I’m not sure when I heard this first, but I remember at some point in my youth having engrained in my mind the warning of the fickle crowd surrounding the events of Holy Week. On Palm Sunday, the crowd shouted “Hosanna” as they waved palm branches to celebrate Jesus entering the city. But by Friday, the very same crowd shouted, “Crucify, crucify him!” at Jesus’ final sentencing.
The lesson is that we are all so fickle—one moment praising, the next moment crucifying Jesus. It’s a point that preaches, but it’s not entirely accurate.
The events of Holy Week took place during the Feast of Passover, a major holiday in Jewish life. Josephus estimated that a later Passover feast brought 2.7 million pilgrims to the city. That was perhaps an exaggeration, but you get the point. Lots of people arrived in the city. These religious pilgrims were on Jesus’ side. That’s very different from the rash crowd that would gather on Friday to witness His final sentencing.
At the triumphal entry, Pharisees were present (John 12:19), so it seems reasonable that some pilgrims were present on Friday. But, as a whole, these crowds gathered around Jesus with two different motives. The first came to worship. The second to mock. The two different crowds represent the two most basic postures of the heart.
As we examine the events of Holy Week, it is worth reflecting on what crowd represents you best.
In one sense, the events of the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem are not all that interesting—a man on a donkey. No trumpets, grandiose proclamations, or welcome from the hometown governing leaders. Just a man doing what many others did regularly.
It was a regular event, but for an extraordinary man. Leading up to Palm Sunday, Jesus made his way back to Jerusalem through the Galilean countryside. As he did, his reputation spread. His final stop was in Bethany (Luke 19:29), where He raised Lazarus from the grave. An event of this magnitude—raising a man from the dead—quickly became the topic of local conversation. The news spread. And we know that at least some of the Palm Sunday crowd knew of Lazarus’s resurrection (John 12:17). They came because they wanted to see more of this man.
And so what was the response to this regular but extraordinary man who can raise the dead? Praise. Finding palm branches would have been an easy feat outside Jerusalem. It would have been something like a Midwesterner like myself waving an oak branch. Very common but also rich in meaning. After the victory of Simon the Maccabee in 164 BC, the people celebrated by waving palm branches. Palm branches were the sign of a king returning home. It was appropriate for Jesus. The King returned to the city to accomplish his great victory.
Consider this: these pilgrims were moved to praise after hearing of Jesus raising Lazarus. It was great work, but it would still not be His greatest work. That happened later in the week, between Friday and Sunday. The greater the work, the greater praise. That means our Easter praise should far outdo these pilgrims on Palm Sunday.
For many, the story of Easter is an annual ritual of hearing the familiar gospel story. But may that familiar story never be dull and lead to empty formalism.
The pilgrims were struck by Jesus and led to praise.
This second crowd that gathered on Friday for the final sentencing of Jesus was not there to praise but to chant “crucify.” I’ve never really been fully able to understand why. I understand why the religious leaders were against Jesus. I, of course, disagree, but I understand their reasoning. Same with Herod and Pilate. These leaders felt threatened by Jesus.
But why this second crowd? Why the hate? All Jesus had done was love, serve, and heal. He blessed many and spoke in such a way that many were drawn to him. The bloodthirsty crowd has no legitimate gripe, and yet they cheered for His death. It’s irrational.
And perhaps that’s the point. Those who are against Jesus are often irrational.
They’re irrational statements, but not naïve irrationalism. Underneath the irrationalism is the stubbornness of sin that refuses to bend the knee. It’s the posture of the heart that knows what Jesus has done but prefers autonomy over worship. It’s not worship, but quote Frank Sinatra: “I’ll do it my way.”
Mockers are not rational. They offer cheap arguments to assuage the conscience from coming to a definitive conclusion concerning Christ.
Holy Week is the most important week in the history of the world. It’s the week in which the perfect Son of God, the final lamb of God, would be put forward as a propitiation to satisfy God’s just wrath. It’s the week in which the debt of sin was fulfilled with such fullness and finality that because God is just, Jesus had to rise from the grave. There is no middle ground concerning the man who entered on a donkey only later to hang on a cross.
The question that these two crowds force us to answer is the main question in all life. Are you mocking or worshipping Jesus, the Son of God?
8 Daily Devotionals from Palm Sunday to Easter
Preaching the Resurrection on Easter
Ten Ways Pastors Can Prepare for Easter
The post Two Different Crowds during Passion Week, Two Different Types of People appeared first on Focus on the Family.
Continue reading...
The lesson is that we are all so fickle—one moment praising, the next moment crucifying Jesus. It’s a point that preaches, but it’s not entirely accurate.
The events of Holy Week took place during the Feast of Passover, a major holiday in Jewish life. Josephus estimated that a later Passover feast brought 2.7 million pilgrims to the city. That was perhaps an exaggeration, but you get the point. Lots of people arrived in the city. These religious pilgrims were on Jesus’ side. That’s very different from the rash crowd that would gather on Friday to witness His final sentencing.
At the triumphal entry, Pharisees were present (John 12:19), so it seems reasonable that some pilgrims were present on Friday. But, as a whole, these crowds gathered around Jesus with two different motives. The first came to worship. The second to mock. The two different crowds represent the two most basic postures of the heart.
As we examine the events of Holy Week, it is worth reflecting on what crowd represents you best.
1. The crowd of worshippers
In one sense, the events of the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem are not all that interesting—a man on a donkey. No trumpets, grandiose proclamations, or welcome from the hometown governing leaders. Just a man doing what many others did regularly.
It was a regular event, but for an extraordinary man. Leading up to Palm Sunday, Jesus made his way back to Jerusalem through the Galilean countryside. As he did, his reputation spread. His final stop was in Bethany (Luke 19:29), where He raised Lazarus from the grave. An event of this magnitude—raising a man from the dead—quickly became the topic of local conversation. The news spread. And we know that at least some of the Palm Sunday crowd knew of Lazarus’s resurrection (John 12:17). They came because they wanted to see more of this man.
And so what was the response to this regular but extraordinary man who can raise the dead? Praise. Finding palm branches would have been an easy feat outside Jerusalem. It would have been something like a Midwesterner like myself waving an oak branch. Very common but also rich in meaning. After the victory of Simon the Maccabee in 164 BC, the people celebrated by waving palm branches. Palm branches were the sign of a king returning home. It was appropriate for Jesus. The King returned to the city to accomplish his great victory.
Consider this: these pilgrims were moved to praise after hearing of Jesus raising Lazarus. It was great work, but it would still not be His greatest work. That happened later in the week, between Friday and Sunday. The greater the work, the greater praise. That means our Easter praise should far outdo these pilgrims on Palm Sunday.
For many, the story of Easter is an annual ritual of hearing the familiar gospel story. But may that familiar story never be dull and lead to empty formalism.
The pilgrims were struck by Jesus and led to praise.
2. The crowd of mockers
This second crowd that gathered on Friday for the final sentencing of Jesus was not there to praise but to chant “crucify.” I’ve never really been fully able to understand why. I understand why the religious leaders were against Jesus. I, of course, disagree, but I understand their reasoning. Same with Herod and Pilate. These leaders felt threatened by Jesus.
But why this second crowd? Why the hate? All Jesus had done was love, serve, and heal. He blessed many and spoke in such a way that many were drawn to him. The bloodthirsty crowd has no legitimate gripe, and yet they cheered for His death. It’s irrational.
And perhaps that’s the point. Those who are against Jesus are often irrational.
- I hear the evidence, but I don’t believe…
- I will get serious about Jesus at a later stage in life…
- I like what Jesus did, just not what he said…
They’re irrational statements, but not naïve irrationalism. Underneath the irrationalism is the stubbornness of sin that refuses to bend the knee. It’s the posture of the heart that knows what Jesus has done but prefers autonomy over worship. It’s not worship, but quote Frank Sinatra: “I’ll do it my way.”
Mockers are not rational. They offer cheap arguments to assuage the conscience from coming to a definitive conclusion concerning Christ.
Holy Week is the most important week in the history of the world. It’s the week in which the perfect Son of God, the final lamb of God, would be put forward as a propitiation to satisfy God’s just wrath. It’s the week in which the debt of sin was fulfilled with such fullness and finality that because God is just, Jesus had to rise from the grave. There is no middle ground concerning the man who entered on a donkey only later to hang on a cross.
The question that these two crowds force us to answer is the main question in all life. Are you mocking or worshipping Jesus, the Son of God?
Related:
8 Daily Devotionals from Palm Sunday to Easter
Preaching the Resurrection on Easter
Ten Ways Pastors Can Prepare for Easter
The post Two Different Crowds during Passion Week, Two Different Types of People appeared first on Focus on the Family.
Continue reading...