Last week we saw Jesus take two small fish and 5 little biscuits, and feed above 5000 people. This was a critical point in Jesus’ ministry. He had told the Pharisees that:

John 5:46-47 … had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me. 47 But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?

Moses – whom God moved by His Spirit to write the first five Books of the Bible (2 Peter 1:21) – wrote of Jesus, the Messiah. Before Moses died, that old Prophet told Israel:

Deuteronomy 18:15 The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto Him ye shall hearken

Jesus was the prophesied Messiah, the Savior of the world. Consider the comparisons between Jesus and Moses:

– Moses came to lead Israel out of Egypt. Jesus would come to lead His people out of the world.
– Moses came to bring the law of God to Israel. Jesus would come to bring the Light of God to His people.
– Moses saved Israel from slavery to Egypt. Jesus saves His people from slavery to sin.

– Under Moses, God sent temporary manna from Heaven (bread) to Israel daily to feed them. For the Church Jesus IS God’s permanent Manna from Heaven. We feed on Him daily.
– Under Moses, Israel attempted to obey God’s Law in their own power. Under Jesus, we follow God’s commandments through His empowering and indwelling Spirit.
– Under Moses, God’s people followed God by pillars of fire or cloud. Under Jesus, God’s Holy Spirit guides us internally.

Following Jesus’ miracle feeding of the 5000, we read:

John 6:14-15 Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world. 15 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.

Those 5000 men that saw Jesus turn two little fish and 5 little biscuits into a feast said that Jesus was indeed “that prophet that should come into the world”, the Prophet Who would succeed Moses. Israel had long waited for that Prophet. Some even thought that the Great Prophet Elijah would have been him. As a result, the Jews always set a place for Elijah at the annual Passover meal. When John the Baptist started baptizing people in the Jordan, the Pharisees sent a delegation to him to ask “are you THAT PROPHET that Moses spoke of?” (John 1:21, 25). John told them that he was NOT, but that he was the precursor to “that Prophet”. Jesus is “that Prophet” that Moses wrote of. Jesus Christ is the One and Only Messiah. So immediately, that crowd of 5000+ people decided “to make him a king”. And what did Jesus do?

He went up “into a mountain himself alone”.

We Love Taking Shortcuts,
But Shortcuts Are The Devil’s Tool

If Jesus walked this earth today, I believe that many of us would push for Him to be President, or King of the world. Who wouldn’t want Jesus as Leader? We’ve seen nothing but bad leadership in the world the past few years, and I think we are all hungry for a little common sense. I understand why these men and women wanted to make Jesus King. Israel was occupied by a Gentile Army, and under the Roman heel. The designated King of Israel was Herod, an Idumean, a descendant of Esau, not Jacob, and certainly not of the House of David. Herod was the wrong King, a Puppet King installed by Pilate and Caesar. So Israel desperately wanted better and more Semitic leadership. So they thought to shortcut the process. The cry went out.

“Let’s make Jesus King”

That’s a good idea – but it’s too soon. The devil loves shortcuts. WHY was Israel under Roman bondage? Because Israel had rejected God’s leadership … and this was not the first time they had done it. Throughout Israel’s history she would reject God as King over and over again, doing things that He specifically told them not to do. Why? Because Israel, like us all, was dead in trespasses and in sin.

Illustrate: We prove we are “dead in trespasses and sin” by the way we live our lives. When I was a little kid, we used to play “King of the Hill”. There was a steep hill near my home, and we would get together, and push and wrestle one another. The objective was to be “King of the Hill”, the only one on top of the mountain. Once we beat up and threw off everyone else, the game was won. Everyone wants to be King of the Hill. And as we grow up, nothing changes. Our hearts are bound to selfishness, to greed, to self centeredness. We proudly promote “Just Be You”, which is the height of anarchy. This is the Old Sin Nature in us. Israel did not need Jesus as Earthly King – they needed Jesus as Spiritual King. Both Israel and we today have the same need.

Israel needed to be saved, not from Rome nor any human conquerer, but from herself.
We all need to be saved from ourselves.

This is why Jesus came into the world. He came as a King, as the King of Kings, but He came to save us from our sins. The Angel told Joseph that the Baby Mary carried was special. The Angel said:

Matthew 1:21 {Mary} shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

Jesus came to this earth to save us from ourselves. He did not come to this earth the first time to be an earthly Ruler. An earthly Ruler cannot fix what ails us. What ails us is SIN, our internal desire to ignore God and do what WE WANT TO DO. Even Jesus’ closest disciples thought that He came just to rule the world. They asked Jesus:

Mark 10:37 … Grant unto us that we may sit, one on Thy right hand, and the other on Thy left hand, in Thy glory.

They saw Jesus as sitting on a Throne in Jerusalem, ruling the world. So they wanted to sit in that special place, to the right and left of their King. But Jesus told them:

Mark 10:38 … Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?

Jesus came to drink the cup of God’s wrath for us (Jeremiah 25:15; Isaiah 51:17; Revelation 14:9-10). Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, just before His crucifixion, would pray “My Father, if it be possible, let THIS CUP PASS FROM ME; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:29). Jesus came to be BAPTIZED WITH THE JUDGMENT of God, to save us from damnation.

1 Peter 3:18 (ESV) For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,

1 Peter 2:24 (ESV) He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

Jesus did not come to overthrow Rome. If God wanted Rome overthrown, He would have done so without sending Jesus to do it. God destroyed numerous empires throughout the Old Testament. No, Jesus came to overthrow SIN and our desire to pursue it. Jesus came to overthrow our DISOBEDIENCE to God. He did not come to rule the world the first time He came. Had Jesus wanted to rule the world, He could have said “yes” to Satan’s shortcut when he offered it.

Matthew 4:9 {Satan said} … All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

Jesus told Satan “Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve”. Sincere people wanted Jesus to take a shortcut, one that Satan had earlier proposed. Jesus wasn’t about to do it. He came to defeat sin. Billy Graham wrote:

“Large crowds greeted Him, waving palm branches and welcoming Him with shouts of acclamation. No doubt, many of them hoped He’d become their king and lead a revolt against the Romans, who had occupied their nation. … But Jesus deliberately refused. … Even on Palm Sunday He rode into Jerusalem on a humble donkey instead of a majestic white horse, showing He had no intention of becoming an earthly king. His kingship was to be of a different order — as ruler of our lives. … Why did Jesus refuse to become a king? The reason is because He came into the world for an entirely different reason: to become the complete and final sacrifice for our sins. By His death and resurrection He opened heaven’s door for us — something He never could have done as an earthly monarch. Now He is a king of a different sort — the king of all creation. Have you opened your heart to Him, and is He the ruler of your life?”

Jesus Could Easily Have Become King

There is coming a day when Jesus will return, and be King of this earth. This is foretold in the Book of Revelation:

Revelation 17:14 These {unbelievers} shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

Revelation 19:11-16 (ESV) Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

When Jesus comes to rule the world (and He will), it will not be because we elected Him, or because we led a revolution with Him at the helm. No, it will be because Jesus does not need our help to be King. He is King. He is King of His creation.

Right after leaving His disciples and refusing to be made earthly King, we read:

John 6:16-21 And when even was now come, his disciples went down unto the sea, 17 And entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them. 18 And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew. 19 So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid. 20 But he saith unto them, It is I; be not afraid. 21 Then they willingly received him into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went.

Jesus fed the 5000 at Bethsaida at the Sea of Galilee. After feeding them, the disciples took their fishing vessel and headed over the Sea of Galilee toward Capernaum. A great wind came up – not an uncommon occurrence on the Sea of Galilee – so they lowered their sails and rowed “about five and twenty or thirty furlongs” – around three to four miles. They are far from shore, and in the dark. What do they see? The Bible says,

Jesus walking on the sea, and
drawing nigh unto the ship

Why did Jesus do this? Was He just showing off? No, He’s showing His disciples a truth. No MAN is going to rule the world, nor make the nations behave. No MAN is going to rule a fallen and sinful Israel. The only way peace will ever come to our world will not be through some MAN, but through GOD. God must work a work in our hearts. God must move us from sinfulness, toward love as we were designed to love. Only God can do this.

Do you know Him? Who is King of your heart? Is it Jesus, or are you on the throne? The only way to peace and joy is to let Him Who walks on water govern your hearts. May God the Holy Spirit move you to His leadership this very day. Amen and Amen.