From the Daily Lectionary for Friday/Saturday in the Seventh week after Pentecost
Matthew 27:1-23
Jesus Brought before Pilate
When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people conferred together against Jesus in order to bring about his death. They bound him, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate the governor.
When Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he repented and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. He said, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” Throwing down the pieces of silver in the temple, he departed; and he went and hanged himself. But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since they are blood money.” After conferring together, they used them to buy the potter’s field as a place to bury foreigners. For this reason that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of the one on whom a price had been set, on whom some of the people of Israel had set a price, and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”
Now Jesus stood before the governor; and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You say so.” But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he did not answer. Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many accusations they make against you?” But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.
Now at the festival the governor was accustomed to release a prisoner for the crowd, anyone whom they wanted. At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Jesus Barabbas. So after they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you, Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” For he realized that it was out of jealousy that they had handed him over. While he was sitting on the judgement seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that innocent man, for today I have suffered a great deal because of a dream about him.” Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus killed. The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” Pilate said to them, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” All of them said, “Let him be crucified!” Then he asked, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!”
This narrative speaks for itself. Jesus has been railroaded towards his execution at the hands of the powerful, who are marked by betrayal, false witness, coercion, blood money, conspiracy, violence. Lest we have missed the point, Matthew explicitly connects the Jewish leadership to that of Rome. The elders and priests are on the same page as Pilate. Power can’t stand the Truth.
Years ago Katharine and I were in England touring some famous gardens just west of London. One of our stops was at Blenheim Palace, the ancestral home of Winston Churchill. The landscape design there was executed by the famous architect Capability Brown. We toured the magnificent estate, and last on the tour was the family chapel, which was about the size of All Saints Church. At the entrance was a sculpture, a warlike angelic statue vanquishing a demonic figure under foot. There was a plaque under the sculpture with the words, “The defeat of the first and last enemy… envy.” Indeed, in the Genesis account of creation, it is envy that drives Cain to murder his brother Abel, the tragic moment when violence enters the world.
In today’s reading Matthew states that Pilate knew that the reason the Jewish leadership had handed Jesus over to the authorities was out of envy. This is the only one of the four Gospels that makes such an observation. And I think this peculiar insight is profoundly important. Envy of what? Perhaps it is Jesus’ popularity with the crowds; perhaps it is his passion and insight; his goodness; but most of all I think it is his “authority.” You’ll remember that authority is a recurring issue in Matthew. The chief priests and elders possess the authority given them by the Roman overlords. They have authority on paper, as it were, and the power and wealth that accompanies it; but they lack true authority. They lack the authority that moves hearts and minds; authority that resonates deep in the soul of the people… authority that is rooted in the Truth.
René Girard, French historian and literary critic whose work belongs to the tradition of anthropological philosophy, has written dozens of books on the role of envy within the historical progression of civilizations. At least since the seventh millennium B.C.E. Girard argues that each civilization around the planet was forged under the auspices of envy and its progeny, violence. A people, a society, a nation, an empire, sees the wealth and resources of another people, another land, and they find a reason to conquer, and violence is always the means. We know this to be true regarding the conquest of the Americas: Manifest Destiny… Power corrupts, and power wants more power. To be sure it is an addiction.
I would argue that envy is the engine of self-interest, and envy banishes empathy, which means that it is envy that drives nations to acquire more and more influence, at the expense of the other, silencing the truth, and scapegoating the least powerful in their way. The powers that be in Jesus’ world want his life. He has something of inestimable value that they don’t have, despite their worldly power. If they could but see; if they were willing to see.
All this to say that when all is said and done, when we have acquired as much stuff as our attics can hold, it is only the truth that matters. The sooner we learn that, amid the crucible of life’s journey, the better. It is the truth that will set us free; it is the truth that will transform and restore our world. There is no compromise in this. In these pandemonic days, ironically, we have the gift of clarity about many things that affect the common good. The way of Jesus is the truth, because it is guided by Love. If it’s not about Love then it’s not about truth. Guard the truth every waking moment, good people. It’s all we really have, but it is all we’ll ever need.
A Prayer for Christians in their Vocation (BCP p. 278)
O God, by whose Spirit the whole body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers, which we offer before you for all members of your holy church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen
