Lately I have heard several people say that one sin is not greater than another.
I will have to disagree and I can prove it – Biblically!
It was after the arrest of Jesus. He is standing before Pontius Pilate and He’s not saying a whole lot.
Pilate tells him that he, Pilate, has the power to release Him or kill Him.
Jesus then said, “You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above. So the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.” John 19:11
So to whom is He referring?
You might think Herod Antipas and he would qualify as committing the “greater sin.”
He had John the Baptist beheaded as payment for a dance. He also was convinced that Jesus was John come back from the dead. So he has an opportunity to right a great wrong by releasing Jesus. He does not. Instead he sends Him back to Pilate.
But remember that Pilate sent Jesus to Herod first so I don’t think the reference is about him.
I lean toward Judas, whose treachery has caused this scenario.
Judas has been a close follower of Jesus and the eleven other disciples for around three years.
How can you be around Jesus for three years and not be changed?
It is said that Judas did not care for the poor and he was a thief, often stealing from the disciple treasury. (John 12:4-6)
To me, the greater sin is in experiencing the love and friendship of Jesus but rejecting it.
The writer of Hebrews said this about it; if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? Heb 10:26-29
Does that sound close to what Judas may have done?
Again the greater sin is something akin to knowing the truth but rejecting it.
All of us commit sin. Many hear the Gospel, repent, and accept Jesus as Savior. Others hear the same message and reject it. This is the greater sin!