John 6:1-15; Mine or His?

Not many people every have 5000 followers, not even today in the world of "insta-publish" yourself. Yet, the number didn't seem to affect Jesus either way. The story gives no sense of urgency ("oh my, so few") or sense of success ("wow, look at how many"). Rather Jesus simply moves on with his teaching.

The crowd pursued Jesus because they had seen the signs he performed; so this is a group with good hearts. They are working hard seeking after Jesus in remote places; these are not nominal believers that are busy with other things until Sunday morning rolls around. When Jesus fed them miraculously, they were even more convinced that he was the Prophet (not "a" but "the"); their faith was solid and they were ready to commit to him. Then Jesus does the politically incorrect thing -- he leaves. He disappears into the mountains. (Note: This story has both green grass and mountains making it hard to identify with while living in west Texas!)

He knew they wanted Jesus to be their king. They could envision how he would fit into their lives and how he would lead. They had a place carved out for him and knew just how it would look with Jesus at the helm. But Jesus doesn't seem to take kindly to being placed in a box and so he left.

I wonder if this scene doesn't play out in our lives over and over. We seek Jesus, feel closer to him, grow in our faith and then seem to lose track of him. Maybe we are committing the same error as the crowd; maybe Jesus purposefully pulls back when we are ready to box him in to being "my personal savior", "my best friend", "my CEO", "my Sunday god", "my political adviser", etc. Any title we try to place on him that starts with the word "my" probably sends him retreating into the mountains again. "My" implies possession and who owns whom has always been a big deal to Jesus.

I've always thought that feeling distant from Jesus in my spiritual walk was due to sin on my part (Isaiah 59:1-2). Maybe there is more to the story though; maybe distance also comes into the relationhsip when I try to make Jesus "mine" and control him with stereotypes. Now the issue becomes figuring out which boxes I am trying to force him into and how to shift my thinking from "he is mine" to "I am his."