The ultimate “cancel culture” catastrophe …

It would be hard to be alive today and not to have heard of “cancel culture.”

What is it?

Dictionary.com, in it’s pop culture section, defines cancel culture like this:

“Cancel culture refers to the popular practice of withdrawing support for (canceling) public figures and companies after they have done or said something considered objectionable or offensive. Cancel culture is generally discussed as being performed on social media in the form of group shaming.”

That’s a somewhat mild definition of cancel culture. Today, it’s not uncommon for people to be so extreme in their efforts to “cancel” someone that they demand people be fired from their current jobs, not considered for open positions, being “unworthy” of serving in political office, and some have even been guilty of acts of violence in expressing their desire to cancel someone.

That’s not just a reality of cancel culture today, it’s something Jesus experienced 2,000 years ago in the ultimate cancel culture catastrophe.

Some people were so determined to “cancel” Jesus that they plotted or supported His death …

The religious leaders. After seeing the miracles Jesus performed and making multiple attempts to challenge what He taught (only to come out looking very foolish!), the religious leaders of the day finally decided they just needed to cancel Jesus by killing Him in order to completely eliminate Him and eradicate His influence.

“Many of the people who were with Mary believed in Jesus when they saw this happen. But some went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. Then the leading priests and Pharisees called the high council together. ‘What are we going to do?’ they asked each other. ‘This man certainly performs many miraculous signs. If we allow him to go on like this, soon everyone will believe in him. Then the Roman army will come and destroy both our Temple and our nation.’ Caiaphas, who was high priest at that time, said, ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about! You don’t realize that it’s better for you that one man should die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed.’ He did not say this on his own; as high priest at that time he was led to prophesy that Jesus would die for the entire nation. And not only for that nation, but to bring together and unite all the children of God scattered around the world. So from that time on, the Jewish leaders began to plot Jesus’ death,” John 11:45-53.

The politics. While Jesus did not come to Earth as a politician, He was a King who was initiating a new kingdom. A concise reading of the Gospels will uncover that a lot of what Jesus said would be taken by the Roman government as a threat. The empire considered itself to be the sole steward of power, and any new “king” or “kingdom” would be seen as a challenge. Notice the first question that Pilate asked Jesus:

“Now Jesus was standing before Pilate, the Roman governor. ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’ the governor asked him. Jesus replied, ‘You have said it,'” Matthew 27:11.

Jesus didn’t help Himself with His answer! That was more than enough for Pilate to be comfortable with “canceling” Jesus.

The public. People are fickle (to say the least!). They love you when they think you are beneficial to them, and are happy to “cancel” you when you don’t live up to their expectations. They loved a Jesus who miraculously fed them, healed their diseases, and even raised some from the dead. If He would do that, and be a warrior who delivered them from submission to Rome, they would be happy to make Him their king! But that wasn’t the kind of kingdom Jesus was ushering in. So the people who loudly welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem with cries of, “Praise God! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hail to the King of Israel!” (Jn. 12:13) would very quickly call for Jesus to be canceled:

“Pilate responded, ‘Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?’ They shouted back, ‘Crucify him!'” Matthew 27:22.

Even the disciples canceled Jesus by abandoning Him. Even though Jesus clearly explained to His disciples what would happen to Him in Jerusalem, when it suddenly became a reality they were quick to hit “cancel” by immediately deserting Jesus:

“Then Jesus said to the crowd, ‘Am I some dangerous revolutionary, that you come with swords and clubs to arrest me? Why didn’t you arrest me in the Temple? I was there teaching every day. But this is all happening to fulfill the words of the prophets as recorded in the Scriptures.’ At that point, all the disciples deserted him and fled,” Matthew 26:55-56.

Everyone tried to cancel Jesus.

We know how that turned out!

Yet today, we still see religious leaders, politicians, people, and even some who profess to be disciples attempt to cancel Jesus. Their efforts will end in catastrophe just like the earlier attempts did.

There really are only two choices: Surrender to Jesus as your Lord and Savior and serve Him alone, or try to cancel Him. Which choice have you made?

Scotty