As our Lord came near to the end of His life, the religious leaders saw that they were losing their place of prominence in the sight of most of the people. The ordinary Jews who heard Him showed how fascinated they were by Jesus. They asked the question, “How does this Man know letters, having never studied” (John 7:15)?
The religious leaders “…heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him” and “…sent officers to take Him” (John 7:32). The soldiers returned empty-handed saying, “No man ever spoke like this Man” (John 7:46). The leaders tried to use their influence as religious leaders to persuade men by saying, “Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him” (John 7:48)? This had no impact on the multitudes. Those leaders could not deny His power shown in the resurrection of Lazarus and in their frustration, “…the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death” (John 12:10).
The very next day, Jerusalem was in an uproar as Jesus made that triumphant entry into the city. He had been totally rejected by the “godly” leaders, yet His popularity was so evident. The leaders confronted Him in the temple, and He dealt with every one of their questions. “And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him any more” (Matt. 22:46). They had failed! How did the multitude respond? “And the common people heard Him gladly” (Mark 12:37).
“The common people heard Him…” Thank God for “common people,” for the kingdom of God did not attract nobility, but it was built upon the response of “common people” (1 Cor. 1:26; Jas. 2:5). “Common people” loved Jesus.
Jesus spent His life dealing with the “common people.” He ate with sinners and publicans; He helped Legion with the demons; He was part of the life of the woman who had seven demons; He touched the lepers; He felt the touch of a poor woman who touched His garments; He spent time with a woman who had had five husbands and was now living with a man outside of any marriage; He ignored the multitude to heal that blind man who was despised by most; He chose a “terrorist” (Zealot) to be an apostle and chose ignorant and unlearned fishermen to proclaim Him to the world. Thank God for “common people.”
The lesson to be learned from this should be obvious. Our world is filled with those religious leaders and their blind followers, but there are still “common people” who are searching for the meaning of life. As we sow the seed we must never overlook the “common people.” If Jesus were here He would definitely see the “common people” as future saints!