Amidst the many lessons that clergy will share between Palm
Sunday and Easter Sunday, are timeless stories of human nature. The gospel
narratives tell the story of Jesus' purpose driven death, but we also see the role
of the crowds and societal leaders in killing Jesus, the author of the
Christian faith.
Whipping up the Crowd
On Palm Sunday, a crowd in Jerusalem welcomed Jesus as their
king. The crowds were enthusiastic. On Good Friday, a crowd welcomes a political
revolutionary (Barabbas) and calls for the death of Jesus. According to Mark, the
religious leaders “stirred up the crowd.” The governor, Pilate, recognized what
was happening and bowed to the demands of the crowd’s request, “crucify him.” The
crowd secured the death penalty and the political rulers whipped and mocked the
“King of the Jews.”
Whipping People
Effective leaders know the power of crowds to effect change.
Jesus was a clear and present danger to the way of life for the religious
leaders and the political leaders of his day. Whipping up crowds can be a
dangerous ploy. In the case of the leaders in Jerusalem, only a few years passed
until the empire struck back.
Today, religious and political leaders continue to
manipulate crowds to advance their agendas. They take aim at anyone who is a
perceived threat—they create “whipping boys and girls”. The sad thing is, crafty
leaders can create a narrative to turn relatively harmless people into a threat
by distorting their narratives. Like infants, crowds are easily distracted by a
new stimulus, thus one need only wait a few hours or days until a new target
appears in the media—a whipping boy or girl.
Whipping up Violence
It is abundantly clear that powerful religious leaders and
politicians are capable of creating a culture of violence, which permits the
destruction of others’ lives. When a useful target has been identified as a
threat, narratives can demonize and dehumanize the outspoken, would-be reformer.
Leaders do not like critics. Freedom of Speech, Freedom of
the Press, and Freedom of Religion are perennial threatening alternative pathways
to the plans of those in power.
Death and destruction take different forms in different
nations.
Sometimes the followers of Jesus take up the cross and follow him to
bring healing to troubled souls. Some Christians spread good news about joy, peace, and love.
Sometimes the followers of Jesus prefer to metaphorically crucify
those who challenge their sacred beliefs and practises. Some enjoy humiliating those of a different religious group, political party, or national origin.
Sadly, some post stories and photos on social media to pour contempt on the views
of those with different religious or political views. They gather crowds of
sorts"followers" —especially when the opposing target can be mocked. And of course, the
ability to incite people to commit acts of violence is because of
human nature. Action-oriented people become emboldened when they believe the crowd is with
them.
Some people turn metaphors into reality. Whipped up people still issue
death threats. And some targets require external boundaries if their discordant
voices are to be heard another day.
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