Sounds of the Passion: Shouting Mobs :: John 18:37-19:16

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You never know what will happen when you bring a lot of people together. Sometimes it brings out the best in people, a positive energy that enables people to get things done. But more than likely, researchers find that when people get together in a group, the anonymity of the crowd lowers the bar for personal responsibility. The anonymity of the crowd allows people to make irrational decisions. And before you know it, the group begins to ignore risks, censor dissension, and develop a false sense of communion. A great example is found during Holy Week. 

LISTEN TO THE SOUNDS OF THE PASSION FROM A SHOUTING MOB

I.

Typically, Jerusalem’s population was just 20,000 people. But on weeks like Passover, it blossomed to 200,000. People would camp in the streets. They would camp outside the city walls. They would camp wherever they could find a corner. They would camp together, finding safety in  numbers. It’s no wonder the chief priests and Pharisees feared what would happen if they arrested Jesus during the feast. It doesn’t take much to set off the powder keg of groupthink. 

The first time we heard the crowd shouting was on Palm Sunday, a day that brought out the best in people. As Jesus rode through the Gate of Mercy, the words of Zechariah rang in their ears: Behold, your king comes to you, humble and riding upon on a donkey (Zec 9:9; Mt 21:5). Suddenly, the crowd was singing and spreading cloaks and palm branches on the ground, creating a red carpet of sorts. When one person started shouting, another chimed in, and soon the mob sang our song ... Hosanna to the Son of David! The one coming in the name of the Lord is praiseworthy! Hosanna in the highest! (Mt 21:9).

But this song mortified the Pharisees and priests. They knew what these cries of Hosanna meant. The people saw Jesus as the Messiah, as the Son of David. They saw Jesus as their long awaited king. They saw Jesus as a savior ... singing Save us, please!

So pushing their way through the crowd, the Pharisees and chief priests pleaded with Jesus ... Teacher, rebuke your disciples! ... But Jesus replied, I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out (Lk 19:39b-40). 

II.

By Thursday night the mob was changing. Then the chief priests and teachers of the law managed to do what no one thought they could ever do ... they quietly arrested Jesus in the middle of the night, held a quick trial in front of the Sanhedrin, and shipped Jesus off to Pilate for condemnation and death. They knew they could get the crowd to follow along. 

But Pilate wasn’t so quick to join the mob rule. Instead of simply agreeing with the priests that Jesus was guilty, Pilate sought to reason with our Lord. He wasn’t interested in mob rule. Again, Pilate entered his praetorium, and he called Jesus, and he said to him, ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’ Jesus answered, ‘Do you say this on your own, or have others told you this concerning me?’ 

‘Am I a Jew,’ Pilate replied. ‘Your nation and the chief priests have delivered you to me. What have you done?’ 

Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would be fighting, in order that I would not be delivered to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from this world.’ 

Therefore, Pilate said to him, ‘So you are a king?’ 

‘You say that I am a king,’ Jesus answered. ‘For this purpose I was born, and for this purpose I have come into the world ... to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.’ 

Pilate said to him, ‘What is truth?’ After this, he went back outside to the Jews, and declared Jesus innocent (Jn 18:33-38).

III.

But the priests were having none of it. They quickly created a shouting mob out for blood. Crucify him! They cried (v 6). 

Pilate couldn’t believe his ears. ... Why? For what evil? ... But the mob shouted more. Crucify him! Pilate did everything he could to set Jesus free. He even tried pitting the notorious thief and murderer Barabbas against the innocent Jesus. 

But the mob shouted ... Barabbas! We want Barabbas! 

But what about Jesus? Pilate asked. Again, the mob shouted, Crucify him! 

IV.

When we hear the shouts of the mob ... first in songs of praise on Palm Sunday, then in cries for crucifixion on Friday ... we’re quick to applaud the first and condemn the second. But we’re part of both crowds. As Peter proclaimed repeatedly beginning on the Day of Pentecost, we are the ones who crucified Jesus. We are those who had him killed by the hands of lawless men (Acts 2:23, 4:10). Every time we ignore his Word, we shout, Crucify him! Every time we turn from him in sin, we shout, Crucify him! Every time we turn away from God, we shout, Crucify him! Every time we turn from a child in need, we cry, Crucify him! Every curse ... every lie ... all the gossip ... it’s all a cry with the crowd to crucify our Lord. 

But thanks be to God, this is why Jesus shed his blood and died for you. He died to forgive you. And he rose with a shout.

On account of Jesus you can now rest in faith knowing that our Lord hears our shouts to Save us, please! He hears our confession in faith. He hears our shouts for mercy. He forgives your sin for Jesus’ sake. And he has promised that through his resurrection, he will call you to himself ... with a shout of an Angel. The dead in Christ will rise first, and then all who believe. We will all meet the Lord in the air and join the heavenly choir. 

[Conclusion]

So let us all now sing ... My Song is Love Unknown (LSB 430) ... in Jesus’ name.

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