No doubt many of you have seen the amazing 2000 movie, “Gladiator.” The movie stars Russell Crowe as a Roman General who finds himself having to survive as a Roman gladiator in the hope of avenging the murder of his wife and child who died at the command of the corrupt Emperor Commodus. The life of a Roman gladiator was, of course, dangerous and brutal, and Maximus must use his amazing fighting and survival skills to achieve his goal of standing before the Emporer responsible for the death of his wife and son.

Beginning in the lowest ranks of gladiatorial combat, Maximus and the others are trained by a former gladiator named Proximo to be effective combatants in the arena. Proximo regales the gladiators with tales of his own earlier successful career as a gladiator and how he rose through the ranks and received honors from the Emporer in Rome. Proximo is also intrigued by Maximus and asks him what it is that he wants. The following conversation ensues:

Maximus: You ask me what I want. I, too, want to stand before the Emperor as you did.

Proximo: Then listen to me. Learn from me. I wasn’t the best because I killed quickly. I was the best because the crowd loved me. Win the crowd, and you will win your freedom.

Maximus: I will win the crowd. I will give them something they have never seen before.

“Win the crowd, and you will win your freedom.” It is a simple plan that Proximo proposes, and Maximus does just that. He becomes the consummate gladiator: ruthless, brutal, effective and victorious. He becomes a destructive force in the arena…and the crowds come to love him!

Yes, Maximus wins the crowd. At one point, he dramatically cries out to the crowd, “Are you not entertained? Are you not entertained? Is this not why you are here?” To which the crowd begins to chant for him, “Spaniard! Spaniard! Spaniard!” As an aside, a short time after that movie came out, Roni and I were in Rome standing in the Coliseum. We walked past a group of young Italians who were looking into the Coliseum, laughing and shouting, “Spaniard! Spaniard! Spaniard!”

Yes, Maximus decided to win the crowd and, in doing so, he won his way up to the big stage of the Roman coliseum where he was finally able to win his vengeance against Commodus (while paying a price himself in the process).

It made for a great movie, a moving movie, in fact. But I’m struck by something when I think about that movie. I’m struck by how very different Maximus is from Jesus.

Maximus decided to be whatever he needed to be to win the crowd and seek revenge.

Jesus never deviated from who He really was and died at the hands of the crowd so that He might offer grace to the world.

Maximus was driven by vengeance and the desire to see a guilty man pay for his sins.

Jesus was driven by love and the desire to die Himself so that the guilty could be forgiven.

Maximus courted the favor of the crowd so that he could accomplish his goal.

Jesus courted the favor of the Father whether the crowd loved Him for it or not.

Gladiator was a great movie. Jesus is a great Savior. Given the choice between the two, I will take Jesus all day any day.

Jesus had an interesting relationship with crowds. The scene we encounter in John 12:12-19 occurred at the time of the Passover, when Jews came to Jerusalem to celebrate God’s deliverance of His people from bondage in Egypt, and that was always a time of big crowds. Joseph, the Jewish historian, noted that there were around 2.7 million Jews at Jerusalem for Passover in the year 65 A.D., so that may give us some help in understanding the size of the crowd on this date, somewhere around 30 A.D.[1]

When we look at our text, we see four crowds in particular. They are interesting in the ways they varied. Most of all, they are interesting for how they reflect on the various crowds’ approaches to Jesus in our own day.

The first crowd we see is the curious and caught-in-the-moment crowd.

¹² The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. ¹³ So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”

This crowd goes out in a celebratory mood. Andreas Kostenberger notes that the phrase “went out to meet him…was regularly used in Greek culture, where such a joyful reception was customary when Hellenistic sovereigns entered a city.”[2] And their going was based on the buzz that surrounded Jesus and the news that He was coming near: “the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.”

Verse 18 gives us even more specific news on the motivation of this crowd:

¹⁸ The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign.

Their motive, then, was curiosity and a sense of excitement at the fame of Jesus. They were caught-in-the-moment, as we might say today. Their excitement was a kind of paparazzi excitement. They wanted to capture an image to show others. They wanted to say that they had seen the miracle worker who had purportedly raised Lazarus from the dead.

Please notice, however, that there is no indication of anything like conviction or belief on the part of the crowd. They did not have a relationship with Jesus. They did not know Him. Rather, they had simply heard of Him and wanted to see the show.

If you feel that this is too negative a reading of their interest, let me remind you that this appears to be the same crowd who, in short time, will clamor and shout in unison for His crucifixion. R.C. Sproul has observed “that the people’s interest in Jesus was based largely on curiosity and false expectations that would be dashed in no time.”[3] This is well said. When their curiosity gave way to disappointment (Jesus, after all, was not a clown who performed to impress people), they turned on Jesus and demanded His death.

Notice that they even took up a kind of praise:

¹³ So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”

A casual observer of this whole scene might conclude that these people were sincere worshipers. After all, they were using “church words.” “Hosanna!” meant “Save now!” If they meant this literally, they seemed to be calling for Jesus to immediately grant their wish of political liberation from the Romans: “Save us now! Free us now! Do it now! Start the revolt! Drive out the Romans! Save us now!” It is possible, though, that by the first century the word had simply come to mean a general cry of religious enthusiasm, much like our modern, “Amen!” or “Preach it, brother!”

Either way, the religious cry proved short-sighted and short-lived. It either revealed a kind of selfish, utilitarian approach to Jesus or it revealed the sheer power of the religious dynamics of a euphoric mob. But this is not sincere. It is not genuine praise built on a relationship. It is a show. It is, again, church language. But the cries of “Hosanna!” give ways to cries of “Crucify Him!” soon enough, and the actual hearts of the people are betrayed and revealed. Curiosity and religious chanting will soon give way to horrible cries for the death of Jesus.

This is always the end result for those who come to Jesus seeking a show, seeking a display, seeking a performance, is it not? Is it tragically oftentimes true that people mistake curiosity concerning Jesus for actual faith in Jesus. They mistake a general interest for genuine conviction.

In fact, I believe the power of curiosity and of religious euphoria is so strong that it can deceive people for years into thinking that they actually believe something. But religious excitement is not faith. Shouting “Hallelujah!” is not conviction.  Joining the mob is not the same as trusting in Christ.

These people are religious consumers: chasing the latest, greatest, hottest religious commodity. These people want to see the show, experience the experience, get a little bit of the excitement. This is the religion of the mob, of the crowd, of the excited congregation who likes to feel more than they like to believe, who likes to experience more than to trust.

Be honest with yourself now: have you confused curiosity with actual conviction? Are you a consumer, a spectator, an observer? Is it your desire that Christ would perform for you, would please you, would put on a good show? Do you turn from Christ when you find that He is not meeting your expectations, is not giving you what you want?

Beware of this crowd, church! Beware of this crowd!

Thankfully, we also see a crowd of those who actually believe:

¹⁷ The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness.

This is the crowd who saw what Jesus had done and who could not stop talking about it. Like the first crowd, this crowd celebrates Jesus, but unlike the first crowd, this crowd knows why it is celebrating. They had witnessed, firsthand, the miracle of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. They had seen it and believed and could not stop speaking of it: The crowd…continued to bear witness.”

This is the crowd we wish we could fit in naturally, as believers. At our most faithful, this is us: the proclaiming and rejoicing crowd. This is the crowd that continues to testify and bear witness. They did not have to be asked to bear witness. They bore witness naturally out of the storehouse of their own amazing experience with Jesus.

People who have experienced something amazing never really have to be told to share it, do they?

I skipped my Senior year in high school. I was able to do so not because I was particularly smart but because my classes just worked out that way. I was able to take one class in the summer immediately following my Junior year and then begin high school that Fall. So I finished my Junior year and, three months later, found myself in college.

In the first semester of my Freshman year in college, I met Roni, my wife. I was, to put it mildly, smitten. But I just knew that this girl would never have anything to do with me. In fact, as a joke once I asked her to let me have a picture of her. I took that picture and mailed it to my buddies who were beginning their Senior year in high school. I mailed it with the note written under it: “Hope you boys are enjoying high school. College is great!” It was all great fun! One of my buddies told me that they passed the picture around and all decided that I had to be lying because they knew that no girl that looked like that would give me the time of day.

But I persisted. I used to stand on the grass outside of Roni’s dorm room and talk to her while she sat in the window. I’ll never forget the day when I was talking to her and she had to step into her room. When she left her roommate stuck her head out and said, “You know, if you were to ask her out she would go with you.”

Well, that was all I needed! I ran to a buddy of mine and told him he needed to loan me $20 and his car. There must have been an intensity about me because he did both and, that night, I took Roni to Applebees! I was so happy, but I was also hoping she would order something cheap enough that the $20 would cover the meal!

Well, that was all an amazing dream and the rest, as they say, is history. The next morning I was walking to class but I do not think my feet were touching the ground. I was in love! In fact, as I was walking into the building I held the door for a student and just blurted out, “You want to know something?” The student said, “What?” I said, “I’m in love!” The student said, “Huh?” I said, “Oh, not with you, but I’m in love!” Ha! It all sounds so silly now, but that really happened.

If you think about it, nobody who experiences something amazing has to be tricked into talking about it. We naturally speak of those experiences that have shaped our lives.

This should be the case with the people of God and their relationship with Jesus as well. We should say naturally and easily that we have a great God and that He has come to us in Christ Jesus. We should not have to be guilted into speaking the gospel!

This crowd knew what they had seen and they knew that there was something amazing about this Jesus and they could not stop speaking of it!

I ask you: are you in this crowd? Do you know this Jesus and do you testify to His greatness? I do hope so.

More often than not, however, I find myself somewhere in the middle. I think we find the disciples of Jesus somewhere in the middle. They had trusted in Jesus and they loved Him, but they were still trying to understand exactly who He was and what it was He is doing.

¹⁴ And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, ¹⁵ “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” ¹⁶ His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.

I do not know about you, but I find some comfort in these words: “His disciples did not understand these things at first…”

Have you experienced this? You love the Lord and you wish to follow Him but sometimes you struggle to grasp what it is He is doing?

Perhaps all of us know what this is. I do. It is interesting, though, that the disciples were not left in their confusion forever: “…but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.”

I think we might call this “growth in retrospect.” It is a way of kind of backing into Christian growth. This is the crowd that believes but that has to grow into their belief. The disciples seem almost more contemplative at this point, more quiet and thoughtful. They are aware that something important, perhaps even something monumental, is happening, but they will not grasp the full import of these events until later.

Let me offer a word of encouragement to those of you in the believing but still trying to understand crowd: that’s ok. We do not always understand Jesus all of a sudden. The Christian life is a journey of experiences and then unpacking these experiences. Probably many of us fluctuate between this crowd and the crowd just before it, between euphoric belief and praise and contemplative confusion and efforts to grasp what God is doing in our lives and in the world.

Again, there is no shame in being in the contemplative crowd. There is no shame in needing some time to understand all that is happening. Do not be discouraged if others are applauding the Lord and you are still trying to unpack what has happened. In time, as they continued in their journeys, God revealed more truth to the disciples. He does the same with us as well.

There is another crowd here too. As you read our text you can see them brooding in the corner. I am speaking here of the Pharisees, Jesus’ opponents. The insights we are given into their minds as they observe all of this are telling and heartbreaking. Listen:

¹⁹ So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”

While Jesus is the focal point of the other crowds’ consideration, the Pharisees are looking at one another in dismay. They are unmasked in this verse and their tongues drip with poison. “You see,” they say to one another, “that you are gaining nothing.”

This is a telling admission. This is bitterness. This is resentment. This is rage.

The Pharisees are not winning the day. The momentum seems to have shifted to Jesus.

“You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”

That last statement should be read with a hissed emphasis on the last word: “Look, the world has gone after him.”

This is jealousy. This is frustration.

Here is the crowd that resents the work of God in the world. Here is the crowd that seethes with bitterness at the advance of the gospel in the world. Here is the devil’s crowd. Here is the work of the enemy. The Pharisees boil with hatred both at Jesus and at the response of the crowd.

Of course, it is quite easy to depict these Pharisees as obviously repulsive, sinister figures. In most of the movies I have seen about the life of Jesus, the Pharisees are depicted as a hellish brood or a degenerate band of miscreants.

We like to demonize the Pharisees for two reasons. First, we demonize them because, quite frankly, many of them were demonic in their hatred of Jesus. There is much to genuinely loathe about these enemies of the faith. But I think we sometimes like to demonize them and caricature them in an effort to try to convince ourselves that their mindsets are totally different from ours and to try to convince ourselves that we ourselves have never and would never act with such godlessness.

But is this true? Is it true that we are totally free from the charge of the Pharisees?

Ask yourself this: have there not been times in our lives when we secretly resented some work of God? Have you never deep down resented that God blessed that person you despise or that God was changing that person that you would like to keep as an enemy?

I am not saying that this is necessarily the case. I am saying, however, that we must consider the terrifying possibility that we ourselves, at times, have been a part of this crowd as well. After all, it is just possible that we have found ourselves somewhere along the way standing in the corner, silently resenting some work of God.

Let us be careful, church. Let us be very careful.

Can I ask you: where are you in this story? In what crowd do you find yourself?

Are you in the crowd of religious enthusiasm?

Are you in the crowd of belief and praise?

Are you in the crowd of the believing but still trying to get it disciples?

Are you in the crowd of the resenting Pharisees?

Where do you stand? Where do you stand with Jesus?

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