John 6:15 - Withdrawing From a Confused Crowd

John 6:15
Jesus therefore perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force, to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone.  

Message: Withdrawing from a Confused Crowd

Time: John most likely wrote between A.D. 85 and 90. John's purpose in writing was, "that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name (John 20:31)."

What the Lord is Saying: As I am reading the Bible, sometimes I forget about the politics going on at the time of the writings or even that there is that going on. I've never been a great person to pay a lot of attention to this even in the world in which I live in. I suppose it is mostly this way because of the way I grew up and the little prominence that this played in my life. We did not watch any news show in the evening or in the morning and we never did get the paper on a regular basis, except for the Sunday paper, which my dad often read while we went to church. But, as a citizen I can't help but pay attention to it as it is talked about and I am to be a concerned citizen. It is important, but sometimes I wonder how important. And yet maybe it is not so important to me because I've never been really negatively impacted by the leadership and my quality of life. 

Jesus had fed the 5,000 at the time of Passover. And verse 14 culminates with the idea that Jesus is the Prophet who is to come in the world (fulfilling Deuteronomy 18:18), a prophet to propel them to political independence. Jews had a desire to be in full possession of the land promised to them and therefore, free from Roman occupation. The first Passover was a setting where the Jewish people had an aspiration to be free from the control of Egypt and now this was similar to their desire to be free from Rome.

And so Jesus, like Moses, could be the one to free them. And thus the reason for verse 14. And yet Jesus had a different purpose. As such, verse 15 today states - Jesus therefore perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force, to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone. Jesus had to get away. He heads back, to where He was before with his disciples (verse 3). He changed the tide and went away to hopefully show that He has a different purpose. He changed the scenery. 

Summary: Upon hearing that the crowd thought he was their Prophet to shake things up politically, Jesus withdrew and went back to the mountain, alone. 

Promise: Jesus will be the Lord and King over us on His terms, not ours.

Prayer: Lord, yesterday in that session at work about race, I did recognize that as a white person I have had privilege and haven't been stopped by police or questioned just because of my race. I think of this when I think about politics and the leaders of this world and how I haven't been very involved, mainly because I haven't had a reason to be involved because my world has not been upset by their leadership. And I appreciate this message Lord, this simply message you inspired John to provide to us, to remind us Lord once again that you on this earth were about something different, to free people from their sin and to help us all recognize our sin. Thank for the simplicity of this, but also for what I have and have been given. You've made me special, yes. But you have also placed me in this world at such a time, at such a place. Continue to show me how I am to live. 

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