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The Series - Jesus, Unique & Unequaled Teacher (30/TBD)

Focus Text: John 6.15

“Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.” (John 6.15).

All down-to-earth people know that power can be a mighty intoxicant. The pages of our history books are filled with remembrances of those who became drunk on its charm and fell prey to its deadly enticements. The world has suffered some of its most horrid atrocities at the hands of men who were egomaniacs staggering under the intoxicating influence of unbridled power. When Jesus was about to be approached by a multitude of folks who would have made Him king, “He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.”

Perhaps these events were but a reenactment of the same temptation as when “…the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, ‘All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.’” (Matthew 4.8-9). We may never know all the details behind the temptation of Jesus in Matthew 4, but we can understand a significant part of the temptation that faced Him in John 6. He was popular with the people because of His words, His deeds, and His ability to perform miraculous acts. A man who could feed a multitude of five thousand plus with five loaves and two fish could go far in solving the economic and social problems of the country fortunate enough to have Him as its leader!

However, Jesus had no interest in being an earthly king! His purpose was not to rule with a rod of iron as is customary with earthly rulers. Rather, His mission was to rule in the hearts of men as they embraced Him through submission to His message. He could have been a powerful king without a doubt, but that was simply not in His plans; these were human plans and not Divine ones. He came to be a king, but not a king in the manner that the people wanted. He echoed these intentions before Pilate when He admitted that the civil ruler had correctly surmised that He was to be a king; Jesus said, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth” (John 18.37). But, King Jesus was not to be a king in a conventional way; He had explained, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.” (John 18.36).

What the focus text illustrates is that Jesus had no interest in any accolades apart from obedience to the Father and the culmination of the Scheme of Redemption for which He came into the world. In spite of what others may have wanted for Him (or in some cases wanted Him for) Jesus refused to be distracted from His overall mission that would result in the salvation of any and all who would believe on Him. As we sometimes say, He had bigger fish to fry than the menial and mundane roles which others wished to assign to Him. His interest was in saving us [eternally], not salving us [temporarily]!

Questions:

1. Why would the common people have wanted a king at the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry?

2. In the eyes of the people, what would have seemed to qualify Jesus for the job of king?

3. What kind of Kingdom did Jesus intend to establish? How was it to be different from other kingdoms with which we are familiar?

4. What final outcome did Jesus wish for man via the kingdom He came to establish? What final outcome did men wish for themselves via the kingdom which they wanted to place under Jesus?

"'Winging It" from Stan Smith

Inerrancy in History