The Premiere

The media knows that many people are obsessed with celebrities. They following them on Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, etc. They buy magazines to read about them. They search Google for information about them. They flood Reddit when they do an Ask Me Anything. The celebrity agents are constantly trying to find ways to keep them in the news.

There is probably no organization that better understands how to celebrate a celebrity than Hollywood. Every time a new movie is premiered, they roll out the red carpet, watch the crowds line up around it, bring in the cameras and microphones, and let the parade of celebrities begin. And the celebrities eat up all that attention as they are treated like royalty.

This article was posted following this year’s Oscars in February:

While many actors are naturals in front of the camera when they're on set, walking the carpet is a whole other thing -- and everybody remembers their first.

The lights, the cameras, the questions: It's a lot to take in.

 

"The first carpet I ever walked was probably for my first film, which was quite a big success, at the Berlin Film Festival. I just remember all the flashing cameras and stuff. It was strange and surreal," said actor Riz Ahmed, who recently appeared in "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story"
 

And then, of course, there's what to wear. Oscar nominee Natalie Portman has top designers dressing her when she walks the red carpet now, but it wasn't always that way.

"My first red carpet was the premiere of "The Professional" when I was 13, and my mom bought me a cow print, fake-fur jacket that I wore on the red carpet with my hair slicked back. It was a very exciting moment," Portman joked.

 

"The very first time I walked the red carpet was for the "Beverly Hills Cop" premiere. I remember I had on a glitter, stupid jacket with glitter all on it like a maniac...," laughed actor and comedian Eddie Murphy. (by George Pennacchio, abc7ny.com)

But with such closely watched lives, it only takes a moment for these celebrities to do something that can cause their staunchest fans to turn on them. An ugly premiere dress, a tweet that offends, a drunken stupor, etc. Fans are fickle.

Jesus also had fans that surrounded Him whenever He would show up in a city. Word about the miracles had spread. Claims that He just might be the promised Messiah had been told everywhere. Belief that He was a prophet of God were rampant. Jesus worried the Jewish religious leaders who saw their power eroding to this wandering preacher. He even worried the government officials that feared His massive following.

The stories about Jesus had reached a point where He was a celebrity. While Jesus remained humble throughout, when He entered the city of Jerusalem the people created a spontaneous premiere-like atmosphere.

A very large crowd spread their robes on the road; others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road. Then the crowds who went ahead of Him and those who followed kept shouting: 

Hosanna to the Son of David!
 He who comes in the name
of the Lord is the blessed One!
Hosanna in the highest heaven! (Matthew 21:8,9, HCSB)

Jesus was riding on the back of a young donkey or colt. The people didn’t have a red carpet to put down, so they put their robes on the ground indicating that they recognized Jesus as someone special. This is something that probably would only have been done for royalty during that time.

Some people were a little more modest—because removing your robe would leave you in your undergarments – basically a loincloth. So these people cut down palm branches and placed them on the ground or waved them in the air. That is why we celebrate Palm Sunday.

The crowd loved Jesus. He could have asked them to do anything at that point and they probably would have done it. That is why the leaders were afraid of Jesus. 

But in less than a week, Jesus went from the people’s favorite celebrity to the government’s most wanted. He was arrested and dragged before multiple religious and government officials. Pilate interviewed Jesus and found nothing to charge Him with, so being the benevolent ruler he was…Pilate had Jesus whipped with the cat o nine tails.

This was a whip that would have bits of metal and jagged pots tied to the ends of each tail that would rip the flesh off at every lash. He was given 39 lashes. He was so disfigured by this punishment that he was barely recognizable as a man, according to the prophet Isaiah.

But the religious leaders insisted that Pilate give Jesus a death penalty. So he brought Jesus before a crowd, possibly some of the same people that had celebrity Jesus only a few days prior.

Pilate asked them, “What should I do then with Jesus, who is called Messiah?”

They all answered, “Crucify Him!”

Then he said, “Why? What has He done wrong?”

But they kept shouting, “Crucify Him!” all the more. (Matthew 27:22,23, HCSB)

What fickle fans. One day screaming and shouting as He entered, throwing their clothes at Him, and waving fan branches, and the next time we see them they are calling for Him to be put to death. Nobody needs fans like these.

And they weren’t just demanding that He be put to death. They were calling for the worst form of death imaginable. Crucifixions was a form of torture until the person dies. The Romans had learned from centuries of torture by various kingdoms how to make death a horrible, painful experience. It was usually only used for the worst type of criminals. This is what the crowd was demanding for Jesus.

They would place a criminal on a wooden crossbeam, tie their arms and legs down, and then drive large nails about the size of tent spikes through their wrists and feet. The next thing they would do is drop the cross into a pre-dug hole. The impact from the drop would usually cause the lungs of the criminal to collapse. This meant that every time the criminal wanted to breath they had to push against the nails in their hands and feet to pull themselves up enough to gasp for air. They would typically leave the criminal like that for days until they finally lost the will or the ability to lift themselves. They basically would die from suffocation or lack of air.

Remember, Jesus had already been beaten nearly to death with a whip. He was deformed, skin torn off, and blood oozing from multiple scars. Once Pilate gave Jesus over to the crowd to be crucified, the soldiers tormented Him some more. They blind-folded him and took turns hitting him in the face demanding that Jesus prophecy who had hit Him. They tore out chunks of His beard and spit in His face. Then they forced Him to carry His own means of death, the wooden crossbeam, up to the top of Mount Golgotha. They then placed a crown of thorns on His head and put a sign on His cross that read, “Jesus, King of the Jews, just to mock Him even further.

All of this happened to Jesus just days after He was celebrated. And yet, Jesus could have stopped it at any time. He had the power of Heaven at His command. He could have called on thousands of angels to come to His aid. Instead, Jesus allowed these mere humans that He had created treat Him like a common criminal.

Why? Why would Jesus do this? Because He loved you. Because He loved me. Jesus took your place. He took my place. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” And the penalty for that sin is death. Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death.” You had a death sentence on your head because of your sin, but Jesus took your place. The next part of Romans 6:23 says, “but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Jesus died on a cross because He wanted you to have eternal life. He wanted you to be forgiven of your sins. He suffered and bleed and died for you. But in order to receive this free gift from God, you have to admit that you need it, believe that Jesus died for you, and commit to make Jesus the boss of your life.