People of the Passion: One of the Mob, the Follower
Matthew 27:20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed. 21 "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" asked the governor. "Barabbas," they answered. 22 "What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?" Pilate asked. They all answered, "Crucify him!" 23 "Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!" 24 When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this man's blood," he said. "It is your responsibility!" 25 All the people answered, "Let his blood be on us and on our children!" 26 Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified. 27 Then the governor's soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. "Hail, king of the Jews!" they said. 30 They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. 31 After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him. 32 As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. 33 They came to a place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull).
You know the expression “mob mentality,” don’t you? One moment a crowd cheers its team; the next moment it boos. One moment you have a milling crowd; the next, a frenzied mob. People in a crowd often act in a way they would not act if they were alone. They become one of the mob, following the impulse of the moment.
That sort of mob spirit seized the crowd that had gathered for Jesus’ trial. So let’s look more closely at how it must have been at Jesus’ passion for One of the Mob, the Follower.
When the priests and Pharisees planned Jesus’ trial, they did not want a large crowd of people there. Jesus’ followers came mostly from the common people. If they should become aroused to defend Jesus, the whole plan might fail and cave in under popular pressure. The Jewish leaders could not depend on the people to side with them. Better they should dispatch with Jesus as quietly and as secretly as possible.
However, when Pilate delayed the proceedings, a crowd gathered and became a force in determining the outcome of the trial. Some came to see the spectacle of Jesus on trial. Others probably came to see which prisoner would be released, as was the custom on this day. Most of them ended up shouting in a frenzy for Jesus’ blood—the opposite of what we might have expected from them.
The priests and elders quickly sized up the situation and moved to control the crowd. They filtered throughout the body, spreading propaganda, whispering innuendos against Jesus. They agitated and persuaded. They shouted loudly against Pilate and against Jesus at every opportunity, so as to drown out any opposing voices and to inspire the crowd to pick up the cry to condemn Jesus.
The crucial test came when Jesus and the infamous Barabbas were paired for the people to choose which to set free. The Jewish leaders had done their work well. When Pilate asked which prisoner should be released, Jesus or Barabbas, an instantaneous cry went up: “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!”
When Pilate asked what should be done with Jesus, the shout came back: “Crucify him! Crucify him!” When Pilate protested Jesus’ innocence, they shouted the more intensely: “Crucify him! Let him be crucified!” When Pilate had Jesus beaten and mocked and presented him again as innocent, the mob cried out: “Crucify him! Crucify him!” If there were any dissenting voices, they were not heard or were quickly hushed up by the wild-eyed mob.
But why did they turn like that against Jesus? Why did the lips of some, who less than a week before had called “Hosanna” to Jesus, now cry, “Crucify him”? Why did the lips that once thanked and praised Jesus for some miracle of healing now join in the chant against him? Why did the mood of the crowd become so violently hostile? We can only say that a cruel “mob mentality” had seized them.
We don’t know what was going on in the thinking of every person who was there. But we can imagine how it was for one or another of the mob in the charged atmosphere of the proceedings—how he would get swept along with the prevailing mood.
Picture yourself there. You have been a follower of Jesus. But you have never given up the popular expectation that the promised Messiah (Jesus?) would be a bread king, an earthly ruler. You and your friends have looked for the Messiah to lead your country back to the grandeur of what Israel once was, as in the days of King David. You had placed those hopes on Jesus.
Now you arrive at Pilate’s court on that fateful Friday. You see Jesus: beaten, silent, meek, apparently giving up without a fight. You can hardly believe that he is the same man you cheered when he entered Jerusalem the preceding Sunday. You turn to the person next to you who seems to have been there for a while and ask, “What does this all mean?”
He tells you that Jesus has blasphemed against God and that the priests have warned that he is dangerous to the peace of the nation.
“But we thought he would lead us to better days,” you say, puzzled.
“And what has he done for the nation?” the man challenges. He tells you that the priests say that if Jesus is not stopped, he’ll lead us into trouble with Rome. Then Rome will raise taxes, disband the council, and force the people to worship the emperor.
You are confused. You think of some of the miracles Jesus had done, how he helped the people—even raised the dead.
The man next to you counters that Jesus is just a troublemaker. He claims that even Barabbas is better than Jesus. At least Barabbas wants to free the nation from Roman tyranny.
Just then, Pilate appears with Barabbas and Jesus and asks which one he should release. “Give us Barabbas,” the man shouts. “Away with Jesus. Crucify him!”
Crucify him!” the man next to you repeats. And you hear others in the crowd pick up the cry. You see Pilate gesturing in defense of Jesus. But if Jesus were the real Messiah, he wouldn’t be made helpless under the thumb of Pilate, would he? Pilate seems to be the only one who doubts what to do, and he is your enemy. Your doubts are all confirmed. Jesus must go. The cry goes up again, “Crucify him!’
“Crucify him!” you join in, convinced you were wrong ever to follow the pitiable wretch standing trial. He’s no king. He’s no Messiah. “Crucify him!”
You become one with the mob. Jesus has no fight in him. Why should you speak up for him? You even cheer when the verdict is reached, and you follow to watch the crucifixion.
What happens to you afterward? Maybe you hear Jesus say, “Father, forgive them,” and that turns you to reexamine your deed and repent. Maybe the darkness and the earthquake at his death shock you into realizing how terribly wrong you were. Maybe you are there later in another crowd on Pentecost and hear Peter and the disciples tell of Christ’s resurrection, and you repent and are baptized.
Or, maybe you go to your grave believing justice was done and the people were better off with Jesus destroyed. As one of the mob, you have followed blindly. You have switched allegiances arbitrarily. You will only be led straight again by the light of the truth in the risen Christ.
It was sad how the evil of the crowd that day compounded itself. The devil worked his worst. Nevertheless, Jesus came out the conqueror in the end.
We human beings have not changed appreciably since then, however. We still succumb to the pressures of mob action. We still listen to human rationalizations instead of listening to God’s Word. “Everybody is doing it” is one of our favorite excuses for sinning.
Group pressures still affect us. When you are in a crowd that is bent on doing something contrary to the way of Christ, for example, it is no easy thing to stand alone on the side of Jesus.
Another example might be the frantic push for one super church, and Jesus be hanged (or should we say crucified), if necessary, to achieve it. The rationale and the appeal to numbers and unity are impressive. All you have to do is ignore some parts of God’s Word to achieve it. Even some church leaders are telling you that absolute trust in Jesus and his Word are not necessary. And, if you object, there are many around to drown out your voice.
So, where does that leave us? We need one another, not as a mob, but as a group of individual believers who are growing together in love and faith by the gospel of Jesus Christ. We need to come together to remember Christ and to glorify his name for his sacrifice on the cross. We need to listen to Jesus and to avoid any kind of mob appeal that contradicts him. We need also to hold to our Savior in his mercy and forgiveness for the times we have failed him.
Let us remember the crucifixion and the resurrection. Let us rally around the cross of Christ. Let us tell the world that even those who in weakness and ignorance shout “Crucify him!” will find forgiveness and salvation in his crucifixion. Let us all live in repentance and faith and rejoice to be counted as children in the family of God.
May we be faithful to the end. Amen.
You know the expression “mob mentality,” don’t you? One moment a crowd cheers its team; the next moment it boos. One moment you have a milling crowd; the next, a frenzied mob. People in a crowd often act in a way they would not act if they were alone. They become one of the mob, following the impulse of the moment.
That sort of mob spirit seized the crowd that had gathered for Jesus’ trial. So let’s look more closely at how it must have been at Jesus’ passion for One of the Mob, the Follower.
When the priests and Pharisees planned Jesus’ trial, they did not want a large crowd of people there. Jesus’ followers came mostly from the common people. If they should become aroused to defend Jesus, the whole plan might fail and cave in under popular pressure. The Jewish leaders could not depend on the people to side with them. Better they should dispatch with Jesus as quietly and as secretly as possible.
However, when Pilate delayed the proceedings, a crowd gathered and became a force in determining the outcome of the trial. Some came to see the spectacle of Jesus on trial. Others probably came to see which prisoner would be released, as was the custom on this day. Most of them ended up shouting in a frenzy for Jesus’ blood—the opposite of what we might have expected from them.
The priests and elders quickly sized up the situation and moved to control the crowd. They filtered throughout the body, spreading propaganda, whispering innuendos against Jesus. They agitated and persuaded. They shouted loudly against Pilate and against Jesus at every opportunity, so as to drown out any opposing voices and to inspire the crowd to pick up the cry to condemn Jesus.
The crucial test came when Jesus and the infamous Barabbas were paired for the people to choose which to set free. The Jewish leaders had done their work well. When Pilate asked which prisoner should be released, Jesus or Barabbas, an instantaneous cry went up: “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!”
When Pilate asked what should be done with Jesus, the shout came back: “Crucify him! Crucify him!” When Pilate protested Jesus’ innocence, they shouted the more intensely: “Crucify him! Let him be crucified!” When Pilate had Jesus beaten and mocked and presented him again as innocent, the mob cried out: “Crucify him! Crucify him!” If there were any dissenting voices, they were not heard or were quickly hushed up by the wild-eyed mob.
But why did they turn like that against Jesus? Why did the lips of some, who less than a week before had called “Hosanna” to Jesus, now cry, “Crucify him”? Why did the lips that once thanked and praised Jesus for some miracle of healing now join in the chant against him? Why did the mood of the crowd become so violently hostile? We can only say that a cruel “mob mentality” had seized them.
We don’t know what was going on in the thinking of every person who was there. But we can imagine how it was for one or another of the mob in the charged atmosphere of the proceedings—how he would get swept along with the prevailing mood.
Picture yourself there. You have been a follower of Jesus. But you have never given up the popular expectation that the promised Messiah (Jesus?) would be a bread king, an earthly ruler. You and your friends have looked for the Messiah to lead your country back to the grandeur of what Israel once was, as in the days of King David. You had placed those hopes on Jesus.
Now you arrive at Pilate’s court on that fateful Friday. You see Jesus: beaten, silent, meek, apparently giving up without a fight. You can hardly believe that he is the same man you cheered when he entered Jerusalem the preceding Sunday. You turn to the person next to you who seems to have been there for a while and ask, “What does this all mean?”
He tells you that Jesus has blasphemed against God and that the priests have warned that he is dangerous to the peace of the nation.
“But we thought he would lead us to better days,” you say, puzzled.
“And what has he done for the nation?” the man challenges. He tells you that the priests say that if Jesus is not stopped, he’ll lead us into trouble with Rome. Then Rome will raise taxes, disband the council, and force the people to worship the emperor.
You are confused. You think of some of the miracles Jesus had done, how he helped the people—even raised the dead.
The man next to you counters that Jesus is just a troublemaker. He claims that even Barabbas is better than Jesus. At least Barabbas wants to free the nation from Roman tyranny.
Just then, Pilate appears with Barabbas and Jesus and asks which one he should release. “Give us Barabbas,” the man shouts. “Away with Jesus. Crucify him!”
Crucify him!” the man next to you repeats. And you hear others in the crowd pick up the cry. You see Pilate gesturing in defense of Jesus. But if Jesus were the real Messiah, he wouldn’t be made helpless under the thumb of Pilate, would he? Pilate seems to be the only one who doubts what to do, and he is your enemy. Your doubts are all confirmed. Jesus must go. The cry goes up again, “Crucify him!’
“Crucify him!” you join in, convinced you were wrong ever to follow the pitiable wretch standing trial. He’s no king. He’s no Messiah. “Crucify him!”
You become one with the mob. Jesus has no fight in him. Why should you speak up for him? You even cheer when the verdict is reached, and you follow to watch the crucifixion.
What happens to you afterward? Maybe you hear Jesus say, “Father, forgive them,” and that turns you to reexamine your deed and repent. Maybe the darkness and the earthquake at his death shock you into realizing how terribly wrong you were. Maybe you are there later in another crowd on Pentecost and hear Peter and the disciples tell of Christ’s resurrection, and you repent and are baptized.
Or, maybe you go to your grave believing justice was done and the people were better off with Jesus destroyed. As one of the mob, you have followed blindly. You have switched allegiances arbitrarily. You will only be led straight again by the light of the truth in the risen Christ.
It was sad how the evil of the crowd that day compounded itself. The devil worked his worst. Nevertheless, Jesus came out the conqueror in the end.
We human beings have not changed appreciably since then, however. We still succumb to the pressures of mob action. We still listen to human rationalizations instead of listening to God’s Word. “Everybody is doing it” is one of our favorite excuses for sinning.
Group pressures still affect us. When you are in a crowd that is bent on doing something contrary to the way of Christ, for example, it is no easy thing to stand alone on the side of Jesus.
Another example might be the frantic push for one super church, and Jesus be hanged (or should we say crucified), if necessary, to achieve it. The rationale and the appeal to numbers and unity are impressive. All you have to do is ignore some parts of God’s Word to achieve it. Even some church leaders are telling you that absolute trust in Jesus and his Word are not necessary. And, if you object, there are many around to drown out your voice.
So, where does that leave us? We need one another, not as a mob, but as a group of individual believers who are growing together in love and faith by the gospel of Jesus Christ. We need to come together to remember Christ and to glorify his name for his sacrifice on the cross. We need to listen to Jesus and to avoid any kind of mob appeal that contradicts him. We need also to hold to our Savior in his mercy and forgiveness for the times we have failed him.
Let us remember the crucifixion and the resurrection. Let us rally around the cross of Christ. Let us tell the world that even those who in weakness and ignorance shout “Crucify him!” will find forgiveness and salvation in his crucifixion. Let us all live in repentance and faith and rejoice to be counted as children in the family of God.
May we be faithful to the end. Amen.
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