“When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take Him by
force, to make Him a king, He departed again unto a mountain Himself alone.”
John 6:15
In John 6 Jesus
had just finished feeding the 5,000 men (plus the unnumbered women and
children) with a little boy’s lunch. This was only the 4th miracle
that Jesus performed, and it was the first real, public miracle that the Jews
witnessed.
Jesus performed a
public miracle by turning water into wine at a wedding, but that was in Cana,
and His 2nd and 3rd miracles were the healing of a
government official’s son and the lame man by the pool. These latter two
miracles didn’t have many witnesses. So when thousands of people were fed
miraculously an outbreak erupted.
Some of these
Jews may have believed that their long-awaited Messiah was there in the flesh,
but their misunderstanding of Scripture led them to believe that He should take
the throne by force and rule with an iron fist. Others may have just wanted
someone to overthrow the existing government. Others still may have just
enjoyed the show and the free lunch. Either way, Jesus perceived that their
emotions did not include taking up their crosses and following Him.
So with all the
power and authority of heaven on His side, Jesus demonstrated the upmost
humility. Can you imagine if you were in His situation—with throngs of people
pushing to make you their king (or president)? Add to this the knowledge that
Jesus knew the cross awaited Him, and the temptation to give the people what they
wanted would be too much for most men.
This display of
humility from the King of kings serves as a model for us. Maybe, like Jesus,
you need to depart to some mountain before your ego gets crowned.
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