So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone. (John 6:15 NAS95)
They wanted to make Him King. He wanted time with His Father. Jesus met a need that may have reminded the crowd of Moses in the wilderness. What happened with the 5,000 when Jesus expressed love by feeding those present with what He had available and prayer? They noticed something supernatural had occurred of course, but Jesus had only mirrored the love His Father has for His creation. He fed them! The same sort of love God showed His people during their wandering in the wilderness. The crowd, however, recognized this event as quite extraordinary and wanted to take matters in their own hands. They wanted to make Him Messiah. Jesus wanted to pray (Mk. 6:46).
In fact, Jesus was more than likely already engaged in prayer, attending to His Father’s presence the whole time. Yet He longed for undistracted time. Time where He could focus, listen, remember, and pursue God’s plans, not man’s, for the Kingdom He would receive. Popularity or success among people demands focused time with the Father to keep perspective, relax, unload and be present to His loving embrace. This sort of praying takes time, and Jesus took it. Jesus knew this Kingdom, His Kingdom operated exclusively on the principle of His Father’s love, which overflows from communion with Him. Jesus’ example reminds me that prayer fosters a maturing awareness of the quality and nature of the Kingdom of God.
For Reflection:
“Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.” (Psalms 73:25 NAS95)
- When you pray, how would you describe your experience of God and His love?
- When has success or something like that distracted you from God and His desires/plans? What happened when you brought this to prayer?
