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| JESUS PRAYING AT THE MOUNTAIN. From praytogod.org via google.com |
"Since Jesus knew that they were going to come
and carry him off to make him king,
he withdrew again to the mountain alone."
Since the Jews were expecting for an earthly Messiah, an earthly King to restore the Kingdom of Israel, their natural reaction to the wonders which the Lord Jesus Christ had done was to believe in Him in accordance with their hopes, expectations and understanding. Therefore, when He multiplied the bread and the fish, they thought that it was some sort of a sign that their expectations were already answered and God has already sent the Messiah they were waiting for! If He could feed such a great crowd, about five thousand, from only two pieces of fish and five loaves of bread, He surely could do so much when He sits on the throne of His ancestor, David.
If Jesus was a mere human being entrusted so such power to perform miracles, He would have accepted the clamor of the crowd to make Him their King. Observably, that's what most politicians hope would happen in their lives: that they would have the power, whatever form it is and wherever it comes from, in order to amaze the people and become popular with them so that the people would clamor for the politicians to rule them. The triple temptation of power, popularity and wealth always come in especially in times of longing for great leadership. When people expect so much, some people could manipulate them through their longings to seek their support.
But the Lord Jesus Christ was more than human. He was also God. He knew the hearts of the people and understood their longings. But He was more interested in their eternal heavenly salvation not on their temporary worldly welfare. It is easy to plan and implement projects, programs, policies and activities for the temporary welfare of the people, but unless the people themselves have the willingness and commitment to such plans and implementation, all of those would amount to nothing. Perhaps that's one of the very many failures of governments today: they only focus on the temporary benefits that they could provide to the people, forgetting that the people have the spiritual, moral and religious dimension which must be taken into consideration too. The absence of these dimensions in government planning and implementation create a vacuum which people try to fill in with other things and ideas which eventually lead to more longings and frustrations!
That's why the Lord offers something revolutionary and out of this world: servant leadership, kingship by example and service, leading by serving the people: a leadership which the world cannot understand! "Wash each other's feet" [see 13:14] and "Anyone who wants to be great among you must be the servant of all" [see Matthew 20:26] are two important Christian principles that would-be leaders ought to think about when they embark on the journey toward leadership and true public service. Unless a Christian is truly grounded upon these and other significant Christian principles, they'd rather shy away from politics or they'd just corrupt themselves and put their souls in danger.
On the side of the people, they must evaluate their chosen leaders against these Christian principles and see if they match their true longings. It is easy to be manipulated when one only focuses on earthly benefits and disregards the importance of the spirit. Both the leader and the people could manipulate each other depending on the level of their maturity. Hence, both should reflect on these matters seriously!
Jesus our Lord told the rich young man who called Him "Good teacher" [see Mark 10:17; Luke 18:18] that only One is Good: God only! Of course this was not an absolute statement for we know that there are good people around us, but what the Lord points us is that the measure of goodness can only be God, and unless the goodness of people can be measured against the goodness of God, then such goodness is nothing! Remember, we should be perfect or holy as the Father is perfect and holy [see Matthew 5:48; see also Leviticus 19:2; Ephesians 5:1]. Hence our goodness must reflect the goodness of God and not our own understanding of goodness! For the Apostle Paul wrote the following about love, the greatest virtue which inspires and moves each of us to really serve and to lead in accordance with the will of God,
"Though I should give away to the poor all that I posses,
and even give up my body to be burned -
if I am without love,
it will do me no good whatever.
Love is always patient and kind;
never jealous, not boastful or conceited,
never rude and never seeks its own advantage,
does not take offence or store up grievances,
does not rejoice at wrongdoing,
but finds joy in the truth;
it is always ready to make allowances,
to trust,
to hope
and to endure whatever comes."
[1 Corinthians 13: 3-7].
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