According to the gospels, Jesus was a charismatic
figure who was constantly attracting crowds
wherever he went. People wanted to be healed, see a
miracle, or hear what Jesus had to say. Often there
were so many people it was difficult to get close to
Jesus, and people literally climbed trees (Luke
19:3-4) and cut holes in rooftops (Mark 2:4, Luke
5:19) just to get closer.

These crowds also traveled long distances and to
remote locations just to see him.
Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and
a large crowd from Galilee followed. When they
heard about all he was doing, many people came
to him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and the
regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and
Sidon.
Mark 3:7-9
These lucky crowds got to witness some of the most
amazing miracles in history. They saw Jesus feed
5,000, heal the lame and the blind, cast out demons,
raise people from the dead, and perform so many
other miracles that “even the whole world would not
have room for the books that would be written” (John
21:25). The Bible gives us a snapshot of what these
crowds saw:
A large crowd followed him, and he healed all
who were ill. Matthew 12:15
When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he
had compassion on them and healed their sick.
Matthew 14:14 (to be continued..)

wen u get to heaven ask God

Jesus vs. Barabbas
But when it came time for the public to choose
between freeing Jesus “the miracle worker” or
Barabbas “the murderer” — the choice should’ve been
clear, and yet… they chose to free Barabbas.
This ancient public opinion poll tells us that Jesus’s
approval rating was, somehow, even lower than that
of Barabbas’s… who didn’t exactly set the bar very
high. The crowd didn’t even free Barabbas because
they liked him, but because they disliked Jesus. Luke
23:23 says, “With loud shouts they insistently
demanded that he be crucified.” That really doesn’t
sound like the actions of a crowd who were deeply
impressed by the miracles of Jesus.
Where were all of Jesus’s supporters? Where were
the crowds that traveled long distances to see him?
Or even just the local fans? Where were the apostles?
Where was the blind man saying, “Free Jesus, for I
was blind and now I see!” Where was the deaf man?
The lame man? Jesus’s mother and brothers? The
centurion? The bleeding woman? Mary Magdalene?
Where was the father whose son was possessed?
Where was Lazarus saying, “Free Jesus! For I was
dead and Jesus made me alive again!” Where was
Zacchaeus saying, “Free Jesus! For I was a short,
nerdy, tree-climber and Jesus hung out with me
anyway!” Where were the large crowds that spread
cloaks and palm branches and sang to him as he
entered Jerusalem? Where were the droves that were
healed? Or the thousands that were fed? Where were
the legions of sick crying out, “Free Jesus so that we
too may be healed!”? Where were all these people? If
crowds gathered wherever Jesus went, where were
they now?
Unfortunately, there’s no way for us to go back in
time and observe the miracles of Jesus, but thanks to
this informal public opinion poll, we know that the
people who were there at that time didn’t seem to
think much of him. In fact, if they could see all of the
cathedrals and mega-churches dedicated to Jesus
today, they might say, “What…? You mean that guy?
That guy we passed over for Barabbas?! Well, I was
there, and I saw what he did, I saw it with my own
two eyes! So you can wipe off that grin, I know where
he’s been, it’s all been a pack of lies!” (Sorry — Phil
Collins humor.)

The Chief Priests: The reason for the crowd’s
change of heart?
According to the Bible, the reason the crowd turned
on Jesus was because the chief priests and the elders
“persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas” (Matt.
27:20, Mark 15:11).
The gospels paint the chief priests as antagonists,
and I don’t doubt that some of them were corrupt, but
they were still probably the best qualified to identify a
potential messiah, and they seemed to be doing as
God had instructed.
The scriptures clearly warned them that God would
be testing the Jews by sending false prophets, who
would try to impress them by accurately predicting
the future and performing signs and wonders. God
also instructed them to kill such prophets if they ever
tried to lead people away from the one true God.
If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams,
appears among you and announces to you a sign
or wonder, and if the sign or wonder spoken of
takes place, and the prophet says, “Let us follow
other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us
worship them,” you must not listen to the words of
that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God is
testing you to find out whether you love him with
all your heart and with all your soul… That
prophet or dreamer must be put to death for
inciting rebellion against the Lord your God…
~ Deuteronomy 13:1-5
So along comes Jesus, making prophecies,
performing signs and wonders, inciting rebellion,
and leading Jews to follow an unfamiliar God (one
with a child, who came from a human woman), and
so the chief priests did exactly as God instructed. If
God didn’t want them to kill Jesus, perhaps he
should’ve been more specific about what they should
expect, so there would be no misunderstanding about
who to kill and who to worship.
On top of all this, Jesus wasn’t exactly matching up
with a number of messianic prophecies (as the Jews
understood them). So there are many possibilities
here:
1. The chief priests were correct about Jesus
being a false prophet.
2. The scriptures were man-made, and therefore
useless for predicting anything about anyone.
3. Barabbas was a more impressive character
than Jesus.
4. The crowds didn’t believe the stories about
Lazarus and the other miracles.
5. God blinded all Jews (because of past sins),
and prevented them from recognizing their
messiah.
6. God permitted Satan to deceive all the people so
they would kill Jesus.
Most Christians would probably opt for one of the
last two explanations, but if either are true, then the
Jews (and mankind in general) are not responsible
for killing Jesus — God made it impossible for us to
recognize him. And strangely, even after the
resurrection, we have to presume God continued to
prevent the overwhelming majority of Jews from ever
recognizing him. (Poor Jews.)
Why did the crowd listen to the chief priests?
If Jesus had healed me or my family, or raised me
from the dead, I wouldn’t give a flying fig what the
chief priests said. And according to the gospel of
John, the crowds didn’t care. They recognized that
these miracles meant that Jesus was something
special, even if he didn’t exactly fit their messianic
expectations:
At that point some of the people of Jerusalem
began to ask, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to
kill? Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are
not saying a word to him. Have the authorities
really concluded that he is the Messiah? But we
know where this man is from; when the Messiah
comes, no one will know where he is from.”
Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts,
cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know
where I am from. I am not here on my own
authority, but he who sent me is true. You do not
know him, but I know him because I am from him
and he sent me.”
At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a
hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.
Still, many in the crowd believed in him. They
said, “When the Messiah comes, will he perform
more signs than this man?”
~ John 7:25-32
So the crowds were (reportedly) impressed with the
miracles of Jesus, and were willing to overlook a few
inconsistencies. And really… who are you going to
believe? The guy who can literally walk on water… or
the chief priests… who can’t?

Conclusion
Whatever may have happened that day, it’s clear that
the crowds were not impressed by the works of Jesus,
at least not enough to spare his life. And it’s difficult
to imagine that the chief priests were so persuasive
that they could talk people out of a miracle worker
and into a murderer. It’s also difficult to believe that
of all those who were healed, that they would all
abandon Jesus in his time of need. As impressed as
we are today with the works of Jesus, those who lived
with him did not seem nearly as impressed.
Hypothetically speaking, if the story of Jesus were
just a legend (based upon an actual person), the size
of the crowds and the miracles performed could’ve
been exaggerated one generation after Jesus, and it
would’ve been difficult to confirm or deny these
details. However, you couldn’t lie and say Jesus did
so many great miracles that they made him king of
the Jews (people would know that was bullshit). The
gospel writers had little choice but to excuse his
execution by insisting these witnesses were ignorant
and blind. But… what if they weren’t?
Source:500questions./#

The crowd choose Barrabas over jesus for several reasons but the common reason for all of them was simple......THEY NEEDED TO SEE A SIGN THAT HE WAS TRULY THE MESSIAH SO THEY THOUGHT THAT IF TRULY HE WAS HE WOULD SAVE HIMSELF AND COME DOWN IN ALL HIS GLORY FROM THE CROSS.

What an evil generation they were cos instead of believing outta his many teachings and miracles they just had to see a sign and what better sign than a man defying death by cruxificion in the presence of the full glare of rome and isreal. Little did they know that they were merely fulfilling the prophecy of Old(Isiaiah).

They all shouted to crucified jesus and release barrabas SO THAT THE SCRIPTURE MIGHT BE FULFILED (IS HIS DESTINY .. HIS MISSION .. HIS PURPOSE .. THE REASON HE CAME TO THE EARTH .. DON'T bLAME tHE CROWD THAT IS SHOUTING CRUCIFILE HIM, CUZ IS THE WILL OF GOD

@radical @ chukwuka
Why would god blind them so that they don't recognise their messiah and change?

peterphd:
2. The scriptures were man-made, and therefore
useless for predicting anything about anyone.

That is actually what happened. Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah (a prophet) for the Jews but the Torah had since been corrupted before him. The Jewish Bible itself testified to being distorted even before Jesus came:
Yirmeyah 8:8
Orthodox Jewish Bible (OJB)
8 How can ye say, We are chachamim (wise ones), and the torat Hashem is with us, when, hinei, the et sheker (deceiving pen) of the sofrim (scribes) has made it [the torat Hashem] into sheker (a falsehood,i.e., falsely authoritative scribal interpretation has twisted Scripture, perverting its truth; see also Jer 2:8; 2K3:16; here is a warning against false teachers, and it is important because the scribal group in Israel would become the rabbinic group in time to come, and here their doctrines are coming into direct opposition to the Torah and the inerrant prophecies of Jeremiah.)
The christians’ version of the above verse also confirmed the corruption of the Jewish scriptures:
Jeremiah 8:8
Revised Standard Version (RSV)
“How can you say, ‘We are wise,
and the law of the Lord is with us’?
But behold, the false pen of the scribes
has made it into a lie.

On why the Jews would want to kill Jesus, i think this has to do with the fact that, the Jews were not ready to accept the reforms he brought for them, in his attempt to return them to the pure words of God, as he reportedly accused them of transgressing the commandment of God because of their traditions.: Matthew 15:3, Mark 7:9, 7:13 etc. It seems the scribes and pharisees knew that Jesus was real but rejected him perhaps for being too critical of them. And then they justified their disbelief in him with their distorted prophesies which they claimed he didn't fulfil. Another thing that should not be overlooked is the fact that all the narrations about Jesus and what actually happened between him, the pharisees, his disciples and the crowds etc were written by the church many years after Jesus had departed. So everything you see in the NT is what the church wanted you to see. We cannot really know what actually happened because the NT is unreliable.

@ peter: God didnt blind anybody. They had their free will and they exercised it. They saw his miracles and they heard him teach in their temples yet they made up their minds to despise him and willingly gave him up to pilate to be suffered and crucified. Yes God sees the end even from the beginning but he doesnt necessarily have to tamper with our free will for that to happen.

@ radical
So you're saying the same Jesus that fed 3000 people and healed the sick was killed as a result of freewill that is actually gods will? That means there's no freewill

Bros whatever decision you have taken in this life has always been yours. If you choose to do good its because you chose to do good and if you do what is evil its because you chose to do what is evil. Dont blame God's omniscience for whatever action that men decide to take based on their own free will. Like i told you they wanted a full glare sign before they would believe he was the messiah. That's the only explanation for choosing barrabas whom everyone knew was convicted of murder which is a hideous crime. Even Pilate saw his innocence but for fear of the jews he started playing pranks by asking them to choose btw the Lord and Barrabas. He knew theyre would be some uproar in judea if he had let Jesus go and that will draw d eye of Rome towards his rulership. That why he washed his hands thinking that only would absolve him from the guilt. There was nothing going to stop the cricifixion because they wanted to see it happen thats why they all gathered at the foot of the cross and mocked him to save himself. Even the thief by his side joined them in mocking him to save himself just as he saved others b4 the other rebuked and asked to be with Christ in paradise. The guy that believed he was the messiah belived so out of his own volition and wasnt coerced by any divine powers.

Also note that when Christ said "Father forgive them because they know not what they do" it doesnt mean that its because they were coerced by the hand of God but rather its Christ teaching us the paschal mystery of forgiveness. HE (Jesus Christ) is the lamb of God who decided to lay down his life for mankind so that we can be reconciled to God. So bro its all about forgiveness. Duringhis ministry he taught his apostles to love their enemies....how then do u expect him not to show them an example of how to love by forgiving his accusers and executioners even whilst hanging from the pain of cruxificion which they inflicted on him.

T.B Joshua is a philanthropist in Nigeria.He has allegedly performed miracles and fed the poor and needy.If T.B Joshua was to be hanged would the poor and needy just change and shout "hang him! Hang him!" ? Now, back to Jesus, it is the same situation and we can only say either the crowd weren't impressed by jesus' miracles (or they never happened) or God used the. People to kill him..get my drift?

Jesus- real name yeshua, wasn't the true Messiah.
If he was the Jews would have accepted him.

In my opinion those miracles he did were made up by his apostles or Romans.

It's very unlikely that the Jews rejected Jesus because he was trying to modify the Torah.
The Jews have a list of criteria which the Messiah must do in order to prove himself.

Jesus failed in meeting up with the criteria, so when he claimed to be the Messiah the Jews got angry and called him a blasphemer.
You know in judaism, blasphemy is unforgivable and punishable by death.

The Jews actually believe yeshua is in hell now.

Read this about the Jewish Messiah and who to prove his authenticity

www.nairaland.com/1496957/jewish-messiah

Thanks macof, I'm waiting to see how Christians can wriggle out of this one.

@ macof:Ur allegations that Jesus' miracles never happened cannot be backed by any hisstorical doc as opposed to what d Christian gospel accounts. Its just ur own theory doesn't mean its right. Apart from the bible there r other historical docs dat supported d existence of Jesus. And what says d jews cannot be wrong. Its clear dat they were expecting a political messiah rather dan a spiritual one. Even amongst d leaders of d jews some accepted Jesus as d Christ.
@ peter: Christians walk wit faith and dat faith is built upon by hearing of d word of God. Hope I've cleared ur doubt abt d reason y d jews chose jesus over barabas.

because they are of their father the devil and the will of their father will they do

free radical: @ macof:Ur allegations that Jesus' miracles never happened cannot be backed by any hisstorical doc as opposed to what d Christian gospel accounts. Its just ur own theory doesn't mean its right. Apart from the bible there r other historical docs dat supported d existence of Jesus. And what says d jews cannot be wrong. Its clear dat they were expecting a political messiah rather dan a spiritual one. Even amongst d leaders of d jews some accepted Jesus as d Christ.
@ peter: Christians walk wit faith and dat faith is built upon by hearing of d word of God. Hope I've cleared ur doubt abt d reason y d jews chose jesus over barabas.

I know I just assumed the romans made up the stories of his miracles. But honestly the best way to know about Jesus would be to hear from an intelligent jewish historian.
one thing is for sure, The jews dont agree with the bible on the stories of his life

macof: I know I just assumed the romans made up the stories of his miracles. But honestly the best way to know about Jesus would be to hear from an intelligent jewish historian.
one thing is for sure, The jews dont agree with the bible on the stories of his life

wrong. The best way to know about Jesus is from those he ate, dined and slept with...his apostles. It is based on their witness that we christians believe.

free radical: wrong. The best way to know about Jesus is from those he ate, dined and slept with...his apostles. It is based on their witness that we christians believe.

The apostles were tagged as liars and besides the NT is full of modifications by the Vatican, its not an honest record of Yeshua's life.

Also, luke and Paul never knew Yesua, but in the NT it seemed as if they were so close to him. you can imagine Luke's version being part of the bible when Andrew's version isnt

macof: The apostles were tagged as liars and besides the NT is full of modifications by the Vatican, its not an honest record of Yeshua's life.

Also, luke and Paul never knew Yesua, but in the NT it seemed as if they were so close to him. you can imagine Luke's version being part of the bible when Andrew's version isnt

You know dat aside from the 12 that he choose and named apostles there were others who followed him as disciples. D four gospel accounts that made it to the bible were consistent about d life of Jesus so hw then hs d vatican altered anytin. Where is ur proof for dt or do u like believing in conspiracy theories. Paul was visited by Jesus on his way to damascus so he met d risen Christ and his witness is borne out of d holy spirit which filled him and taught him what to teach.

free radical: You know dat aside from the 12 that he choose and named apostles there were others who followed him as disciples. D four gospel accounts that made it to the bible were consistent about d life of Jesus so hw then hs d vatican altered anytin. Where is ur proof for dt or do u like believing in conspiracy theories. Paul was visited by Jesus on his way to damascus so he met d risen Christ and his witness is borne out of d holy spirit which filled him and taught him what to teach.

Luke never knew Yeshua, he was still a kid when Yeshua was still alive. All he wrote in his book was based on his sentiments and plan to create a new religion. He was always working under the instruction of Paul.
Luke was half Greek, half Syrian. And he was a pagan. He was also an historian by profession.

Jesus was already dead when Paul converted, or do u believe in ghost? if u say Paul met the risen christ how come I haven't him, or how come no one in this generation has?

macof:

Luke never knew Yeshua, he was still a kid when Yeshua was still alive. All he wrote in his book was based on his sentiments and plan to create a new religion. He was always working under the instruction of Paul.
Luke was half Greek, half Syrian. And he was a pagan. He was also an historian by profession.

Jesus was already dead when Paul converted, or do u believe in ghost? if u say Paul met the risen christ how come I haven't him, or how come no one in this generation has?

YOU ARE RIGHT,JESUS WAS DEAD BE4 PAUL GOT CONVERTED TO CHRISTAIN,,SOME PEOPLE DON'T READ BIBLE PROPER,WHY??

peterphd: @ radical
So you're saying the same Jesus that fed 3000 people and healed the sick was killed as a result of freewill that is actually gods will? That means there's no freewill

PETER, JESUS FED 5,000 NOT 3000, YOU BEAR PETER BUT YOU DON'T SPEAK LIKE PETER.WHY?

free radical: wrong. The best way to know about Jesus is from those he ate, dined and slept with...his apostles. It is based on their witness that we christians believe.

THAT'S JUST IT, WE CHRISTAIN BELIEVE ON WHAT THE APOSTLES WITNESS.

peterphd: @radical @ chukwuka
Why would god blind them so that they don't recognise their messiah and change?

Peter, ITS FOR THE BETTERMENT OF YOU AND ME,SO THAT OUR SINS CAN BE FORGIVEN!

Charles noble: Peter, ITS FOR THE BETTERMENT OF YOU AND ME,SO THAT OUR SINS CAN BE FORGIVEN!

so what happens to the Law of Karma

The Jews of that time did with Jesus what they did to God's former prophets of old. If the message was good, we would listen; but if the message was to make us feel guilty, we ... Jesus came to give a law that was kind of different from what they had been taught: the mosaic law. For example, when Jesus healed a leper in a synagogue on a sabbath day majority of the worshippers wanted to push him down the cliff! To make matters worst, He said: "Before Abraham I was." The climax was when He said He was God's son, or was it when He said He would be seated at the right hand side of God? These were all 'blasphemies', punishable by death.
Times without number some of the Jews asked Him if he was the Messiah. Even the great John the Baptist had a time he lost it on Jesus' Lordship. Sometimes most believed, sometimes they doubted, but they knew there was something, 'something' about this Man. It got to an extent that some said His source of power was from Beelzebuub.
Yes, most of the crowd he pulled did not come to listen to his teachings. They were either concerned with their belly, His numerous miracles, or to try and use His words against Him. Not that few did not believe in what He was preaching. The opportunity finally presented itself and they chose Barabass. It was a custom for a law breaker to be released, and they thought they were doing God a favor over an unrepentant blasphemer, so they wanted to free Barabass.

Charles noble: PETER, JESUS FED 5,000 NOT 3000, YOU BEAR PETER BUT YOU DON'T SPEAK LIKE PETER.WHY?

Jesus fed 5000 and 3000 people @ 2 different events.hehe...lemme say I lost my faith.

macof:

Luke never knew Yeshua, he was still a kid when Yeshua was still alive. All he wrote in his book was based on his sentiments and plan to create a new religion. He was always working under the instruction of Paul.
Luke was half Greek, half Syrian. And he was a pagan. He was also an historian by profession.

Jesus was already dead when Paul converted, or do u believe in ghost? if u say Paul met the risen christ how come I haven't him, or how come no one in this generation has?

That you havent had an encounter with Christ doesnt mean there aren't others who have. When sumone rises from the dead he cannot be a ghost again . Luke's account of the gospel is almost similar to that of Matthew who was an apostle so that trashes your claim that Luke wrote out of sentiments. When you talk about the plan to create a new religion as one big conspiracy I laff because even when Christ was alive he made it clear that he wanted to establish a new order to the world. He spoke about his kingdom thats why he is a messiah. He promised to give the apostles the holy spirit to teach them and guide them even till the end of time. Christianity as we know it was birth when the holy spirit descended on the apostles and they began to bear witness that Jesus Christ is God. So broda unless you can prove to me beyond any reasonable doubt that what was accounted in the bible has been 'doctored' then I believe d inspired accounts of the bible authors than to believe your unfounded claims.

whatofyou: The Jews of that time did with Jesus what they did to God's former prophets of old. If the message was good, we would listen; but if the message was to make us feel guilty, we ... Jesus came to give a law that was kind of different from what they had been taught: the mosaic law. For example, when Jesus healed a leper in a synagogue on a sabbath day majority of the worshippers wanted to push him down the cliff! To make matters worst, He said: "Before Abraham I was." The climax was when He said He was God's son, or was it when He said He would be seated at the right hand side of God? These were all 'blasphemies', punishable by death.
Times without number some of the Jews asked Him if he was the Messiah. Even the great John the Baptist had a time he lost it on Jesus' Lordship. Sometimes most believed, sometimes they doubted, but they knew there was something, 'something' about this Man. It got to an extent that some said His source of power was from Beelzebuub.
Yes, most of the crowd he pulled did not come to listen to his teachings. They were either concerned with their belly, His numerous miracles, or to try and use His words against Him. Not that few did not believe in what He was preaching. The opportunity finally presented itself and they chose Barabass. It was a custom for a law breaker to be released, and they thought they were doing God a favor over an unrepentant blasphemer, so they wanted to free Barabass.

Not too different from the explanation I gave because to clear their doubt they needed to see a sign. Jesus didnt really fit their idea of what the Messiah they waited for would look like. They were expecting a powerful man that would defeat all their enemies and free them from all their oppressors. That is a political messiah. That's why he kept telling them that his Kingdom wasnt of this world but of the one to come. To clear their doubt because they know he wasnt just an ordinary prophet because of the way he teaches with authority as if he's God talking himself, the way he cast out demons and they (the demons) even know him and thenumerous miracles which he performed. Not to talk of how he forgives sins and openly criticize the leaders of the jewish temples. The crucifixion was supposed to be the final confirmatory test. If he can come down from the cross we will believe and follow him for it would mean that even pilate (Rome) cannot harm him. Little did they know they were only fulfilling prophecy of old and God's plan for redemption for all mankind.