You've probably been told that all sins are the same. When it comes down to it, there's no sin that's greater than another one. They are all bad. That's not what Jesus says! Pilate says, “Don't you know that I have the power to crucify you or release you?” Jesus says, “You would have no power over me unless it were given to you from above, so the one who handed me over is guilty of the greater sin.” There. He said it. Who handed Jesus over? Here He is not talking about Judas but about the High Priest. Here is what it comes down to: Pilate had the power to stop the murder of an innocent man and didn't do it. In that sense Pilate murdered Jesus. But the High Priest, knowing that Jesus was the Savior promised by the Scriptures, rejected Him and handed Him over to die. Pilate sins out of cowardice and ignorance, breaking the Second Table, by harming His neighbor. The High Priest sins out of unbelief and hardness of heart, breaking the First Table and rejecting God Himself! Which one is worse?
Brothers and sisters learn carefully what Jesus is saying. We sin against the Second Table all the time. True, every commandment we break is ultimately against God. But every day we do things to hurt or harm our neighbor: dishonoring our parents, murdering, lusting, stealing, lying, and coveting in one way or another. We are constantly stepping on others' toes and for this Jesus goes to the cross. He goes there because we don't love our neighbors as He tells us to. And we sin against the First Table too, since we have other gods and despise the Lord's name and Word. Jesus went to the cross for those sins too. But the sin that damns, the sin that will get you and cut you off from Jesus forever is the sin of the High Priest, the confession, “He's not my Savior. He's not my King. He's not my God!” Every other sin, even sins as bad as Judas' and Pilate's, are covered by the blood of Jesus. But the sin of the High Priest is this very awful way in which he puts himself outside of Christ's sin-canceling blood by rejecting Him. Brothers and sisters in Christ, you have many sins and they are no greater or worse than Judas betraying or Peter denying or Pilate wimping out and murdering. Confess them! Acknowledge that you deserve God's wrath and judgment. And then rejoice that His wrath and judgment fall upon Jesus.
When Jesus is handed over, when He is sentenced like a criminal even though there is no fault in Him, He is doing the Father's will. When Jesus tells Pilate that his authority over Jesus has been given to Him from above, He's acknowledging that the only reason He is going to die is not because of some Roman governor who has no backbone but because the Father wills it. It is the Father's will that Jesus suffer and die in order to take away our sins. It is God the Father's good pleasure to save you and me from our sins by sending His Son to take our place, just as He took the place of a murdering and thieving Barabbas. It is God's will that your sins be wiped out by the blood of His Son. That's why Jesus undergoes this suffering. That's why He is given into Pilate's hands and that is why He gives His life: for your salvation.
All sins are not the same. All sins send Jesus to the cross but the sin of unbelief cuts us off from Jesus. But don't you worry. He went to the cross for you. He Himself has chosen you at the font in Holy Baptism. He stands behind your pastor's word of forgiveness and preaching and He makes sure by His body and blood that He lives in you and you in Him and that you will be raised up on the Last Day just as He rose from the dead after His suffering and death. Truly Christ's kingdom is not of this world. Such a kingdom would be one in which we get what we deserve! But in Christ's kingdom, He gets what we deserve and we get forgiveness of sins, eternal life, joy and peace. Happy Lent in the Name of Jesus. Amen.
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