The Time Jesus Refused a Crowd's Attempt to Make Him Their King
He will not be King on our terms.
Make no mistake about it - Jesus is King, but not on your terms.
After Jesus had fed a large crowd of people, they began to discuss among themselves who they believed Jesus to be.
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." (John 6:14)
Basically, they are saying, “This is the one we’ve been waiting for!" This is the one God told us would lead us!” They referred to Moses’ prophecy from Deuteronomy 18:15-18.
Jesus’ great power had convinced them that He needed to be their king and lead them into war to free them from the Roman Empire.
So what did Jesus do?
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 6:15)
Jesus is indeed a King - as He told Pilate before He was crucified.
Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are You a king then?" Jesus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice." (John 18:37)
However, Jesus did not come to be a King like the other kings of this world. His kingdom is not like the rest of the kingdoms of this world.
Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here." (John 18:36)
Jesus refused the crowd’s attempt to make Him their king because they wanted Him to be like the other rulers of this world.
The danger of trying to make Jesus our king today
Today, people are still trying to make Jesus their own king - to mold Him into the kind of ruler they want.
Politicians take pictures holding a Bible in front of a “church building” - why? Because they want to use Jesus to further their own political interests. They want to mold Jesus into the kind of king they want.
Special interests groups refer to bits and pieces of Jesus’ teaching to try and rally support around their particular mission - why? Because to them, Jesus can be changed into the kind of king they want.
People are only interested in the kind of church that teaches what they want and avoids the issues that make them feel uncomfortable - why? Because they want to make Jesus into the kind of king they want.
Jesus is not a King you can shape to your liking
Jesus is the resurrected Son of God - the Lord (Master) and Christ (Savior) who calls us to submit to Him (Acts 2:36-41).
Trying to make Jesus into a king of our own liking is attempting to make Jesus submit to our wishes. However, He is the one with all authority (Matthew 28:18). He is the “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Revelation 19:16).
The popular thing among Christians today is to believe in and even claim to serve Jesus - but in reality, too many have tried to make Jesus into their own king. They want to serve Jesus - but only if they can mold Him into their kind of king.
This is pure foolishness - and Jesus will have no part in it.
Jesus invites us to come to Him (Matthew 11:28-30). May we never be so arrogant to think we can come to Him and change Him into what we want.
May we be “poor in spirit" for to such belong the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3).