AN EASY TEMPTATION: We want to satisfy the crowd.
- Mark 15:15.
- Most of us like being liked. We want people to approve of us.
- And it is nice when everyone is backing what we’re saying or what we’re doing.
- This is probably the most important phrase in our passage for understanding Pilate. We’ll dig into some of the other verses momentarily, but this one gets at the biggest piece of the puzzle of what’s going on inside Pilate.
- For all his power, he is unwilling to go against the crowd. We’ll talk in a minute why that’s true in his case.
TWO OF THE BIGGEST REASONS WE DO THAT: Preserving our popularity and maintaining our power.
- Mark 15:13-14; John 19:12.
a. Popularity.
- vv. 13-14 show the crowd shouting for Jesus’ crucifixion.
- We don’t want to lose our social position.
- We don’t want to endanger our friendships.
- Examples where this could happen today:
- Your circle of friends trashes someone. You think it’s cruel and incorrect, but don’t say anything because you’re unwilling to go against the crowd.
- Seeing a friend go down a self-destructive road, but not saying anything. Sometimes someone will walk down a bad path with no one saying anything, only to have everyone say after the inevitable disaster, “Yeah, I thought it was a bad idea.”
- One of the sad things about this is that we’re selling out for essentially very little: someone’s approval.
- It’s kind of like when we sell our integrity for $15 worth of office supplies from our workplace – if you’re going to sell out, at least don’t sell out cheap! That makes it doubly pathetic.
b. Power.
- John 19:12.
- They tell Pilate “if you release this man who has claimed to be a king, then you are no friend of Caesar’s.” This, they know, will have an impact because Pilate by this point is in a tenuous relationship with Rome. He can’t afford to have much more trouble or rebellions or he risks losing his power and position.
- Examples of where this might happen today:
- Your boss asks you to do some things you find ethically questionable. You go along because you like the role you’re in at work.
- Your boss asks for a workload from you that demands that you not give your family the
THE PROBLEM: Trying to make everyone happy is a stupid approach to life.
- Mark 15:11, 14.
- There are a couple verses in here that are reminders of how easily swayed people are:
a. v. 11 – Many of these were probably the people who were cheering for Jesus just a few days earlier. Now, because a few people get the crowd stirred up, they side with a murderer over this popular teacher.
- It’s amazing how easily moved we are when the rest of the crowd seems to be going in that direction.
b. v. 14 – Once we’ve committed to something (however ill-thought), we tend to hold to that.
- In the face of Pilate’s (gentle) rebuke, they don’t take a moment to think through their previous statement to discern whether it was wise. Instead, they do like most of us do – they double-down and just start yelling louder.
- You’d like to think that people have solid and carefully-considered reasons for what they believe. Not usually true.
- You’d like to think that when confronted with evidence showing they might be wrong that people would thoughtfully consider their original thoughts. Not usually true. We just tend to shut that stuff down.
- This is a big part of the reason that we can’t live our life to satisfy the crowd. They often are in favor of stupid things!
- It’s another reason why just because they do a poll and the majority of Americans believe a certain thing, that doesn’t mean that is true. It just means the generally thoughtless opinions that the people have happened to have shifted in that direction.
- There will inevitably be times when we have to stand against the crowd. It’s just bound to happen in a world that is not moving in God’s direction.
- There will be awkward moments when we have to speak up with a dissenting opinion.
- What is the issue or situation or problem about which you’ve said nothing because you don’t want people (or one person) to be mad at you?
- Many of us are people pleasers.
- Many of us are confrontation avoiders.
- “What went wrong? I was just trying to make everyone happy.”
- What went wrong is that you were trying to make everyone happy.
- How can I please God and keep everyone happy too?
- Answer: you can’t.
- Accept that and move forward.
A Better Option: We want to manage the consequences, but we need to focus on doing what’s right and let God manage the consequences.
- We plan for how we think our actions are going to be received and the impact we expect them to have. That’s not intrinsically bad, but sometimes when we do that we then ponder whether we want to do the right thing (that may have negative consequences) or do the expedient thing.
- We sometimes will only do the right thing if we can figure out a way to do it to where the consequences will be ok.
- We’ll talk to a friend about a sensitive issue only if we can be reasonably certain that our comments will be well-received.
- We’ll stand against the questionable practices that have started at work only if we can be reasonably certain that it won’t result in us getting fired.
- Figure out what’s right, where God is leading, and then move forward. Trust that God can handle the rest of it.
- We are supposed to be obedient in what we see to do in front of us and leave the big picture to Him.
- I know most of us don’t like having to disagree with people, but think of it like a band-aid. Just quickly ripping the band-aid off is better than slowly doing it.
- Better one moment of difficult but necessary conversation than a lingering mess.
WHAT IF IT COSTS ME? It would be nice to say things will always work out, but in truth getting to spiritual maturity requires some sacrifices.
- Mark 15:6-10.
- It’s important to understand that when I said that we need to let God manage the consequences, I’m not promising that everything will always work out with peace, harmony, and group hugs.
- It’s tempting to promise that pursuing God’s will is going to make God give us a Disney movie ending to our struggle, but life doesn’t always work out that way.
- Sometimes even if we want to do what’s right, we want it to work out in a way that minimizes any negative consequences.
- In v. 9, Pilate sees a way out.
- He knows the Jesus is innocent (v. 10) and that the Jewish leaders are pressing for His execution. He desperately wants an easy way out. The Passover tradition of the release of one prisoner might just provide that for him. He could declare Jesus guilty, thus satisfying the Jewish leaders that he’d done something about Him. Then he could release Jesus to the crowd’s expected request for pardon and claim that it wasn’t his decision, it was the crowds. That way he could claim he was responsible for finding him guilty without having to actually go through with an execution.
- It was a beautiful open door. At least until the crowd surprised him by not wanting Jesus released to them.
- And then he’s back to having to go against someone’s opinions, only now instead of it being just the Jewish leaders he’s got the whole crowd against him.
- His attempt at a way out has actually made things worse than they were before.
- Getting to spiritual maturity requires some sacrifices.
- This situation may be in your path just because life has struggles, but it could also be that God has put it there to see if you’re willing to pay a price for your faith.
- Faith is easy when there is no cost involved to it. It’s harder when we have to pay something for it.
- Getting to God’s will may require some disagreeing with people.
- I wish I could tell you that standing up for God’s will is going to always end in that person seeing the error of their ways and things working out with a great big group hug at the end. Unfortunately, life doesn’t usually work like that.
- Standing up for what’s right the situation you’re facing may create conflict and tension. It may make the relationship worse in the short term. It might even, in particularly bad situations, sever the relationship in the long term.
- In this case, the people needed to be disagreed with. They were trying to railroad an innocent man to death on a cross – an act that is ultimately the greatest injustice ever committed. Pilate knows their motives are wrong – v. 10 tells us that he knows it’s their envy that has motivated them.
- Someone needs to stand up for what’s right. Yet Pilate is unwilling to disagree with the people.
- What if it costs me?
- Then pay it. . .
a. Counting it an honor to sacrifice for Him.
b. Trusting that He has a plan.
A FINAL QUESTION: What is the situation in your life right now where you’re putting people before God?
- Ephesians 4:15.
- Let’s close out this morning by talking about your life. Where is the situation in your life where you’re putting people’s approval before God?
- Going back to v. 15, where is the place where you’re wanting to satisfy the crowd – or that one person?
- Is the Holy Spirit speaking to you this morning, nudging you toward doing what’s right and leaving the consequences to Him?
- We may need to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).
