I went to a very rigid and legalistic Christian college in Tennessee. The larger Christian community considered those of us who came out of that school to be mindless robots, blindly believing whatever we were taught to believe. Which is interesting since it was at that school that I was introduced to the concept of ‘critical thinking.’ Critical thinking is the act of taking all the evidence of an issue, weighing the pros and cons and, in the case of Biblical things, seeing how those issues survive when held up to the bright glow of Scripture. In other words, thinking for yourself. If my old college had just wanted to turn out thoughtless clones, they would have never required a year long class of critical thinking. It was during that class that I, thinking for myself, became disenchanted of the school’s legalistic stance. But that is another story.

         It occurs to me that people now have tremendous amounts of information at their fingertips, but still choose to believe what they hear from the news media, politicians, religious leaders and the always present ‘experts’ of whatever field they are interested in at the moment. I have had this conversation with my son many times. He will inform me that something is unconstitutional. He heard it or read it on the internet or something. I’ll ask him to tell me what the Constitution actually says. How should he know? No one just reads the Constitution! I do, son, once every year. It is not very long. It can be any thing out there. The talking heads we see on TV or hear on radio or read are spoon feeding us what they want us to know, hoping we will believe what they say.

         Critical thinking prevents all that.

         A lot of people claim to be pretribulationists, pre trib for short. But when you ask what a pretribulationist believes, the usual answer is, “I believe what Revelations says!” Well, OK, but the posttribulationist also believes what the Book of the Revelation says. The autribulationist believes what the Book of the Revelation says. So, what do you base your belief on? At that point you usually get a blank stare.

         It is so much easier to believe what you are told to believe and let it go at that. We see it all the time today. So many people believe socialism is the way to go, that capitalism is bad. Most of those people have no idea that socialism and communism are the same thing and that neither has ever benefitted anyone except those in charge. Cher, the aging singer, considers herself brilliant. She tells any who will listen that socialism is the way we need to go. Recently she called president Trump another Hitler. It was said to scorn the president, but Hitler was a socialist. Of course, the media doesn’t point that out. I doubt they even know Hitler was a socialist.

         It may be that you are headed the right way when you merely believe what someone says, but if you haven’t figured it out for yourself, what have you got?

         2,000 years ago, people came running from Bethany to Jerusalem with incredible news. They were telling the amazing story that Jesus, whom most had at least heard about and many had seen and even talked to, had raised a man from the dead! Man, it was great! We were all there and the mourners were weeping and the dead guy was even in the tomb! Four days in the tomb! And Jesus just called out, ‘Lazarus! Come out!’ And, man, I am telling you right now, the dead guy, Lazarus, I guess, comes out still wrapped in grave cloths! It was awesome! And that guy Jesus, is headed here right now, he and his followers! He has to be the One promised to us! Has to be!

         The people began to gather. Off in the distance they could see a man riding a donkey’s colt. Surrounded by 10-12 men. Headed into town. People began to call out the words you say when the king is coming. They began to line the colt’s path with cloaks and palm fronds and leaves as though it were a carpet for a king’s animal. The cheers were deafening. The Jewish leaders were concerned. The people were turning to Jesus instead of them, the leaders. Something had to be done.

         And it was done. For the next few days word got around that Jesus was a blasphemer, a liar, a heretic. The words were lies, of course, but people were hearing it from their leaders. People were not examining the words against the evidence. No, people were following human nature. Easier to believe what someone says than to figure it out for themselves.

         It didn’t take long, really. In just four or five days the people had been worked into a frenzy. It usually doesn’t take long to sway people who let others think for them. One day they are loving Jesus, a few days later they are hating Jesus. In a large mob, they have gathered around Pilate’s residence in Jerusalem and are getting ugly. Pilate, trying to avoid a riot, makes the people an offer. Jesus hasn’t done anything. Pilate interviewed Him and he knew Jesus had done nothing wrong. But there was a horrible man awaiting execution. Everyone knew of Barabbas’ crimes. Terrible things. Pilate would have witnessed the scene a few days earlier of Jesus entering the city, he knew these same people were cheering Jesus then. So, he gave them the choice of the despicable Barabbas or the sin free Jesus. To his astonishment, they chose to spare Barabbas and kill Jesus. And so, it happened.

         We are quick to say that we would have stood for Jesus. But wait. Do we always choose Jesus over something else? Satan doesn’t put ugly choices before us. He puts the tempting things within our grasp. Then he whispers in our minds, “It is good. It makes sense. It will make you happy. Isn’t that what Jesus wants for you? Don’t worry. It is what you want!” And swayed by what Satan whispers to us, we take the wrong step. Career, marriage, acquisitions, whatever it might be. Someone else has done our thinking for us. Why, Satan even tells us to pray about it. And we go down Satan’s path.

         The men Jesus had chosen for followers considered themselves something special on that day walking into Jerusalem to cheering crowds. Mighty men of valor. One betrayed Him and then committed suicide. One was the favorite of Jesus, His special friend. He showed up at the cross, but then he ran and hid. Another, the swaggering one, the one who walked on water, came to the trial. But there, around a fire, he denied Jesus three different times. And then, he ran off and hid. The others, well, they just melted away in the crowds.

         I would like to think I would have been there all the way with Jesus! They would have had to have knocked me unconscious! No way I would have abandoned Jesus! And yet, I know who I am. I might have stood near John at the cross, or I might have been around the fire near Peter, but would I have actually stood with Christ? Would you?

         Even so, He did what He did for us.