"Crowd" Discipleship

I am so blessed this semester to have Father Joseph from the Sudan in two of my classes! In Luke last week, he made an observation and a connection which I found mind-blowing. Very often in Luke's Gospel, there are references to "the crowd" that follows Jesus. Dr. Rowe has continually asked us the question, "whose voice can you trust in Luke's narrative?" The question becomes quite tricky when even the disciples often do not recognize Jesus' mission. It was at this point that Joseph mentioned that we perhaps we cannot and should not trust the crowds that follow Jesus. They may be following Jesus, but are they the ones who Jesus commends for understanding and seeking the way of the Kingdom? In his country, Fr. Joseph speaks of folks who claim allegiance to Jesus yet promote their tribal identity over others the next day. It is the crowd mentality of following Jesus that easily decieves us. They claim to follow, but the Word has not soaked deeply into their souls.