During his forty-three years in the ministry, my dad served as pastor of eight churches in three states. At a quick glance, each church seemed different. Some were small churches in small towns. Others were large churches in metropolitan areas. He even served large churches in small towns. Though the settings changed as did the times, Dad saw one element as constant, the people. He said, “Though we may have moved to a different church, the people were not different. Their names and faces may have changed, but deep down the people were still the same.”

Jesus’ ministry has been far broader and longer than my dad’s. His physical ministry of walking, teaching and dying on the cross lasted three years and took place within the borders of Israel. His continuing ministry as the Holy Spirit has lasted nearly 2,000 years and has now touched every continent. Yet Jesus could make the same statement as my dad. Though the settings and times may change, deep down people do not. This is a sobering thought when you consider some of the crowds Jesus faced, particularly the crowd at the cross.

It had been over thirty hours since Jesus had slept. He had been slapped with open hands and punched with closed fists. His back rippled with gashes left by a whip called the “cat-o’-nine tails.” His arms had been pulled from their sockets, and his hands and feet had been nailed to the cross. At His cross, a crowd stands. Though it may be hard to see their faces through the blood and dust in His eyes, He can still hear them.
Mark 15:31-32 records,

31 In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! 32 Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

Though it is appalling to picture people heaping insults upon Jesus as He dies, it is worse to realize that people today have not changed. Though 2,000 years have elapsed and we are not standing where Jesus was crucified, we are still the same. It makes me cringe to think that if Jesus were crucified today, you and I would be somewhere in the crowd.

The Threatened Were There
“Religious Leaders”

When Jesus was crucified 2,000 years ago, there were some in the crowd who were happy to see it. Their way of life had been threatened by Jesus. With Jesus on the cross, they could keep their values. They could maintain their way of life. With Jesus on the cross they could stay in control. These were the Sadducees, and they were the loudest in the crowd to yell, “Crucify Him!”

Mark 15:31 says that the chief priests and teachers of the law were in the crowd mocking Jesus. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day could be divided into two groups called the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Of the two, the Sadducees were more political. All the priests were Sadducees, and they collaborated with Rome. Though Rome was the ruling power of the world, the Sadducees wanted to remain the ruling power in Israel. Jesus’ ministry had not come to the point of threatening Rome, but it had threatened the control of the Sadducees. The ears of the people were turning away from the Sadducees and unto Jesus. Life was comfortable for the Sadducees until Jesus came. Their rituals were routine, manageable and satisfying. They were in control. Yet Jesus threatened their sense of comfort and control, so they yelled, “Crucify Him!”

Like my dad said, “You can change times and places, but people stay the same.” You do not hear much about Sadducees any more, but they are still out there. They represent all whose way of life is threatened by Jesus Christ. Though it would be politically incorrect to yell, “Crucify Him!”, their new chants have the same intent. Instead of, “Crucify Him!”, they yell,

…Humanize Him!
If you make Jesus purely human, there is no need to follow Him. This happened in the 2003 novel by Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code. Brown suggested that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married. Humanizing Jesus is nothing new. In 1965, Hugh Schonfield wrote The Passover Plot. He saw Jesus as a man who wanted to be seen as the Messiah. He faked His death on the cross and was placed in a private tomb so those in on the plot could nurse Him back to health. For those like Brown and Schonfield, there is no need to crucify Jesus. All you need is to humanize Him and no one will follow Him.

…Categorize Him!
Others yell, “Categorizing Him!” If you make Jesus a mere religious teacher, you do not have to commit to Him. He becomes one of many options at a religious buffet. If what He says and what He asks of you fits your taste, then add Him to your plate. In fact you could have a little of Jesus, a spoonful of Buddha, and an order of Gandhi. If you make Jesus just another religious teacher, you don’t have to yell, “Crucify Him!” You have said enough to cause people not to commit to Him.

…Legalize Him!
Today, the politically correct way to avoid yelling “Crucify Him!” is to say, “Legalize Him.” Pass laws that restrict Him to stay only in places of worship. Pass legislation that restricts Him to say only what is non-offensive. Saying, “Legalize Him” has become the 21st century way of saying, “Crucify Him!” It accomplishes the same, but does not sound as violent.

Many use these chants today to achieve what the Sadducees wanted 2,000 years ago. If Jesus threatens your comfort, if He threatens your sense of control, you may think you are saying something different, but to Jesus it is still, “Crucify Him!”

The Persuaded Were There
“Easily Moved by Public Opinion”

The crowd at the cross is made up of more than just the threatened. It is also comprised of those moved by public opinion. They live only for the moment. “The Persuaded” are there. Those I call “The Persuaded” are present at two extreme events in the last week in Jesus’ life. One event is Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem recorded in Matthew 21:6-9.

6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,

“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the highest!”

The crowd met Jesus long before He entered the city gate, placing palm branches before the donkey He rode. They also did this to Jehu when he was proclaimed king in 2 Kings 9:13. Furthermore, the people shouted, “Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna!” It meant, “Save Now!” They shouted “Hosanna” to Jesus because they saw Him fulfilling Zechariah 9:9, that their Messiah had come to them riding on a donkey.

Yet amidst their celebration, Jesus knew their shallowness. When Oliver Cromwell took the throne away from Charles I and established the Commonwealth, he told a friend, “Do not trust the cheering, for those persons would shout as much if you were going to be hanged.”¹ In five days, the volume of this crowd would be just as loud, but this time they yelled, “Crucify Him!” Listen to them in Matthew 27:22-23.

22 “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?” Pilate asked. They all answered, “Crucify him!”
23 “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”

From a Sunday to a Friday, those who saw Jesus as their Messiah now wanted Him murdered. They are those persuaded by the crowd.

Individuals who have a shallow connection with Jesus can be easily persuaded for Him or against Him. All it takes is a moving event, a charged emotion, or a strong influence. Some first experienced Jesus through a moving event. You attended a church camp or a Billy Graham crusade. You or a loved one was in the hospital and a minister came. You were a part of a moving event that moved you about Jesus. Yet as the event moved away, with time, so did your commitment to Jesus.

Some are persuaded by charged emotions. A story brought you to tears, and you said, “I want to be like her.” A challenge raced your heart, and you said, “I want to be a part of the cause with Him.” But when you were in need, God did not answer your prayer. A minister or church hurt you, and you said, “I want nothing more to do with them or Jesus.” You were once charged for Him, but now you are charged against Him.

Even more are persuaded by the strong influence of others. For good or bad, their feelings become yours, their opinions become yours, and their actions become yours. Your voice becomes a muffled voice in the crowd. You were easily persuaded because you did not have a foundation on which to stand.

While in Virginia Beach recently, Loree and I drove by a fence line of high-rise hotels. As though a board was missing in the fence, we saw where they were building a new hotel. They did not start by building the walls. The work began by digging the foundation. I gazed at this huge hole in the sand and told Loree, “The deeper they go, the taller it will stand.” The same is true of your life with Jesus. If you do not want to sway with every wind of event, emotion or influence in life, then check your foundation with Jesus. The deeper you go with Him, the taller you will stand with Him. It will keep you from shouting “Hosanna!” on Sunday and “Crucify Him!” by Friday.

The Calloused Were There
“Soldiers Hardened by Experience”

The calloused were also in the crowd. These were the Roman soldiers who lacked respect for life and religion. They lacked a respect for religion because they had seen it all. When they conquered a people, they let them keep their culture. Therefore, these soldiers, like most Rome, could pick and choose from a wide menu of religions, none of which made any significant difference.

The soldiers also lacked a respect for life. You see it in the way they handled Jesus. They whipped Him and beat Him. Then, they put a dusty robe on His open wounds and pressed a crown of thorns upon Jesus’ head so they could mock Him. With Jesus hanging above them still alive, they gambled for His clothes. Experiences in life had made them calloused toward God, but for one soldier that would change.

Jesus was crucified at 9 o’clock, and from 9 till noon there was light. Yet from noon till 3, God caused there to be a great darkness. When Jesus dies, Matthew 27:50-54 records that there was an earthquake and graves opened up. Someone from the temple ran to the Sadducees in the crowd to tell them that the veil of the temple had ripped from top to bottom. With all these supernatural events happening, a Roman Centurion at the cross remembered something even more profound. In the darkness, Jesus cried out, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34). At the foot of the cross a calloused heart softened and the Centurion said, “Surely he was the Son of God!” (Matthew 27:54)

I talked with a man for five years whose heart was calloused. Though he attended church regularly with his wife, he had little respect for Jesus. He had read Schonfield’s The Passover Plot and believed that Jesus was just a man. He told me he had come to love God more after he removed Jesus from the picture. Our five years of conversations yielded nothing. Other pastors after me talked with him. One even called him the antichrist. Yet when this man became deathly ill, he called for his pastor. On his hospital bed he said, “Surely, Jesus is the Son of God,” and he surrendered his life to Jesus.

No heart is too hard, no life too calloused to surrender to Jesus. All it takes is a clear view of the facts. Only the Messiah could perform the miracles Jesus did. Only the Son of God could know and teach what Jesus did. Only God himself, in flesh, could endure the beating and mocking that Jesus did and still say, “Father, forgive them.” The facts are so clear that even the most calloused heart can change.

The Devoted Were There
“Only a Handful”

Thus far, it sounds as though the entire crowd at the cross was against Jesus. However, there were some there that were devoted to Him, but they were only a handful. John 19:25-27 reveals,

25 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Dear woman, here is your son,” 27 and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

At the foot of the cross you have Mary the mother of Jesus, two or three other women and the Apostle John. Only a handful of the devoted was there, though it was not that others did not have a chance.

Crucifixions were a gruesome but familiar custom in Jerusalem. Soldiers first scourged the victim. Then, they forced him to carry his own cross to the place of execution. He carried his cross surrounded by four soldiers. One of the lead soldiers carried a placard before him announcing the man’s crimes. They led the victim down as many streets as possible for two reasons. One was to make him an example. The other reason was to give as many people as possible an opportunity to speak on his behalf. If someone did, they would stop the procession and retry him.

The placard carried before Jesus was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. It read, “JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS” (John 19:19-21). If this was His crime, why didn’t someone step forward and speak on Jesus’ behalf? Where were those He had healed? Where were the masses He fed and taught? Where were those who experienced His care? Though Jesus had devoted himself to them, only a handful was truly devoted to Him.

The devotion was one-sided then, and Jesus is counting on it not being one-sided today. This point is made clear in a story told by James Hewitt. It reads,

There is a legend that recounts the return of Jesus to glory after His time on earth. Even in heaven He bore the marks of His earthly pilgrimage with its cruel cross and shameful death. The angel Gabriel approached Him and said, "Master, you must have suffered terribly for men down there." He replied that He did. Gabriel continued: "And do they know and appreciate how much you loved them and what you did for them?" Jesus replied, "Oh, no! Not yet. Right now only a handful of people in Palestine know." But Gabriel was perplexed. He asked, "Then what have you done to let everyone know about your love for them?" Jesus said, "I've asked Peter, James, John, and a few more friends to tell others about me. Those who are told will tell others, in turn, about me. And my story will be spread to the farthest reaches of the globe. Ultimately, all of mankind will have heard about my life and what I have done."

Gabriel frowned and looked rather skeptical. He well knew what poor stuff men were made of. He said, "Yes, but what if Peter and James and John grow weary? What if the people who come after them forget? What if way down in the twentieth-century people just don't tell others about you? Haven't you made any other plans?" And Jesus answered, "I haven't made any other plans. I'm counting on them."²

Jesus is counting on us. Though no one spoke up for Him in the streets of Jerusalem the day He was crucified, we will speak out for Him in our streets today. Though only a handful was devoted to Him then, a whole host will be devoted to Him today.

You Were There
“He Became Your Sin”

You may disagree with the premise that times and places may change but people remain the same. You may disagree with it so strongly as to think you would not have been in the crowd at the cross. Though you may not see yourself in the crowd at the cross, the Bible says you were there. 2 Corinthians 5 says you were there because your sins were on the cross. Verse 21 says,

21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

When Jesus was crucified, your sin was on Him as He hung on the cross. You were there.

I believe each of us could say, “My sin was somewhere on the cross, and my face was somewhere in the crowd.” If Jesus were crucified today, you know where your sin would be, but where would your face be? Would you be seen with those threatened by Jesus, who thought and said, “Crucify Him!”? Would you be with those who had been swayed by the moment? You were not close enough to Jesus to stand for Him, so when the mood of the crowd changed you found yourself yelling against Him. Would you have cried, “Crucify Him!”? Would you have whipped His back, carried His placard, nailed Him to the cross and gambled for His clothes? Would you have been calloused at first, like the soldiers? Yet, would you say today that the facts have made you more like the centurion, open to the truth that Jesus is the Son of God? Or finally, would you see yourself with the handful of those devoted to Him? When others denied Him, you were with Him.

The gift God gives you is the opportunity to change your place in the crowd. You do not have to remain threatened by Jesus. You can be devoted to Him. You can have more than a shallow knowledge of Him, and experience a deep relationship with Him. You do not have to remain closed and calloused, but can become open and alive. Change your life with Christ and you can change your place in the crowd.