On Sunday, we remember Palm Sunday, Jesus' triumphant arrival on donkey-back into Jerusalem where He was praised and glorified by huge crowds of people. Then, next Friday we'll remember Good Friday where the same crowds called for Jesus' crucifixion.

Here's what happened between those days:

He cleared the Temple.
He healed the blind and the lame.
Children praised Him as Messiah.
He withered up an unfruitful fig tree.
He taught in the Temple.
He challenged the religious leaders.
He kept challenging them.
He really poked at them and got under their skin.
I mean, He really called them out.
The religious leaders plotted to kill Him and convinced the crowd that they were right.

There's more to it, but you get the gist. So the religious leaders were clearly threatened and acted accordingly. The crowds on the other hand, what was their excuse? Don Williams shed some light on this for me when he preached from Mark 10:

Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"

Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"

Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." So they called to the blind man, "Cheer up! On your feet! He's calling you." Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

"What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked him.
The blind man said, "Rabbi, I want to see."

"Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

So first the crowd tells Bartimaues that he's not important enough for Jesus, and then when Jesus calls for him, they rebuke him for... I don't know, not jumping up fast enough, or still wailing out for Jesus. This crowd is...

Kind of like our crowd.

Our society does this too, right? It blows with the wind, following whatever is attractive and convenient.

This Palm Sunday, I want to take time to just reflect on why I so often get caught up in where the wind is blowing the crowd. Why I really want the crowd to like me, why the thought of not being in the in crowd is scary to me. I was never in the in crowd growing up, but come college and now, after college, I've tasted the in crowd, and it's hard to go back voluntarily. But Jesus is more important to me and Jesus who I claim I've turned my life over to.

A little less crowd and a little more Jesus would be good for me, not to mention the people I influence and pray for.

Download Don's heart-grabbing sermon on Mark 10 about Bartimaeus here.

Labels: Jesus