If you've ever watched the Tour de France you've seen the crowds. Thousands and thousands of people line the Tour route waiting for hours and hours to catch a glimpse of the riders for just a couple of seconds as they speed by at up to 35 miles an hour. In the cities the crowds will be ten to fifteen deep, especially behind the barriers near the finish line.
In the mountains it's even more amazing. People will climb thousands of feet up the mountainside to see the riders as they make their ascent. Since they're only going 10 to 15 miles per hour on the steep climbs the fans on the mountains get a much better view of the riders. Sometimes the crowds get so large that the motorcycles have to clear a path through the crowd for the cyclists to be able to ride through. I've even seen riders push fans out of their way so they can continue up the mountain.
I'm sure you've heard news reports of crowds getting so large and so unruly at soccer matches that fans have actually been trampled to death. Crowds of fans are pretty much the same no matter what the event might be. I've been to Christian music festivals where the crowds were pressing so hard against the stage that people in the front row were being crushed.
It wasn't any different in Jesus' day, although I was amazed to see it. I know I've read Luke 12 many times, but this morning I was struck by what Luke said about the crowds. "Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples."
Jesus knew how to draw a crowd. But in the days before radio or TV, before newspaper ads or posters on telephone poles, before public address systems and walls of giant speakers, it's pretty amazing to think that crowds of many thousands would gather around Jesus. They were so eager to have access to Him, that people would trample one another to try to get as close as possible to our Lord.
What was the attraction? Grace and truth! John said: "The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." (John 1:17) When Jesus spoke, people heard the truth. He spoke with authority. He told them to truth about themselves and about God. And in Jesus they experienced grace firsthand. He healed the sick, cast out demons, gave sight to the blind, and fed the hungry. This was grace in action. No wonder everyone wanted to get as close as possible to Jesus.
It's one thing to press in close in order to see a great cyclist, a great soccer match, or a great singer. But when people pressed in close to see Jesus, they were seeing the real thing. John said: "No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known." (John 1:18) And Jesus himself said, "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father." (John 14:9) Yes, I'd press in as close as possible to be able to see God in the flesh! I'm not sure how Jesus and his disciples handled crowd control.
Yes, Jesus knew how to draw a crowd, but that was not what he was interested in. He was interested in imparting life, eternal life to lost people. He did so by sharing grace and truth. And people found grace and truth attractive. Sometimes, churches are criticized for wanting to draw a crowd. If those churces are sharing grace and truth in order to impart eteranl life through faith in Jesus with lost people, then they are doing exactly what they should be doing.
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