John 6: 25-26
” When they [the crowds looking for Jesus] found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, ‘Rabbi, when did you get here?’ Jesus answered, ‘Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.’”
The last that the crowd had seen of Jesus, was when they were about to make him their king, by force if necessary. John tells us that Jesus “withdrew.” The Greek word used to tell us what Jesus did is anachōreō which means to withdraw, “so as to leave a room.” In my house, when a person leaves a room, they are out of sight. It is almost as if that person has disappeared. Since we now know from verse 21 that Jesus has the power to transport himself from place to place instantly, it might have been that he left the crowd in a similar fashion.
This particular crowd is very determined to be near Jesus. Where would five thousand people come from in that part of the world and at that time in history? Very possibly many or most of them were from the Jerusalem are eighty or more miles to the south. They are momentarily frustrated in their attempt to find Jesus but they do not give up. While it would take the better part of a day to hike around the north end of the lake (The Sea of Galilee), those who could find a boat could be there in a few hours.
Because of the way Jesus had disappeared, they are curious how he got to Capernaum. Did he walk or did he have another way of getting there? The answer to the question, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” would help them guess the answer to how he got there. Jesus, however, sees through their ruse. He is more interested in the condition of their souls than their knowledge of his miracles.
Q: Do we ever suffer from a similar condition? Are we sometimes caught up in the technicalities of questions about our Lord rather than examining the condition of our soul and our relationship with Him?
THEY: Rabbi, when did you get here?
JESUS: ‘Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.’”
In their question I see the small talk that dominates so much of human conversation today. “When did you get here”, who cares, this is a totally neutral, waste of breath and time question. But it fills space, takes up time without putting the person at risk by actually exposing any emotion, or indication of our true feelings.
What happened to “we are so glad we found you” or “we were worried we had lost you”?
Jesus sees their hearts and clearly expresses their true, self centered motivation for trying to find Him. It had nothing to do with the faith building fulfillment of prophesy miracles He had performed, it was totally because they saw He could provide for their physical need for food.
Jesus convicts them of their insincerity, their reason for following Him in the first place. Good for God to speak the truth and convict with clarity so we can move from wasting time, to looking at our real concern which is a deep down knowledge of our separation from God.