Then Jesus, knowing that they were going to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountainside by Himself. – John 6:15 AMP
People of the world want a HERO.
People of the world want a SCAPEGOAT.
Jesus was both, and he is neither one.
While Jesus walked among people on the earth, he desired to do the will of God in all things. He wasn’t swayed to do the will of the people. Some people wanted to make him a hero, but through his actions and his words, he pointed the attention to his Father in heaven and asked people to have a heart of worship and love for God. Some people wanted to make him a scapegoat, and he wore our sins willingly, but he again pointed the attention to his Father in heaven and asked people to have a heart of worship and love for God.
Following the will of God and not the people, Jesus voluntarily laid down his life for all mankind as the ultimate sacrifice, which would bear all of the sins of fallen humanity. Many refused to receive his eternal gift, only seeing him as an earthly hero or an earthly scapegoat. Even though Jesus was in the world, he was not of the world. He didn’t have an earthly mission, he had a heavenly one, which was assigned by his Heavenly Father… and ours.
When the people pressed in on Jesus, seeing him as either their hero or their scapegoat, what did Jesus do?
He withdrew to the mountainside by himself.
When people are pressing in on us, do we withdraw to the mountainside by ourselves to spend time talking with our Father? Do we have the confidence in knowing who we are because of who assigned us our purpose? Do we have the peace and wisdom that comes from following God’s will instead of the people’s will?
Some people will lift us up as heroes, and some will try to diminish us as scapegoats, but God has a purpose for us that points the attention to his eternal plan. We need not allow our identity to be swayed by the ups and downs of peoples’ approval and disapproval of us. God is consistent and true, and he has sent us on a heavenly mission to glorify his name to our fellow humans while we are IN the world, even as we carry ourselves in ways that are not OF this world.
When people are pressing in on us, just as people pressed in on Jesus, we can find peace by withdrawing to be alone with God. Jesus was never completely alone, you see, because his Father was always there with him, and he is there with us too. When Jesus left this earth, he sent us Holy Spirit to dwell in us, which means that we never need to look very far to find peace, far away from the pressing of the crowds, as we withdraw to be alone with God.
(originally posted on July 16, 2025 by Steph)