One of the things that always impresses me about the Bible is that the people are real--we know people just like most of the characters. Not just goody-goody ones that one might expect, but wondering people, and hurting people, and people who mess their lives up, and people who don't know what they are doing or why. One of the interesting collection of people we read about in Scripture are the ones that we read about at this time of year. These are people that had a truly one of a kind experience--many different kinds but all reacting to one major event in the history of our world.
It starts with a death of a friend of Jesus and his friends; a man named Lazarus. When he got sick, his sisters reacted with what would seem, up till then, an unusual expectation. They knew that they knew someone who could save his life--in that day, this would not be a usual expectation, But they knew Someone who had been saving lives in their area, and if He would only come, Lazarus would be healed. Jesus had gotten the message that Lazarus was seriously ill, but to everyone's amazement, Jesus didn't show much concern. When Jesus finally showed up, Lazarus had been dead for four days. To everyone's total surprise, Jesus demonstrated something they didn't expect--He healed him even from this; and explained to the sisters that He had the power over life and death. Everybody else got the message: the local authorities, the Sadducees and Pharisees and all the other religious/political big shots, that this was something out of everyone's experience and could not be tolerated. They had finely balanced political arrangements with the rulers in Rome that they would see that nothing would upset. It was already getting dicey, because there were political factions who were determined to provide that upset. The establishment leaders cooked up a proposition: it would be expedient for the most visible rabble-rouser to die.
We know the story--the authorities manipulated the crowds to turn their unrest onto Jesus, and He allowed it to happen. There were those who expected legions of angels to rescue Him and eliminate the Romans, but they didn't. He was arrested and executed and buried, and--He didn't stay dead. This was hard for the people, even his followers, to understand; there have always been those who still think it's fake news. Even His follower Thomas didn't believe it at first, and demanded proof--which to his credit, he recognized the truth as soon as he saw it.
It started with the small group of followers, and then larger groups, and then the impassioned preaching of His followers who "turned the world upside down", for which we are-- literally--eternally grateful.
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