John 6:14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
Deuteronomy 18:15-18 “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ And the LORD said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.
Acts 3:22-24 Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’ And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days.
This crowd was willing to support Jesus so long as He gave them what they wanted – bread. It’s easy to criticize how the crowd loved Jesus for the bread He gave them, but we often only love Jesus for what He gives us. We must also love and obey Him simply for who He is – Lord and God. They saw an opportunity through Jesus. imagine five thousand people show up at a park, who are hungry and you want to feed them. Even if you had the means how long would it take to arrange this and supply food for the people? Jesus did this immediately. They saw the miracle He had just performed feeding so many. If He was able to do this, He is a “Prophet from God” and we should make Him King. They wanted to make Him king so that their lives would no longer be subjected to Roman rule. They possibly thought that they would never have to work for food again. He would supply it just like God had supplied mana and quail in the wilderness. It is also possible that they thought if He was able to do this then making Him King would surely make their life much easier and less harsh. They would honor Him for what they could get from Him and not for who He was.
It is the same throughout history. There are shallow commitments to Jesus Christ because He is seen as a supplier of worldly stuff to satisfy the flesh rather than the Holy Redeemer and overflowing satisfier of the soul. It is right to come to Jesus in full surrender and live to humbly serve, honor, glorify, worship, follow, trust, and obey Him. Out of this commitment deep within our soul, we can come to Him with a purity of heart for our earthly needs. In this purity, our requests leave room for the perfect will of God in complete trust of His everlasting love for us.
