‘When therefore the people saw the sign which he did, they said, “This is truly the prophet who is to come into the world.”. Jesus, perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, withdrew again into the mountain himself alone.'
This incident is once again described as a ‘sign'. Its significance will come out later. And it is immediately connected with the Messiah, or coming King. The people, always living in hope of the coming of some kind of deliverer, seem to have been divided between seeing Him as the great prophet like Moses, and as the expected King and Messiah. Thus this sign precipitated them into action. A prophet who could produce food at will would make a very suitable king, as well as having the makings of a powerful warrior.
As we will shortly learn the event had clearly reminded some of the people of how Moses had fed the people in the wilderness, while to others it probably brought home the idea of the coming Messianic Feast, which was often in their tradition associated with the prospective appearing of the Messiah (compare Isaiah 25:8). When Messiah came there would be good times coming. Either way they wanted that time to come, and in view of what they had witnessed they were hoping for action. They knew what it meant to go hungry and be in need, but here was clearly someone who could solve all their problems. He could provide food for all! John brings out their attitude to remind his readers that Jesus is the King, but not the kind that these people wanted.
‘Take him by force to make him king.' That is, they wanted to arrange a kind of coronation there and then, with Jesus being carried along and unable to escape. They were indicating their readiness to follow Him against the Romans. This brings out the height of expectation in some of the people in Galilee, and their religious zeal. Their expectations were so stirred up by what had happened, possibly egged on by Zealots in the crowd, that they were being carried along on their own emotions and ready to begin the fight against the Romans without thought of the consequences. Surely if Jesus could do this He could do anything. Such risings occurred now and again and that was why the Roman authorities looked on Palestine as a hotbed of trouble and put a military governor over Judea. In their eyes the people were too volatile.
But that was not what Jesus intended. Certainly what He had done was a Messianic revelation and evidence that here was a greater than Moses, but His aim had been to bring them together for a covenant meal and to demonstrate to them that He, as the God of the covenant, could feed their souls with the bread of life. There are few sadder pictures than this in chapter 6 where the people, having been miraculously fed by the power of God (John 6:5-14), miss the fact that the sign given is really pointing to the spiritual bread which is available from Jesus, which is far more important than their daily bread supply, and instead seek physical bread. They have missed the point (John 5:26). They are so concerned for more bread to be offered to them (John 5:26) that Jesus will have to warn them not to yearn so much for physical bread, but for the “bread” which “endures to eternal life” which “the Son of Man will give you” (John 5:37).
We in turn also need to ask ourselves, which is more important to us also? Spiritual bread or material benefits? The question faces us as well as them, not just as a momentary question, but as determining the principles which will fashion our futures. On what will we lay our emphasis as we go into the future?
Meanwhile He withdrew again into the hills, saddened at heart. They had failed to understand His teaching and were seeking Him for the wrong reason, and He wanted nothing to do with their worldly objectives (they would have argued that they were spiritual objectives, but that was because of their false traditions).