[233 words]
Crowds followed Christ. He could have used the crowds that followed Him to have thrown Jerusalem and Palestine into a turmoil. But Christ would not sacrifice truth and righteousness for a crowd. When Christ saw that the crowds were following Him for what they could get, that their motives were wrong, and that they were not seeing the truth that he was preaching, He challenged them with a question that shook them up and thinned the crowd. He said, “Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.” He then urged them, “To work not for the meat that perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you” (John 6:26, 27). He then gave His discourse on the “bread of life” and many of the crowd lost interest. Even some of those who had committed themselves as His disciples were numbered among the crowd which “went back and walked no more with him.” When Christ began to sound the real depth of His message and the meaning of discipleship, He lost the crowd.
Let us not deceive ourselves in thinking that we can succeed where the Lord could not. Christ would not sacrifice truth for a crowd and neither will we if we love the Lord and the souls of men.
Franklin Camp (deceased)
via The Chapman Challenger