The painting was messed up by a couple of failures which I’ll try to sort one day, but it signals up John 6 15 and the importance of politics throughout the Gospels. It shows the 5000 plus crowd gathering.

Why was it so big? A Football size crowd. The Passover was near. Jewish liberation time from Egypt. John the Baptist had just been murdered by Herod Antipas. Jesus fed them and had them eating out of his hands. They were looking for the Prophet who would liberate and v 15 “Jesus knowing that they intended to make him king by force, withdrew to the mountain by himself.” It was an attempted popular uprising against Antipas. Many of those there probably had their hand weapons ready, looking to Jesus.

Jesus turned it down, refused to undertake the military insurrection and dissipated it. No-one was killed. It involved a complex movement around Galilee and to the North. After that many disciples deserted him. He was not the national uprising Zealot deliverer.

Of course the peaceful Son of God turned this down, not to be apolitical, but to be the Son of Man, the true King of the Jews, the Messiah, the Prince of Peace and the King of Kings. This is the peaceable kingdom. Go, live in it.