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

The people were looking for a leader to deliver them from the Roman rule and with the death of John, they had lost their hope of his leadership, but here was one who could do great miracles and was thus, in their thinking, capable of leading a successful campaign against even the powerful Romans.

The irony of this is, as Morris points out, “He who is already King has come to open His kingdom to men; but in their blindness men try to force Him to be the kind of king they want; thus they fail to get the king they want, and also the kingdom He offers.” (p. 346-347)

We often try to make Jesus conform to what we want Him to be. After He comes through for us in a wonderful way, we try to make Him do it again and again. We want Him to provide for us when and how we say, but when we try to do this, He often “withdraws” from us as He did from these Jews.

Compare 2 Kings 4:42-44 where Elisha fed a hundred men. Jesus was the fulfillment of this as He was also of Isaiah 55:1-3.

2 Kings 4:42-44  A man came from Baal Shalishah, bringing the man of God twenty loaves of barley bread baked from the first ripe corn, along with some ears of new corn. “Give it to the people to eat,” Elisha said. “How can I set this before a hundred men?” his servant asked. But Elisha answered, “Give it to the people to eat. For this is what the LORD says: ‘They will eat and have some left over.’” Then he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the LORD.

Isa 55:1-3  “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labour on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.

PERSONAL APPLICATION OF THE FEEDING OF THE 5,000:

  • the miracle = Jesus is the supplier of all our needs, no matter how impossible it may look.
  • the response of the people = We must be careful to not try to use Him to further our own ends.