John 6:15 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

NIV: Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

NASB: So Jesus, aware that they intended to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself, alone.

CSB: Therefore, when Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

NLT: When Jesus saw that they were ready to force him to be their king, he slipped away into the hills by himself.

KJV: 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.

NKJV: 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.

In a practical sense, the massive crowd following Jesus (John 6:2) has the correct response to His latest, most public miracle. They want to make Him King, in part because they recognize His prophetic fulfillment (John 6:14). However, their approach is in error on several accounts.

First and foremost, the vast majority of these people are not heralding Jesus as King because they recognize their need for God or because they believe in His message. They are responding to the spectacle of a miracle, the handout of free food (John 6:26), and the prospect of shrugging off Roman occupation (John 11:48; 18:31). When Jesus puts his miracles—which the gospel of John calls signs—into proper perspective, most of those adoring Him now will simply turn and walk away (John 6:66).

Secondly, this is not the moment Jesus is meant to be publicly, openly declared as King. That moment is about a year away (John 6:4), at the triumphal entry just prior to His crucifixion (John 12:12–15). Throughout the gospel of John, Jesus shows an iron-clad devotion to God's divine schedule (John 7:6; John 16:25).

John 6:1–15 describes Jesus' feeding thousands of people—the fourth of the gospel of John's seven ''signs'' of Christ's divinity. This is the only miracle recorded in all four of the gospel accounts. When the crowd complains of hunger, the disciples who are mentioned each react in unique ways. Starting with only a tiny lunch of bread and fish, Jesus miraculously divides the food, filling everyone, and leaving more left over than they had to begin with. The people are astounded by this, and immediately react by proclaiming Jesus as ''the Prophet'' who has been promised. Jesus, however, is not yet ready to be publicly announced. He also knows the true motivations of this crowd and will attempt to explain the real importance of the miracle to them the following day.

In chapter 6, Jesus feeds thousands of people who had been following Him. He does this by miraculously dividing the contents of a small lunch, leaving more left over than He had to begin with. At first, the crowd is amazed and they enthusiastically praise Jesus. After sending the disciples across the Sea of Galilee, and rescuing them from a storm by walking on the water, Jesus once again addresses the crowd. This time, He emphasizes the spiritual lesson behind His prior miracle. In response, most of those who had been praising Jesus turn away from Him in disappointment.

John chapter 6 occurs some months after the events of chapter 5, bringing the narrative to about one year prior to Jesus' crucifixion. As with the rest of the Gospel of John, the purpose is not to repeat information from the other three Gospels, but to focus on Jesus' status as God incarnate. This chapter continues to expand the list of Jesus' miraculous signs and the witnesses to His divine nature. Here, Jesus also gives the first of seven ''I AM'' statements found in this Gospel. Chapter 7 will once again skip ahead to a major public step in Jesus' path to the cross.

The gospel of John was written by the disciple John, decades later than the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The author assumes that a reader is already familiar with the content of these other works. So, John presents a different perspective, with a greater emphasis on meaning. John uses seven miracles—which he calls “signs”—in order to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in all of the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.