Beware of the Power of People!

There is no doubt that God uses people in our lives as His instruments carrying out His plans. We must beware though because people have significant power. We may not always think about the people in our lives in this light, but nonetheless, it is true. People have the power to both point us to Christ or to pull us away from Him, to strengthen our faith or stifle it. The stakes are high! Christ is calling us to follow Him, to abide in Him. People can help us stay on or get back on the Calvary road, or they can distract us from our goal and divert us away from Christ. All of us, to some degree or another, are influenced by people. This is significant power!

Often times, we do not even recognize just how influential the opinion of others is in our life. I was struck with these thoughts as I pondered the events leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ as recorded in Luke 23. In a very real sense, Jesus Christ was crucified because of the power of people. He was crucified because of the power and influence that the people held over the political leaders of His time.

Neither Herod nor Pilate could find any fault in Jesus, yet he was tortured and later turned over to be crucified. Why? Why would these political leaders publicly admit that they could find no fault in a man but agree to have Him crucified? Luke gives us the answer by painting a picture of the power of people. At least three times Pilate publicly confessed that he could not find any fault in Jesus.

In verse 4 (first time) he said “’I find no fault in this man’, but the people were urgent.” Personally, Pilate evaluated Jesus and could find no fault in Him, but “the people were urgent.” In verse 14 (second time), Pilate speaks with other leaders and confesses “I did not find this man guilty of your charges against him.” Once again, Pilate clearly doesn’t feel Jesus should be crucified, but Luke tells us that “the people cried out together.” The people disagreed with Pilate, and they were working hard to persuade him. Pilate then moves to release Jesus (v.20), but the people would not have it. Luke says “they kept shouting, ‘Crucify, crucify him.’” Pilate makes one more attempt to release Jesus, pointing out once again that he does not feel Jesus should be crucified. Luke picks up the drama in the response when he writes “the people were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. And their voices prevailed.” The people prevailed. The power of the people had overcome the conscience of Pilate, and the King of Glory was crucified! Let us beware of the power of people lest we also be distracted and diverted away from Christ by others.