In the reading of the Passion the crowd plays an important part. They cheer with welcome at the start. Hysterically waving palms and greeting Jesus as he rides into the city. A week later they are back, equally hysterical, demanding his death.
These crowds are enthusiastic and, I would guess, heartfelt, while they praise and condemn the same person with equal vigor and reason. They were not responding to reason either time but to the well chosen words of the agitators. They were putty in the hands of the commentators that they knew and believed. They had no notion of the facts, never wanted or asked to be confused with the facts. They responded to the urgings of people who wanted their voices for their own agendas.
I hope that we can take some wisdom from their woeful experience. We should take care to examine the facts and refuse to be swayed by emotive rhetoric. We need to take note of who is paying the bill as they are likely to be the benefactors.
In the year 33 CE the crowd was wrong. the High Priests got their way and removed a rival but at what cost to the people of Israel?
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