“Lord Jesus, keep us close to You so that we do not get carried away by the response of the crowds. May we be those who walk in humility before You and also lead others to be consistent in their walk with You. In Your name, we pray. Amen.”
Acts 3:9-10 And all the people saw him walking and praising God. (10) Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
As the man was healed and was walking, leaping and praising God, the people who saw what had happened, were filled with wonder and amazement. There was great euphoria and the people ran to get a closer look. This was the curious crowd.
Acts 3:11-12 Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch which is called Solomon’s, greatly amazed.(12) So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?
We find Peter and John, not overwhelmed by the excitement of the moment, but calming people down by making them know the facts behind the healing of the lame man.
As we take up the next study, we will see how Peter and John, led this curiosity-driven crowd to be confronted with the claims of Christ and led them to come under His lordship. This is an important lesson in ministry.
The Lord lived out this principle in His ministry. People marvelled and were amazed at the miracles that He did but the Lord was not carried away by the jubilation of the crowds. He did not seek to be popular. Yes, crowds followed Him but He gave His attention to the training of believers, who were few.
Luke 9:43-45 And they were all amazed at the majesty of God. But while everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, He said to His disciples, (44) “Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.” (45) But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying.
He also taught His disciples to carry the same demeanour in their ministry. Luke 10:17-20 Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” (18) And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. (19) Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. (20) Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”
It is natural to get carried away by crowds. We tend to evaluate our ministry by the response of people and their numbers. This is what is being projected as the impact of the ministry. We must be careful. The response of the crowds is fickle.
We are all familiar with the reaction of the crowds in Jerusalem, at the time of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Observe their conduct as Jesus came into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey.
Matthew 21:8-9 And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. (9) 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!”
This very same crowd, within a week, turned against Jesus. Mark 15:11-14 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should rather release Barabbas to them. (12) 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?” (13) So they cried out again, “Crucify Him!” (14) Then Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they cried out all the more, “Crucify Him!”
We see the healing of the lame man at Lystra. The crowds, when they saw the miracle that had taken place, went into ecstasy and were intending to deify Paul and Barnabas. Watch the reaction of Paul and Barnabas.
Acts 14:14-15 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their clothes and ran in among the multitude, crying out (15) and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them,
Instead of taking any glory for themselves, Paul and Barnabas lifted up Jesus and pleaded with the people to surrender their lives to Jesus as their Lord.
Let us ensure not to fall into the trap of popularity but instead, let us focus on discipling people to the lordship of Christ.