And as He was now approaching... the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles they had seen.

Luke 19:37, NASB

But they cried out all together, saying, "Away with this man..." And Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again. But they kept on calling out, saying, "Crucify, crucify Him!"

Luke 23:18, 20-21, NASB

One of the reasons that we need to be careful of popular opinion is that it can quickly turn into a mob mentality. Such was the case in the hours leading up to Jesus' death. He came into Jerusalem a hero, beloved by all, who even praised God joyfully just at the sight of this man who had performed so many beneficial miracles. Less than 24 hours later, the adoring crowd had turned into a frenzied and hateful mob intent upon His death. So, what happened?

It's a question we need to answer, because by understanding what happened to Jesus, we can then do our best to make sure that such a terrible event does not happen in our lives. The fact is that when Jesus came into town, He was a much beloved man whom the majority of the people adored - and why not? He had fed thousands of them, he had likely healed thousands more, and He had even raised a few of them from the dead. So, how did this crowd turn against Jesus?

The answer is as disturbing as it is clear. They were turned away from Jesus (or at least a large percentage of them) because they were not used to thinking for themselves. Knowing this, the jealous Jewish leaders seized upon an opportunity to skillfully manipulate this crowd into doing their will. It only took a few suggestions here and there, calling Jesus' character and motives into question. A few not-so-subtle threats followed, and the very people who had been treated so well by Jesus now switched their loyalties in just one day. Though they had seen with their own eyes the righteousness of Jesus, their leaders easily persuaded them not to trust their own experiences and instead rely on the counsel of those in charge. After all, the leaders were leaders for a reason, and the people were used to being told what to do by them.

So, when the leaders said that Jesus was a blasphemer, a large portion of the crowd believed them. Even though there was not one scrap of evidence supporting these slanderous accusations! And the people then did something that we often do: they allowed their leaders to think for them. They were quite used to this because, like most people, they were not used to thinking for themselves. So when these leaders encouraged the crowd to demand that Jesus be put to death - this sweet and loving man who had done nothing but good - the people followed the leader and did just that.

Looking back on it, we are likely inclined to shake our heads and wonder how the people could be so gullible as to turn against a good man (a man who turned out to be the very Son of God) and demand his death. But before we go too far in our condemnation for this particular crowd, we might do well to consider just who it is that we are following in our times.

Consider your own situation. If you hear something from your most "trusted news source", do you accept it without question? Before answering that you would not, keep in mind that this news source very likely despises the same people that you despise, and supports the same people that you support. And speaking of who we support, are you automatically inclined to believe their side of the story even before you have thoroughly investigated it for yourself? Think about how quickly we are inclined to become furious with somebody just because someone on our side says that we should.

The fact is that people are most easily swayed in groups, and those who seek power are all too aware of this tendency. So, they divided us up into sides and convince us that we are disloyal to our cause should we ever dare to disagree with the opinions of the majority. If someone we trust says we've been cheated, then we believe with all our heart that we've been cheated. If someone on our side states that the other side consists only of liars and thieves, then we are immediately convinced that this is so. And we don't question these assertions and accusations because we have become so used to letting someone else do the thinking for us that we have forgotten how to think for ourselves.

When this occurs, bad things nearly always happen. Friendships are separated, wars are started, and sometimes a Savior is crucified... all because we have become so lazy as to stop thinking for ourselves. As a matter of fact, even when we are tempted to have a different opinion than the mob, we are reluctant to say so. After all, we all know what happens when we challenge the mob - they have a way of turning on us!

This is why we all need to be reading the Bible for ourselves. People are too accustomed to letting someone else do the thinking for them when it comes to religion. After all, that's what we have pastors and priests and preachers for, isn't it? But we should all be asking ourselves, "What if they are wrong?" You might be thinking, "who am I to believe that I may know more than the preacher?" but this type of thinking can have some very serious consequences. We know this is true by seeing how quickly a crowd turned in Jesus' day from being ardent supporters to vehement opponents, all because they believed that their religious leaders had all of the answers.

The mob, even when it is dressed in Sunday clothes and carrying Bibles, can be a very dangerous thing indeed. Those who wish to be pleasing to God will not fall prey to such pressure. If we really do love Jesus, we are going to have to stop listening to the crowd and start listening to God. Anything else will surely end in disaster. But for those who do put in the extra effort to go to God's word for their information, they will find a peace and joy that they may have never believed possible. And someday there will be heaven! To get there. we are going to have to abandon our tendencies to trust the crowd to do the right thing and begin to start thinking for ourselves.