Luke 19:37-38; 23:1,23: "When he (Jesus) came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: 'Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest . . . . [Several days later] the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. And they began to accuse him, saying, 'We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a king.' . . . . With loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed."
It is rather fascinating to see the change in disposition of the crowds toward Jesus in Jerusalem just before His crucifixion. As he entered the Holy City riding on a colt, the people spread their cloaks on the ground before Him, waved palm branches, and cried out "Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest" (Matthew 21:9). All of the city was stirred with the arrival of the Nazarene prophet. But within a few days, the people's enthusiasm would change dramatically. No longer were they praising Jesus, but they were accusing him of treason and demanding that He be executed.
This transformation can be explained through the reasons why the people celebrated Jesus' arrival in the first place, namely for "all the miracles they had seen." When Jesus was fulfilling the needs of the people, they were praising Him as the Son of David; but, when Jesus began to teach the people about the cost of discipleship (i.e. that surrender to God would cost them everything [John 12:25-26]), the people began to turn on the Savior. Scripture records that "even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they (the people) would not believe in him (as Lord)" [John 12:37].
To be sure, the religious leaders, who hated Jesus, looked for an opportunity to turn the hearts of the people away from Him. They despised the thought of losing their social influence to the Nazarene who had just arrived in the city (Matthew 21:15). But the foundational problem leading to such a shift in the disposition of the crowd toward Jesus was their lack of surrender. These people were engrossed in their own lordship; thus, they loved Jesus when He was offering them something of personal benefit. His miracles and His potential of being a political insurrectionist against the Romans was quite appealing to the crowds. Yet, when Jesus entered the city, driving out those who were using the temple as a place of financial profit, the people lost confidence in Jesus as an asset for their selfish causes. To be sure, many still believed Jesus to be a prophet (Matthew 22:46), but the leaders and chief priests began to plot his execution (Matthew 26:3-4). Their envy of Jesus' influence with the people stirred within their hearts the desire to destroy the Savior (Mark 15:10). Quickly, they were able to sway the crowds to cry for the death of the Messiah (Matthew 27:20). Three times the Roman Procurator, Pilate, petitioned the crowds for the reasoning why they wanted the death of the innocent man, but the crowds "with loud shouts insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed" (Luke 23:23).
As I have reiterated ad nauseam in my previous blogs, the systemic problem with humanity is one of surrender and lordship. The prevailing problem in our culture, just like in the day of Christ, is people seeking their own lordship over the One True God. People are willing to acknowledge Jesus only if they are able to manipulate His identity for their own selfish causes. We see this made manifest through people's labeling themselves "Christian," yet see their religious association as something to meet their personal needs (religious/familial identity; eternal protection; financial opportunity; psychological comfort, ethic manipulation, etc.). These people would not be unlike the Jewish and Roman attendees at the prosecution of Jesus in Jerusalem; once surrender to the Savior was introduced into one's life equation, the tables would turn against Jesus as Lord. We see this today in the abject defiance of self-proclaimed "Christians" who egregiously choose to disobey the commands of the Lord as prescribed in the Scriptures. The lack of the evidential fruit of a truly transformed life is the telling sign of a lack of relationship with Jesus as personal Lord and Savior.
Love for and submission to Jesus as Lord are noticeably absent in the reprobate; in its place is found the never-ending love of "self." For these people, the "end" of personal fulfillment justifies all behavior, including the renouncing of God as the Lord of one's life, evidenced through disobedience to His commands.
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