Transcript:
From time to time there are riots and protests in our world today demanding some sort of change or expressing disapproval of a certain event or decision. The natural inclination is to think the rioters have a legitimate grievance that needs to be addressed. It is also natural to assume those people are acting in accord with their own best interests.
Related to this is the common mentality that the majority is always right. If most people in a society believe a certain idea, then it is tempting to conclude that idea must be correct. If most experts on a particular topic push a certain belief on that topic, then many will conclude the belief has to be true.
Today’s passage illustrates that none of those assumptions are good assumptions. When Jesus was on trial, the majority was manipulated by the leaders into acting against their own best interests in order to serve the selfish desires of the leaders. The crowd was deceived into making a foolish choice that was not good for the society at large. The majority was not correct. If that happened in the 1st century AD, perhaps it also happens today.
The religious leaders wanted to get rid of Jesus because He was a threat to their position and power. They arrested Him in Gethsemane and put Him on trial before the high priest. After they condemned Him to death, they took Him to Pilate, the Roman governor.
Pilate questioned Jesus. The chief priests and elders of the Jews testified against Jesus. Jesus did not answer a single charge, which amazed Pilate.
Matt. 27:15 ¶ Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted.
The Jewish people lived under the authority of Rome. Rome was a heavy-handed master. The Jewish people did not have many rights. Apparently, once a year the Roman governor released a prisoner whom the Jewish people wanted released. This gave the Jews an opportunity to secure the freedom of someone they believed had been wrongly convicted.
Matt. 27:16 And at that time they were holding a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas.
Notice the word “notorious”. In a just world the Jews would never have asked for Barabbas to be released because all the people knew he was truly a criminal and life was better without Barabbas being out of jail and able to commit more crimes.
Matt. 27:17 So when the people gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?”
Pilate did not ask the Jews to suggest someone to be released. He gave them a choice between Barabbas or Jesus. Pilate probably knew Jesus was loved. Perhaps Pilate had heard about the large throng that had welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem with Palm branches. Pilate also knew Barabbas was notorious. Pilate was probably assuming the Jews would ask for Jesus to be released, not a notorious prisoner.
Matt. 27:18 For he knew that because of envy they had delivered Him over.
Pilate knew the religious leaders were trying to put Jesus to death because they were envious of Jesus. The crowd loved Jesus more than they loved the religious leaders.
Matt. 27:19 ¶ Now while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him a message, saying, “Have nothing to do with that righteous Man; for last night I suffered greatly in a dream because of Him.”
Matt. 27:20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to put Jesus to death.
Notice the word “persuaded”. Notice who persuaded who. Notice what the leaders persuaded the crowd to do.
The leaders persuaded the crowd to demand the release of Barabbas. The crowd should have known that releasing Barabbas, a notorious criminal, was a bad idea. It was against the interests of the people to release a criminal. However, the chief priests and elders were able to persuade the crowd to act against their own interests in order to do something that benefitted the leaders.
In our society today there are often riots and massive crowds demanding certain actions, or protesting some decision. We often assume the members of the crowd have a legitimate grievance that needs to be addressed. But what if the crowds that riot and protest today are manipulated just as the 1st century crowd was manipulated? What if there are people behind the scenes creating chaos and discontent in order to serve their own selfish interests, just as the religious leaders in 1st century Jerusalem deceived the crowd into ending the life of someone the religious leaders envied?
Matt. 27:21 But the governor answered and said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.”
Matt. 27:22 Pilate said to them, “Then, what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let Him be crucified!”
Less than a week earlier, the crowd had joyously welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem. Now they were demanding His death. This illustrates the fickleness and susceptibility of crowds.
Matt. 27:23 And he said, “Why, what evil did He do?” But they were crying out all the more, saying, “Let Him be crucified!”
Pilate asked what evil Jesus did, because he understood that Jesus did nothing to deserve death. Pilate thought his practice of releasing a prisoner was his way of getting out of condemning an innocent man. However, the religious leaders were a step ahead of Pilate and they deceived the crowd into demanding something that made life worse for the crowd, but served the interests of the religious leaders.
Matt. 27:24 ¶ Now when Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to that yourselves.”
Pilate was in a bind. He knew Jesus was innocent. He also saw a riot was starting to develop. The Roman Empire valued and demanded order, not chaos. If Pilate allowed a riot, that would make him look bad in the eyes of his superiors.
Matt. 27:25 And all the people answered and said, “His blood be on us and on our children!”
Matt. 27:26 Then he released Barabbas for them; but after having Jesus scourged, he delivered Him over to be crucified.
Matt. 27:27 ¶ Then when the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium, they gathered the whole Roman cohort around Him.
Matt. 27:28 And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him.
Matt. 27:29 And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
Matt. 27:30 And they spat on Him, and took the reed and began to beat Him on the head.
Matt. 27:31 When they had mocked Him, they took the scarlet robe off Him and put His own garments back on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him.
Matt. 27:32 ¶ And as they were coming out, they found a man of Cyrene named Simon, whom they pressed into service to bear His cross.
Matt. 27:33 ¶ And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means Place of a Skull,
Matt. 27:34 they gave Him wine to drink mixed with gall; and after tasting it, He did not want to drink.
Matt. 27:35 ¶ And when they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments among themselves by casting lots.
Matt. 27:36 And sitting down, they began to keep watch over Him there.
Matt. 27:37 And above His head they put up the charge against Him which read, “THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
From time to time there are riots and protests in our world today demanding change. The natural inclination is to think the rioters have a legitimate grievance and are acting in accord with their own best interests. Many people have the mentality that the majority is always right.
Today’s passage illustrates that none of those assumptions are good assumptions. When Jesus was on trial, the majority was manipulated by the leaders into acting against their own best interests in order to serve the selfish desires of the leaders. The majority was not correct.
If that happened in the 1st century AD, perhaps it also happens today. Maybe when there are riots, the rioters are just as deceived and manipulated as the Jewish crowds in 1st century Jerusalem. Perhaps behind the scenes there are people with bad intent who are stoking the crowd into doing the wrong thing.
When we see riots and protests, we should not assume the crowds are acting in their own best interests. We should always question whether the majority opinion is correct. We should be alert for who it is who truly benefits from the chaos and violence that is being perpetrated.
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”
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