There was a time when the numbers were noticeably growing, and then they weren't.
A field-preacher named John (the baptiser) had started the upheaval. He was the "warm up". Jesus was the point of the moment. Jesus returned to Galilee with the power of the Spirit. News about him spread everywhere. He taught in the Jewish synagogues, and everyone praised him. (Luke 4:14-15, CEV). Jesus had connected with John down in Judea. He went back to Galilee to increasing popular notice, to crowds assembling, to excitement.
What Jesus said and what Jesus did made an impact. They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”
“Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.
The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him” (Mark 1:21-27, NIV). At that stage evidently Jesus had access to speak. Opposition was revealed. His reputation grew.
But, for what were the crowds there? On that day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, while the whole crowd stood on the shore.
Then he told them many things in parables, saying, “Consider the sower who went out to sow. As he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seed fell on rocky ground where it didn’t have much soil, and it grew up quickly since the soil wasn’t deep. But when the sun came up, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it. Still other seed fell on good ground and produced fruit: some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times what was sown. Let anyone who has ears[a] listen.”
Then the disciples came up and asked him, “Why are you speaking to them in parables?”
He answered, “Because the secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been given for you to know, but it has not been given to them. For whoever has, more will be given to him, and he will have more than enough; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. That is why I speak to them in parables, because looking they do not see, and hearing they do not listen or understand (Matthew 13:1-13, CSB). Jesus explained to his disciples that his story was a picture of what was taking place as he spoke God's word.
That was the time when the numbers were noticeably growing and many were looking for their hoped-for national leader...When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation (Luke 11:29-30, ESV). Matthew and Mark apparently say that this demand of "proof" was started by the religious elite.
People were forming a crowd around Jesus. People were hearing, but were they listening to him?
Even unlikely men sought him out. (They had their reasons.) The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.[a])
So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?”
He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
“‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.’[b]
You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”
And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe[c] your own traditions! (Mark 7:1-9, NIV). No reply was recorded - what could they say? I wonder if that delegation left soon after?
The community was agog and followers multiplying: Meanwhile, the crowds grew until thousands were milling about and stepping on each other. Jesus turned first to his disciples and warned them, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees—their hypocrisy. The time is coming when everything that is covered up will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all. Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be shouted from the housetops for all to hear! (Luke 12:1-3, NLT). Thousands! "Warned the disciples..." Perhaps the disciples were thinking of success and power. Jesus had no room for dishonest manipulation of people. He saw that as a temptation.
Being present in the crowd was not enough! Why were they there? Had they considered what Jesus' followers were getting into? Now large crowds were traveling with him, and he turned and said to them, “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If he cannot, then while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions (Luke 14:25-33, NRSVUE). Jesus did not soften his message and it is challenging today. What obstacles pin people down?
Jesus' final journey to Jerusalem took him through Jericho. He entered Jericho and was passing through. There was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but he was not able because of the crowd, since he was a short man. So running ahead, he climbed up a sycamore tree to see Jesus, since he was about to pass that way. (Luke 19:1-4, CSB). The situation had changed but still there was a crowd.
Jesus rode the last bit. The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 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!” (Matthew 21:6-9, ESV). Crowd road covering; crowd before; crowd following; there were different "crowds" in that scene. They may have taken differing paths from there.
Jesus was seized and brought before the authorities. They carried out their plan and were supported by many as they brought about the execution. Everyone in the council got up and led Jesus off to Pilate. They started accusing him and said, “We caught this man trying to get our people to riot and to stop paying taxes to the Emperor. He also claims that he is the Messiah, our king.”
Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
“Those are your words,” Jesus answered.
Pilate told the chief priests and the crowd, “I don't find him guilty of anything.” (Luke 23:1-4, CEV). The governor was speaking to "the crowd", as well as the priests. Those present at that time and place.
"Crowds" is a general term and the people making up the crowd of the moment may be quite different. The impression I have is of a increasing general popularity at the outset and lots of rejection at the end. What brought about the change?
John reported a significant stage in the community attitude change. First was the response to the feeding: The reports have Jesus abruptly departing the scene. John tells us what was happening. When the people saw him[a] do this miraculous sign, they exclaimed, “Surely, he is the Prophet we have been expecting!”[b] When Jesus saw that they were ready to force him to be their king, he slipped away into the hills by himself (John 6:14-15, NLT). That wrong response and decision meant Jesus would leave. Although unidentified, "they" were clearly influential and could enlist a sizeable following. These were "the people", ie, the crowd. (See previous post: "Jesus and the disillusioned".) This moment is probably representative of what was happening.
(A local, an Israelite with power, would attract "rebels". Resistance to Rome was real and could be deadly, as the Romans knew. Just a few decades on, during the rule of Nero, a large revolt broke out in 66 CE. Under Vespasian, then Titus, that ended with destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE.)
In the same section of John we listen in to the nearby synagogue, where Jesus was speaking: Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”
Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit[a] and life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”
From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
“You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”
Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.) (John 6:57-71, NIV). Disciples were leaving. Were they turning back for good? Had they been committed? What kind of disciples were they, from an internal viewpoint? Were they essentially looking for a rebel leader? Jesus disappointed by not supporting rebellion; he disappointed by saying things hard to bear. (Incidentally, notice the use of "a devil" as a description.)
Nowhere else would the real follower find those words of eternal life, but they had to choose.
The things Jesus said were a trigger, a prompt for abandonment of him. Being carried along in a group or crowd is easy. A deliberate and informed choice is another thing.
Jesus wanted (wants) people to follow; to become his real disciples; to join up on his way. But you don’t believe me because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me (John 10:26-28, NLT). It is not a light matter and may have serious consequences. As Peter said, to whom will we go? Jesus is the one who has the words of eternal life.
Consider a related curious question and Jesus' answer: As Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, he taught the people in the towns and villages. Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”
Jesus answered:
Do all you can to go in by the narrow door! A lot of people will try to get in, but will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and locks the door, you will be left standing outside. You will knock on the door and say, “Sir, open the door for us!”
But the owner will answer, “I don't know a thing about you!”
Then you will start saying, “We dined with you, and you taught in our streets.”
But he will say, “I really don't know who you are! Get away from me, you evil people!”
Then when you have been thrown outside, you will weep and grit your teeth because you will see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in God's kingdom. People will come from all directions and sit down to feast in God's kingdom. There the ones who are now least important will be the most important, and those who are now most important will be least important (Luke 13:18-22, CEV). Truly serious.
Remember Jesus' invitation; it still stands: “Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30, NRSVUE). You are invited. Definitely invited.
God bless you!
Allen Hampton
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