The role of leader of rebellion was said to be
one rejected by Jesus during his time in the desert.
Yet on his return he took up the reigns of John
in battling for a change in a society
subservient to Roman rule.

Increasingly we read of the clamour of the people
for a Messiah, a leader, a way out of poverty.
The people of the land were desperate.
They had nothing left to lose!

Perhaps it was in responding to their need,
and in gathering people together for a cause,
that Jesus stoked the fires of imminent revolt.
Perhaps realisation of a common purpose
spurred on the flames of rebellion.

So we read, through the medium of reported healings
of how the movement grew and of mass meetings
in which many were "healed", changed,
converted to the cause.

It all culminated in Jerusalem
as cheering crowds welcomed him to the city,
and he defied the Temple authorities on their home ground.
Authority reacted, as authority commonly does, with violence.
The leader was arrested, tried and finally crucified,
but, this time, the movement lived on;
the cause was resurrected.
Jesus "lived"!