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

 

 After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.  Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased.  And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.  Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near.  Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip "Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?"  But this He said to test him for He Himself knew what He would do.  Philip answered Him, "Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little."  One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?"  Then Jesus said, "Make the people sit down."  Now there was much grass in the place.  So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.  And Jesus took the loaves and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish as much as they wanted.  So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, "Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost."  Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.  Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, "This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world."  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 6:1-15 

 

In our previous reading, Jesus was at the Feast of Tabernacles, on the last day of the Feast.  He continued to dispute with the religious leaders:  "He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God."  Then the Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?"  Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.  And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges.  Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death."  Then the Jews said to Him, "Now we know that You have a demon!  Abraham is dead and the prophets; and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.'  Are You greater than our father Abraham,, who is dead?  And the prophets are dead.  Who do You make Yourself out to be?"  Jesus answered "If I honor Myself My honor is nothing.  It is My Father who honors Me of whom you say that He is your God.  Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him.  And if I say 'I do not know Him,' I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word.  Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day and he saw it and was glad."  Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?"  Jesus said to them "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."  Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple," going through the midst of them, and so passed by.   

 After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.  Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased.  And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.  Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near.   Today the lectionary skips back from chapter 8 (our previous reading, above)  to chapter 6 of John's Gospel.  My study bible comments that chapter 6 of John's Gospel parallels the story of the Passover and Exodus of Israel from Egypt in several important ways.  In these verses, we're reminded that in the Exodus account (Exodus 11-17), God first performed signs against Pharaoh, then gave instructions on how to be saved at the time of the Passover (Exodus 11:1-12:14).  Here, we're told, the multitudes follow Christ because of His signs, and this also takes place at Passover. 

Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip "Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?"  But this He said to test him for He Himself knew what He would do.  Philip answered Him, "Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little."  One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?"   My study bible comments that here, Christ tests Philip to increase his faith, for Philip needed help to understand Christ (John 14:8-10).  Two hundred denarii would correspond to over sixth months' wages for a laborer at Christ's time.  Andrew shows that he has greater faith than Philip, as he knows the prophet Elisha had multiplied bread for 100 men (2 Kings 4:42-44) and so he offers the food that was brought by a certain lad.  Nonetheless, Andrew is still weak in faith as he questions what a mere five loaves could do for the number of people there.  

Then Jesus said, "Make the people sit down."  Now there was much grass in the place.  So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.  And Jesus took the loaves and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish as much as they wanted.  So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, "Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost."  Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.   This feeding of the multitude is the fourth of seven signs given by Christ as reported in John's Gospel.  It is significant enough that it is recorded in all four Gospels.  We return again to the theme of the parallel between the Exodus account of Israel's flight from Egypt, in that the Jews were said to eat unleavened bread because they were hastily driven out of Egypt, and they had brought no provisions for themselves (Exodus 12:39).  Here, Jesus is feeding the multitudes with earthly bread because they had brought no provisions, as they had rushed out to see Him.  The description of Christ as He took the loaves, gave thanks (in Greek, eucharisto/ευχαριστω), and distributed them is a prefiguration of the celebration of the Eucharist.  

Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, "This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world."  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.  My study bible comments that although Jesus had performed greater signs than this, these crowds were so strongly desiring an earthly Messiah that they declared Jesus to be the expected Prophet (Deuteronomy 18:15-19) only when they were filled with earthly things.  Because of this misunderstanding, Jesus departed from them.  

John's Gospel is filled with all sorts of misunderstandings that turn into a kind of "classic" way for Jesus to explain His teachings.  For instance the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well wishes she had some of that water Jesus speaks about, when He tells her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again,  but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life" (see John 4:1-42).  Or when Nicodemus asks how a person can be born again when Jesus teaches him about Holy Baptism (John 3:1-21).   It is misunderstandings that lead to "teachable moments" that characterize John's Gospel.  But in today's reading, we have a slightly different sort of misunderstanding.  Jesus has just provided people miraculously with food in the wilderness.  A few loaves and fishes are miraculously providential so they can somehow feed 5,000 men (and yet more women and children).  Not only that, but there are twelve baskets of fragments left over!  But what do these people understand from Jesus and this fourth sign in the Gospel?  Do they understand that this is indeed a sign of God's being extraordinarily close and present?  Do they see its true miraculous nature?  No, their minds are fixated on the purely pragmatic and material, and as far as they are concerned, Jesus must be made king, so that they can be filled always with the bread He is capable of producing apparently on demand.  And what's more, this Man Jesus who clearly has divine power isn't free to advise them, or teach them what He thinks they need to know or what they need to do.  No, they want to forcefully take Him and make Him king.  The man who feeds them clearly is someone they need to use their way, for their purposes, and without discerning anything deeper that can possibly be gained by His presence.  This is a misunderstanding indeed -- for even as they call Him the Prophet, all they can think of is that they need Him to be king.  So, it's another type of misunderstanding, but one that must play itself out over the course of the chapter in John's Gospel, as we follow even more misunderstandings that are to come based around this feeding in the wilderness and the teachings that Jesus has to offer the people.  But for now, let us be content to observe that they seek to take Him by force and make Him king, which serves as occasion for Jesus to evade them and find His way alone to the mountain to pray.    It seems rather typical that from this start, things will go completely upside down in terms of the people's understanding -- or lack of it -- as He tries to delve deeper and teach them about the bread that comes down from heaven.  We human beings seem always to mistake God's gifts for the material things of this world we all think we need and compete for with one another.  God's blessings are not necessarily worldly blessings, and yet, even after two thousand years of Christianity, modern human beings will confuse a saintly and blessed life with that of an image of -- for example -- a billionaire living in a California mansion.  It really doesn't necessarily follow in terms of the truth of a truly spiritual and blessed life.  It seems we still must keep endeavoring to understand Christ, regardless of how long His message has been repeated.  Let us pay close attention to the events of this chapter as they play out over the course of this week.