The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.” “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.

I think of a locomotive, and how does it get its power to move? Well, coal-powered locomotives burn coal. This fuel burned, creating energy. This energy moved the pistons of the locomotive. The pistons moved mechanisms around the wheels, and the wheels moved the train. So would you say the source of the power of the train was the pistons? Clearly the pistons could not create movement by themselves. No, the source of the power of the train was the fired coal.

In the same way, actions have a root motivator. Behind every action there is something that motivated that action to happen. Take for instance the chief priests and Pharisees. They took action to talk to Pilate about getting a guard to protect Jesus’ tomb. What motivated this action? They wanted to maintain their power and authority over the people and did not want any report of Jesus being risen from the dead to leak out. Jesus was a threat to them. That’s why they killed him. And that’s why they guarded his tomb. They were fearful.

Pilate also took action. He authorized a guard to be placed around the tomb of Jesus. What motivated him to take this action? Most likely, it was to keep the peace. That was his primary job as a governor. So the Jews convinced him that if Jesus went missing, there would be a problem with keeping the peace. He was fearful.

When trying to understand human behavior, and act in a godly manner with good strategy and execution, it is important to think about what motivates people. Sometimes people are really good at trying to drag us into bad situations or bad activities. They are able to present things in a very persuasive way on the surface. But if we take time to pray, and dig down to the route motive, we can ascertain if their plans are godly or not.

We are to be motivated by Jesus Christ.

This is how Jesus went about his business. His wisdom surpasses that of anyone on earth. His ability to dig down to the root motives and understand what was behind what was said it is a great model to follow. It is what good leaders do.

Lord, thank you for this model of understanding human behavior and getting down to the root. We see that the Pharisees, teacher of the law and Pilate all had selfish motives. You were selfless. Help me to understand my own motive and the motives of others better so I can make better choices to stand for the truth and follow you.