Journey Through Matthew: Peer Pressure
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· 92 viewsJesus' trial was nothing more than a sham perpetuated by Pilot bending to the peer pressure of the Jews. In typical politician fashion he bent toward what caused him the least politial damage instead of doing what was right.
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Introduction
Introduction
Good morning and welcome back!
This morning if you will, start turning in your Bibles to .
We are going to be picking right up with our Journey Through Matthew, covering this morning.
And we are going to be looking at topic this morning that we as adults try to say is a “teenage problem.”
And that subject is Peer Pressure.
We, as adults want to tell ourselves that we are independent adults and that only teenagers and kids succumb to peer pressure.
But the actual fact is, that is a lie.
All of us, young and old alike are subject to peer pressure.
And giving in to peer pressure can and does cause us many times to do things that normally we would never consider.
It is also referred to as the “Mob Mentality.”
When we are sucked into this vortex of thought and action, not because it is rationally the right thing, but only because “everybody else is doing it.”
Growing up, one of the favorite statements of every adult I knew was “If your friend jumped off a bridge would you?”
And the point was to get us to think before we act.
The problem has been and continues to be though, that many times we do not think before we act.
Someone comes along and gets us all riled up and we jump right on board.
Without the facts and many times without even knowing whether they are being truthful or not.
So, lets get into this morning and see what problems peer pressure was causing in Jesus’ day.
Again, we are going to be in , and I will be reading from the end of our passage, verses 22-26.
I’d invite you to stand with me if you are able.
Matthew writes this . . .
Scripture Focus
Scripture Focus
Matthew 27:
22 “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?” Pilate asked. They all answered, “Crucify him!” 23 “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!” 24 When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!” 25 All the people answered, “Let his blood be on us and on our children!” 26 Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
The Consequences of Judas’ Sin (vs 1-10)
The Consequences of Judas’ Sin (vs 1-10)
Now, before we get to what I just read lets back up a little bit.
At this point, Jesus has been arrested and has been brought before the Sanhedrin.
They had went through their sham of a trial, where their decision was made before it even started.
All of the disciples had abandoned Jesus and he is all alone.
He had been abused by the Jews and the events that would shape the course of history were now put into motion.
Picking up in verse one . . . .
1 Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people came to the decision to put Jesus to death. 2 They bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate, the governor.
Matthew 27:
And now the reason that they turned Jesus over to Pilot was because they did not have the authority to put anyone to death.
Israel was under Roman rule and the only ones who could carry out a death sentence was the Roman government.
The Jews could hold a trial and make a recommendation to the Roman government, but they were limited to what they could legally do.
So, now you have this religious group who was going to bring a man who they are accusing of violating their religious customs and traditions to the secular government and recommend a death sentence, even though he had violated no Roman law whatsoever.
However, the Jews knew they were going to have to twist this around a bit to get the Romans onboard.
However, first though Judas comes back into the picture very briefly.
We hadn’t heard from him since Jesus’ arrest, but now . . .
3 When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. 4 “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.” “What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.” 5 So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.
Matthew 27:3-
So, Judas sees the horror of his bad decisions.
He now realizes the consequences of his bowing to greed and to the peer pressure put on him by the other Jews.
Judas wanted so badly to be part of the Jewish leadership, to be “important” to be “powerful” to be “rich” to be “respected” that at one point he was willing to do anything for it.
Instead of stopping and thinking about what he was agreeing to be a part of, Judas gave in and bowed to the peer pressure of the Jews.
He joined in, in their mob mentality.
Convinced that because they were the “important” people of society that they must be right.
And now his eyes are opened.
He sees the depth of his own sin, and the Bible says he was seized with remorse, he returned the money and confessed to the Jews that I have sinned…for I have betrayed innocent blood.
The problem here though is Judas never repented.
He was seize with remorse, meaning he felt bad, felt guilt for what he had done, felt regret for it, but he never took the proper steps to make things right with God.
We sometimes confuse feeling guilty and having remorse with repentance.
Feeling guilt and remorse is the Holy Spirit convicting us for what we have done, that doesn’t make things right with God.
If we want to be right with God, then we have to realize that guilt and remorse and do something to make it right.
We have to confess our sins, which Judas did.
But we also have to ask forgiveness, which he did not.
He only did 1/2 of it.
And to be honest the Jews were right when they told him What is that to us? That’s your responsibility.
Now, don’t get me wrong, they were just as guilt as Judas, but they could not ask forgiveness for him.
He had to do that for himself.
We each have that responsibility.
No one else can repent of our sins, we have to do it.
And just feeling bad, feeling guilty, feeling remorse is not enough.
Even confessing and making it known that we have sinned is not enough.
We have to ask forgiveness and not repeat the same mistakes.
Turn away, change our direction.
And sadly Judas never got to that point, and as a result he was overcome with guilt and shame and . . .
5 So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.
Matthew
Judas never reached out to God.
Judas could not solve his problems and he was hopeless.
Satan had convinced Judas that there was no hope whatsoever, so Judas fell into Satan’s trap.
Let me tell you though, there is hope.
There is help if we need it.
From God himself and the people God sends and equips to help us.
We need to be willing to reach out though and ask for help.
The Jews though, just matter of factly though. . . .
6 The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.” 7 So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. 8 That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day. 9 Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “They took the thirty silver coins, the price set on him by the people of Israel, 10 and they used them to buy the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”
Kind of ironic isn’t it.
Here these people are lying and plotting against Jesus on one hand.
But afraid to use blood money on the other hand because it was against their law.
They are such hypocrites.
They also were feeling pretty guilty, which is why the used it to buy a field to bury foreigners.
It eased their conscious a bit.
Made them feel just a little bit better.
But it never could make up for their sin.
It doesn’t matter how much “good” we do, if all it is is an attempt to cover up and hide our own sin.
It doesn’t work that way.
And if you are here this morning and trying to do that, you are deceiving yourself.
Come and repent and then all the good you do will be even better because it will be done with a clean heart.
But their heart was full of sin.
Jesus Before Pilot (vs 11-19)
Jesus Before Pilot (vs 11-19)
And the end result of that, was what was transpiring with Jesus at this point . . .
11 Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” “Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied.
Matthew 27:11-
Remember what I said earlier about the Jews having to make up something that they could claim Jesus was breaking Roman law in order to put him to death?
Well this was it.
They had told the Romans that Jesus was lifting himself up to be a king and was going to lead a rebellion against the Roman government.
They were also telling the Romans that Jesus was claiming to be a god as well, which also was agains the law because Caesar was both their highest god and king.
Anything that would threaten Caesar’s authority was against the law.
So, they bring Jesus before Pilot and Pilot point blank asked him if he was the king of the Jews, to which Jesus answered him plainly.
He didn’t hide the fact from Pilot.
However, what was interesting was that even though when Pilot asked Jesus questions he answered but when the Jews brought their allegations he said nothing.
12 When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. 13 Then Pilate asked him, “Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?” 14 But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor.
Matthew 27:
So, at this point Pilot has a choice to make.
He clearly understood that Jesus had not violated any Roman law and was not deserving of death.
But he also had a group of angry Jews who wanted Jesus daed.
So, his plan was to not kill Jesus but to still appease the Jews.
15 Now it was the governor’s custom at the Feast to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. 16 At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. 17 So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” 18 For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him.
Matthew 27:15-
He thought that they would be happy just with the beating Jesus received and to let Jesus go instead of Barabbas, who was the worst of the worst of society.
Additionally, he had further pressure put on him by his wife.
19 While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.”
Matthew 27:19-
Peer Pressure Wins (vs 20-26)
Peer Pressure Wins (vs 20-26)
However, his plan backfires on him a bit.
The Jews were overcome with hate . . .
20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed. 21 “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor. “Barabbas,” they answered. 22 “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?” Pilate asked. They all answered, “Crucify him!” 23 “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
Matthew 27:20-
These people chose to release a murderer, a thief, a danger to society and kill an innocent man who had done nothing to nobody.
And instead of standing up for what was just and what was right.
Pilate gives in to the peer pressure.
24 When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!” 25 All the people answered, “Let his blood be on us and on our children!” 26 Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
Matthew 27:24
Altar Call
Altar Call
And I wonder this morning how often we give in to peer pressure.
We know what is right and what is wrong.
We know the direction that God wants us to go in.
But we do the opposite.
We go with the flow.
Blend in with the crowd.
Just do what everybody else is doing because it is easier.
Folks that won’t cut it.
There comes a point in our life when #1 we have to make a decision if we are going to follow Christ at all.
And #2 whether we are going to follow him to the end.
Whether we are going to be faithful to him or whether we are going to just sort be in and sort of be out.
Follow when it’s convenient.
Follow when it doesn’t interfere with our schedule.
We have to make a choice, we are either all in or all out.
We are either going to follow or we are not.
Whether we will stand up for what is right or we are going to bow to the peer pressure of society.
And for us this morning, that decision time is right now.
What will your decision be this morning?
Jesus is waiting.