The Crowd
Download video HERE
First, I want to make one thing really clear: what is shown in the video above and what is written in this blog post is not meant to be a justification of sin or any of the evil actions that humanity has committed, is committing, or will commit in the future. It is not an excuse to say “we all make mistakes and God forgives us anyway, so it really doesn’t matter what we do.” This post is a confession of shared guilt leading to shared forgiveness, as well as the call to pursue a love as radical as the love of Jesus Christ.
I generally consider myself a good person. I do my best to make the right decisions and do the right thing. I try to be nice to others and help out when I can. I do all of the things that good christians are supposed to do like pray, read my bible, go to church, serve others, etc. As a christian it’s pretty easy to think of ourselves as good people. We just need to make sure we do the “good christian things” and say the “good christian words.” Really, as long as we aren’t one of the bad people, we are doing fine. And we know who the bad people are. We talk about them in church all of the time. Sometimes we even pray for them. It may be a person or a group, but bad people are always easy to see. We believe we are better than the bad people because we are good christians following Jesus, on his side and ready to fight for him. We may feel attacked or ridiculed or persecuted by the bad people. In our attempts to “take up our cross” we may even feel like we are being crucified with Jesus in some way. Although, we would never say that out loud—we are far too humble to do that.
Of course we realize that even good christians sin, but it’s just a mistake right? Just a moment of weakness? And we all make mistakes. What really matters is that we are trying to be good people.
Have you ever noticed that when it’s other people we call it sin, but when it's ourselves or the people we love we usually call it a mistake? I bet that the people we read about in the crucifixion story referred to their own sins as ‘mistakes.’
The religious leaders were trying to defend God and their faith against this blasphemer who claimed he was the Son of God. They were trying to stand up for what they believed was right. Who would have thought that Jesus actually was who he claimed to be? Whoops.
Pontious Pilate tried to have Jesus released, but he didn’t want the crowd to start a riot! What is one man's life against the possible destruction that could be caused? Besides, this is a religious issue so let them handle it.
The soldiers were just doing their job. They were just trying to provide for their families. They managed crucifixions all of the time, administering the death penalty to bad people. How were they to know that this was any different?
The disciples loved Jesus! But there was no need to get themselves killed by standing beside him. It would be smarter to stay hidden or watch from afar, denying any association with Jesus, at least until the heat dies down.
The crowd—that group of regular people. They were just doing what their leaders told them was right. They didn’t know any better. Right?
Call it sin or call it a mistake, Jesus died for them anyway. In fact, Jesus died for us all. Everybody.
Therefore, this amazing revelation—this story of crucifixion, love, and forgiveness also comes with a humbling sense of responsibility. Because of our own sins we all share culpability in the crucifixion of Christ. In that sense we are no different from the bad people we talk about and pray for. We all held that hammer and nail. We all are part of the crowd, watching together as Jesus did what only Jesus could do: love us so much that he died for us, forgiving each and every one of us.
When I am honest with myself, I realize that under the right circumstances I am capable of doing really awful things just as much as I am capable of doing really good things. When I look around at those people I don’t agree with, or those people I think are wrong, or even those people I think are doing horrible things I realize that I can’t hate them. I can be just as wrong, or just as horrible as I think they are. I am holding that hammer too. And that realization makes it a little easier to understand the kind of love that Jesus calls us to emulate through the crucifixion. A love for all people, whether they are good or bad, right or wrong. A call to love our family, our friends, and our enemies. An amazing, powerful, world-changing love.
It’s never easy to love in that way, but maybe we can look at that one verse that every christian seems to know: “for God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” Maybe we can look at that verse with an understanding—I mean a real understanding—that we are part of that world God loves. That we are part of that crowd that crucified Jesus. That we are responsible, and we are forgiven. That we are loved anyway.