I’ve often thought the Israelites of Jesus’ day must have been a fickle bunch as evidenced by their opposite reactions to Him. One day, they hail Him as king; 5 days later, they cry out for His crucifixion. What else could explain such a sudden change of heart? But as I attempt to put myself in the shoes of a 1st century Jew as I read, I’m not so sure that fickleness was the primary reason. I wonder if their response was quite similar to ours when who He says is doesn’t seem to match the reality in which we find ourselves.
During Jesus day, many were looking for their Messiah. The Jews knew and understood Daniel’s prophecy of the 70 weeks…they knew that the 69 weeks was coming to a close and the coming of the Messiah was soon to be fulfilled. They were waiting for the moment when He would appear on the scene, rid them of the Roman yoke, and establish His kingdom. His own disciples kept asking Him(even after His resurrection) when He was going to establish His kingdom.
When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, throngs of people praised and welcomed Him. This event was a fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy.
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will cut off the chair from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. Zech. 9:9-10, ESV
This was the day…their King had come! Finally, the Messiah, their King, would rid them of the might of Rome and all their oppressors and establish His kingdom. Their jubilant “Hosanna!” rang through the streets as the welcomed their King.
Then, He entered the Temple and drove out those who were selling. He pronounced a number of scathing woes on the religious leaders. Not only would He deliver them from the yoke of Rome, but also the yoke placed upon them by their own religious leaders! This was going to be a Kingdom like no other! All oppression would cease!
I would think under those conditions, excitement amongst the common folk would be at a fevered pitch. The greater the excitement, the stronger the anger when that excitement is dashed…when all that you’ve hoped for is shown to be nothing. Until Pilate presented Jesus to the crowd, everything was happening behind closed doors. There may have been whispers of something afoot. But when He before Pilate and Caiaphas and Herod, the public wasn’t privy to that.
Now suddenly, they see the One in whom they had placed their hopes…the One they had expected would deliver them from oppression. He had been beaten and now stood before them, in the hands of their oppressors! Why was He just standing there not saying a word! Why didn’t He DO something! He was supposed to be their King…but He stood there weak and defenseless! He was nothing more than one of many who had simply claimed to be their Messiah.
All the excitement of the previous Sunday was redirected into an anger because He was NOT who they had hoped He would be. The energy, passion, and emotion that had built was going to be released. It must. Have you ever been in that place? You were so excited for what God was going to do? He had promised it…it seemed to be happening. And your excitement simply cannot be contained. You can almost taste the fulfillment of everything you have longed for. Then, suddenly, in an instant and without notice, it’s gone…crumbled into dust. Disillusionment and anger are often the first responses to such grievous disappointment.
In their disillusionment, they chose Barabbas. At least Barabbas DID something! At least he attempted to fight Rome. In their anger, they screamed for His crucifixion. “Away with him!”
I don’t think it was fickleness, but grief and disappointment which their religious leaders stirred up for their purposes. They knew what their Scriptures had said; there were multiple signs throughout His life that confirmed that He was their Messiah. But, things didn’t work out the way they thought they should. He didn’t do the things they thought He would, or at least in the way they thought He would. Blinded by their pain, anger, and disappointment, they rejected Him.
Most of us wouldn’t be that angry with God. We rarely allow ourselves a moment of authenticity or the expression of such raw emotion. We might not crucify Him, but how do we respond when things don’t work out the way we thought they would? When our pain and disappointment that He didn’t DO something comes crashing down upon us? Often, we are prone to push down our emotion and gradually change our theology to match our pain. But in so doing, we are rejecting who He really is and what He is about. Blinded by our pain, anger, and disappointment, we redefine Him, the world around us, or the nature of the Kingdom we have inherited.
He is good…incredibly good. All. The. Time. If it isn’t good, it didn’t come from His hand. He didn’t send for a reason or a purpose. He is an amazing Dad; don’t change your theology about God to match the difficulties that come your way.
Jesus defeated sin, death and the enemy. None of them have power any longer. I know temptations come, but we have power over them because of Jesus. Don’t change your theology to match your experience.
The Kingdom is here. Now. And advancing. Jesus sat down on the throne of David and all His enemies are currently being made into a divine footstool. It may not look like it from your vantage point; don’t change your theology to square up with what you see with your natural eyes.
He is all He claims to be. The Kingdom is all He has said it is; it is at our fingertips available to us right now. When we lower our theology because the world is still evil and we continue to experience difficulties, we reject what He has made available. We reject the Kingdom.
Embrace the King. Embrace the Kingdom. Even if, or when, things don’t look the way you thought they would.