Thought for Today
Exodus 12:38 A mixed crowd also went up with them, and livestock in great numbers, both flocks and herds.
Ecclesiastes 4:12 And though one might prevail against another, two will withstand one. A threefold cord is not quickly broken.
Matthew 21:8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
Matthew 27:15 Now at the festival the governor was accustomed to release a prisoner for the crowd, anyone whom they wanted. . . . 21 The governor again said to them, "Which of the two do you want me to release for you?" And they said, "Barabbas." 22 Pilate said to them, "Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?" All of them said, "Let him be crucified!"
On what we now call Palm Sunday, the crowd spread their cloaks and branches from the trees across the road to welcome Jesus. They shouted out, “21:9 "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!" By the ensuing Friday, the crowd was shouting for Pilate to crucify Jesus. What happened? Was this a totally different crowd from the crowd of Palm Sunday? Had public opinion done a 1800 turn in just a few days? Are ‘people’ truly so fickle they can completely reverse themselves in such a short time?
All perplexing questions. None of which can be easily answered. Scripture does speak about crowds often. The word appears as ‘crowd’ 114 times in the NRSV, as ‘crowds’ 56 times. The references include positive and negative examples of crowd behavior.
Most of us know from personal experience that the Prophet of Ecclesiastes is correct. If you have never tried the experiment, put 2 twigs together and try to break them. Then, repeat the experience with 3 twigs. What is true for sticks and twigs is also true for people. One of the reasons we worship together is the spiritual strength we get from worshiping together. Those who claim to be able to worship God in solitude are correct. They can and we can worship God anywhere, anytime. But, when we worship together, as a family of faith, it is a deeper, richer experience. I suggest that all Christians, throughout all Christendom, regularly worship both ways, in solitude and with a family of faith.
We have also, sadly, seen examples of the reality that crowds can generate a sort of negative energy, a destructive energy that exceeds the sum of its parts. There is even a name for it, mob psychology. The scenario Matthew presents of that complete turnaround of public opinion, that u-turn from shouting "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!” to "Let him be crucified!" is entirely plausible. Even without intervening events, crowds can ‘turn on a dime’ without missing a beat.
How many times have we seen celebratory demonstrations of a sporting championship result in destructive mob violence? People seem able to do things as part of a crowd they would never do as individuals. Entire nations can replicate the same phenomenon. The same nation that gave us Beethoven, Bach, Brahms, Mendelssohn, and the greatest theologians of the 20th century, also gave us the Holocaust. If you have ever watched a television show about WWII, you have probably seen pictures of the frenzied crowds cheering Hitler. People don’t just seem able to do things as part of a crowd they would never do as individuals, they actually do those things.
Christendom is commemorating those events from 2020+ years ago this week, all around the globe. Different faith traditions remember in different ways and different worship experiences. As we do so, it is important that rather than condemn those crowds who shouted Hosannas and later “Crucify him,” rather than sitting passively and smugly in our sanctuaries, we think more on what was happening.
Had we been there, of which crowd would we have been a part? Could we have even been a part of both? How does the life you live each day, the life I live each day, reflect our orientation? Hosannas? Or, do the lives we live shout out “Let him be crucified?”
Stay safe, make sure they will know we are Christians by our love, trust God,
Pastor Ray