressed in a bright red cloak and led out to the crowd. Pilate announced that he had punished Jesus, that he found no guilt in Him and wanted to set Him free. The official accusation against Jesus consisted of three points, none of which the Jews had proven. Then the priests revealed to Pilate the true reason why they wanted Yeshua dead: “He made himself the Son of God.” Pilate was scared. On the one hand, the Jews were blackmailing him (threatening to complain to the emperor) to hand Jesus over for execution. He could lose his position. On the other hand, Pilate did not want to execute “God’s man” so that the gods would not take revenge. His wife had a bad dream. He took Jesus inside and again asked Him to say something in His defense, reminding Him that He had authority. Jesus said:

“…you would have no power over Me if it had not been given to you from above. Therefore, he who has delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”

Pilate’s sin was that he had not yet released Jesus, that he even ordered the innocent man to be flogged. Although Pilate said that he had the ability to do as he wanted, this was not the case at all. Jesus often taught us to trust God in the events of life: much in our lives is predetermined and cannot be changed. Many people are often slaves to their sins and cannot turn from their rut. Jesus, as if out of generosity, wanting to help Pilate in his doubts and hesitations, said in advance that everything would end with execution. Pilate was guilty of not following true justice, however, those who betrayed Jesus and sought His death were much more guilty. In the teaching of Jesus there is an understanding of the gradation of committed sins, and therefore, the gradation of punishments for them. Obviously, the sin of consciously rejecting the person of Jesus and His teachings belongs to the category of grave sins. What could Pilate understand, having encountered Jesus only the day before? Just ask, “What is truth?”

Jesus mentioned different degrees of sins and events showed that universal justice makes everyone pay for unrepentant sins. Judas committed suicide. The people of Israel, who cried out “His blood be on us and our children,” received forty years later, as a reward, the catastrophe of the disappearance of the state of Israel from the maps of that time. The center of Jesus’ teaching on the salvation of the soul is, first of all, how to learn to fulfill the will of God and not to sin, and not only in writing off the sins committed by humans.

Christianity has abused the idea of divine forgiveness for centuries. Those who have been baptized and regularly participate in the rite of breaking bread often either do not notice their sins, believing that God looks at them through special glasses. Or they believe that it is enough to formally repent or confess, and the grace of God, in which God “cannot lie,” will cleanse them. Christians believe that there will never be a negative balance on their spiritual account. Only zero or higher: and without much effort. You just have to believe. But in fact, Jesus advised, figuratively speaking, to cut off your own hand that reaches out to sin. In fact, Jesus taught about growth and improvement, when good thoughts and deeds increasingly displace evil deeds and thoughts.

God does forgive after repentance: simply and without reproach. We must come to Him for help as we are at the moment: often we cannot free ourselves from sins on our own. However, what is the point of repenting and repeatedly returning to sin? Sincere repentance means renunciation of evil. If there is no such renunciation, then a Christian, like any other person, will simply pay the price for his sin. Jesus once told a parable dedicated to this issue, where the king changes his mind about forgiveness. Many Christians may exclaim: “So did Jesus save us on the cross or not?” He began our salvation, which now depends on our sincere efforts. Jesus made all the efforts on his part and expects the same efforts from man in return.

True disciples of Jesus, following Him, strive for perfection. They simply sin less and less. The price of their sins becomes smaller and smaller, making the inevitable retribution for sin laughably small. One day, if a person grows spiritually and diligently does the will of God, his spiritual account will begin to show a positive balance. This happens because the disciples pay the price of following Jesus in advance. And that price is very high.

Under the scorching sun, the Roman soldiers hammered nails into His hands, and each blow of the hammer thundered like thunder over the abyss of the world. The crowd hummed, some laughed, some wept, but He, despite the sharp pain, was calm, as if He knew a secret hidden from everyone. Blood flowed down the cross, but in His gaze shone a silent compassion that was stronger than execution. When everyone around merged into one stream of cruelty, He looked at the soldiers, then raised his eyes to heaven. His lips trembled, and the words sounded like an eternal sentence of hatred: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” The very earth seemed to hold its breath before this bottomless love. The soldiers had received orders, they bore no responsibility, and Jesus prayed for them. Soldiers are people under bondage…