Why did the people of Jerusalem turn on Jesus so quickly?

[jas84173]

We all know the passion narrative, but have you ever realized that on the entry into Jerusalem people are excited to see Jesus; people are happy. Within four days this seems to completely change. They are shouting " Crucify him!", " “Give us Barrabas”, etc. I don’t really see Jesus in any of the Gospels giving a reason why the people would have turned on him so quickly from Palm Sunday to Good Friday. Seems he must have said or done something that isn’t mentioned that would have angered them. Has anyone else ever noticed this and wondered? I just don’t understand how in such a short time span the people changed in their view of Jesus so much.

 

[Tim_D]

Its one of the reasons that mobs have such a bad name.

 

[TheDoctor]

I think it is more we are looking at two different “mobs”.

It was his disciples and the “common folk” who welcomed him on Palm Sunday. The poor. The lame. Those who had come to believe in Jesus as the Messiah.

It was the Chief Priests, Elders, Sadducee and Pharisees who had him arrested, tried and killed within a few hours on Good Friday.

Probably most of the first group did not know what was going on until well after it was over.

 

[SJacob7]

I think it is more we are looking at two different “mobs”.

It was his disciples and the “common folk” who welcomed him on Palm Sunday. The poor. The lame. Those who had come to believe in Jesus as the Messiah.

It was the Chief Priests, Elders, Sadducee and Pharisees who had him arrested, tried and killed within a few hours on Good Friday.

Probably most of the first group did not know what was going on until well after it was over.

Great answer, I totally agree!

 

[DaveBj]

I think it is more we are looking at two different “mobs”.

It was his disciples and the “common folk” who welcomed him on Palm Sunday. The poor. The lame. Those who had come to believe in Jesus as the Messiah.

It was the Chief Priests, Elders, Sadducee and Pharisees who had him arrested, tried and killed within a few hours on Good Friday.

Probably most of the first group did not know what was going on until well after it was over.

Great answer, I totally agree!

Me too. The “Hosanna, blessed is he who cometh in the name of the Lord” crowd were fellow pilgrims on the road to Jerusalem. The “Crucify him!” crowd were the locals, who were under the influence of the politico-religious leaders.

 

[patrick457]

I think it is more we are looking at two different “mobs”.

It was his disciples and the “common folk” who welcomed him on Palm Sunday. The poor. The lame. Those who had come to believe in Jesus as the Messiah.

It was the Chief Priests, Elders, Sadducee and Pharisees who had him arrested, tried and killed within a few hours on Good Friday.

Probably most of the first group did not know what was going on until well after it was over.

Me too. The “Hosanna, blessed is he who cometh in the name of the Lord” crowd were fellow pilgrims on the road to Jerusalem. The “Crucify him!” crowd were the locals, who were under the influence of the politico-religious leaders.

Correct. While many a sermon have waxed lyrical about how fickle the crowds were, how they changed their tune from “Hosanna” to “Crucify Him,” historically we’re probably looking at two different groups.

Notice that in Luke (19:37), it is “the whole crowd of disciples” who shout Hosanna to Jesus. The ‘crowd’ - we probably shouldn’t be thinking of a big ‘cast of thousands’ gathering here - who appears before Pilate meanwhile were the chief priests’ and the aristocrats’ lackeys - people under the sway of the authorities who were perhaps bribed to become seat fillers.

If anything, Jesus was more popular in the Galilee than He was in Judaea and Jerusalem anyway (if the gospels are of any indication).

 

[pianistclare]

I think it is more we are looking at two different “mobs”.

It was his disciples and the “common folk” who welcomed him on Palm Sunday. The poor. The lame. Those who had come to believe in Jesus as the Messiah.

It was the Chief Priests, Elders, Sadducee and Pharisees who had him arrested, tried and killed within a few hours on Good Friday.

Probably most of the first group did not know what was going on until well after it was over.

This^^^
The common folk followed Jesus on the Via Dolorosa also.
It was the leaders of the Temple who were out to see him executed.
No one would have even cared what the average person thought or wanted.

 

[patrick457]

This^^^
The common folk followed Jesus on the Via Dolorosa also.
It was the leaders of the Temple who were out to see him executed.
No one would have even cared what the average person thought or wanted.

This.

Personally, I think the one Jesus film that perhaps is closer to what would have happened is Roberto Rossellini’s Il Messia. During the passion sequence, the Praetorium isn’t depicted as being crowded to the brim with people (as you see in say, The Passion of the Christ). Instead, there’s only a small group made up of the chief priests, the scribes, the elders, and their men.

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[joeybaggz]

Seems he must have said or done something that isn’t mentioned that would have angered them. Has anyone else ever noticed this and wondered? I just don’t understand how in such a short time span the people changed in their view of Jesus so much.

A little different take…
A priest of my acquaintance once made the statement that "If I were a faithful Jew standing in the courtyard before Pilate, i probably would have been yelling “Crucify Him” too.

Asking for clarification his reply was interesting. False prophets and fake messiahs were the bane of the Jewish people. Whenever they (the Jews) went off the reservation so to speak, God punished them to correct their errant ways. Jesus made any number of claims equating Himself with God (i.e. Before Abraham came to be, I AM, I and the Father are one and the same, etc.) To the Jew, this was blasphemy, something God didn’t tolerate. Add in the skepticism about the miraculous works of Jesus and the priest’s statement made sense. The Sadducees and Pharisees, while their motives may have been born of jealousy or fear, did have some credibility from the standpoint of countering what they saw as blasphemous behavior.

Of course as a faithful Christian in the 21st century, I certainly don’t see Christ’s words or actions as blasphemous, but understanding the 1st century context from a 21st century perch compels me to grant some tolerance for the Jewish leaders of that time, IMHO.

And Jesus came to give his life for the ransom of the world. Something like the events of Good Friday were ordained and had to come to pass in some way. This is the way chosen by God. A reason, I think, that compels us now to place no blame for Christ’s death on the Jewish people as so many have through history.

My :twocents:

 

[utah_rose]

Me too. The “Hosanna, blessed is he who cometh in the name of the Lord” crowd were fellow pilgrims on the road to Jerusalem. The “Crucify him!” crowd were the locals, who were under the influence of the politico-religious leaders.

I’ve also read that many in the mob that said crucify Him were paid by the Pharisees and such. On the otherhand, I reading tbe Dolorous Passion by Venerable Catherine Anne Catherine Emmerich and some peoples Fsith was shaken by how he was paraded around bruised and beaten, and wondered if he really was the Messiah. Also in her visions she saw Satan and his demons entering a lot of people’s hearts, especially after He confirmed that he was indeed the a Son of God because up to that time Satan wasn’t sure that He was. So, some of those same people that greeted him on Palm Sunday could have been some of that same mob.