John 6:15-27

Read :

John 6:15-27 (NRSV)

15 When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself. 16When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. 20But he said to them, 'It is I; do not be afraid.' 21Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.
22 The next day the crowd that had stayed on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there. They also saw that Jesus had not got into the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. 23Then some boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. 25When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, 'Rabbi, when did you come here?' 26Jesus answered them, 'Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.'

Think:

When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew to the mountain by himself.
They were about to come and take him by force...
Who can make the Son of Man do anything that he doesn't want to do?  I often times I forget that Jesus was human just like me and that even the Son of Man was susceptible to peer pressure, and what does he do?  He retreats.  He doesn't fight back, he doesn't confront them and say, I am not the King whom you seek.  I am not a King in the way you think of a King.  He retreats tot he mountain by himself.  He didn't even take his dearest friends with him.  They didn't even take them with him when they decided to shove off to Capernaum across the sea.  So now as the night approaches Jesus is left alone with his thoughts, with his Father and a storm comes upon his disciples.  But what about the storm which awaits Jesus, of the storm that is brewing inside him.  It is often said that great men are not born great, but they have greatness thrust upon them.  This isn't the case with Jesus, at least not in the Jesus I believe in, this Jesus was worshiped from before his birth (Elisabeth's child still in her womb jumped when she heard Mary's voice remember?) But shepherds and wise men came to glorify this child, he was acclaimed as a King from the time of his birth.  So why wouldn't he take advantage of the advances of the crowd and take the crown of the Jews? Because Jesus knew he wasn't the King of the Jews.  Jesus was in reality the King of Heaven and Earth, his kingdom was not going to be lessened by an earthly reign. 
He didn't try to fight the crowd, he knew that they only had one thing on their mind they wanted a leader, he knew he wasn't that kind of leader, so he left them to their own devices.  He left them and went to refocus himself. He left them and affirmed what he felt his calling was, in spending time alone with God.
I wish that everyone was able to do this, especially young christians, young adult christians, newly confirmed or baptized christians, but all Christians really.  I've been thinking a lot about teenagers and young adults lately and how they are so determined to be what they think other people want them to be.  I know this is true for a lot of people who aren't teens as well, but those of us with good therapist work this out early on in therapy that we aren't supposed to live someone else's plan for our lives, and what that means is that we all have to stop and take time to reflect on what it is that we want, what it is that God wants for us and how we attain that without getting distracted by the wills of those who only want "what's best for us"  This is difficult.  This is nearly impossible if you can't find the time to be alone with your thoughts.  This is totally impossible if you never spend time with God.  And its definitely not cool to spend time with God, especially as a teenager in modern America.  I'm not saying that teenagers don't do it, but they are kind of a rare breed these days.  I've worked with some amazing teenagers, but I know that when I've asked them if they would ever bring a friend to a youth group night, a lot of them said not if there was going to be a lot of God talk.  Its not that they were ashamed of their faith, its just that they wanted to keep it separate from school.  They wanted the youth group to be their mountain top, their alone time with God, I wanted to show them that the alone time with God needed to come in their own time, but that wasn't going to happen, the didn't have that kind of control over their time.
So led me to look instead at young adults- college students, recent high school graduates, those who are new to the workforce.  Those who have control over their time for the first time in their lives.  They do anything in their power not to be alone.  I remember that feeling all too well.  But the one thing we need to determine who we are, to determine what we want to be is time alone.  Don't get me wrong I hate it- I'm an extrovert with a capital "E"  but I need time alone with God, and I actually need more of it than Jesus did (don't we all, after all we aren't the Son of God) I need to check in with Him and find out if what the crowd wants from me is what God wants from me.  If Jesus crowd sourced as much as I do on Facebook then he would have been anointed the King of the Jews.  There is something innately different about this man Jesus that he wasn't willing to be swayed by the will of the crowd.  In this manner I want to be more like him.

Pray:

Jesus, give me the strength to trust in you and not be afraid.  To stand against the crowd in silence and solitude and listen to the Holy Spirit to discern your will in my life.  I ask that the community of faith be willing to stand with me and help me to listen for the still small voice of God which is probably not in accord with the screaming voice of the crowds.  Hear me God, because my body is weaker than my soul and help me to reconcile my desires with your desires for me.  Amen

Contemplation:

15 minutes Contemplative prayer.

Let me be the wild flower :-P