THE CONSPIRACY: THE LEADER’S ENVY
CSI: Murder of God - Week 2
MATT.27:18; JOHN 11:45-48
INTRODUCTION:
One of the truths about most crimes and certainly it is seen on the television show CSI, is the fact that usually more than one person contributes to a criminal offense. A lot of times you find a number of people who, while they didn’t shoot the gun or use the knife, are still involved in one way or the other. That’s true of this crime too. This murder was not done by one person in a dark alley. This was a state execution, but no one would call it justice. No, this was homicide, pure and simple. The State’s punishment was just the tool that provided the cause of death for Jesus, of Nazareth. So, today we want to focus our investigation on those that launched the conspiracy, who were the agitators in the plot to kill Jesus. Last week we talked about the motive for the crime, that the reason Jesus was rejected and eventually killed was because people spurned His authority. This was especially clear in the lives of the men who were looked up to as spiritual leaders. These religious authorities saw Jesus as a competitor instead of a compassionate Savior. And I don’t care how spiritual you are or how high your position, anytime we think we are losing our place or our spot, we too can become out of sorts, insecure, even mean. All because of envy.
{Video Clip: Toy Story - Chp. 6: 15:08 - Chp. 7 19:41 = 4:33}
Yes, Woody had “laser envy” - why? Because he thought Buzz was taking his place as Andy’s favorite toy. Well, the religious leaders of the1st century saw Jesus as “Buzz,” they saw him taking their spot, their place, their position of prominence as the spiritual leaders of Israel. Matt. 27:18 sums up their problem in one terse verse: "Pilate knew very well they had arrested Jesus out of envy because of his popularity with the people." Here was a group of respected leaders who allowed envy to twist their thinking, sear their consciences and eventually led them to cry out for the execution of the Son of God. So, this morning as we consider what envy did to them let’s confront the same tendency we have in our own lives.
I. THE MEN WHO ENVIED JESUS:
Let’s begin by looking at the men who were Jesus’ primary enemies. First, there were the Pharisees, mentioned in vs:46. They could be described as the ultra- conservative party of that day. They were the proponents of the "letter of the law." A man became a pharisee by making a public vow that he would spend all of his life observing every jot and title of the scribal law. That meant that he would not only live by the 10 commandments and the 600+ Mosaic laws, but also he would keep all the traditions and all of the customs that had been handed down over the years by previous respected religious leaders.
The Pharisees held Jesus in contempt because they thought He was too liberal. He violated their traditions. Let me give you a couple of examples. Throughout the first four books of the New Testament that describe Jesus’ life, the Pharisees constantly complained about the way Jesus observed their holy days. In particular they were upset by the way Jesus observed their most holy day, the Sabbath. For the Jew then, as it is today, Saturday is their Sunday, their day to worship and rest. But these leaders made many traditions that they said had to be kept on that day. But Jesus didn’t see their traditions as binding. For example, in Mark 2 the Pharisees accuse Jesus’ disciples of working on the Sabbath, a “no-no” for the Pharisees, because they walked through a grain field and picked some grain to chew on. In the Pharisees mind they were harvesting. But Jesus said, “The day of worship was made for people, not people for the day of worship. 28 For this reason I have have authority over the day of worship.”(Mk. 2:27-28) In Mark 3 they confronted Jesus about His healing on the Sabbath and basically asked, “How come You perform miracles of healing on the Sabbath when a physician is not supposed to work on that day?” But Jesus tells them that healing a person, helping them is more important than their traditions. In Mark 7 it tells us that the Pharisees always ceremonially washed their hands before they ate as was the tradition handed down by the elders. This wasn’t a washing due to dirt but due to ceremony, not wanting anything to be ceremonially unclean. So they said to Jesus: "Why don’t your disciples follow our age-old customs? For they eat without first performing the washing ceremony?"(Mk.7:5 LB) Jesus saw right through their critical spirits, and said- "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!"(Mk 7:9 NIV) You can imagine how that set with the Pharisees.
Then vs:47 mentions the chief priests being opposed to Jesus. Now the priests were responsible for the temple in that day. They offered prayers, sacrifices and advice. They said that Jesus was irreverent, even sacrilegious - calling Himself the Son of God and telling them that they were wrong in the way they obeyed God and the way they treated the people. The chief priests during Jesus day were made up, not of Pharisees but of Sadducees. While the Pharisees were the ultra-conservative party of Jesus’ day the Sadducees were the ultra-liberals. They were more concerned about being successful and getting ahead then they were about observing the religious customs and traditions. The Sadducees were especially liberal in spiritual matters. They did not believe in the supernatural, they rejected all the O.T. except the first 5 books, and they scoffed at the idea of the resurrection of the dead. To the Sadducees life after death was implausible and impossible. In Bible College we were taught to remember them because they did not believe in life after death so, they were "Sad-You-See." Kind of corny but it stays with you. The Sadducees held Jesus in contempt because they thought He was too conservative, unenlightened.
The 3rd group mentioned- Vs:47- "The Pharisees and the Chief Priests called a meeting of the Sanhedrin." The Sanhedrin was the Jewish supreme court. It was made up of 71 respected, experienced leaders of the nation. There were Pharisees on the court and also Sadducees on this ruling council. As you can imagine, their different theologies & philosophies caused a great deal of strife. In fact, they argued about just about everything and could be at each others throats at the drop of a hat.
But when it came to Jesus Christ there was no arguing, no violent dispute. Because when it came to Jesus both these groups now had one thing in common: Jesus was enemy#1! And when His popularity intensified they called a meeting to decide what to do. What a strange unity. It would be like today having the KKK, the ACLU & the Christian coalition all agreeing on one thing. But envy can produce hatred and hatred can make strange bedfellows.
II. THE MALICE BEHIND THESE MEN:
Well, we know why they held Jesus in contempt but why were they filled with so much malice that they would want him killed? The lead to follow is in John 11. Jesus had performed what was His most spectacular miracle ever. A dear friend of his, Lazarus, had become sick and died. Lazarus had been dead 4 days, his body had already begun to decompose by the time Jesus arrived. But Jesus ordered the tomb open and called out, "Lazarus, come out!" That would of made a great “X-Files”episode it was so supernatural! Because this man who had been dead 4 days walked out of his tomb still wrapped in his burial clothes.
Now, the witnesses to that event were absolutely incredulous. There was no mistake- this was the most stupendous thing they had ever seen. Can you imagine being there? After your emotional recovery from this awe inspiring scene what would you do? Wouldn’t you run and tell your family and your friends what you had witnessed! That’s apparently what happened with a lot of people. The news spread like wildfire and vs:45 of our text says, that “Many Jews who had visited Mary and had seen what Jesus had done believed in him."(Jn 12:45) This caused the religious leaders great trouble because Jesus was in fact becoming more popular then them. So, the leaders have several fears.
First, they were afraid of losing their following. Up until this point the people followed the leaders words and actions. If you will, they put their faith in them. But now, Jesus was receiving the acceptance of the people and they were rallying around Him instead of them. And remember, Jesus has publicly rebuked the leaders for putting their human traditions over the commands of God. This, to the leaders, was not an “and” proposition, but an “or.” The people would either follow Jesus or them. Instead of being humble and investigating what Jesus meant they grew angrier and angrier. They said Jn.11:48- “If we let him continue what he’s doing, everyone will believe in Him.” They were afraid of losing their following.
Secondly they were afraid of losing their position. Jn.11:48 in it’s entirety says, “If we let him continue what he’s doing, everyone will believe in Him. Then the Romans will take away our position and our nation.” You see, not all the witnesses of the raising of Lazarus confessed their faith in Jesus. Some were so tied to human leaders that they ran to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. When the religious leaders heard about the miracle they met together & vss 47b-50 just reek with envy. "What are we doing?" They were basically crying out- "What do we do now? We’ve tried to suppress Him by entrapping Him, we’ve tried ruining his credibility by ridiculing Him but nothing has worked! Everyone is going to end up believing in Him and we’re going to lose our place of leadership!" And isn’t it interesting that they rationalize that the Roman government is going to be so upset that the whole nation is in jeopardy. They are voicing their concern that Jesus is going to cause the Romans to come and militarily punish the nation. But that was absolutely untrue! Because Jesus wasn’t any threat to the Romans at all! In fact He taught that they should show God’s love to their captors and said things like, "Give to the emperor what belongs to the emperor and give to God what belongs to God." (Mt. 22:21)
But you see, they rationalized many things because they were filled with selfishness. Isn’t it incredible that not one of the leaders mentions the fact that Jesus just performed an undeniable act of God? No one suggests that maybe, just maybe, someone ought to go ask this man some real honest and humble questions. The fact is, some of the leaders did believe but wouldn’t openly confess Him as the Son of God because of their selfish natures. John 12:42-43 is one of the saddest scriptures- "Many of the leaders believed in Him. But they would not confess their faith.. for they loved the praise of men more than praise from God."(NIV) You see, the truth didn’t matter.. the only thing of significance to them is the possibility that they would no longer be first! Jesus posed a threat to their status. In fact John 12:10 tells us that the leaders were even plotting to kill Lazarus, because so many people were listening to Lazarus tell about being raised to life that they were believing in Jesus. I guess the leaders thought if they killed him he’d stay dead this time. Then a few days after this meeting, Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey and the streets are lined with crowds yelling His praises. And the leaders say in Jn. 12:19, "The Pharisees then said to one another, “You see, we are not succeeding at all! Look, the whole world is following him!” They are overcome with envy, Jesus had to be stopped!
So, the enemies of Jesus devised a plan, they came up with a method whereby they would manipulate people and even the government into eliminating the Son of God. A man by the name of Caiphas became the leader of the opposition. Caiphas was the high priest, the chief justice of the supreme court. He should of been the most spiritual, he should of been the most objective. But, because of his envy, he was the worst. Caiphas becomes the catalyst to the conspiracy. In Jn.11:49-50 Caiphas barked: "How can you be so stupid? 50Why should the whole nation be destroyed? Let this one man die for the people.”The Greek construction literally says, "Don’t you realize that it is in your own best interest, it is profitable for us, that one man die for the nation."
But killing Jesus was not going to be easy. There were a couple of major complications to arresting Him. 1) The popularity of Jesus with the people. How could they arrest Jesus without instigating a riot among His 1000’s of admirer’s. 2) was the problem of the resistance of Rome. Roman law forbid the Jews to kill anyone. In order for the leaders to have Jesus executed they would have to get permission from Rome. That would not be easy because Jesus had done nothing worthy of death from a Roman perspective. Accusing him of not following their rules or even claiming to be their Savior wouldn’t do it, they had to come up with something else. So, they decided they would accuse Him of being a King, an insurrectionist against Rome. When they took Jesus before Pilate they told him that Jesus was usurping Caesar’s authority. Privately Pilate asked Jesus if He was a King and Jesus said in Jn. 18:36, “I am not an earthly king. If I were, my followers would have fought for me when I was arrested by the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.” Pilate then took Jesus back out to the leaders, saying, "He’s not guilty of any crime.” But look how the religious leaders counter Pilate. This is incredible. in John 19:12 they level an accusation at Pilate and say: "If you free this man, you’re not a friend of the emperor. Anyone who claims to be a king is defying the emperor and so does anyone who lets a man like this go!” Are you kidding? These people hate Rome. Rome is their captor, their oppressor. Yet now they are using their allegiance to Rome as a ruse to get their own way. Pilate was stunned. That doesn’t make any sense. But that’s the kind of illogical manipulation that comes from envy. The conspiracy works, Pilate, afraid for his position, washes his hands of the affair and allows Jesus to be taken. And so, the gentle Savior of all mankind, is led away to be killed, nailed to a tree. It just proves the power of envy.
III. THE MASTERING OF ENVY BEFORE IT CONSUMES US:
So, how do we make sure that envy doesn’t get control of us? Well, before we go any further, let’s admit that envy is a problem for many of us. We are not envious of Jesus- He’s not our competitor because He’s not here in the flesh anymore. But we can get caught up in this sin when we are envious of those who threaten our symbols of significance, what we value most, our following, our position. Someone at work is vying for your promotion. A person comes into the school or into your circle of friends and threatens your close friendships because of their popularity. A hobby or even the Church is competing for your family time. And we feel like we’re losing our place, we’re losing something we can’t afford to be without and so we too subtly conspire to eliminate the perceived problem- and envy gets a stranglehold on us.
And this is a big problem for us. Our culture has conditioned us to believe that success means beating everybody else. “I’m going to get ahead, regardless of who’s head it has to be.” And I’ll be real enough to tell you that even preachers get caught up in it. “Who’s got the largest attendance? The most additions. The biggest buildings?” And all of us at times maybe have sulked because we are not getting enough attention; have been angry because our ideas aren’t accepted; we’ve lashed out with negativism when others are praised. This is such a tough battle. You see, we’re not talking about a problem that just existed amongst the horrible enemies of Jesus in the first century. We’re talking about a problem that dwells in you.. and me.
So, as we close today, let’s suggest 3 things that we can do so we don’t fall into the same trap the religious leaders did.
1) Recognize the power of envy. Some might say, "Well, I’m not envious of anyone, jealousy’s not a problem for me." I don’t care if my mate is talking to someone good looking," OR "I don’t care if someone has better possessions than I do." But the Gk word used for envy is "öèïíïò" and it carries with it a deeper meaning than just jealousy. It means "to have a feeling of bitterness or indignation at seeing what we think we deserve, threatened." That’s what happened with the religious leaders. They felt they deserved the authority, the position of leadership, the public acclaim and Jesus threatened all that. You see, envy is one of those sins that comes in small increments, it’s subtle and self-destructive. Prov. 14:30 "It’s healthy to be content, but envy will eat you up." (CEV) Envy ruins our contentment, it fosters bitterness; it clouds our judgement, it nullifies unity and it destroys relationships. D.L. Moody tells the fable of a pheasant who was envious of another that could fly better than he could. One day this pheasant saw a hunter with a bow & arrow and said to him, "That pheasant flying right above you would provide great food if you could shoot him down." The man said, "Well, I could shoot him down but I have no feathers for my arrows.” So the first pheasant pulled one out of his wing. The arrow was shot but missed his rival. So the envious bird said, "Try again, try again!" and he pulled out another feather and another. After an hour of shooting, the pheasant was out of feathers and said with great indignation, "You worthless hunter, now you have no food because you’re such an awful shot." The hunter looked at the featherless pheasant & said, "Who says I have no food?" Envy’s greatest victim is the envyer. Let’s recognize envy as powerfully destructive, it’s one of the primary sins that nailed Jesus to the cross.
2) Reverse our thinking. Let’s change from our world’s philosophy that says, "Beat others and you will be important," "be first and you will be significant," "hold on to what you have then you’ll be secure." Rom. 12:2 says, "Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think."(CEV) Paul writes in 1 Cor. 13:4 "Love does not envy." (NIV) Let’s change our thinking on this. Let’s understand that it is not the things of this world, power, prestige, prosperity or popularity that last. It’s the things of God - acceptance, forgiveness, salvation, eternal life that make up the really significant things..
3) Realize that rejection never comes from Jesus. Oh, if only the religious leaders would of accepted Jesus for who He was! He would of enfolded them in loving arms. So many of us are afraid of rejection- we are afraid of losing what we have. We fear losing possessions- "What if I lose my job? Or my house?" We fear losing people. "What if I lose my friend?" "What if I lose my mate?" "What if I lose that important relationship?" We fear losing our position. "What if I lose that promotion?" "What if I lose that pleasurable activity?" "What if I lose what makes me feel good." Significance is such a powerful need in each of us. God has placed that need in us. The question is not do I need to feel significant, but where am I searching for my significance? The mistake we often make is we think it’s possessions or people or position that makes us significant-it’s not. The only thing that gives true significance is your relationship to Jesus Christ. Because He will never leave you or forsake you He will never reject you, if you will but come to Him. Jesus said in Mt. 10:39, "Those who only cling to this life will end up losing it, but those who will stop clinging to this life and come to me will find that this life is better and the next one is forever." (SEB) Or as the NIV puts it: “Whoever finds his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
Please understand this most important truth. It doesn’t matter what you have or how prestigious or successful you are- because even if you gain everything it won’t last. And the opposite is true to.. even if you amount to nothing in this world’s eyes- you are accepted in heaven. If only the religious leaders could of understood that- if only we will. Then envy will disappear and encouragement remain. You want a fulfilled, meaningful life? Then instead of trying so hard to find it, lose it in the arms of Jesus Christ. And you will find it’s true: “...those who will stop clinging to this life and come to me will find that this life is better and the next one is forever.”
{All Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, God’s Word Version, unless otherwise noted}
