John 6:1-15 A different kind of king

John 6:1-15 Jesus feeds the multitude. There are several accounts of this miracle, which apparently occurred more than once. (Matt 14:15-21, Matt 15:32-88 , Mark 6:33-44, Luke 9:12-17) However, John has an extended discussion of the significance of this which differs from the other accounts. (see John 6:26-58) Mark 6:51-52 notes that the disciples did not learn anything from this incident because their hearts were hardened, but this comment is made by Mark in the context of Jesus calming the storm. Mark's implication seems to be that they were terrified because they did not understand the power of Christ nor did they trust Him, even though He had just the day before miraculously fed the five thousand.

          Is there any significance to the number of loaves and fish that Jesus started with, or the number of loaves and fishes that were left over when the feeding had been completed? Except for the second incident (recorded in Matthew 15:34), the gospels agree that Jesus started with five loaves and two fishes, and that afterwards the disciples collected twelve baskets of bread fragments.  Perhaps ending up with far more bread fragments than could have come from the initial loaves was simply intended to silence any doubters that a miraculous event had occurred.  If there is any other significance to the numbers, it is not obvious.

          The people, on seeing this miracle, said that Jesus was the coming prophet. But Jesus perceived that their intentions were not to regard Him as a prophet of God, but to forcibly make Him king. It was not yet time for Him to assume His rightful place, nor was He going to become king the wrong way. It is true that He came to establish the kingdom of God on earth. But He was not going to do it by miraculous works, any more than He was going to become king by bowing down to the devil (Luke 4:5-8). He would not become king by force because that is not the way His kingdom works. When He told Pilate that His kingdom was not of this world (John 18:36-37), it was because His kingdom is established on truth, not force. His followers would not fight for His kingdom, as the Maccabees had done. And He knew that any allegiance these people might have to Him as king, at that time, would be based on economic or physical well-being (John 6:28), not on a heart-commitment to Him and the kind of people that He came to lead people to become. So He withdrew to the mountain alone, implicitly so that they people could not force Him to become king.