Very God, very human.

CHAPTER 6. CRISIS TO CRISIS TO CRISIS.
From the Death of the Baptist to the move South.
Spring to Late Summer AD 31 (probable dating).

John 6, Luke 9:10 to 10:24, Mark 6:14 to 9:50, Matthew 14:1 to 18:35.

6.1 THE TIME AND THE SPACE.
Herod Antipas governed two areas, Perea in the south east and Galilee in the north west. Of these, Perea was his home ground. It was in Perea that he imprisoned John the Baptist.

Herod “the great” as he is so inappropriately called, died in the spring of BC 4 three or four months after Jesus was born. So if his son Antipas’ “anniversary” was his succession day (as is more likely than its being his birthday) then we have an important time fix for the great change in Christ’s public life.

The death of the Baptist was just before Passover.

The mission of the twelve had just ended - and it makes sense for their return, all together, to be timed for just before Passover.

The next incident - one which is recorded in all four Gospels, probably because it came at such a critical moment - is the feeding of the five thousand. John states that this happened just before Passover and Mark unwittingly confirms the date with his statement that the grass was green. Grass is green at that season only and Mark with his interest in descriptive details recorded it.

So we have four separate time fixes, confirming that this crisis in Jesus’ public life occurred at about Passover time - just one year before His crucifixion.

6.2 EXECUTION OF JOHN THE BAPTIST.
(Mark 6:14-29. Matthew 14:1-12.)
If ever an evildoer had the chance to repent it was Herod Antipas. For nearly two years he held in his dungeon the second greatest preacher of all time. And he listened to him. He used to summon him from the dungeon and hear what he had to say, sensing no doubt that despite his disreputable past, there was hope for him yet. If John’s message struck a chord in his heart, that was clear proof that God had not finished with Antipas. He could still turn his life round and have his past forgiven.

But Antipas had divorced the daughter of Aretas, king of Arabia (thus making for himself a dangerous enemy who later worsted him in war). In her place he had taken Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, a dominant and manipulative woman with a lust for power. For Herod, the price tag on salvation was to give up Herodias. The price tag on keeping Herodias was damnation. He did not make the choice consciously, but let himself be manoeuvred into a position where the choice was made.

At his anniversary celebrations the daughter of Herodias danced for him, (or maybe danced is a euphemism) and he made a drunken oath to give her any reward she requested. “Even to half the kingdom” he said, knowing full well that Rome would never let him give any part of his kingdom to anyone without Caesar’s consent. “Half the kingdom,” was a figure of speech. She could have asked jewels or riches, but to ask the life of any man was way outside the terms of the promise. When she asked for John the Baptist’s head he could have refused quite honourably.

Yet rather than lose face before his guests he ordered the death of his prisoner and let himself slip unthinking into damnation.

Even in terms of politics it was a bad move. John was still popular and Antipas became even more unpopular, if that was possible, than before. He did not have much longer to reign.

6.3 THE NEWS REACHES JESUS.
Some news travels fast. The execution of John would have been known all over the country within days. John’s disciples, after burying their master, came straight to Jesus (Matthew 14:12).

It was shortly before Passover and the mission of the twelve was timed to end then. They arrived back at Capernaum just as the shock waves from John’s death were breaking.

We cannot overestimate the effect the news had upon Jesus. In response to it He changed the whole direction of His own mission. After a period of respite and reappraisal, He left Galilee and headed south. There was also a change in the main emphasis of His teaching; more about sacrifice and suffering, preparing the disciples for what lay ahead.

The events of the next two days took place while Jesus and the apostles were still shocked and grieving.


6.4 THE PLAN THAT WENT WRONG.
(John 6:1-15. Luke 9:10-17. Mark 6:30-44. Matthew 14:13-21.)
Jesus knew what it was like to make good plans and have them frustrated. In Capernaum they were so thronged by crowds that they had no leisure even to eat. The plan was to cross the lake, away from the crowds (and incidentally out of the territory ruled by Antipas and into that of his brother Philip). A time of quiet on their own was needed, to grieve for the Baptist, to debrief after their mission and to consider the next move.

So the party left in Peter’s boat as they had often done before, only to find that the crowds guessed where they were heading and followed them round on foot. They would have been fully justified in crying, “This is really too much!”

When Jesus saw the crowd, however, He felt for them. They were drifting, lost, like “Sheep without a shepherd.” So He changed His plans, postponed the intended break and spent the day with the people. At the end of it they were hungry and there were no market traders nearby to supply food. All they had was one boy’s lunch pack of five bread rolls with a couple of fishes to flavour them.

Feeding the five thousand was not merely a miracle, the logistics of it were exacting. Twelve apostles had to break and distribute food for about four hundred each (Judas included). It multiplied in their hands, but as is so often the case with miracles, now as then, so much attention is focussed on the practical tasks which surround the supernatural element that there is no time to be overawed. They simply got on with the job.

At the end of that exhausting day, Jesus did not trust the apostles with the task of “sending the multitude away.” These sheep without a shepherd needed, at that time, a gentle touch and gentleness when exhausted requires a special kind of strength. Jesus sent the twelve back in the boat, personally encouraged the crowd to go, then climbed a hill to pray alone.

At last He had an hour or two of silence for prayer. At last He could talk everything through with His heavenly Father, laying before Him His own grief for John and also something of the change of direction it meant for His mission.

6.5 WALKING ON WATER.
(John 6:16-21. Mark 6:45-52. Matthew 14:22-33.)
When Satan had suggested a dramatic public miracle to impress the crowds at the temple, Jesus had refused. Miracles are never to be used as showmanship. But encouragement for disciples at a point when they were most in danger of discouragement, that was a different matter.

As the boatmen rowed hard against the wind they saw Jesus walking on the water.

Soon He would be uprooting them, unsettling them, leading them into the danger zone. Soon they would face upheaval and hardship and warnings of more to come. The comparative comfort and safety of Capernaum would be left behind. In the face of all this, they needed to know they had a leader who could walk on water.

6.6 KNOCKS AND SHOCKS.
The twelve had completed their mission and been faced immediately with the news of John’s execution. Now followed several more traumas.

One was an attempt by the Zealot party to take Jesus by force and make Him a king. The Zealots were not opposed to Jesus like the Pharisees and Sadducees, but they wanted Him on their side. “King” presumably meant no more than figurehead for a rebellion, a rebellion that would be doomed to failure. The Zealots’ cause was not unjust, only hopeless. It would be three hundred years before anyone could defeat Rome and even then it would not be a tiny country on the outskirts of its empire.

For perhaps the first time, a number of followers drifted away. Popularity is fickle at any time and Jesus never had any illusions about it. He was seeking committed disciples who would stand the tests of hardship and disappointment. He asked the twelve, “Will you also go away?”

Peter was quick to answer, “Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

Even so they found His words difficult to understand when the Pharisees started another argument about ceremonial food regulations and washings. Jesus answered, “What goes into people does not defile them - only what comes out of them.”

Food regulations were deeply ingrained into their way of life, as they are in most communities and all the worlds main religions, today as then. The disciples simply could not take Christ’s words literally; so they assumed it was a parable. Jesus often did talk in parables and it was a reasonable assumption. This time, however, it was wrong. Jesus was talking plain literal fact.

“Food,” He told them, “goes in and through and out again. It does not touch the heart.” Then He gave them a list of evil things which come out from inside a person. “These,” He told them, “are what defile.”

Even the disciples found it hard to accept. First He was effectively declaring all foods “Kosher” leaving people free to eat what they choose without any religious restrictions. At the same time He was telling them that deliberate actions can make people spiritually dirty - and He listed money-mindedness, dishonesty, casual sex (fornication) and cheating on a partner (adultery), along with blasphemy, pride and folly. So in an argument about another subject, petty mindedness, came His most exacting set of demands for moral purity, mentioned almost on the side.


6.7 SECOND ATTEMPT TO HAVE A BREAK.
(Mark 7:24-31. Matthew 15:21-28.)

Jesus was human and shared the physical weaknesses of humanity, being as Hebrews puts it, “In all points tempted like as we are.” He knew grief, shock and exhaustion and what it was like to experience them all at once while still coping with outside pressure and with companions who were suffering the same grief, shock and exhaustion.

People whose work is highly stressful, especially if it is mainly with people, know the danger of burn-out. Any modern counsellor, hearing of Jesus and the apostles’ lifestyle would insist that some kind of holiday was essential after nearly two years of it. Add to that the need to grieve and recover from the shock of John’s execution, and the failure to get even one day’s respite across the lake. Time away from pressure had become a top priority.

The only way, it seemed, was to cross the border into Tyre and Sidon - gentile territory. Here, surely, they would be free from the constant clamour of crowds.

At last they arrived and found some kind of “house” whether inn or guest house or just a hospitable householder. They began to shed the tensions, catch up with sleep, with quiet, with the need to talk through their recent experiences.

And one gentile women came and spoilt it.

Suddenly there it was again, the all too familiar cry, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me.”

The disciples wanted to send her away, knowing that one healing of one gentile here would bring a new crowd to their doorstep, a gentile crowd, an inescapable crowd.

They were right of course. Caring professionals all know that if they can never say “No” to a request, they will sooner of later have a breakdown. There has to be a boundary somewhere and for Jesus and His team at that time the boundary was the gentiles. A few individual gentiles had been helped and some had mingled with Jewish crowds. To face a crowd of gentiles, however, was beyond their ability. The time would come when Jesus told them to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations - but that was a commission to the whole coming church. Millions have been working on it for centuries, and each group has to have its own boundaries. All Christ’s followers have to think global but act local, share the vision for the world but carry out just one small part of it.

So Jesus refused the request. It was the only recorded occasion when He did so. But when the woman persisted, and with good humour, He gave her what she wanted. Maybe the refusal was public and the healing private; so that it did not bring more crowds to them. And those in caring professions will recognise the familiar situation - “No I cannot see anyone else without an appointment - but yes all right I will just see you.” It is so true to life.

From what followed we can infer that Jesus and the apostles did get a reasonable amount of rest on that visit to Tyre and Sidon. In fact they did have another retreat into Caesarea Philippi a little later, but more for preparation than recuperation.

The break in Tyre and Sidon was followed by an extremely strenuous mission.

6.8 DECAPOLIS (THE TEN TOWNS).
(Mark 7:31 to 8:10. Matthew 15:29-39)
Jesus was planning to leave the north and move south, but first there was unfinished business on the east coast of the lake.

The previous time Jesus went there He healed the demoniac who had called himself Legion. Afterwards the people had pleaded with Him to go away and He had done so, sending the man back to tell them of his restored sanity, (see 5.6).

Now He went into the Decapolis region with (as would be said in later centuries) all guns blazing and all flags flying. It was the last visit to Decapolis and He went with His team well trained now; so that they could reach ten towns in a short time.

Crowds flocked to hear Him. He preached and healed. And four thousand of them followed Him out into the hills. This was very different from the occasion, a few weeks earlier when five thousand had been fed by the lakeside. They had come spontaneously, unprepared and after one day they had nothing. This second crowd must have started out with supplies, knowing they were going onto the hillside to spend time listening. But after three days, their food was gone.

This, then was no casual crowd, gathering in the hope of seeing a few miracles and hearing a celebrity speak. These were people who meant business. It was not the largest congregation Jesus had addressed, but it was the largest group of committed followers.

The Decapolis campaign must be counted as the most successful yet. In later years Decapolis was known as a Christian area, in fact it provided shelter for the Christians who fled Judea in the late 60s AD.

6.9 MAGDALA. (Matthew 15:29.)
They crossed the lake again and landed at Magdala. Here the Pharisees were demanding a “sign from Heaven” a miracle of the kind which suited their ideas of Messiah. Jesus refused point-blank to give one. If they could not find such a sign in all He had already done, they would never be convinced. The Pharisees took His refusal as failure.

It could well have been at this time that Mary of Magdala, who had been healed of seven devils (see 5.5), left her home and committed herself to join up with the group. Certainly she was with them by the time they reached Jerusalem and this seems to have been the last visit Jesus made to Magdala.

6.10 CAESAREA PHILIPPI.
(Luke 9:18-27. Mark 8:27-38. Matthew 16:13-28.)
Their next break was north of the Lake in Caesarea-Philippi, territory ruled by Philip not Antipas. It was a place of beauty, with hills to climb and quiet spots. This visit was more of a retreat than a rest. They arrived, not despondent and exhausted as at Tyre and Sidon, but fired up by the success of the Decapolis mission.

This was a time of preparation for the next mission, which was to be in Herod’s home territory, a deliberate venture into danger. Here they had not come to recover from shocks, but to receive a different kind of shock, administered by Christ Himself.

Before subjecting them to what He had to tell them, He asked them a question. “Who do people say I am?”

They answered, “Another John, another Elijah, another Prophet.”

“And you? Who do you say I am?”

When Peter answered, “You are Messiah, Son of the Living God,” he was not mentioning the idea for the first time. Peter’s first introduction to Jesus had been when his brother Andrew ran excitedly to him and said, “We have found Messiah.”

That had been two years ago when they were all full of the enthusiasm of young men for something new and exciting. They had held on to the possibility that Jesus might be Messiah all through the events that followed. What Jesus was asking now was an acknowledgement which went deeper, the mature certainty of men who had worked with Him long enough to be sure. He was about to warn them of what it would cost to go on following Him. To prepare them for that they needed a deep inner certainty based on a combination of experience and of the inner voice of God. Jesus had taught them to live tuned in to Heaven. Now He assured Peter that “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my Father in Heaven.” Not only had Peter learned who Jesus was but also learned to hear God’s voice.

At last the apostles were ready for the next step. Jesus began to warn them that He would be crucified and that to be His disciple involved “taking up a cross.” This was in a community where crucifixion was well known.

“Listen! Anyone who follows me sets out on a last journey that can only end in death, like a condemned criminal picking up his cross. Follow me and your life is finished. But then it is those who love their lives who will lose them. The way to find life is to give it up for my sake and the Gospel’s. What profit is it to gain the whole world and lose your own soul. Yes, the Son of Man will come in the glory of the Father and the holy angels. Those who are ashamed of me here will find that I am ashamed of them on that day.”

They would not have been ready for it a year earlier. Now (with the exception of Judas) they were ready, although it took a while to sink in. Now also, they were being called to live it out. Jesus was preparing them to quit the relative safety and comfort of Galilee, the familiar base at Capernaum, the towns and villages where they had preached and healed and been well received. They were going to move south.

In the south lay danger, both in Herod’s territory and in Jerusalem.


6.10 HEAVEN COMES DOWN.
(Luke 9:28-45. Mark 9:1-32. Matthew 17:1-23.)
Jesus had been preparing His disciples for the hard time ahead; but the hardest time ahead He would face alone. Now God the Father and all Heaven with Him joined in giving Jesus an immense encouragement.

Jesus had taken Peter, James and John with Him up a mountain. Climbing was His recreation and provided quietness for prayer. At this critical turning point in His public life, Jesus found time for a climb with His three best friends, and to talk with His Heavenly Father.

Suddenly Heaven came to earth, just as it had done when His birth was announced to the shepherds and again after His baptism. Moses and Elijah stepped down onto the ground and discussed with Jesus the death He was going to accomplish. They knew its importance, even if the disciples were being slow to take it in.

The vision faded and the three apostles were left alone with Jesus. Peter never forgot this experience and referred to it in his letter (2 Peter 1:18). He wanted it prolonged but glimpses into Heaven are always brief. They climbed down the mountain.

6.11 LAST VISIT TO CAPERNAUM.
(Matthew 17:24-27)
Leaving their familiar base was the final trauma in this summer of crisis. Presumably Peter and others still kept their homes in Capernaum and they did return there after the resurrection; but at this point their departure was the end of an era. They were going to move deliberately into the southern danger zones.

While packing up to go, it seems, someone asked Peter, “Does your Master pay the temple tax?”

The temple tax was not legally enforceable but seen as a strong patriotic and religious duty. It was only half a shekel for each man and was supposed be paid every year.

Peter’s instant reaction was to say, “Oh yes of course.” The very idea of not paying would have shocked him. But he did not have the money on him at that moment. So he went back to Jesus, only to find that funds were at rock bottom.

Little is said generally about the finances of the group of apostles. This is one reference, the others are Luke 8:3 which referred to financial supporters and John 13:29 which tells us there was a treasurer who normally made necessary purchases and gave gifts to the poor.

Peter had committed Jesus to pay before they left Capernaum. To have slipped out without paying would have been to leave an offence behind them at the end of their association with the town.

We can almost hear the light good-humoured tone as Jesus faced one more problem imposed by His impetuous friend.

“We don’t really need to pay this tax to God. Royal families are exempt from tax. Still we should not cause offence. Peter, you had better go fishing again. We have no money.”

The lake fishes sometimes did swim with a hard item such as a pebble in their mouths; so it was not strange to find a coin there. It was a miracle of timing. Peter paid the tax and the party left Capernaum without embarrassment.



6.12 FOXES HAVE HOLES. BIRDS HAVE NESTS.
(Luke 9:57-58. Matthew 8:19-20.)
If we follow Luke’s order of events we realise that this incident happened just after Jesus and the disciples had left their base at Capernaum. They were on the road, heading south into the danger zone, and homeless.

At that point Jesus told a would-be follower, “Foxes have holes, birds have nests, but The Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

Throughout this crisis period, Jesus had been repeatedly warning His followers of the cost. Three times at least He foretold His own death and warned His followers of impending suffering. This was not theory. He was in the act of leading the twelve into hardship and danger. By comparison with what was to come, their two years in Galilee had been safe and comfortable.

6.13 THE MISSION OF THE SEVENTY.
(Luke 10:1-12)
Jesus had been deliberately filtering out the followers who were not fully committed. Even so He was able to recruit seventy (or was it seventy two? Manuscripts vary). These He sent out two by two, ahead of Him into towns and villages to prepare the way. It seems from the wording of Luke 10:1 that the twelve were not this time included. We are not told the names of any of these missioners, except that we can infer two of them from Acts 1:21-26.

The difference between this mission and the earlier one was that when Jesus had sent out the twelve it was to consolidate the work He had already done in the towns and villages of Galilee. It was also to give them experience. This mission of the seventy, however, was to prepare the way in advance for His coming. He was breaking new ground, entering a new area and knew He would have very much less time in it than He had had in Galilee.

6.14 LOOKING BACK WITH SADNESS.
(Luke 10:13-16. Mark 9:33-41. Matthew 11:20-24 & 18:1-5.)
After they had gone, Jesus looked back on what must have seemed like good times in Galilee, only to mourn for the towns where He had done such great works. Individuals had followed Him. Communities had stood back, admired and wondered, but remained unchanged. The immense popularity of early days had faded, although public acclaim would be a feature of Jesus’ life even in the south and up to the end. Jesus had never expected crowds to be anything but fickle. His solid achievement was the smaller group of fully dedicated followers.

Even they, however, could show remarkable immaturity at times. While on this journey they quarrelled about which was the greatest - that was when He pointed out a little child and declared him or her to be the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. How can anyone be greatest in the kingdom of lowliness?

On that journey, some of them tried to restrain a person who was casting out demons in Jesus name - because he was not in their team. Jesus objected - He and His mission can never be anyone’s monopoly or copyright.

Then they came to a village which refused them even minimum hospitality. They were going through Samaria, an unusual route but they had done it before. Most travellers preferred the longer safer route by the Jordan because of hostility between Jews and Samaritans. Jesus as usual tried to overcome hostility with a friendly approach and most of the way it worked, but one village refused them entry because they were heading towards Jerusalem.

James and John joked about calling down fire from Heaven on the village - but there was real resentment behind the joke and Jesus told them, “You don’t know what spirit you are of.”

6.15 TOP PLACES IN GOD’S KINGDOM.
(Mark 10:35-45. Matthew 20:20-28.)
None of Jesus’ own brothers had joined the disciples’ band. His cousins, James and John had. What was more reasonable, according to the culture of that day, than for the only two apostles who were also in the family to claim the top places. It is only in modern business that nepotism has become a dirty word. Down the ages it has been assumed to be right and normal. (In fact both nepotism and cronyism have much to be said for them - enabling leaders to appoint people they know to positions of trust.)

Probably their mother Salome had been thinking about it for some time - her sons were well trusted members of Jesus’ team. Now they were leaving Capernaum, apparently for good, she wanted to get their position clear first. So she asked for an assurance that James and John would sit on His right and left in His kingdom.

Jesus answered “Have you any idea what you are asking? Do you really think you can cope with such a role? Can you drink from my cup - share the experiences I have to go through?”

“Oh yes, of course.” Just how naive could they get? He had been warning them all along the way that He was facing crucifixion. They had probably told themselves it was another parable.

“Yes indeed, you will have your share of it. But those top places you are looking for are not mine to award.”

He stopped short of telling them at that time how much suffering there was to be had by those who went all the way with Him. But once more He endeavoured to make the message clear to all twelve of them that the lowly role of the servant is the only way to greatness in the kingdom of heaven.

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