Have you noticed how quickly people can turn on Jesus? I’m talking about going from showering him with accolades and then when he doesn’t automatically make everything in their lives better on the spot, they not only leave the faith, but go from accolades to antagonism.
Two incidents in the life of Jesus, one at the very beginning of his ministry and the other at the very end demonstrate this in spades.
He gave his very first sermon in his hometown synagogue from the Isaiah text about how the Messiah would give good news to the poor, free up prisoners, heal blindness and liberate oppressed people (Luke 4). Nothing controversial there. The audience immediately identified with it and applauded him. Since they were oppressed and poor Jews under Roman occupation, they loved what he had to say and showered him with praise. Had he stopped there and given the invitation, the altar (so to speak) would have been lined with takers.
The mood instantly changed when Jesus insinuated that takers should also be givers, sharers of the bounty. He didn’t stop there but went on to talk about how two prophets––Elijah and Elisha––breached the borders of Israel, and went out of their way to serve foreigners (a Canaanite woman and a Syrian soldier)!
The altar call was now off the table. They were so infatuated with their own self-interest that they lost their minds and tried to kill the Preacher on the spot. (I’ve had some not too complimentary reviews after preaching, but no death threats! Not yet.)
Like a lot of Christians today, they totally misunderstood what “the year of the Lord’s favor”––Jubilee) is about. It’s not about shofar-blowing or dancing in the street. It’s less, if at all, about God’s lavish generosity to US and more about how we must be generous with those less prosperous than us. It’s not a celebration of God’s promise to bless us, but how we can and must bless others who have less. (You can do a fact check on me by reading Leviticus 25.) Anyway, back to the synagogue…
No debate. No trial. No letter to the consulting lawgivers. No delay. Off the cliff he has to go! (No spoiler alert. You’ll have to read how it turned out.)
As long as his promises applied to them, they were happy. Suggest that we should care about foreigners and sinners from other tribes, and to the cliff you go! God loved one race, one nation––them! His is a meritorious system, and they had worked to be the meritorious ones for centuries. How dare he come and preach to us about sharing the wealth with Canaanites and Syrians!
There’s a very similar incident of fickle faith that happened three years or so later. Jesus rides into the capitol city on a donkey flanked by his disciples with thousands of Passover attendees waving palm branches, laying articles of clothing on the ground before him, shouting “Hosanna! Blessed is the king of Israel!”
The thing is, “Hosanna” mean save US! They absolutely needed saving, but not in the way most of them thought. Their cries, “Save US,” implied “And not THEM!” Save us from the Romans, not, save Romans! Not to mention he was king of more than just Israel, but of the whole world. He implied it and said it plainly and repeatedly, but it didn’t sink in.
Anyway, just four days later many of the same crowd that shouted Hosanna turned on a dime and became the mob shouting “Kill him! Crucify him. Crucify him!” One clue behind how quickly they went from accolades to attack mode was their gullibility. The religious leaders who hated Jesus because he was a threat to their power and paycheck persuaded the crowd to lean into their egocentric instincts and call for Jesus to die.
Like those in Nazareth’s synagogue service three years before, in nearly an instant they went from “He’s our guy!” to “Get rid of him!” The fickle-faithed in Nazareth had a faith what one might say was based on their national identity more than on God’s heart for all people groups. The religon of many in Jerusalem were similarly attached to their own self-interest––“Save US!”
You’re probably wondering if I have a point beyond a tidy history lesson and how this applies to you and me. Their faith in Jesus lasted only so long as it benefitted them and their tribe, their people. We might say they were the isolationists of their day. Even the eleven after the resurrection (twelve minus Judas) wondered if Jesus was about to raise their nation up above all the rest! After all he had taught them, that had to be a tad discouraging, don’t you think?
Yes, I do have a point. But if I spell it out, you might want me tossed off the nearest cliff or nailed to a wooden beam! So, I’ll just let you come to your own conclusion.
barney wiget 