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“Here is your king," Pilate said…But they shouted, "Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!" (John 19:14).

On Palm Sunday Jesus entered Jerusalem, welcomed like a king.  People lined the road singing His praises.  Yet just five days later, a crowd gathered at the governor’s palace screamed for Jesus’ death on a cruel Roman cross.  How could the people of Jerusalem be so fickle?  How could they abandon Christ so quickly?

I’m not sure they did.  Many in Jerusalem were loyal to Jesus and held Him in high regard.  There were also plenty of individuals who hated Jesus and wanted Him out of the picture permanently.  But a lot of residents in the city probably didn’t feel strongly about the Savior either way—they might have heard something about Him, but they just weren’t all that interested in learning more.

Still, Jesus had a sizable following, and the leaders of the people felt that He presented a challenge to their authority.  But they didn’t dare move against Christ openly lest they cause a riot.  So they hatched a plan with the traitor Judas—snatch Jesus under the cover of darkness while most of His followers were safely in bed.  A quick trial followed, and Jesus was brought to the governor for execution before anyone got wind of what was going on.

But Governor Pilate wasn’t convinced they had a case against Jesus.  So the leaders rounded up a crowd to chant on cue and demand the Savior’s bloody death.  Pilate didn’t want a riot in his city, so he gave in to their demands and sent Jesus off to die.

I think that the protesters who shouted for Jesus’ death were hand-picked for the job, just as mass protests are orchestrated these days exclusively for news cameras.  How else do you explain the people weeping on the street as Jesus was led away with a heavy cross on His back?  Those people cheering for Jesus five days earlier had been caught napping—before they knew it, the Lord of Life was condemned by His enemies.

Don’t be caught napping like those followers of Jesus were—Satan is able to work mischief so quickly that you can be caught unawares.  Stay close to Jesus every moment of every day; it’s the only way to avoid getting separated by the devil’s evil scheming.