JESUS, ACCORDING TO J.LO

I want to pick up on this issue of the seduction of popularity, which I talked about in yesterday's blog, and which has now come up three mornings in a row in my study of the gospel of Luke. Three times in the ninth chapter, Jesus is the subject of popular adoration. And three times, He responds by saying hard things about what it really means to follow Him, and where He Himself is going. Let me paraphrase these three incidents:

9:18-27 -- Peter: "Jesus, You're the One!" Jesus: "I must suffer, be rejected, and be killed; if you want to follow Me, you have to do the same."

9:37-45 -- crowd: "Jesus, You're amazing for being able to heal that demon-possessed boy." Jesus: "Make no mistake, I'm still going to be betrayed and sentenced."

9:57-62 -- follower: "Jesus, I'll follow You wherever You go." Jesus: "I have no place that I call home."

Three times, the crowd is fawning over Jesus. And three times, Jesus says things so difficult that you wonder if He is intentionally trying to decrease His fan base. Have you ever met a charismatic religious leader that was trying to decrease his fan base? This is the seduction of popularity: we can seek more of it, rather than seeking to do what we are called to do.

As J. Lo might put it, "Don't be fooled by the rocks that He's got; He's still He's still Jesus on the cross." No matter how popular Jesus got with the people, He knew His purpose in life was to die. Thank God He did not give into the seduction of popularity. He's still He's still Jesus on the cross.