Following Jesus

Let’s dive into John 6.

To set the stage, Jesus has just fed the five-thousand.  People are amazed and captivated by this man, but “Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself” (John 6:15).  Jesus didn’t seek his own glory because he knew that when the time came, his Father would glorify him.

Crowds followed Jesus again the next day.  They surrounded him expectantly, but Jesus didn’t feed them again as he did the day before.  He said “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst” he said (John 6:35).  This upset some of the Jews because Jesus was claiming to have been sent from heaven.  Jesus knew their calloused hearts and knew their grumbling minds, so he responded directly.  He gave a hard message to digest.  “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” (John 6:53).  As if it didn’t hit hard enough the first time people heard this, Jesus repeated this message several times, until people began leaving.  Even those who claimed to be Jesus’ disciples left him, until only twelve men remained.

Jesus worked miracles and amazed people with signs, but he was uncompromising in the words he spoke.  His message never changed, but was always poised to make people respond.  Typically those who gathered around Jesus would either devote themselves to his teaching and commands or they would reject him entirely as blasphemous.  If Jesus was hoping to gain a bunch of followers, why did he always give such uncompromising messages?

Jesus’ goal wasn’t to gain followers.  Jesus was actually a follower himself, a follower of God the Father, who sent His Son to be our savior, our priest, our redemption.

Jesus was most concerned in following His Father’s will, knowing that the Father would glorify the Son.  He says “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day” (John 6:38-39).

After this [message] many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”  (John 6:66-69)

It can be a hard thing to grasp, but if even Jesus sought His Father’s glory before his own, shouldn’t we do the same?

Be reminded that it is not God’s desire that you should glorify yourself.  Let Him guide you in life and lead you into His glory, when you are “raised up on the last day.”  In your speech, your deeds, your thoughts, your prayers, seek to bring glory to God and He will lead you into the greatest joy you could ever experience, which is His ultimate, eternal glory.

Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me" 

(John 8:54)