Going through the Gospels and Acts recently, I was struck by how fickle the crowds were in their response to Jesus and his disciples, and more tellingly, how that fickleness was manipulated by a small cabal.
Let’s start in early Matthew.
Matthew 4:25 And great crowds followed him
[Jesus] from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from
beyond the Jordan. (All references from ESV)
His miracles drew a crowd:
people seeking answers to their needs – health care, food, and justice (sound familiar?) Then the politics creeps in:
Matthew 21:8 Most
of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the
trees and spread them on the road. 9 And the crowds that went
before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” 10 And when he entered
Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds said,
“This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
This crowd was seeking freedom from Roman oppression - political freedom (sound familiar?) But when he does not deliver what they want – it gets ugly. They flip from worshiping him to calling for his death – which they get because they were able to bully a so-called dictator.
Matthew 27:24 So when Pilate saw that
he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took
water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this
man’s blood; see to it yourselves.”
Not only do they see him killed, they mock him (sound familiar?)
Matthew 27:39 And those who passed by derided
him, wagging their heads 40 and saying, “You who would destroy
the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of
God, come down from the cross.”
But even as the
sentence is carried out – many were lamenting – another flip.
Luke 23:26 And as they led him away, they
seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him
the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. 27
And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were
mourning and lamenting for him.
So, a question is, was it the same rent-a-mob flip-flopping between extremes – or different groups? We don't know. Regardless, the range of passion in a few days is stunning. What was driving this? A clue is in:
Matthew 26:59 Now the
chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that
they might put him to death, 60 but they found none, though many false witnesses
came forward. At last two came forward 61 and said, “This man said, ‘I am able to
destroy the temple of God, and to rebuild it in three days.’”
The same Pharisees that were
threatened by Jesus because he challenged their power, also manipulated the crowd to kill Steven. Paul had a similar experience in Ephesus
(Acts 19).
Acts 6:10 But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit
with which he [Steven] was speaking. 11 Then they secretly instigated men who
said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12 And they stirred up the
people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him
and brought him before the council,
So, we have a mob that can overrule
leadership, manipulated by a few liars that would retain their power (sound familiar?)
The key questions then, are
– are we being manipulated? Who is telling the truth? And how do
we respond?
Let's look at Jesus' response. He was well aware of the shallowness of the
crowd.
Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’
will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who
is in heaven.
Even so
Matthew 14:14 When he went ashore he saw
a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
It is notable that every defense speech in Acts by Paul, Peter, or Steven, runs on similar themes:
- It is not about the speaker - the focus is on Jesus. In the end, all of these men were martyred.
- They refer to scripture as the definitive source of truth.
- They are not swayed by the crowd.
- They appealed to the crowd to repent.
Pretty good guidance when someone gets in your face spewing conspiracy theories and rousing the rabble. Is this what you are hearing from your sources? If not: beware.
