After Jesus had been performing miracles and feeding thousands of hungry people, a crowd was about to push an issue in the wrong way, for the wrong reasons, and at the wrong time. “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, ESV).
The restraint displayed here by Jesus amazes me, because at that moment, HE KNOWS HE IS KING! He had every right to come the first time to earth and take over the universe He had created and set up His perfect kingdom. But He didn’t. He waited. He restrained His glory and His rights. He chose a crown of thorns rather than a crown of jewels. He determined to be mocked rather than to take over. Why?
Jesus chose the road of suffering back then for YOU. If He had come the first time to set up His righteous kingdom, we could have never been a part of it. But since He came the first time to suffer for sin in our place, we can join Him when He comes to reign and be truly known as the King of the universe.
Have you trusted in His suffering for your sin? Have you reacted to the love He displayed for you in His divine self-denial? Have you believed in the King who wore a crown of thorns so that you could one day be beside Him when “on His head are many diadems”? (Revelation 19:12, ESV)
“Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” (Revelation 11:15, ESV)