Matthew 27:11-54
Abraham Lincoln was said to have dreamed one night that he was walking through a strangely darkened White House…
- Quiet sobs of grief echoing in his ears.
- He came to a room in which a coffin lay in state.
- Who has died? he asked…and someone told him…The President.
- Soon afterward Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth…
- Shot…as it happened…on Good Friday.
Well…it’s not always clear if one of our dreams is a divine messenger or just our subconscious telling us what we already know…
- Or only a jumble of stuff plopped out of our brain…without any real meaning.
- But in Matthew’s Gospel…though…it is especially important to listen to dreams.
- The life of the young Jesus was saved (if you will) on several occasions.
- To begin with…despite Joseph’s doubts about his fiancée’s pregnancy…
- He listened to his dream and did not divorce Mary…
- Increasing the likelihood of her baby’s survival!
After the birth of Jesus…the Magi came from the east…seeking the newborn king…whose star heralded his birth.
- Seeking help at Herod’s court…
- They agreed to tell the paranoid king where this new infant king might be found…
- Never guessing his murderous intent.
- But having been warned in a dream to go home a different way…
- Avoiding Herod…they did so.
- Jesus’ life saved…literally.
Likewise…Joseph was warned in yet another dream to flee Bethlehem for Egypt with Jesus and Mary…
- And Jesus’ life was saved when Joseph obeyed the dream.
- And then…Joseph was informed in yet another dream that Herod had died and it was safe to return.
- He then used his common sense and bypassed Bethlehem for Nazareth.
- Not all the Herods were dead yet.
That is an impressive string of dreams.
- Notice that the dreams are sent not only to Joseph…a member of God’s people…
- But also…to the Magi…who came from outside the faith…
- But were drawn into God’s audacious plan to save the world.
- The Lord be with you…
But here’s the thing…Matthew also tells about a warning dream from God that was ignored.
- It happened later when the Roman Governor…Pilate…considered just what was going on with this Galilean prophet…Jesus…
- Who was accused of treason against the Roman Empire.
- Amid the confusion…a message arrived.
- While Pilate was sitting on the judgment 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.
- That’s how our reading for today puts it.
Nothing is known about Pilate’s wife…other than these few words.
- Over the centuries…though…Christians not only gave her a name…Procia or Procula…
- But in the Ethiopic and Coptic churches…she is celebrated as a saint.
Matthew was intentional when he chose to use the same Greek word to describe both her dream…
- And the dreams granted to Joseph and the Magi.
- Matthew’s implication is clear…
- Just as God spoke to Joseph and the Magi through dreams…
- God spoke to Pilate through his wife’s dream.
- And why his wife…and not directly to him?
- I guess because Pilate did not seem to have listened to the better angels of his nature.
A mid-level civil servant with a lackluster record…
- Pilate made several big mistakes during his service in the province.
- Judea was exempt from the requirement of displaying the Emperor’s image in public places…
- Because of the commandment against graven images.
- But Pilate decided that he knew better.
- One of his first edicts was to put the Emperor’s image on display in Jerusalem…
- Leading a number of Judeans to gather in a public place…bare their necks…and threaten to commit mass suicide.
- Pilate backed down.
- He also put on display imperial shields which were also offensive…and those…too…had to be removed.
- He also used money from the Temple treasury to pay for the construction of an aqueduct.
Yet…in Pilate’s defense…his decade-long tenure made him one of the longest serving governors of Judea.
- But…after slaughtering a group of Samaritans…he was recalled to Rome…
- Where he either retired from public service or took another posting.
- No one is certain exactly what happened to him.
- It is doubtful if any but the most attentive scholars of the Roman Empire would ever have heard of Pontius Pilate…
- Were it not for his involvement with the trial of Jesus.
He had the opportunity to release Jesus.
- He seems to have wondered…at the very least…if this Galilean…by the name of Jesus…was innocent.
- We do not know if Pilate ever listened to dreams…but apparently…he listened to his wife…
- Because the dream was sent to her.
- He could have taken his wife’s word…which he seems to have trusted…
- For that is where God channeled the message…but he did not.
Clearly…Pilate was troubled by this whole Jesus situation.
- Something just did not seem right to him…something seemed
At the least…Pilate was troubled enough to offer the mob a trade.
- Jesus for Barabbas…a real…honest to goodness revolutionary troublemaker.
- But the mob said…No dice.
- So…despite his doubts…and the likelihood that this mob was a set-up.
- (For heaven’s sake…what were they doing there the day after Passover bright and early in the morning…screaming against a popular preacher?)
- And despite his wife’s dream.
- Pilate decided due process was not worth the bother.
- Better to give in…and give up.
But this is not about Pilate.
- There is nothing we can do about him…two thousand years later.
- My question is this…
- Is God speaking to us? And are we listening?
God speaks in many ways…as the Letter to the Hebrews attests:
- Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets…but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son…Jesus the Christ of God.
And so…I invite us to hear this dream…listen.
I have a dream that one day the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood and sisterhood.
I have a dream that one day the heat of injustice…sweltering with the heat of oppression will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that little children will one day live where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream that one day little children of all races will be able to join hands with one another.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted…every hill and mountain shall be made low…the rough places will be made plain…and the crooked places will be made straight…and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed…and all flesh shall see it together.