John 6:2 "Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased."
Signs. I remember as a little girl, my Dad used to take me to "healing" meetings. There was one night in particular, a young teenage girl with long, wispy hair, was pulled up to the platform and all of the lights in the audience were dimmed. She hobbled over to the so-called "faith healer" who sat her down in a chair, carefully pulled her right leg up and then slid another chair underneath it. I promptly got out of my seat, pardoned and excused myself as I pushed past, crawled over and scooted through the legs of every individual between that platform and I. Something BIG was about to happen...especially since the music intensified.
Though I learned later the guy was a con, I wanted to go back the next night, and the next, and so on. To see a miracle happen for others meant that there might be a miracle for me. I had a great desire to see a miracle in my childhood.
So it's easy to understand why "multitudes" began to follow Jesus. He was touching lepers with lethal disease. He healed bad eyesight, paralysis, anemia, the deaf, those with crippled limbs, and even raised the dead. There was no limit to His power and not enough books to contain all that He did. I would have followed.
John 6:25-27 "And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You come here?” Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled."
Now there's a difference. Initially, they followed Him for the signs, but once the Lord performed a miracle that "filled their stomachs," their motivation changed. For every one that says they follow Christ, "motives" will be periodically checked by the Holy Spirit. Circumstances in our lives can surface the real reason we say we are Christians. Is it because we want to see Him do a miracle for us? Is it because we believe following Him will give us good health, decent wealth, protection from injury, deliverance from hard times? Is it because we have goals and ambitions and want His blessings on them so they do not fail? Why do we follow Jesus?
Hear Job's wise reflection, "Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" (Job 2:10)
May our motivation to follow Jesus be solely for WHO He is. "I Am the Good Shepherd." Jn.10:11
