After Jesus miraculously feeds the 5,000, the crowds begin to say that Jesus is the Great Prophet who has come into the world. But they wanted that to mean something that it did not mean. They are interested in the liberation and flourishing of Israel. Jesus is after the liberation and flourishing of the whole world. So, we begin to see tension in the gospel. Up to this point in Scripture, and specifically the Gospel of John, we’ve seen a tension of authority–between Jesus and the rulers, for instance.
Here we see a tension between the expectations of the crowd and the mission of Jesus. They want him to do one thing and he wants them to do another.
I have found that same tension in my life and in the lives of many I serve. We want Jesus to do one thing on our terms, in our life, or in our country, but we are disinterested in what he wants to do in us.
Jesus is not always who we want him to be. In the best way possibly. In some ways this is a turning point of history. Here is Jesus with a massive following. He could lead a rebellion, and maybe he could have some level of success. But he knows that his hour has not yet come.
He will become king, but he won’t ascend the throne by killing, he’ll ascend it by dying. He will defeat the Empire, but the Empire will appear to defeat him.
His mission is not merely to overthrow Rome; he will overthrow sin and death.
But his mission does not need to change; their expectations do.
Jesus doesn’t meet their expectations; he’s so much better than they could ever dare to dream. He is greater than we think.