"My Kingdom Is No Part of This World" - JESUS' ATTITUDE TOWARD INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENTS

Many Jews to whom Jesus preached longed for independence from Rome.  Jewish Zealots, or nationalists, stirred up these feelings among the people.  Many of those extremists followed the ideas of Judas the Galilean.  He was a false messiah in the first century who misled  a large number.   Jewish  historian Josephus states that this Judas "incited his countrymen to revolt, upbraiding them as cowards for consenting to pay tribute to the Romans."  The Romans had Judas executed. (Acts 5:37)  Some of  the Zealots even resorted to violence to further their goals.

Apart from those extremists, ordinary Jews were keenly awaiting the arrival of a political Messiah.  that is, they expected that when the Messiah appeared, he would bring glory to their nation and freedom from the yoke of Rome.  (Luke 2:38; 3:15)  Many believed that the Messiah would establish a kingdom on earth in Israel.  When  that occurred, millions of Jews scattered abroad would return to their homeland.  Recall that John the Baptist once asked Jesus:  "Are you the Coming one, or are we to expect a different one?"  (Matthew 11:2, 3)  John  may have wanted to know whether someone else would fill  all the hopes of the Jews.  The two disciples who met the resurrected Jesus on the road to Emmaus also had unfulfilled hopes about the Messiah.  (Read Luke 24:21)  Soon thereafter, Jesus' apostles asked him: "Lord, are you restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?" -Acts 1:6. 

Such expectations about the Messiah doubtless led the people of Galilee to want Jesus to become their king. We can imagine that they were thinking that Jesus would be an ideal leader.  He was an outstanding speaker, he could cure the sick; he could even supply food for the hungry. After Jesus fed about 5,000 men, he sensed the mood of the people.  "Jesus, knowing that they were about to come and seize him to make him king, withdrew again to the mountain alone." (John 6:10-15)  The following day on the other side of the Sea of Galilee, the enthusiasm may have died down some.  Jesus then explained to the crowd the true nature of his work.  He had come to bring spiritual, not material benefits to the nation.  "Work not for that perishes, but for the food that remains for everlasting life," he told them. - 6:25-27. 

Next time: "My Kingdom Is No Part of This World" -Conclusion of JESUS' ATTITUDE TOWARD INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENTS

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