Were the people fickle?

Over the years I have listened to a number of people commenting on the Palm Sunday story and saying how fickle were the people to acclaim him as he went to Jerusalem and then cry "Crucify him1" when Pilate brought him before the assembled people.   I would like to say that I don't think it was likely to be the case.

We need to think of these two occasions as separate.   Each year, as the pilgrims went up to Jerusalem, there were people who liked to watch the scene.   Just as people used to sit outside their houses and watch the Whit Walks in my home town of Nelson, Lancashire, I feel sure they would assemble to see the pilgrims making their way to Jerusalem at Passover time.

Jesus, by this time, had acquired a certain reputation, and the crowds on the route would be aware of this.   Some, believing him to be the Messiah, would have cut down palm branches to cast before him.   Others would follow suite as people do.   In the previous three years there would have grown up an optimistic feeling among some people as they heard about the deeds of this unusual rabbi.   I think this is probably what caused them to shout acclaim as he went by.

On the other hand, as he was brought before the people and the offer to free him was made, I believe there were agents of the chief priests in the crowd.   If you read the book of Nehemiah you see that there were people sent into the crowd to help explain the significance of the scriptures as Ezra, the scribe, read them out.   On the occasion of the first Easter, I think there would be people sent into the crowd to whip them up to demand crucifixion and the release of Barabbas. That some of the crowd were those who had cheered him on his way is quite possible and I can accept that they would want to go the way of the majority who were calling for death.   But I think it is not as clear as some would say - that the same people who cheered him a few days before were shouting for his death at this point.

I realise how fickle we all are and that we cannot be totally trusted to stick with an idea.   This is part of our humanity.   I have heard political candidates complaining that, after all they have done for people, they caste their votes for someone else.   Human beings are like this and always have been.   But I really believe that, whilst Jesus was greeted with acclaim on his way to Jerusalem, it was another crowd who demanded his crucifixion.

What we have to realise is that the gospels are not actually full of detail and that very often we have to go by our gut reaction to what is said by the gospel writers.   It is often a matter of getting the flavour of what is being said.  

For me, what is certain is that there have always been those who would gather to watch an execution.   There is evidence for this all through history.   Sometimes it is a case of the more gruesome the better.   On the occasion of the two executions that were carried out at Beaumaris jail in Anglesey, where I live, people actually paid good money to book a vantage point to see the condemned man swing.   People travelled many miles just to see the executions.   Therefore, I am sure that things have always been the same.   As Shakespeare said, "T'was ever thus."

As we approach Easter through Lent we become very much aware of people and their unreliability.   It's part of the sadness of this time that we experience human beings baying for blood.   For us it is doubly sad because it is Jesus they are after.