He Left The Crowd
Walking away from the thing everyone wanted.
On refusing the metric.
The big idea
Jesus' response to a crowd wanting to make him king was to leave.
Opening scripture
“Knowing they meant to come and make him king by force, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.”
What does “He Left The Crowd” walk through?
He Withdrew Again
John 6:15 · KJV
When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.
In plain English
Knowing they meant to come and make him king by force, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
At The Peak
He had just fed thousands. The numbers were extraordinary and the crowd wanted to crown him. He went up a mountain alone — the exact moment most of us would have leaned in.
Let Us Go Elsewhere
Mark 1:38 · KJV
And he said unto them, Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth.
In plain English
He said: let us go somewhere else, to the nearby villages, so I can preach there too — that is why I came.
Leaving A Successful Town
Everyone was looking for him in Capernaum. His answer was to go somewhere else. He was not steering by demand.
“A crowd is not the same as a calling, and it is very easy to mistake one for the other.”
In Secret
Matthew 6:6 · KJV
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
In plain English
When you pray, go into your room, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is unseen. He sees in secret and will reward you.
Test Your Own Work
Galatians 6:4 · KJV
But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.
In plain English
Test your own work. Then your sense of worth will come from what you did, not from comparing yourself to someone else.
Pray
Jesus, keep me from chasing the crowd instead of you. Amen.
Write it down
What are you doing because it works rather than because it is yours to do?
Not steered by demand
Applause is a poor compass.
Which passages does this journey use?
4 passages, drawn from John 6:15, Mark 1:38, Matthew 6:6, Galatians 6:4. Every verse appears here in the King James text with a plain-English line beside it, so you can read it without a commentary open. Allow about 7 minutes for the whole thing, or 8 short sittings.
- John 6:15
- Mark 1:38
- Matthew 6:6
- Galatians 6:4
Read any of these in full on the complete KJV, or look the wording up independently at Blue Letter Bible.
More in The Habits of Jesus
All The Habits of Jesus →He Withdrew To Lonely Places
The habit underneath everything Jesus did.
Before Dawn
What Jesus did before the day could ask anything of him.
He Slept In The Storm
Rest that does not wait for calm.
Interruptible
Jesus kept getting stopped, and kept stopping.
He Asked Questions
Jesus asked far more than he answered.
He Was Never In A Hurry
Urgency was not one of his tools.