Getting to Know Jesus by Name#34: Holy and Righteous One

 

Acts 3: 13 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. 14 But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead.

We are back here in Acts 3, where God had just used Peter and John to heal the lame man and given them the opportunity to preach to the crowds.  Here the names, and therefore the characteristics of Jesus Christ abound. He is the Holy and Righteous One. To be Holy is to be "Exalted or worthy of complete devotion; as one perfect in goodness and righteousness; divine." and to be Righteous is: "acting in accord with divine or moral law; free from guilt or sin."* Therefore, in context, these two words are perfectly fitting to describe Jesus: He was innocent of the crimes of which He was accused and of any sin at all. He died as a substitute not only for the murderer who was released, but for us all.  If there is anything lacking in the definitions above, it is that Holy implies a total uniqueness that no one else can fill: only He could do this. Only Jesus, as the sinless Son of God, could be the substitute for us.  May we not deny Him as they had. 

*(Diann Cotton: 100 Days with Jesus)