Jesus and the Crowds

Here’s another segment from Eckhard Schnabel’s work on Early Christian Mission (pp. 241-242). It struck me as it made me think about the crowds in Togo. If you’ve followed the news reports, you probably think of the crowds as angry and violent. Believe me when I tell you that those folks are the minority, though they are certainly not to be dismissed lightly. What I saw in the eyes and heard in the voices of my Togolese neighbors was fear. They are indeed sheep without a shepherd, or perhaps it would be better to say, they are sheep who do not trust and who fear their shepherds. And like the crowds of Jesus’ day, Jesus has compassion on them. Please keep them in your prayers this week.

Here’s what Schnabel has to say:

“The crowds that wanted hear Jesus preach and see him heal do not appear as monochromatic. Rather, the presentation of the crowds reflects the historical reality that would surround any charismatic and popular itinerant preacher who is also controversial. Because crowds of people wanted to hear Jesus preach again and again, and because they brought their sick trusting that he would heal them (while ignoring the negative verdicts of priests, Pharisees, Sadducees and scribes), they appear in an essentially positive light. The people of these ochloi are not true followers of Jesus who are committed to being his disciples, but are neither they like the Pharisees and scribes who reject him. They know that he is a prophet, and they ask themselves, at least on one occasion, whether he might be the Messiah. . . . The crowds stand between agreement and mistrust, between acceptance and rejection – they are the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Mt. 10:6). This is the reason why Jesus has compassion on them.

“… [A]s Jesus extended his compassion to the crowds, Christians should receive all the curious, the neutral and the skeptical people whom they encounter in their everyday lives with similar compassion. It was Jesus who sent the disciples to the crods that pressed around (Mt. 9:35-38) in order to preach and heal people (Mt 10:1, 7-8). . . .

“Hans Bietrand* observes that ‘it is especially to these people, who have nothing in particular to offer, that Jesus directs his teaching and his compassion (Matt. 9:33),’ in contrast to the ochlos as the ignorant masses who did not keep the law’ (John 7:48-49).”

I hope that provides some food for thought. It did for me. In personal news, God is looking out for us here in Ghana. We have received a generous offer of a place to stay at the Village of Hope. We plan to move there Monday and remain for about a week, before attending the annual West Africa Missionary Retreat at Coconut Grove Beach Resort in Elmina, Ghana. This is always a highlight, so pray that all the missionaries planning to attend will be able to travel there safely.

*H. Bietenhard, New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Vol. 2, p. 800.