From Jerusalem to a Mountain Desert

Lesson #95

With this lesson we begin the sixth chapter of John. The first section, defined by John 6:1 – 15, is about the feeding of the five thousand. Reading through the section reveals several smaller sections defined by verses 1 – 4, 5 – 10, 11 – 13, and 14 – 15, which will be covered in four lessons, respectively.

After the events described in chapter 5, which took place in Jerusalem, “Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand” (John 6:1 – 4 ESV). Going from Jerusalem to the shore of the Sea of Galilee involved time and activities not described by John. Jesus and his disciples crossed over leaving the large crowd to find a way to follow.

As Jesus performed miracles the crowds grew because they saw that he had power to supply their wants. Why do we follow Jesus? Do we follow him to learn from him and to behold his glory or do we follow him because we have needs and desires we want met? Are we obedient servants desiring to serve with him in building his kingdom or do we want his help to build our own kingdom? Do we want to work to produce fruit and bring glory to him or are we looking for his help to bring more glory to self? We need to pay close attention to those making up the crowd. We need to learn what motivates them to follow Jesus and then see what happens when their desires are not met. We also need to evaluate our hearts.

Once across the Sea of Galilee, Jesus and the disciples went up on the mountain to find a place away from the crowd and rest until the time of the feast of the Passover. Jesus wanted time alone with his disciples, but yet he was willing to be led by God from this place of solitude to the open area where the crowd was growing. Jesus was on earth for a purpose just as we are. In 1 Peter 1:1 – 3 we learn that we were chosen and caused to be born again for the purpose of obeying Jesus. In Ephesians 2:8 – 18 we learn that our salvation was a gift and resulted in a new creation, created for good works, which God prepared before we were ever born. In the flesh we may want to execute our agenda, but God clearly has an agenda for us. While we are on earth there will always be tension between these two agendas just as there was with Jesus.

Prayer

Father, this tension is real for me, but my prayer has been for the Holy Spirit to keep me properly focused. There was tension when the call came to minister over an eight year period in China. The blessing of walking on the edge of persecution and be used to touch so many lives, the lives of some that I am still involved with today was special. Thank you for the work you assigned to me to do, the resources to do it, and the motivation to keep going. Life has been a real adventure with you. Thank you.