King or Prophet?

Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, "This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world." So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone. (John 6:14-15)

What is the difference between a prophet and a king?

Why did these people first say that they believed Jesus was the Prophet who was to come and yet think they should turn Him into their king?

My perceptions of the definitions of many words has been changing over the past few years and continues to transform. At present, my understanding of the identity and purpose of a prophet is a person who has been chosen by God to relay messages directly from God to humans. The job of being a prophet has a pretty dismal track record in this world and it is not unusual for them to end up being persecuted and killed in the line of duty. That was never more certain than in the case of Jesus who was the ultimate Prophet, the one sent by God to not only relay messages from God to us but to reveal the very heart of the Father in ways that no normal human could ever do.

We often think of prophets as someone who foretells the future. But actually this is possibly a distraction in our thinking preventing us from grasping the main role of a prophet. But that still is the definition that has taken over in society and we tend to view anyone who predicts future events as a prophet of some sort, either a true one or a false one.

The problem with this line of thinking is that we end up trying to measure the validity of someone's messages by how accurate their predictions of the future seem to take shape. This opens the door for all sorts of false ideas to be embraced from people who may be able to come up with predictions that seem to be fulfilled, giving them credibility in the eyes of many while their messages are having the effect of leavening hearts with subtle distortions about God without being challenged or measured by the true Spirit of God and tested by His Word. False prophets can become very adept at quoting scripture and many teachers and preachers are skilled at convincing millions that their teachings are founded on truth when in reality the spirit they possess does not synchronize with the Spirit demonstrated by Jesus.

There is no doubt that Jesus was a prophet and He Himself never diluted that belief. Even in this instance Jesus gave no indication that there was any problem with the people's assertion about His role as a prophet, but they seemed very unsatisfied to leave it at that. According to these verses the people felt compelling motivation to try to force Jesus to assume the role of a king to accomplish their deeply held prejudices and cravings to rule the world the way they wanted to rule it.

Even though there are references throughout the Bible to Jesus as a king, particularly in the book of Revelation, the whole idea of kingship to start with was invented by humanity when setting up a counterfeit system of society inspired by the archenemy of God. This counterfeit system seems to be rooted and based firmly on three primary foundations that permeate everything we know today in human institutions of control. These three foundations are Economics, Kingship and Law.

Given this mindset of our world, it can more easily be seen why Jesus had a problem with the way the people were wanting to move forward after they had experienced the miracle Jesus had just performed. Jesus intended to reveal the compassion of the Father for His children who were hungry as a means of attracting them to know Him and reflect His character. But instead, they viewed this miracle from the viewpoint of trying to figure out how to exploit the supernatural powers seen in Jesus' life to advance their own selfish desires for dominance over their enemies. They had such a deep lust for power to force their rule over others that all they could see in the miracles of Jesus was a key for their nationalistic desires to escape the oppression of the Romans and overcome all their enemies through superior supernatural force. And since Jesus was obviously one of their own, a Jew, they assumed that He shared in their desires for national greatness and superiority and would go along with their plans.

Earthly definitions of a king are reflected in the counterfeit concepts of all earthly governments. Many years before Jesus, the demands of Israel to have a king for themselves so they could be like everyone else brought intense grief to the prophet Samuel as he watched God's people move farther and farther away from God's plans for them. The whole idea of kingship is rooted in selfishness and a desire for the structure of hierarchy based on force and earthly power. A king is someone who is invested with superior authority and who is given disproportionate advantages at the expense of those whom he rules over. Kingship is a violation of the fundamental principles of God's form of government which is based on selfless service and love and equality between all of His children.

The many confusions brought into this world because of the deceptive effects of the concept of kingship is so pervasive that we cannot possibly know them all. It infects negatively nearly every relationship that humans have with each other and terribly distorts and limits our ability to relate to God properly or understand what He is like. Of course, this was the very purpose of why Satan came up with such a system, for his main purpose is to obliterate our knowledge of the real truth about God in every way possible so that we will have little or no desire to ever respond to His love for us.

When the people misapplied the purpose of Jesus' act of feeding them on that mountain, Jesus refused to go along with their agenda or to reinforce in any way the false value system of this world that they had embraced. He would never give any credibility to the counterfeit systems of reality and relationships that we are so used to living under but instead He chose to pull the rug out from under their plans. It says here that He withdrew from them and went away to be totally alone. This had the effect of not only diffusing the momentum that was quickly building up to start a political revolution and confrontation with the Romans, but it also became a cause for growing resentment in the hearts of many who had just moments before been eager to praise and honor Him.

How often our false ideas about God's agenda can quickly turn our praises into bitterness as our agendas get broken up and thwarted by God's uncooperation with our plans for Him. So many times our prayers are focused around our desires for our lives and we seek God's supernatural intervention and reinforcement to advance what we firmly believe is the right thing to do. We are sure that our plans for God's work on this earth are His desires and we often fail to check with Him in quiet communion and an open mind laying aside our preconceived opinions in favor of listening to His Spirit.

This mistake has been repeated countless times throughout history. Elijah made this mistake, Joshua made this mistake, Moses made it and likely every one of God's children has done it repeatedly. Yet God works with us where we are and continues to challenge us to release our plans and desires and allow Him to be the initiator instead of us thinking we know what is best for God's work on this earth.

Father, help me to learn this lesson better today. Teach me to keep a very loose grip on my plans and to remain always open to having them changed in favor of what You are doing around me. Cleanse me of selfishness and fill me with You Spirit, Your disposition, Your presence and Your thoughts and motives today. Cause me to reflect what You desire and what You are like in every moment of this day.