I have chosen the Gospel of John as the subject. I pray that these will be a blessing and an edification for the saints.
JOHN 6:14-15
14 Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world. 15 When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.
Elsewhere the LORD Jesus declared that "the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (MATT 4:17) and instructed His disciples to declare the same message (MATT 10:7). He also stated that because He had performed such miraculous signs that are indicative of the Messiah-King that:
LUKE 11:20
But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.
It was because the Messiah-King was in the midst of the nation, that the Kingdom would be inaugurated, and that the Jews should receive her King (however, as we know, they did not receive, but reject their King, and so the Kingdom of Israel was postponed; the disciples inquired of the timing of when He would inaugurate this long awaited event; ACTS 1:6).
Why then, when the people who were miraculously fed by the multiplied loaves of bread and fish were determined to make Him King, that "He departed again into a mountain Himself alone"? Furthermore, who is "that prophet" that should come into the world - what did they mean by that?
We'll get into all of this and carefully consider the implications. Let's talk about "that prophet" first:
Moses was the first to speak of this prophet yet to come:
DEUTERONOMY 18:15
15 The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;
In point of fact, there are remarkable similarities between Moses and Christ; check out this webpage From Messianic Moment on Parallels between Moses and Christ.
When the religious leadership went to the river Jordan to check out this strange man known as John the Baptizer, they asked him some very pointed questions:
JOHN 1:19-21
19 And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? 20 And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. 21 And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.
Apparently the priests and Levites were unaware that this Prophet that Moses spoke of would be Himself the Christ or Messiah of Israel. And just as Moses was not received the first time he sought to deliver his brethren (EXOD 2:13-14; ACTS 7:26-27), neither was the Messiah, though here in our text, they seemed to want to make Jesus their King - but why?
For a detailed examination of ACTS 7 and the testimony of Stephen in his presentation of the Messiah, check out ACTS 7: STEPHEN’s DEFENSE and HIS MESSIANIC MESSAGE.
Because they were well fed; such a king that could see to their day-to-day needs would be highly esteemed! Yet Jesus didn't come to this world to be our Divine baker, and provide for us food and clothing only (which He does anyway! See MATT 6:11,26, 33.
This Prophet, the Messiah evaded the compulsory enthronement as a king of Israel, because His mission entailed far, far more than "daily bread"!
As Jesus is the true Prophet of prophets, He would see to it that all the truth of GOD that the Father spoke to Him, would be declared to His people Israel.
And there was His mission of the atonement that needed to be accomplished if Israel were to truly receive the Kingdom that GOD foreordained for them - to say nothing of giving the Gentiles the opportunity of receiving the Gospel, since the nation of Israel rejected and despised it (at that time! They will receive the Gospel as well as their Messiah once He returns to them the second time!).
There is another crucial point that has to be made; what about the event that we commemorate as Palm Sunday - the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, where He was then hailed as Messiah ("Hosanna in the highest")? Why then and not now?
Because according to the prophecy in Daniel chapter Nine, it wasn't time yet, so He declined the offer. However in the fullness of time and not before then (JOHN 7:6,8), He climbed upon the donkey that He Himself ordered His disciples to retrieve (Read MATT 21 for the full account) and entered into the City of Peace according to Scripture!
Just as the LORD GOD had far more in mind than to simply deliver the children of Israel from their bondage to Egypt, but also to put down the false gods of that pagan kingdom, and to display His power and glory before His people; so too, GOD our Father intended far more than to merely grant His people the promised land (made to Abraham) and the promised kingdom (made to king David). He intended to perform that transformative and miraculous work of the spiritual rebirth (EZEK 36:26; JOHN 3:3,5; 2 COR 3:3; 1 PET 1:23), which the Gentiles shall (and do) partake of, and thereby becoming members of the body of Christ, the church of the living GOD and truly become citizens and children of the Kingdom of GOD!
All of this would be possible by the Life-imparting power of the indwelling Spirit of GOD that would make a living temple out of believers in Christ (1 COR 6:19; 2 COR 6:16). Yet this could not happen until the atonement for sin was made, via the cross of Calvary:
JOHN 7:38-40
38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) 40 Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet.
The people recognized the truth that this must be 'that Prophet' (both in JOHN 6:14 and JOHN 7:40); yet at the bottom line, when this Messiah failed to deliver them from bondage to Rome, these same sort that hailed "Hosanna to the Son of David" shouted "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" Yet the LORD Jesus intended to deliver His people from a far greater and more pernicious oppressor than Rome! He was intent on delivering them from death-drenched sin!
GOD's ways, thoughts and intentions are high above our ways, thoughts and intentions!
After the resurrection of Christ, He visited His disciples and on one occasion, this happened:
JOHN 20:21-22
21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:
I believe it was at this point, after the cross and resurrection of Christ that the LORD was able to impart His Spirit into the hearts of His disciples. It was at the cross, when Jesus gave up the Ghost, that the veil in the temple was rent from top to bottom (MATT 27:50-52), indicating that the Spirit of the LORD would no longer inhabit a Temple made of stone, and with the veil taken away, we are able to behold the glory of GOD (2 COR 3:13-19)!
Yet the kingdom of Israel as promised, in the very land that was promised, could not happen until the King suffered and died for the sake of His people, being offered up on the Altar of the Almighty (read part two of this TTUF article here).
What can we conclude from all this? What lesson can we learn?
ISAIAH 55:7-9
7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
We might be content with 'bread', but GOD intends to bless us with far greater: with the very Bread of Life, that by partaking of Him, we will receive eternal life through Jesus Christ our LORD (ROM 6:23b) and deliverance from sin, death, judgment and hell!
EPHESIANS 3:19-21
19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. 20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
Amen!
Next time, in JEWELS From The GOSPEL Of JOHN: JOHN 6:16-17: A JOURNEY WITHOUT JESUS?
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