The dichotomy of Holy Week always hits hard. On Palm Sunday we join our voice with that of the crowd who welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem during his “Triumphal Entry.” Today, just a few days later we morn remembering the voice of the crowd calling for his execution.

Three of the Gospel accounts of the Triumphal entry into Jerusalem have some of the disciples prepare for his entry into Jerusalem. Jesus sends them on ahead to find the donkey and get things ready for his arriaval. You see the disciples following instructions, and then they placed their own cloaks on the donkey, and walked with Jesus shouting. And the crowd responds by joining in. They influenced the crowd.

I can only imagine how wonderful it must have felt to be one of the twelve as they followed Jesus into Jerusalem with all the shouts calling for his coronation. They were probably all smiles they were encouraging the crowd, influencing the crowd. The crowd cheers for Jesus because the followers of Jesus gave them reason.

A few days later the same is not true. Its not the disciples who influence the crowd, but the enemies of Jesus. Its almost as if the followers of Jesus thought the game was over when he entered Jerusalem triumphantly, and they then let their guard down. One follower betrays Jesus, others can’t even stay awake and keep watch for him as he prays. One denies not once, not twice but three times that he even knew Jesus.

While his followers betrayed, slept and denied, the opponents of Jesus went to work. By the time his supporters realized the game had gone into extra innings it was already too late. The best they could manage at that point was getting the body of Jesus turned over to their care after his death. Since my childhood I have wondered how this story might have been different if the followers of Jesus had kept playing ball…that is working. Just because we stop to take a spiritual breath doesn’t mean that the devil is going to honor our time out. If we’re not going to provide the influence for the crowd, satan will.

I enjoy gardening. Whenever possible, we always have planted a small garden. One year, our garden grew especially well and the vines stretched across the rows leaving very little room to walk. Our middle son was about three years old, and loved helping in the garden. I always gave special instructions on how to walk through the jungle of vines, but he never listened. He always wound up falling on the vines. I never understood why he found it so difficult until I stopped walking long enough to watch him. Instead of looking for his own spots in which to step, he was trying to walk in my footsteps. Because I was taking such large steps, he kept falling down.

When I moved, he moved. When I stopped he stopped, and also became distracted by the birds and squirrels forgetting that he was standing in the midst of my vines trampling over them. When I reached down to pull weeds, so did he.

The way we choose to live teaches others how to live and change the world. We influence the crowds by having a faith that doesn’t just sin in pews, but gets out into the world filling gaps, meeting needs, and solving problems. You can’t take time off from being a follower of Christ. You never reach a point when you’ve done enough or served your time. We live in a world that needs our influence. We’ve been silent too long, and our enemies are working the crowd. The best way to change the voice that the crowd hears and give a reason to the cheering for Jesus is to offer a helping hand. The best kind of helping hand is still the one at the end of your arm.

Two crowds. Two opposite outcomes. The crowd is going to listen to someone’s voice. Whose voice are you letting the crowd hear?