Matthew 27:18 · World English Bible
Matthew 27:18 Meaning For He Knew That Because of Envy
For he knew that because of envy they had delivered him up.
What does Matthew 27:18 mean?
Envy is guilt turned into resentment of the innocence it cannot feel in itself. When a mind hates the peace it sees in another, it is really looking at what it believes it has lost, and it moves to destroy the reminder rather than reclaim the gift.
From the Christian Psychology reading below.
Matthew 27:18 through 1 lens
The same verse, read by one tradition.
Christian Psychology
CHRISTIAN PSYCHOLOGY
Christian Psychology
Envy is guilt turned into resentment of the innocence it cannot feel in itself. When a mind hates the peace it sees in another, it is really looking at what it believes it has lost, and it moves to destroy the reminder rather than reclaim the gift. The handing over is not justice but the ego's need to remove what shows it its own choice for fear.
Even the worldly judge can see that the accusation is driven by envy and not by any real wrong. What that recognition points toward, without naming it, is that the attack was never about the accused at all. It was a mind striking at the innocence it refused to accept as its own.
The chief priests: the envious authorities within the mind, the guilt that cannot bear the sight of innocence and moves to silence it.
Christian Psychology lensGo deeper in the app
Christian Psychology lens
Live Matthew 27:18 today
- When a post makes your stomach tighten with someone else's good news, stop and name what you actually want. The sting is information, not a verdict on you.
- Say one honest good word to a person you quietly compare yourself with. It costs you nothing you were using.
- When you catch yourself about to cut someone down in a meeting or a chat, ask whether they did something wrong or just something well. Then let it go.
What are you resenting in someone else that you could simply ask for yourself?
The same truth in other traditions
Stoicism · Seneca
Envy is the pain of looking at another's good while refusing your own. It attacks the person instead of reaching for the thing it wants.
Taoism · Zhuangzi
The one who measures himself against others never rests. Comparison is a borrowed hunger that nothing outside can feed.
Buddhism · Dhammapada
Do not belittle what you have been given, and do not go envying what others have. The one who envies finds no stillness anywhere.
Free · No account needed
Read all of Matthew 27 through 17 lenses
Lensightful opens every verse of the Bible through the traditions you choose. Save readings, ask a follow-up question, and get one verse a day.
Get Lensightful on the App Store