Tag Archives: crowds

Crowded

Posted on by

“Who do the crowds say I am?” Luke 9:18

Five thousand people were talking. News was out that five little loaves of bread and two measly fish somehow multiplied into dinner for a multitude.

two-fish

The throng was trying to figure out who Jesus was. And they were struggling.

  • John the Baptist, come back to life? Wrong.
  • Elijah, come back to life? Wrong.
  • One of the other Old Testament prophets, come back to life? Wrong.

The crowd was easily confused.

The word “crowd” is found 38 times in the Gospel of Luke. Jesus taught the crowd, He healed the crowd, He fed the crowd, He told the crowd stories, He answered questions from the crowd. And then the crowd disappeared, only to show up later, shouting, “Crucify him!” That’s the crowd for you.

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Luke 9:20

Ah. Now there’s the question.

Step away from the Instagram influencers
and the opinionated opinions
and the ego-centric philosophies.

The crowd is confused.

confused

What about you? Who do you think Jesus is?

It’s the most important question you’ll ever answer.

31 Days of Questions: Day 9

Posted on by

9

“Who do the crowds say I am?”  Luke 9:18

When I was in 6th grade, the popular girls in my class at school developed a survey that was handed out to all the boys in our room.  The slips of paper listed the girls in our classroom with a line next to each name.  At the top were the instructions — “Put in order that you like.”  Brutal.

This was my first experience with a public opinion poll.  There it was, in black and white — my rating according to the studly sixth grade boys.  I was usually somewhere in the middle, depending on my status with the “cool” crowd that week.  When our teacher found out what was going on, he put the kibosh on all such surveys.  Bless him.

Jesus posed a question to His disciples, “Who do the crowds say I am?”  Everyone in town had an opinion — some said He was John the Baptist come back to life, others thought Jesus was a prophet, and there were those who believed He was an interesting man with some kind of extraordinary powers.  Nobody used the “M” word though.  Talk of a Messiah in public could get one kicked out of the synagogue.

Was Jesus really interested in the latest opinion poll?  Not in my opinion.

Did He care if He was #1 or #10 on the “like” list?  Not likely.

Jesus was giving His disciples a chance to explore the options,

but that can only go on for so long.

At some point you have to answer the follow up question…..

31 Questions