Dealing with Envious Hearts

Recap

Jesus Betrayed at the garden

Peter denies Jesus 3 times, Godly sorrow

Judas betrays and turns to man, worldly sorrow

Jesus bound and taken before Pilate, the governor.

Jesus tried by the Gentile Governor

Before we begin in Matthew 27:11 I wanted to read a bit from Luke 23. Matthew covers the basic details of what happened to Jesus in these trials but Luke, the physician and fact gatherer, records the entire process.

Luke 23:1–12 ESV

1 Then the whole company of them arose and brought him before Pilate. 2 And they began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.” 3 And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.” 4 Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no guilt in this man.” 5 But they were urgent, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee even to this place.” 6 When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. 7 And when he learned that he belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time. 8 When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him, because he had heard about him, and he was hoping to see some sign done by him. 9 So he questioned him at some length, but he made no answer. 10 The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. 11 And Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. Then, arraying him in splendid clothing, he sent him back to Pilate. 12 And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before this they had been at enmity with each other.

Even John goes into more detail as to how Pilate came to the conclusion he did.

John 18:33–38 ESV

33 So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” 35 Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” 36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” 37 Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” 38 Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him.

That’s where we pick up in Matthew 27 chronologically.

Matthew 27:11–14 ESV

11 Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You have said so.” 12 But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he gave no answer. 13 Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?” 14 But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.

I wonder what Pilate thought when he first set eyes on Jesus, when he saw this beaten and abused Man before him. This is all before he is flogged and beaten. Jesus didn’t look regal or majestic as He stood before Pilate, so the Roman governor was probably sarcastic or spoke in irony when he asked, “Are You the King of the Jews?”

Jesus had been accused of misleading the Jews and forbidding them to give tribute to Caesar and using the word King, not the title, but the word to strike fear or possibly anger in Pilate’s heart.

This is what stirring up the crowd and misleading the nation of Israel looked like!

He was without sin, never doing wrong against God or man.

He healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, calmed the storm, walked on the water, fed the multitude, defeated demons, and raised the dead.

He taught the truth so clearly and powerfully that it astonished His listeners.

He fearlessly confronted corruption.

He poured His life into a few men who were destined, in God’s plan, to turn the world upside down (or right side up).

He did not come to be served, but to serve — and to give His life a ransom for many.

Yet, He didn’t seek to defend Himself or to try and convince them of His innocence! That wasn’t his goal. His goal was to convince them of who He was and then go to do what He feared the most but longed to do, out of love for the Father and us!

“He had seen in captured Jews the fierce courage of fanaticism; but there was no fanaticism in Christ. He had also seen in many prisoners the meanness which will do or say anything to escape from death; but he saw nothing of that about our Lord. He saw in him unusual gentleness and humility combined with majestic dignity. He beheld submission blended with innocence.” (Spurgeon)

1 Peter 2:23 ESV

23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

He truly is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

Barrabas

Matthew 27:15–19 ESV

15 Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. 16 And they had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. 17 So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” 18 For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up. 19 Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream.”

The feast release - like an outgoing president pardoning prisoners to show mercy and please the masses.

Barabbas - “son of a father” Bar abba

Mark describes Barabbas:

Mark 15:6–7 ESV

6 Now at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked. 7 And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas.

As bad as that may sound on the surface, what was the insurrection? We would today regard a man like Barabbas as something like a revolutionary terrorist. Hidden in what the mobs of Israel wanted in a Messiah, this man may have done more in their eyes to overthrow their oppressors than Jesus had. Again, just another example of how they missed it.

“It was out of envy that they delivered Him up”…Envy

EN'VY, noun Pain, uneasiness, mortification or discontent excited by the sight of another's superiority or success, accompanied with some degree of hatred or malignity, and often or usually with a desire or an effort to depreciate the person, and with pleasure in seeing him depressed. envy springs from pride, ambition or love, mortified that another has obtained what one has a strong desire to possess.

As Pilate sat in judgment of Jesus, he failed to give the accused justice. Pilate had all the evidence he needed to do the right thing — to release Jesus.

He saw the strength and dignity of Jesus, and he knew this was no criminal or revolutionary.

He knew that it was no just charge that brought Jesus before his judgment seat — it was only the envy of the religious leaders.

He saw that Jesus was a man so at peace with His God that He didn’t need to answer a single accusation.

He already declared Jesus an innocent man (I find no fault in this Man, Luke 23:4).

But this wasn’t the only thing that caused Pilate to try another way to dodge the bullet of crucifying the King of the Jews. His wife had a dream about Jesus and whatever she saw was haunting her and she warned her husband the governor to have nothing to do with this man Jesus.

We know that the vision of Jesus in her dream made her suffer (I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him).

“Whatever it was, she had suffered repeated painful emotions in the dream, and she awoke startled and amazed.” (Spurgeon)

“Most dreams we quite forget; a few we mention as remarkable, and only now and then one is impressed upon us so that we remember it for years. Scarcely have any of you had a dream which made you send a message to a magistrate upon the bench.” (Spurgeon)

“Let Him go. Send Him away. Don’t punish Him even a little.” She said. It was an influence, a warning that he tragically ignored. All of this was God’s merciful message to Pilate; a merciful message that he rejected.

Matthew 27:20–25 ESV

20 Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. 21 The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” 22 Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!” 23 And he said, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!” 24 So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” 25 And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!”

Pilate washes his hands of the situation thinking this frees him of any responsibility, when in fact he is just suffering from the fear of man syndrome and is a passive leader and does nothing, appeasing the mob.

This scheming in these religious leaders points to their envious hearts. They didn’t want justice. They wanted their competitor dead, out of the way and done for. They went through the crowd spreading descent and turning the crowd against Jesus so that even after the Governor asks “what evil has He done?” they still chanted “let him be crucified., and His blood be on us and on our children.”

They really had no understanding of what they asked for. They didn’t understand the glory of Jesus’ cleansing blood, and how wonderful it would be to have His blood…on us and on our children. They also didn’t understand the enormity of the crime of calling for the execution of the sinless Son of God, and the judgment that would be visited on their children some forty years later in the destruction of Jerusalem. (Guzik)

This is one of the passages wrongly used as a justification by wicked and misguided Christians who persecuted or allowed persecution of the Jews. They did not understand that even if this did put these people and their descendants under a curse, it was never the duty of the church to bring this curse to bear upon the Jews. Indeed, as God promised Abraham, I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you (Genesis 12:3).

How do we keep from allowing our hearts to turn out just like these elders and chief priests? Like the christians who want to blame Jesus death on the Jews and persecute them because of it. It’s a heart that trusts in man and not God. As we leave here today, I want leave you with this. Where does your trust lie? Is it with man or is it with God? Is God your trust? The true answer to those questions comes when the real trials of life come and we get to see how we react. Remember we talked about our hearts being deceitful and desperately sick? Look at that in context.

Jeremiah 17:5–10 ESV

5 Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. 6 He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. 7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. 8 He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” 9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? 10 “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”

So, the real question is, are you the shrub or the tree. Let’s pray