Based on Acts 21:15-36 (New King James Version)
“And after those days we packed and went up to Jerusalem. Also some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us and brought with them a certain Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we were to lodge. And when we had come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. When he had greeted them, he told in detail those things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord. And they said to him, ‘You see, brother, how many myriads of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law; but they have been informed about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs. What then? The assembly must certainly meet, for they will hear that you have come. Therefore do what we tell you: We have four men who have taken a vow. Take them and be purified with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads, and that all may know that those things of which they were informed concerning you are nothing, but that you yourself also walk orderly and keep the law. But concerning the Gentiles who believe, we have written and decided that they should observe no such thing, except that they should keep themselves from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality.’ Then Paul took the men, and the next day, having been purified with them, entered the temple to announce the expiration of the days of purification, at which time an offering should be made for each one of them. Now when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him, crying out, ‘Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against the people, the law, and this place; and furthermore he also brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.’ (For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.) And all the city was disturbed; and the people ran together, seized Paul, and dragged him out of the temple; and immediately the doors were shut. Now as they were seeking to kill him, news came to the commander of the garrison that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. He immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down to them. And when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. Then the commander came near and took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains; and he asked who he was and what he had done. And some among the multitude cried one thing and some another. So when he could not ascertain the truth because of the tumult, he commanded him to be taken into the barracks. When he reached the stairs, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob. For the multitude of the people followed after, crying out, ‘Away with him!’”
We must be very careful with following the multitude. The multitude hardly ever leads to doing something good. Like we saw in this passage, the multitude wanted to kill a righteous man—Paul. Why do things like this happen? The issue is that the crowds rarely support what is right, and we see this very clearly in the Word. It’s a phenomenon, per se, that happens frequently. But of course, everything in the spiritual world has very simple explanations. The Bible teaches us that Satan is the prince of this world, and that his demons are running loose, living in human bodies. And be careful! Not all possessed people will always do things that are out of sorts. They are sometimes calm until the moment they get worked-up, and there is when you see what truly is within a person’s heart. You can see what truly is within people when a multitude is out of control.
We see that not only was Paul a victim of a perverse multitude, but even more importantly, the Lord Himself suffered at the hands of a multitude. Any person that supposedly knows the Word would say: “Well, that had to happen.” And yes, it’s true, but, nonetheless, it was one of the main mechanisms that were instrumental in condemning the Son of God to die. Pilate really didn’t want to crucify the Lord, but he gave in to the pressure of the evil force that was in the multitude. This is what we read: “Now at the feast he was accustomed to releasing one prisoner to them, whomever they requested. And there was one named Barabbas, who was chained with his fellow rebels; they had committed murder in the rebellion. Then the multitude, crying aloud, began to ask him to do just as he had always done for them. But Pilate answered them, saying, ‘Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?’ For he knew that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should rather release Barabbas to them. Pilate answered and said to them again, ‘What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?’ So they cried out again, ‘Crucify Him!’ Then Pilate said to them, ‘Why, what evil has He done?’ But they cried out all the more, ‘Crucify Him!’ So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.” Mark 15:6-15. Unfortunately, the same multitude that once heard the Lord’s messages and saw the signs, miracles, and all of the good He did were the same ones that yelled to crucify Him. What happened with those that cried out once: “Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Hosanna in the highest!’” Matthew 21:9b. Things can change for evil at any given moment, depending on the influence.
And this is a truth that we should be ready for, if we truly want to follow the Lord: If the multitudes turned against the Lord, then that can happen to us also, just like it happened to Paul. The Lord Himself warned as follows: “Now as they led Him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, who was coming from the country, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus. And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him. But Jesus, turning to them, said, ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’ For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?’” Luke 23:26-31.
What can we take away from all of this? We need to be very careful with following the multitude because the majority of times, the crowds are not with God. This is what the Lord said: “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Matthew 7:13-14. Those of us that truly follow the Lord will always be a small minority in this world. So then, are you following the Lord for eternal life, or the multitude that is under the influence of Satan and his legions? Lord bless! John