86 – Trying to Make Jesus King; Matthew 14:22-23, Mark 6:45-46, John 6:14-15 

Matthew 14:22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 

Mark 6:45 Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray. 

John 6:14 After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” 15 Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself. 

Commentary 

The people had just witnessed the miraculous feeding of the 5,000 and were persuaded that Jesus was the Messiah.  “Enthusiastic about this prophet, they are ready to make Him king, even to the point of kidnapping Him. But Christ’s kingdom was not of this world (18:36). Thus He went into a mountain himself alone” (Nelson KJV Bible Commentary pg. 1308). It is interesting that He sent His disciples away from Him, and Pulpit Commentary suggests that the disciples may have been caught up in some of the passion of the crowd, to the extent that Jesus needed to separate them from the crowd, as well as from Himself (https://biblehub.com/commentaries/john/6-15.htm).  

The disciples were headed to Bethsaida, hometown of James and John, Simon (Peter) and Andrew, and Philip. This is the place where some believe the Christian sign of the fish may have originated and also one of the cities that Jesus denounced for their lack of faith. In Aramaic, the name means “fish town,” and the entire population (which was greater in the first century than today) was likely employed in the fishing industry. It was probably located on the northeastern tip of the Sea of Galilee, near the Decapolis, in part of an area that is now known as Golan Heights (The Word in Life Study Bible pg. 1727). There has been considerable debate about the actual location, but since the information is mainly useful as a visual aid, I included a map. I’m not educated enough about the geography of the area to have an opinion about the location of the miracle or Bethsaida, but it does help to have some understanding of the proximity of one city to another. I also like this map because it shows a little of the topography, so you can see how quickly Jesus might have found a mountainside. 

Jesus was born to be a leader, and His charisma attracted many followers; however, those followers misunderstood the purpose and particulars of His leadership and tried to attach their own agenda to his mission. Jesus had already proven that He could overcome the temptation of power because He had withstood Satan’s antagonization in the desert, but we don’t often consider the fact that Jesus may have been tempted at other times, including this attempt to declare Him king. Instead, He held fast to the purpose the Father had designated for Him, and He withdrew to the mountain. His willpower is further displayed in the fact that He had wanted to rest (verse 31), but He decided it was more important to pray.  

He made His usual choice of locations to pray, which was on a mountainside. Mountains have been a favorite place to commune with God throughout the Bible’s history – Moses, Elijah, and many others. In fact, mountains are mentioned over 500 times in the Bible, and many of the mountaintop encounters with God were significant biblical events, such as the writing of the ten commandments on Mount Sinai, the location of the Jerusalem temple on Mount Zion, the landing of the ark on Mount Ararat, and the defeat of the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. Jesus famously spent quite a lot of time on mountains: His temptation (Matthew 4:8), the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-12), a number of healings (Matthew 15:29-31), His pre-crucifixion prayer vigil on the Mount of Olives (Luke 22:39), the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1), His final discourse (Matthew 24:3), and the commissioning of the Apostles (Matthew 28:16-20). While some of those events were observed by the disciples and other witnesses, reports of the temptation and other private thoughts of Jesus’s must have been reported by Jesus after the fact and subsequently relayed in the gospel accounts. In this case (His prayer on the mountainside following the feeding of the 5,000), he either did not share His experience with the disciples or they did not deem it crucial to the narrative when writing their accounts. This begs the question: what was so urgent to lift up in prayer that He would forsake the rest He desired and needed? Some commentaries suggest that Jesus purposely avoided disrupting the regular government function at the time, and He would have been anxious to avoid the mantle of a rebel leader so he could focus on His ministry. Other commentaries suggest that He might have been praying for the hearts of His disciples and the crowds, that their violent intentions would be quieted and that their misperceptions about His purpose would be righted. 

The crowd’s interest in making Jesus king has some significant tie-ins with the miracle of loaves and fishes that they just witnessed. Jesus is the bread of life and famously told the woman at the well to forsake her earthly thirst to partake in living water, so we know that Jesus came to Earth to offer spiritual sustenance. Yet the crowd needed and demanded physical sustenance, just like the Israelites in the wilderness, and Jesus symbolically gave thanks, broke the bread (symbolism: passover, crucifixion), and obliged their temporal need. Likewise, Jesus came to Earth to be a spiritual leader, whereas the people were looking for someone to physically liberate them in the short-term. In this, Jesus could not indulge them, and it is clear that all the symbolism and allusions by Jesus went over their heads. They insisted on crowning Him, whether or not He was even willing! How often do we attempt to fit God into the mold we have created, rather than adapt our desires and expectations to who He actually is? 

See next post here https://onthepath.online/2024/09/17/walking-on-water/

References 

Matthew 14:22 

Matthew 14:21 About five thousand men were fed, in addition to women and children. 
 
Acts 18:5 And when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself fully to the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. 

Matthew 14:23 

Mark 1:35 Early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up and slipped out to a solitary place to pray. 
 

Luke 3:21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as He was praying, heaven was opened, 
 

Luke 5:16 Yet He frequently withdrew to the wilderness to pray. 
 
Luke 6:12 In those days Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and He spent the night in prayer to God. 
 
Luke 9:18 One day as Jesus was praying in private and the disciples were with Him, He questioned them: “Who do the crowds say I am?” 
 
Luke 9:28 About eight days after Jesus had said these things, He took with Him Peter, John, and James, and went up on a mountain to pray. 

Matthew 14:23 

Mark 1:35 Early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up and slipped out to a solitary place to pray. 
 
Luke 3:21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as He was praying, heaven was opened, 
 
Luke 5:16 Yet He frequently withdrew to the wilderness to pray. 
 
Luke 6:12 In those days Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and He spent the night in prayer to God. 
 
Luke 9:18 One day as Jesus was praying in private and the disciples were with Him, He questioned them: “Who do the crowds say I am?” 
 
Luke 9:28 About eight days after Jesus had said these things, He took with Him Peter, John, and James, and went up on a mountain to pray. 

Mark 6:45 

Matthew 11:21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 
 
Mark 6:32 So they went away in a boat by themselves to a solitary place. 
 
Mark 8:22 When they arrived at Bethsaida, some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. 
 
John 6:17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was already dark, and Jesus had not yet gone out to them. 

Mark 6:46 

Mark 6:47 When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and Jesus was alone on land. 
 
Acts 18:18 Paul remained in Corinth for quite some time before saying goodbye to the brothers. He had his head shaved in Cenchrea to keep a vow he had made, and then he sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. 
 
Acts 18:21 But as he left, he said, “I will come back to you if God is willing.” And he set sail from Ephesus. 
 
2 Corinthians 2:13 I had no peace in my spirit, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia. 

John 6:14 

Matthew 11:3 to ask Him, “Are You the One who was to come, or should we look for someone else?” 
 
Matthew 21:11 
The crowds replied, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.” 
 
John 1:21 
“Then who are you?” they inquired. “Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” 
 

John 2:11 Jesus performed this, the first of His signs, at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed His glory, and His disciples believed in Him. 
 
John 4:19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I see that You are a prophet. 
 
John 6:2 A large crowd followed Him because they saw the signs He was performing on the sick. 
 
John 6:26 Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, it is not because you saw these signs that you are looking for Me, but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 

Commentary 

Mark 6:31 And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. 

John 18:36  Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.”