Mind Meld of A Different Kind

MARK 15:1-15
Very early in the morning the leading priests, the elders, and the teachers of religious law—the entire high council—met to discuss their next step. They bound Jesus, led him away, and took him to Pilate, the Roman governor.

Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

Jesus replied, “You have said it.”

Then the leading priests kept accusing him of many crimes, and Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer them? What about all these charges they are bringing against you?” But Jesus said nothing, much to Pilate’s surprise. \

Now it was the governor’s custom each year during the Passover celebration to release one prisoner—anyone the people requested. One of the prisoners at that time was Barabbas, a revolutionary who had committed murder in an uprising. The crowd went to Pilate and asked him to release a prisoner as usual.

“Would you like me to release to you this ‘King of the Jews’?” Pilate asked. (For he realized by now that the leading priests had arrested Jesus out of envy.) But at this point the leading priests stirred up the crowd to demand the release of Barabbas instead of Jesus. Pilate asked them, “Then what should I do with this man you call the king of the Jews?”

They shouted back, “Crucify him!”

“Why?” Pilate demanded. “What crime has he committed?”

But the mob roared even louder, “Crucify him!”

So to pacify the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified.

Mob power
I am amazed at what people will do when they get caught up in the energy of a large group of people. Inhibitions are surrendered to intoxicating cheers, morals are downgraded to the least common denominator, and thinking is relegated to the person with the largest mouth.

If you have ever seen a riot before you have witnessed just how powerful a mob can be. There is a sense of unrestricted freedom in the power of a mob. However, realistically what feels like freedom is in fact conformity.

The nemesis of the Pharisees has now become their strength. They have wanted to arrest Jesus for some time but out of fear of the people they have restrained themselves. They knew as long as the people were in favor of Jesus they were powerless to oppose him. To turn the tide, they painted Jesus as the failed deliverer of Israel from Roman oppression. The fickle mob reacts with hatred demanding Jesus’ crucifixion.

Through all this, the opinion of his Father kept Jesus motivated and confident. God’s voice booming at his baptism and at the transfiguration, “This is my Son with whom I am well pleased,” made the difference. God’s voice of affirmation, not the mob kept Jesus moving forward.

It is easy to listen to the mob; you can always hear them, but they seldom have the best answer. Elijah did not find the voice of God in the earthquake, the tornado, or the thunder. God’s voice was still and small yet full of power and might.

Pilate surrendered to the mob, the Pharisees surrendered to the mob, but Jesus did not. He remained silent, perhaps repeating to himself over and over God’s promises and words of assurance. What a wonderful concept for our lives when the mob surrounds our life.

God you are great and awesome, creator of all things both big and small. When you speak the universe trembles, yet how often you speak to me in your still small voice. I pray when the mob of confusion or doubt or anger or pain surrounds my life you will help me to concentrate on your voice of assurance and the promises of your presence. May your hidden word be heard loud in my mind drowning out the voice of the mob. - Dan Jones