I vowed (3days ago) that I would write everyday for a year and so I am compelled to write. Today I spoke from John 6:1-15 at my church and focused in at the last point, mainly that the people who were following Jesus had wanted to make Him king, but Jesus didn’t want to have anything to do with that. This brings up all sorts of questions, but it also gives greater clarity into Jesus’ own ministry as well as the nature of the fickle followers that were around him (of which we may find ourselves to be part of as well! lest we aren’t careful).
So the people wanted for Jesus to be king, but their idea of “king” and Jesus idea of “king” were quite different. They wanted, probably, independence from the rule of Rome and Jesus would be very helpful in accomplishing this goal that the people had. Their idea of a king was not only a person who worked for their benefit (healed the sick, feeding of the 5000) but also someone who fought the battles they wanted to fight. We see this a lot with popular figures in the media. There might be a famous singer or artist that happens to hold similar views as we do…and we immediately hoist them out in front of us to be our spokesperson or what not. And if a person doesn’t end up falling in line with all of our nuances and views, then we quickly cast them out. The people liked Jesus in as far as He was in agreement with them. They wanted Him king, but they’re kind of king. But any person who at the outset has a list of qualifications which their king must meet and follow…does not want a real king. They want perhaps a secretary or servant…or maybe they want a representative. Not a king.
But Jesus wasn’t the king they wanted him to be. Jesus knew this and so distanced Himself from them. I think this also explains why so often Jesus was secretive and quiet about a lot of His work (especially in the Gospel of Mark). People had their understanding of Messiah or “Christ”, but Jesus’ understanding and mission was quite different. So Jesus made sure not to cause confusion or get caught up in currents that would take Him away from the true mission.
Jesus wasn’t the king that these people wanted and so later in verse 66 of the same chapter, almost everyone leaves. If Jesus isn’t on board with our ideas, our values, then we so often quickly avoid Him, or distance ourselves from Him. Even in church work, this has a way of working out. Here are some of my personal notes on this…
SO, what about me? When I read this passage, how will it change me and work in me? I will often times want Jesus to do things for me. Perhaps as a pastor, I want Him to give me numbers and easy success. I want Him to work in the hearts of people in a way that is beneficial towards my own image. I don’t always want to come to Jesus on His terms, but I care a great deal about myself and want Jesus to give me the things that would allow me to trust in myself. And so from this, the question that comes is, “what does it really mean to follow Jesus”? It involves a lot of letting go of unhealthy or distorted desires and letting Jesus come in and be number one. For me, I suppose there is a desire for signs that I am doing a good job. I want visible signs of success. And the absence of trouble. I want people to like me and to think good of me. I desire respect from people more than other things…I often struggle with feelings of being disrespected. And so, I wish that in following Jesus, these things would come. In a sense, I desire Jesus to guide me on roads that would result in greater respect for me, rather than roads that would mean less respect for me yet greater respect for Christ.
In other words, if God’s glory would be apparent through my own glory, I am happy to have Him as my Lord. But if God’s glory would come through my humility, my failure, my “becoming nothing in the eyes of others (especially fellow pastors)” then I, like the crowd, might find myself distancing myself away from Jesus.
I want to be king. That is the heart of the problem (and probably is the heart of most problems). But even before I am called to take off my own crown and lay it before Him, He has already cast off His crown and humbled Himself to the point of the cross…so that I might be exalted. Knowing this, that my God went so far for me, I might then take the first step of response to His grace and entrust not just one part, but all of me for Him.
Quinby 