Communion Message
(Envy is the child of hate)
September 25-26, 1999
Pastor Don Sheley

For I have received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me. In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 

Each Lord's Day we go back to the scene of Calvary there to make an in-depth observation of maybe some beautiful truth we have overlooked before. Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to releasing to the multitude one prisoner whom they wished. And at the time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. Therefore, when they had gathered together, Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want me to release to you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?" For he knew that they had handed Him over because of envy. Mark makes the same observation. For he knew that they had handed Him over because of envy. Now that quiet simple sentence in this condensed report of Christ's appearance before Pilate gives us another insight into Calvary. It's the statement by the evangelist of the inner judgment of Pilate. He had discerned the motives which lurked behind the air of justice on the part of the chief priests and the elders, and he knew the men with whom he had to deal. But the sight of Christ and the short interviews he had with Him convinced him not only of Christ's innocence, but of His spiritual majesty. 

He was a man caught in a trap of his own past. Had his past been unstained most likely Pilate's action might have been different at this moment. He discerned the character of Christ. He was awed, and he was touched by His greatness, but he looked at the mob and he knew that for envy they had brought this scene about. Now at the first sight it seems an insufficient reason to give for the crucifixion of Christ, that He was delivered out of envy. We have been accustomed to dwell on greater and more significant causes for Calvary, but every student of history can now see that the cross was inevitable, and that Christ's words and His deeds and His claims could not fail to bring Him into collision with the Jewish authorities and with the world in which He lived. Everyone knows that Christ longed for the cross. He viewed it as the consummation of His ministry, but we know that the simplest and the noblest expression of the gospel is that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and He did that by dying on a cross. It was God who ordained the cross of Jesus Christ for He was the lamb slain before the foundation of the world. We know these truths, but Pilate didn't. Pilate viewed a mob and realized that hatred had run rampant. He saw that it was envy eating like a cancer into the hearts of these men, breaking out at last in manifest corruption which was the human motive of the crucifixion of Christ. Other sins were leagued with it, but envy was the foremost and the leading conspirator. It was envy that laid the first hand on Christ. The priests and the elders envied Him for His reputation and His acceptance with the people. They envied Him for His marvelous power and His authority over the hearts of men and women. They envied Him for His gracious words, His deeds of mercy, and His mastery of the Scriptures that had so often confounded them. And this envy drove them at length to crucify Him. 

Now this is Pilate's viewpoint of Calvary. Envy though must be distinguished from jealousy. Although the one word in common speech is often interchanged for the other. You see jealousy is the child of love. Love that believes itself to have been wronged, injured, and robed of its due, but envy is the child of hate. Envy does not long to run in the race and claim fellowship with those who excel. Envy does not seek love and the well being of the person envied. Envy is a gnawing hate, an inward grief, a wasting impatience of spirit, the souring of the heart, the distemper of the soul, it's a rottenness of the bones. Its work is to ruin, to undo, to blast the name and the fame of the one who is envied. And while Christ was dying on His cross, these chief priests and scribes and elders passed by and looked up and mocked Him and cried, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save." Envy gleamed in their eyes and that day envy had its hour of triumph. Now that's Pilate's side of the story. Ours is different. We come to the cross today and there is an intense love and appreciation for Jesus Christ. You've come to His house today because you've chosen to worship Him, and we've stood amazed and awed in His presence as the music has drawn us heavenward. We didn't come today out of envy. We came today out of love. Ah, if Pilate could be here today he'd see a far different crowd, people who've left all walks of life to spend time in the presence of the King of kings and the Lord of lords. We come today because we love Him. We worship Him, we marvel at His love, and His grace. That's what brings us to the cross today.

Let's kneel before Him, shall we? Jesus we've come to the cross today out of love. Your majesty, and Your greatness, and Your wonder has drawn us. Your mercy has amazed us and Your love has overwhelmed us. We've come to worship you dear Jesus. Let's take the bread together, shall we? And then the cup. We love You dear Jesus, and everybody said, amen. Let's stand and greet the folks that have come to worship with us.