John 6:14-15 14Then when the people saw the sign that he had done, they were saying, “This man is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world!” 15Then Jesus, knowing that they were about to come and carry him off in order to make him king, withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
The people were perceptive enough to realize something significant had happened. Someone or perhaps the whole group began talking (elegon, imperfect tense) amongst themselves about Jesus as the great miracle worker. The idea began to circulate that he was a prophet. The rumor became more definitive with the idea that Jesus was THE Prophet who was expected to come and restore Israel. Verse 14 could be a reference to Deuteronomy 18:15–19, which refers to the promise that one day, a prophet like Moses would come.
The people could not come to the point of faith in Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God. That level of faith requires commitment. Many people today acknowledge that Jesus was some kind of prophet, and perhaps they might even accept that he did miracles. But they cannot come to the point of accepting his authority in their lives. The people were correct in their thinking that Jesus did fulfill the prophecy of Deuteronomy, but they fell short in recognizing Jesus as the Savior of the world. They were more interested in the food and miracle than with faith and commitment. John brings out that point beginning in verse 22.
Jesus understood the situation and what the people were thinking and so withdrew by himself. John offers a narrative explanation of why Jesus did this: the people wanted to make Jesus king. The people had connected Jesus’ miracle working as a prophet with his power and authority as a king. They may have had in their minds the glorified stories of Moses and David and combined the two. They were not wrong in this connection, since both Moses and David represent archetypes for Jesus. Where they went wrong was in not making the necessary commitment to believe in him (see verse 29).
Jesus left his disciples and went to a mountain to pray. Two reasons for this are suggested by the context. One is that the disciples had another important lesson to learn about believing in him. They needed a deeper revelation of Jesus beyond simply the miracle worker. This lesson comes in verses 16-21. The other reason comes in verses 22-59 with the people’s misunderstanding of the miracle of bread and fish. Jesus wanted the crowd to think carefully about what they saw and experienced and their motives for following him. The delay and change of location provided this time, but as the next passage shows, many of them could not come to the point of faith. Jesus prepared himself for what was about to happen. Mountains represent places of prayer and communion with God, which is what Jesus did, though John does not mention it (see Mark 6:46).
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