When Jesus ran away.

There is an occasion in scripture where Jesus ran away.  The One who went through the Garden of the Olive Press all the way to the most horrific death in the history of mankind had a moment when He ran away.  It wasn’t out of fear, but we see him on this one occasion running away.  There is a dynamic lesson for us in that moment.

The multitude had followed him because of the healings of the many sick people he had done. They followed Him out into the wilderness.  They had followed him long enough that He was concerned for their well being.  And so He feeds the crowds of people with as much as they want to eat.  In fact, the proliferation of food is so dynamic that after everyone had all they wanted there was food to spare.  In a poor, oppressed and overtaxed, occupied country this was very likely a rarity.  There may have been people there who had never been so full and still had leftovers. Some may not have known anything but scarcity their whole lives.  When the meal was over some of the crowd began to move and agitate to make Jesus their King.

Let’s face it; Jesus would make a great king. First, there is free, universal, health care that could cure every illness and every disease.   Typical medical care was often ineffective and was not cheap, so miraculous healing for free is a pretty good offer.  Also, having plenty of food provisions for the entire nation was not out of the realm of possibility. If five loaves and two fish could feed 5,000 families imagine what the entire economy placed at his disposal could do. It would be fantastic.   This move to declare Jesus king would of course mean a war with Rome.   But if he can heal the sick, why not combat wounds?  An army travels on its stomach, but with this kind of king provisions for a whole army could be easily carried in one bag.  From the perspective of a person looking for an earthly king no one could possibly do a better job than Jesus.

Being an earthly king was not on Jesus's agenda. The words in John “take him by force” carry certain violent overtones.  The multitude, which may have been turning into a mob, was not concerned with Jesus’s agenda.  He would be made king like it or not. As we read the parallel passages we get the idea that as the tumult builds Jesus dismissed the crowd, but they would not be dismissed, so Jesus sends his disciples away in their boat and He takes off for the hills. 

In describing Jesus's departure some early manuscripts (Sinaiticus among them) have the word “fled back” instead of the words “withdrew again to the mountain.”  We could discuss at length which word John used. In other words, Jesus ran away.  Jesus gathered his disciples and told them to get away and then in the chaos and pandemonium Jesus headed for the hills literally. Jesus moves out of the crowd perhaps secretly maybe in a fast walk or even in a trot, but He literally runs away.  Why? There would be no reasoning with this crowd and there would be no opportunity to teach them the difference between an Earthly and Heavenly Kingdom.  There would be no turning this misguided movement into the right direction. Best to leave it all behind and let It settle down.  Sometimes retreat is the best plan.

So, what does Jesus’s running for the hills have to do with us?  When we have a selfish agenda and we are trying to put a “God” sticker on it, when we hope to impose our will on the Lord and get him to bless what we are doing, the best we can hope for from Him is that He will walk away from us.  How often have we got our plans all laid out and then pray for God’s power and blessing and might to work out what we want?  Jesus will not be used for any agenda except the Father’s!  Jesus is not your personal ATM, valet, or genie!  It is high time that we stop trying to make our agenda something that it is not, by calling it God’s will.  “Thy Kingdom come Thy Will be done” does not have room for my program.  You want to see Jesus walk away from you in a hurry? Do your own thing and try to get Him to endorse it.