From "Hosanna!" to "Crucify Him!"

John 12:12-13 (NIV)
The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem.They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"

Excitement was in the air.

Word was spreading like wildfire.

Jesus was on His way.

The same Jesus who raised Lazarus from the dead!

The same Jesus who did many signs, miracles and wonders.

As their excitement grew, the crowd gathered palm branches (a sign of victory) to lay in His path.

Anticipation grew to a fever pitch as the minutes went by.

Suddenly, there He was!

Unable to contain their excitement for a moment longer, the crowd erupted in a shout of "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!"

What a great ending this would have made if the account had simply ended there.

But it did not simply end there.

The Pharisees continued to grumble and, with the help of Judas, Jesus was arrested.

The same Jesus who arrived in triumph to the accolades of an excited crowd would now be treated worse than a criminal.

He would suffer both physical and verbal abuse at the hands of the authorities and then be presented to another crowd.

This time things were different.

This was not a jubilant crowd driven by wonder and anticipation.

This was a mob. A very angry mob. A mob stirred up by those who knew exactly what buttons to push in order to agitate them into a frenzy of blood lust.

This time, the shout that emerged was different.

It was a shout of anger, not joy.

It was a shout of vengeance, not victory.

The shout today would not be "Hosanna!"

The shout was instead, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!"

I wonder...

How many people in that angry mob were also part of that jubilant crowd?

How many people shouted "Hosanna!" one day and "Crucify Him!" the next?

What went through His mind as He recognized those same faces?

At the cross, Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing," so He likely felt compassion for them.

As should we.

There is another group who is need of His mercy and our compassion as well.

No, I'm not referring to those that were in the angry mob only.

I'm referring to those that heard He was coming and simply did not care.

God Bless You,
The Other Brother Jim


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The Office