CHOOSING WITH CARELESSNESS
MATTHEW 27:15-26
TODAY WE ARE GOING TO CONCLUDE OUR SERIES ON SOME OF THE CHARACTERS OF EASTER, BY LOOKING AT THE MOST VIOLENT OF ALL THE CHARACTERS. PILATE, PETER, AND JUDAS ALL SHOWED EITHER REMORSE OR A CARING ATTITUDE TOWARDS CHRIST, WANTING TO AVOID HAVING TO TAKE HIS LIFE. HIS OWN PEOPLE THOUGH, SEEMED TO BE THE MOST HEARTLESS, WILLING TO ALLOW THE CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR ACTIONS TO BE PASSED ON TO THEIR CHILDREN.
THE MENTALITY OF A CROWD CAN BE TRANSFORMING. IT CAN LEAD INDIVIDUALS TO TAKE ACTIONS THAT LEFT BY THEMSELVES THEY NEVER WOULD DO. THIS IS THE MENTALITY OF RIOTS AND DEMONSTRATIONS, WHERE THE CROWD BECOMES THE INDIVIDUAL VOICE. SOCIOLOGIST GUSTAVE LeBON WROTE:
“ISOLATED, HE MAY BE A CULTIVATED INDIVIDUAL, IN A CROWD HE IS A BARBARIAN…AN INDIVIDUAL IN A CROWD IS A GRAIN OF SAND AMID THE OTHER GRAINS OF SAND, WHICH THE WIND STIRS UP AT WILL. WHOEVER BE THE INDIVIDUALS THAT COMPOSE IT, HOWEVER LIKE OR UNLIKE BE THEIR MODE OF LIFE, THEIR OCCUPATIONS, THEIR CHARACTER, OR THEIR INTELLIGENCE, THE FACT THEY HAVE BEEN TRANSFORMED INTO A CROWD PUTS THEM IN POSSESSION OF A SORT OF COLLECTIVE MIND, WHICH MAKES THEM FEEL, THINK, AND ACT IN A MANNER QUITE DIFFERENT FROM THAT IN WHICH EACH INDIVIDUAL OF THEM WOULD FEEL, THINK AND ACT WERE HE IN A STATE OF ISOLATION. THERE ARE CERTAIN IDEAS AND FEELINGS WHICH DO NOT TRANSFORM THEMSELVES INTO ACTS EXCEPT IN THE CASE OF INDIVIDUALS FORMING A CROWD.”
THIS WAS PASSOVER TIME IN JERUSALEM AND IT’S JEWISH POPULATION SWELLED INTO THE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS AS IT WAS A MAJOR HOLY DAY AND ALL JEWS WERE TO CELEBRATE IT IN JERUSALEM IF POSSIBLE. BOTH PILATE AND HEROD WERE PRESENT IN JERUSALEM WITH ROMAN FORCES TO KEEP THE PEACE AND PUT DOWN ANY ATTEMPTS AT REBELLION FROM SUCH A GREAT CROWD. THE JEWISH RELIGIOUS LEADERS LEARNED THAT IF THEY CONTROLED THE CROWD, THEY COULD MANIPULATE THE SITUATION TO THEIR OWN ENDS.
CROWD MENTALITY IS ALWAYS FULL OF EMOTION AND THIS CAN BE GOOD OR BAD. THIS PASSOVER IN JERUSALEM, IT WOULD BE BOTH. AT THE BEGINNING OF THE WEEK THE CROWD WELCOMED JESUS INTO JERUSALEM AS THEIR KING. THEY BELIEVED HE WOULD RESTORE THEIR NATION AND DRIVE OUT THE ROMANS. THEY LAID PALM BRANCHES FOR HIM TO WALK ON. THE PALM TREE WAS THE SYMBOL OF THE NATION OF ISRAEL. THESE PALM BRANCHES WERE THEIR FLAGS, AND THEY LOOKED TO JESUS TO BE THE RULER OF THEIR PHYSICAL KINGDOM.
IT WOULD SOON BECOME APPARENT THAT JESUS WOULD NOT BE WHAT THEY WERE LOOKING FOR.
JOHN 18:36: JESUS SAID, “MY KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD. IF IT WERE, MY SERVANTS WOULD FIGHT TO PREVENT MY ARREST BY THE JEWISH LEADERS. BUT NOW MY KINGDOM IS FROM ANOTHER PLACE.
OVER THE WEEK THE CROWDS IN JERUSALEM WOULD GROW, AND THE CROWD THAT WAS GATHERED OUTSIDE PILATE’S RESIDENCE WAS NOT THE SAME CROWD THAT WELCOMED JESUS INTO JERUSALEM. THIS CROWD WOULD MEET IN THE MORNING, MOST LIKELY AMBIVILENT TO THE ACTIVITIES OF THE WEEK AND COMING TO DEAL WITH DAILY MATTERS. IT WAS THE PERFECT CROWD TO BE MANIPULATED BY THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS TO MEET THEIR OWN ENDS.
THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS PLANTED SPIES IN THE CROWD SO THAT THEY COULD MANIPULATE THEM TO DO WHATEVER THEY WANTED. THE DECISIONS THIS CROWD WOULD MAKE WOULD BE CARELESS DECISIONS MADE WITHOUT CONSIDERATION OF THE CONSEQUENCES, IN THE HEAT OF EMOTION, AND IN HASTE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS.
PILATE WAS IN A DIFFICULT POSITION AS HE KNEW THAT JESUS WAS INNOCENT, AND NEEDED TO CONVINCE THE CROWDS OF THIS. HE TRIED A VERY DESPERATE PLAN TO APPEASE THE CROWD.
ON MAJOR HOLIDAYS SUCH AS PASSOVER, THE ROMANS ADOPTED THE CUSTOM OF RELEASING A CONDEMNED PRISONER. PILATE HAD THREE MEN WHO WERE CONDEMNED TO DIE. TWO WERE THIEVES AND UNNAMED, ONE WAS A MURDERER NAMED BARABBAS. HE WAS CERTAIN THAT THE JEWS WOULD CHOOSE JESUS OVER BARABBAS. CONSIDER THE TWO:
JESUS BARABBAS
3 TIMES PILATE FINDS NO FAULT GUILTY OF CRIMES AND A
IN HIM. HE IS LAW ABIDING. REBEL GUILTY OF SEDITION
SAVED OTHERS HURT OTHERS
TRUSTED GOD TRUSTED HIMSELF
RIGHTEOUS OR JUST MAN UNRIGHTEOUS AND UNJUST
HELPED OTHERS ROBBED FROM OTHERS
THE SON OF GOD THE SON OF THE DEVIL
HIS PLAN WAS MASTERFUL ALTHOUGH I DON’T BELIEVE HE KNEW HOW MASTERFUL IT WAS. IF THE PEOPLE CHOSE JESUS, IT WAS WANT HE WANTED TO HAPPEN, IF THEY CHOSE BARABBAS, THEN UNFORTUNATELY HE WOULD HAVE TO EXECUTE JESUS, BUT BARABBAS WOULD COMMIT ANOTHER CRIME AND HE WOULD THEN BE EXECUTED.
WHAT HE DIDN’T PLAN ON WAS THE WISDOM OF THE HIGH PRIEST AND HOW THEY ALONG WITH THEIR SPIES WOULD LEAD THE PEOPLE TO CHOOSE BARABBAS.
THE CROWD WAS MOSTLY A JERUSALEM CROWD AND RULED FROM A RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL STANDPOINT BY THE HIGH PRIEST. THEY DARED NOT CROSS HIM OR THEY FACED THE THREAT OF BEING BANISHED FROM THE TEMPLE AND BECOMING SOCIAL OUTCASTS. THE SPIES BEGIN THE CHANT “CRUCIFY HIM! CRUCIFY HIM!” AND SOON ALL THE PEOPLE ARE SHOUTING THIS IN UNISON. THE DECISION IS MADE.
WHY DID THE CROWD REJECT JESUS?
1. THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS DID NOT LIKE THE FACT THAT JESUS WAS MORE POPULAR AND HAD MORE FOLLOWERS THAN THEY DID.
2. JESUS CLAIMED TO BE GOD. THIS ANGERED THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS AS THEY CLAIMED IT WAS A FORM OF BLASPHEMY, WHICH IT WOULD BE IF IT WERE NOT TRUE.
THE DEFINING MARK OF FAITH TODAY IS FOUND IN WHAT PEOPLE BELIEVE ABOUT JESUS. EITHER HE IS GOD OR HE IS NOT. CHRISTIANITY IS THE ONLY RELIGION THAT TEACHES THAT JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD, AND THAT FAITH IN JESUS IS THE ONLY ACCEPTABLE ANSWER TO THE SIN ISSUE IN OUR LIVES.
JOHN 14:6: 6 JESUS ANSWERED, “I AM THE WAY AND THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE. NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER EXCEPT THROUGH ME
JESUS IDENTIFIED HIMSELF AS “THE SON OF MAN” REFERRING TO DANIEL’S VISION
DANIEL 7:13-14: “IN MY VISION AT NIGHT I LOOKED, AND THERE BEFORE ME WAS ONE LIKE A SON OF MAN, O COMING WITH THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN. HE APPROACHED THE ANCIENT OF DAYS AND WAS LED INTO HIS PRESENCE. 14 HE WAS GIVEN AUTHORITY, GLORY AND SOVEREIGN POWER; ALL NATIONS AND PEOPLES OF EVERY LANGUAGE WORSHIPED HIM. HIS DOMINION IS AN EVERLASTING DOMINION THAT WILL NOT PASS AWAY, AND HIS KINGDOM IS ONE THAT WILL NEVER BE DESTROYED.
THE TITLE “SON OF MAN” IS USED 82 TIMES IN THE GOSPELS AND EACH TIME IS A CLAIM TO DIVINITY. THE HIGH PRIESTS RECOGNIZED IT IMMEDIATELY AND CLAIMED JESUS WAS GUILTY OF BLASPHEMY.
C.S. LEWIS WRITES:
“EITHER THIS MAN WAS, AND IS, THE SON OF GOD: OR ELSE A MADMAN OR SOMETHING WORSE. YOU CAN SHUT HIM UP FOR A FOOL, YOU CAN SPIT ON HIM AND KILL HIM AS A DEMON, OR YOU CAN FALL AT HIS FEET AND CALL HIM LORD AND GOD. BUT LET US NOT COME WITH ANY PATRONIZING NONSENSE ABOUT HIM BEING A GREAT HUMAN TEACHER. HE HAS NOT LEFT THAT OPEN TO US. HE DID NOT INTEND TO.”
TODAY YOU ARE FACED WITH MAKING THE DECISION, IS JESUS WHO HE SAYS HE IS, AND YOUR ETERNAL DESTINY HANGS ON YOUR DECISION.
3. JESUS DIDN’T FIT WHAT THE PEOPLE WANTED. THE PEOPLE WANTED A MESSIAH WHO COULD SAVE THEM FROM THEIR CIRCUMSTANCES.
THIS IS NO DIFFERENT THAN WHAT MANY PEOPLE BELIEVE TODAY. PEOPLE WILL BELIEVE IN GOD AS LONG AS HE DOES AND ACTS THE WAY WE WANT HIM TO. IF JESUS PERFORMS A HEALING, IF HE GETS US OUT OF A JAM, THEN WE’LL BELIEVE THAT HE IS GOD. WE MAKE THE MISTAKE IF GOD CHOOSES TO SAY NO TO OUR REQUEST THAT HE DOES NOT LOVE US AND IS NOT FAITHFUL TO US. WE WANT JESUS TO BE THE KIND OF SAVIOUR WE WANT HIM TO BE.
2 TIMOTHY: 4:3-4:
3 FOR THE TIME WILL COME WHEN PEOPLE WILL NOT PUT UP WITH SOUND DOCTRINE. INSTEAD, TO SUIT THEIR OWN DESIRES, THEY WILL GATHER AROUND THEM A GREAT NUMBER OF TEACHERS TO SAY WHAT THEIR ITCHING EARS WANT TO HEAR. 4 THEY WILL TURN THEIR EARS AWAY FROM THE TRUTH AND TURN ASIDE TO MYTHS.
TODAY YOU AND I ARE IN A UNIQUE POSITION OF BEING BOTH A MEMBER OF THE CROWD AND THE PERSON OF BARABBAS.
WE ARE THE CROWD BECAUSE WE ARE GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO CHOOSE BETWEEN BARABBAS OR JESUS WHEN WE CHOOSE THE THINGS OF THE WORLD OVER JESUS.
WHEN WE IGNORE THE HURTING OR HUNGRY…WE CHOOSE BARABBAS.
WHEN WE TAKE WHAT GOD HAS GIVEN US AND USE IT FOR OUR OWN PURPOSES…WE CHOOSE BARABBAS
WHEN WE REFUSE TO LISTEN TO GOD’S WORD…WE CHOOSE BARABBAS
WHEN WE TAKE WHAT IS EVIL OVER THAT WHICH IS HOLY…WE CHOOSE BARABBAS.
WHEN WE CHOOSE THE TEMPROAL OVER THE ETERNAL…WE CHOOSE BARABBAS.
WE ARE ALSO BARABBAS. BARABBAS WAS CONDEMNED AND GUILTY, AND WE ARE CONDEMNED AND GUILTY SPIRITUALLY.
ROMANS 3:23: FOR ALL HAVE SINNED AND FALL SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD.
BARABBAS WAS AN INSURRECTIONIST. SO WERE WE BEFORE WE WERE SAVED. WE WERE AGAINST GOD’S RULE AND ZEALOUS IN OUR SIN. WE REBELLED AGAINST THE LAW OF GOD.
BARABBAS WAS A THIEF. WE WERE THIEVES BEFORE WE CAME TO CHRIST. WE STOLE FROM OUR FAMILIES THE ASSURANCE OF OUR ETERNAL DESTINY. WE MAY HAVE EVEN TAKEN FROM THEM TH DESIRE FOR A DESTINY WITH JESUS IN HEAVEN IN OUR REBELLION.
BARABBAS WAS A MURDERER. YOU AND I ARE JUST AS BAD ACCORDING TO MATTHEW 5. WHOEVER IS ANGRY OR SAYS HATEFUL THINGS TO SOMEONE IS JUST AS GUILTY AS A MURDERER.
BARABBAS WAS A NOTORIOUS PRISONER. WE AS WELL WILL BE KNOWN FOR OUR CRIMES. GOD KNOWS ALL OUR SINS AND SEES US FOR WHO WE ARE.
THEN SOMETHING UNSPEAKABLE HAPPENS. THE NAME BARABBAS MEANS “SON OF FATHER”, BUT HIS GIVEN NAME WAS “JESUS”. AS BARABBAS IS BEING LED OUT OF THE HOLDING CELL AND TO HIS EXECUTION, ANOTHER JESUS WHO WAS, THE SON OF THE FATHER TOOK HIS PLACE.
INSTEAD OF JUDGMENT BEING PASSED ON JESUS BARABBAS, HE RECEIVED THE GRACE AND MERCY, AS HIS JUDGEMENT WAS PASSED TO ANOTHER JESUS, WHO TOOK HIS FATHER’S CONDEMNATION BY GOING TO THE CROSS IN SUBSTITUTION.
2 CORINTHIANS 5:21: GOD MADE HIM WHO HAD NO SIN TO BE SIN FOR US, SO THAT IN HIM WE MIGHT BECOME THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD.
WHILE WE WERE PRISONERS, SLAVES OF SIN, HELPLESS BEFORE GOD, JESUS CAME AND WENT TO THE CROSS IN OUR PLACE. WE DESERVED DEATH, BUT JESUS TOOK OUR PLACE AS GOD’S SACRIFICE FOR OUR SINS.
WHEN WE HAVE OUR FAITH PLANTED IN THE WORD OF GOD, THEN WE CAN DISCERN PROPER ACTIONS IN THE VARIOUS SITUATIONS IN LIFE WE FACE. GOD IS IN CONTROL AND IF OUR FOLLOWING CHRIST BRINGS US INTO CONFLICT WITH THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL DECISIONS OF THIS WORLD. LET US REMEMBER THAT GOD IS STILL IN CONTROL. OUR CRY SHOULD ALWAYS BE “GIVE ME JESUS”
