“Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.”
– John 6:15
John 6 is about bread offered by Jesus Christ. When He offered
the physical bread, many wanted him to be a king; He refused and walked away.
Then He offered the spiritual bread, which is Himself; they refused and walked
away. In verse 15, they wanted Jesus to be king after seeing His miracle of
feeding about five thousand people. In fact, the narrative says that they'd
force Him to be a king. Jesus wasn’t interested and ran away.
The true King of the Universe refused to be a king! And how many
of us want to be a king, president, CEO, officers, and any position of
leadership? Or to ask more accurately, “How many of us want to be popular?”
Well, position and popularity in themselves are neither bad nor to be rejected
bluntly. It just means that the mission (job, work) is more important than any
position, popularity, or reputation. A position is given to fulfill a specific
role. Popularity comes from being good at what one does.
Jesus was focused on His mission. He came into the world to die
like a criminal, not to be crowned as king. We are criminals before God, we
have violated all His laws. Jesus died for us, that we the real criminals may
live as princes and princesses in the kingdom to come. In fact, at His
crucifixion, He was crowned king again, but not in admiration, but in mockery –
a crown of thorn. Jesus is the true King and the only King. He reigns in the
heart of Christians now. He sustains and rules the universe invisibly. He will
come back to earth again, and the whole world will confess (and rightly so)
that He is King; because on that day, He comes not to die for sinners, but to
judge sinners (unbelievers).
Sometimes, we are tempted to wish God to raise up famous pastors
who are popular as Justin Bieber or Cristiano Ronaldo. And we would like to volunteer
if a call is made. We thought that if they were popular as them, wouldn’t they
be influencing much for the cause of the Kingdom? Actually, God doesn’t call pastors
to be popular. If it were so, I’m sure, pastors would be the most popular
people in the world. As a pastor, I am glad that the sorts of Bieber and
Ronaldo are very popular to remind pastors that our calling is not to be
popular, and we will never be popular as them.
Our calling as a pastor is not to build a name or a kingdom for
ourselves. Let Alexander do that. Let Justin Bieber be the crush of everyone.
Let Ronaldo have his CR7 brands. And let Obama have million Twitter followers.
Our job and mission is similar to our Lord Jesus Christ – to preach the gospel
of the Kingdom of God, which is offensive to the world in that we can become so
unpopular to the point of persecution. Having said that, I admit, "It's
difficult!" Therefore, in God, seeking, both for mercy and obedience! Amen!