Son of God vs. King Jesus
Forcing Jesus to be King vs. Allowing Jesus to be King
Intro
Context
Scripture
Observations
But we must also keep in mind that this is a poor society. Galilee was a peasant agrarian society, where farmers were taxed heavily and frequently lost their land to a wealthier elite, who ruled either through the Herodian dynasty or who collected tax revenue for Rome. Jesus’ interest in these people and his sympathy for their needs inspired widespread support for his message.
We need to pause and underscore some of the motifs that were well known in the Passover story, motifs that every Jew understood fully as shaping the background to Jesus’ deeds in Galilee. Among Moses’ many miracles in Egypt, two stand out as particularly remarkable: (1) his departure through the sea (Ex. 14), and (2) his miraculous feeding of the people with manna for forty years in the desert (Ex. 16:35; Ps. 78:24). These were potent symbols of God’s preservation of his people: rescuing them from harm and sustaining them in a desert.
In John 6, Jesus appears at Passover, repeating many of these themes. The people are a multitude not unlike those in the desert; Jesus feeds them with “heavenly” bread; and following the feeding, when the disciples are on the sea, Jesus comes to them walking on water. Moreover, the question of Jesus in 6:5 (“Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?”) echoes that of Moses in Num. 11:13, “Where can I get meat for all these people?” In fact, Numbers 11 provides numerous parallels to the present story.
But we must also keep in mind that this is a poor society. Galilee was a peasant agrarian society, where farmers were taxed heavily and frequently lost their land to a wealthier elite, who ruled either through the Herodian dynasty or who collected tax revenue for Rome. Jesus’ interest in these people and his sympathy for their needs inspired widespread support for his message.
But Andrew, Peter’s brother, locates a young boy (paidarion) who can possibly help. This boy is carrying five barley loaves and two salted fish. Only John mentions that the bread is barley, which is a signal of the poverty of this crowd. Barley was considered the bread of the poor and this lad has five pieces of it—much like five round loaves of today’s pita bread. Luke 11:5 implies that three such pieces might make a meal for one person. These details are important because in 2 Kings 4:42–44 is another Old Testament miracle, where Elisha feeds a hundred men with twenty barley loaves and is assisted by a paidarion or young servant. As with the twelve baskets left after Jesus’ miracle, Elisha had baskets of food left over.
The crowd interprets Jesus’ miracle as messianic. He has just recreated the miracle of Moses! To identify him as “the Prophet who is to come into the world” (6:14) is no doubt a reference to Deuteronomy 18:15–19, which prophesies that a prophet like Moses will some day return; this was viewed in Judaism as a messianic promise. The Jews at the Dead Sea community of Qumran expected a prophet to come in their messianic vision (1QS 9:10–11; 4QTest 5–8). For many, Moses had become the image of the ideal Messiah, unifying images of king and prophet.
Here in John, the crowd wants to force Jesus to define his mission and work politically, to become a king who will rival the Herodians or the Romans. Jesus wants no part of such a kingship. He will not be tempted by “the kingdoms of this world” (Matt. 4:8). Thus he must flee and must push his disciples out to sea in order to preserve himself and his work from the political ambitions of the crowd.