Meeting a Need

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

MEETING A NEED

John 6:14-15

14 After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world." 15 Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

NIV

Why did these people want to make Jesus King by force? Surely they had suffered to some extend under the hands of the Romans or even under the rule of Herod as there was no doubt a very strong class system in place and perhaps even the common people lacked a sufficient amount of daily sustenance under a domineering rule. They had just seen the power of Jesus being able to feed them all from such little and surely were determined to replace Herod with Jesus as their king thinking under his leadership they would never hunger again. Even though they may have thought Jesus to be that prophet who is to come in the world, they were only thinking of their physical need. Sure their life was hard under Roman occupation, as well under the corrupt rule of Herod so why wouldn’t they want someone at the helm who feeds them, heals them, and teaches them the truth about God, rather the harsh interpretation of the Law. It seems rather normal for man to always think about his own life in the physical, material way, always wanting something better, always wanting to improve his lifestyle. It seems that is the way of the world. It is the way we have been taught all our lives, by our parents, teachers and those who govern over us. The problem is not much different, many people today are looking for a king to provide their physical needs, in our case it is the government. There are others who take it on themselves to provide but still only for the physical, material life they desire. Few look for the spiritual provisions Jesus has to offer. The true food is for our spirit, to provide a life far more abundant then this physical one. Although it is true that Jesus will also bless us in a material way, but we must remember there are believers who live in abject poverty compared to our normal American lives. So we cannot or should not consider any material conditions, such as every believer should have a big house, new car, nice clothes, great job, and so much stuff we have to rent a storage place to keep it all safe. We should not be always looking for the material blessing from Jesus, but we should be seeking spiritual blessing. Jesus has told us that we should not be concerned about our physical needs, but if we seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness all our physical needs will be taken care of as well, whatever that means to a person in whatever conditions they live in. But the key is to not think Jesus is our king so he can feed us, but that Jesus brings us eternal life, what greater need do we have?