After the feeding of the five thousand did Jesus send the disciples away, or did they abandon him? Answer: They abandoned him.

The Synoptics and John’s Gospel have a different take on what happened after the feeding of the five thousand. According to Mark 6:45 and Matthew 14:22 Jesus ‘made his disciples’ get into the boat and go over to Bethsaida. According to John 6:16-17 ‘the disciples went down to the sea and got into the boat’ and left.

Problems with saying John’s Gospel just forgets the dismissal

An easy explanation would be that the writer of John missed this detail of Jesus telling his disciples to leave, so essentially the two accounts are the same. There are problems with this.

One is that the writer of John’s Gospel usually does better on detail than the Synoptics. This is certainly the case with the narrative of the feeding of the five thousand. It is John’s Gospel that tells us Jesus went up on a mountain (John 6:3), that it is the time of the Passover (John 6:4); that it is Philip and Andrew ( John 6:7-9) who talk with Jesus about how to feed the crowd (the Synoptics just say the disciples); that there is much grass there (John 6: 10); that Jesus commands the disciples to pick up the rubbish (John 6: 12); and most dramatically of all it is only the writer of John who tells us about the enthusiastic response of the crowd after the miraculous meal. Jesus is ‘the prophet who is to come into the world’ (John 6:14). Then the narrator explains how the crowd wants to take Jesus by force and make him a king. This is when Jesus leaves for the mountains (John 6:15). There’s a lot more detail here than in the Synoptics undermining the argument that somehow the writer just forgot that Jesus had made his disciples get into a boat and leave. If it was important, he would have included this event.

Another problem is that in John’s drama the idea of Jesus compelling his disciples to get into the boat is unconvincing. Here we have an excited crowd that believes Jesus is the political Messiah they have been waiting for. There is frenzy in the air. It is very unlikely that in all this excitement Jesus would have been able to come down the mountain to the boat, dismiss his disciples, and then return to the mountain again. John’s account is much more authentic. Jesus sees the crowd getting out of control, dismisses them (Mark 6: 45) and then makes a quick exit further up the mountain.

A final problem is that in John’s account there are three events that make it impossible for Jesus to have compelled the disciples to leave immediately after the miracle. Firstly the disciples waited (John 6:16); secondly Jesus was not there when they left, so it was solely their decision (John 6: 17); and finally others had been waiting with the disciples and saw they got into the boat alone (John 6:22). In John there is no official dismissal of the disciples by Jesus. 

But what about Mark and Matthew’s statements that Jesus made the disciples get into the boat? One answer is that the Synoptics got this wrong. That is a little brutal, especially as it carries the suggestion that they were wanting to gloss over how they just abandoned Jesus. This attacks the integrity of the Synoptic writers. 

 

Mark and Matthew’s dismissal fitted into John’s version of events

It is not entirly convincing, but perhaps the best way of seeing how Mark and Matthew’s statements make sense is if we see Jesus on the mountain shouting to the disciples to go to the boat and leave. Then dismissing the crowd, and heading off to the mountain. One very practical reason for this would be to divert the crowd. Seeing the disciples leaving for the boat the crowd could easily assume Jesus was with them. The crowd followed the disciples and so made it easier for Jesus to get away. We know this happened because John tells us that some of the crowd waited by the boat (John 6:22) This is what Peter told Mark, and this is what got into his and Matthew’s gospel. 

Thankfully for the disciples this emphasis on this detail in Mark and Matthew gives a ready answer to the hugely embarrassing question of why the disciples took the only boat available and left Jesus up the mountain: Jesus had ordered them to do this.

For the writer of John this command of Jesus does not merit inclusion in his account. He is not denying it happened, but wants to underline it was the disciples who made the decision to get into that boat and leave. And his version makes it clear that despite the command, as good Middle Easterners, the disciples initially treated it as just Jesus being polite (‘You go, don’t worry about me) because, as mentioned, John’s Gospel makes it clear that they first waited for him (‘When evening came….(John 6: 16)). This makes sense. If a leader tells a group to go when there is only one van, the group would not just jump into the van and go. They would wait.

But then John tells us they did go. So he is underlining what is almost glossed over in the Synoptics: the unpleasant fact that when evening came and Jesus still had not come, his followers got into the only boat available and left. This is again emphasized in John 6:22. People from the crowd had clearly waited by the boat hoping to see – or seize – Jesus because they knew He had to come to this boat. Then no doubt to their great surprise, even shock, the disciples get into the boat and leave. They don’t forget this, nor does John’s Gospel.

Why the disciples left? An act of rebellion

So why did the disciples leave? They were furious with Jesus. We know from Acts 1:6 that how ever many miracles they saw there was only one subject dominant in their minds: the restoration of the Kingdom of Israel. Their plan for Jesus was for him to become Israel’s king and drive out the corrupt administration in Jerusalem. And here they were with a massive crowd proclaiming their Jesus as King. This was it. With this crowd they would raise an army in Galilee and march to Jerusalem, where most Judeans would join them. And soon they would be hauling Herod and Pilate and Caiaphas before the new King’s court. This was a great day. But the King ruins everything.

Even before his disappearance up the mountain Jesus had not been giving his disciples an easy time. There was the test that Philip failed, but Andrew scraped through (John 6: 5-9). Then they had to get everyone to sit down. (John 6: 10) Hard work. Now, as friends of the host they expected to eat first, but instead they had to serve the food to this huge crowd (Mark 6:41). Giving out the bread was all right, the fish was not so pleasant. Now they definitely want to eat. We know from their behaviour in the story about the woman of Samaria that food was important for this group. But still no food for them. Instead Jesus commands them to pick up all the rubbish (John 6: 12) Twelve baskets get filled up with the leftovers (John 6:13) The implication is obvious. It is their food. All this had probably caused some resentment, but Jesus was going to become King. It was worth it. So their hearts too surge with excitement, perhaps they also joined in the clamour to make Jesus king. This was the moment they were dreaming of. And He disappears.

They are furious, but still not ready to engage in mutiny. So they ignore Jesus’ command to leave and wait for him to come back down the mountain. Here we have the usual use of irony in this Gospel. Jesus commands them to leave, but in fact to leave Him without a boat would be tantamount to rebellion. And that is what happens. As evening approaches they decide to call it a day. Somebody said, ‘Look, there is no point in waiting for Jesus, and ‘anyway’, He told us to go’. So they leave Jesus without transport. Nearly always in John’s Gospel the author wants us to ponder the deeper meaning, as with Judas leaving the last supper, ‘and it was night’. So here, the writer is telling us that the disciples are not just physically abandoning Jesus, but something is going on in their hearts.

Confirmation about ruptured relationship at end of John 6

Jesus certainly knows that something serious has happened. He does not talk about their unpleasant departure directly, but the writer of John – again not the Synoptics – makes it clear at the end of John 6 that there has been a serious breakdown in Jesus’ relationship with his disciples. For in John 6: 67 we have one of the saddest questions in the Gospels: Jesus asks the twelve, ‘Do you also wish to go away?’ Clearly there is doubt written on some of their faces. One could argue that this is just the result of what Jesus has said in his discourse about the true bread from heaven in the synagogue in Capernaum the day after the miracle. But it is unlikely that men who have given up all to follow a religious teacher would then leave him after a particular sermon. Nearly always there is some history before a rupture in a relationship. So this question almost certainly goes back to the day before and the grim reality that the disciples had in a sense already ‘left’ Jesus.

The leader of the rebels also named

Not only does the writer of John at the end of chapter six remind us of the disciples’ unpleasant departure after the feeding of the five thousand, but he also indicates who the leader of the rebellion was. Jesus does not even acknowledge Peter’s support. He has understood that one of the twelve is ‘a devil’. This is where his whole focus goes. He is heart broken. And the narrator immediately tells us who: Judas Iscariot. Maybe there was something in Judas’ face when Jesus asked the question. Maybe Jesus had privately asked about who had suggested abandoning him the previous day. We do not know. However we do know that this very careful writer has chosen to bring three things together in his version of events: the disciples leaving Jesus; Jesus asking the disciples if they also want to leave; and the first mention that Judas is a traitor. It cannot be proved, but it seems likely that Judas was the instigator of the rebellion that left Jesus without transport.

Old Testament background to the rebellion

The Old Testament gives further support to seeing the disciples’ departure as an act of rebellion. It is well known that the writer of John’s Gospel delights in giving an Old Testament background to the Jesus stories. So the account of Jesus meeting the woman of Samaria by a well has three Old Testament events in the background: Abraham’s servant meeting Rebecca, Jacob meeting Rachel; and Moses meeting Zipporah. John 6 is full of leads back to the Old Testament: v. 3, Jesus, like Moses, goes up a mountain; v. 4, it is the Passover; v. 19 Jesus, like Moses again, is crossing a sea; v. 31 the bread from the miracle is now linked to the manna God gave the Israelites in the wilderness; Jesus claims He is the bread of life (v. 35), and now, just like the Israelites in the wilderness, the people, ‘murmur’ (v.41).

If it is correct that the writer tends to link events in Jesus’ story back to the Old Testament, then it is fair to ask whether there is any link with how the disciples behaved. It is not hard to find. Jesus is the new Moses; and just like Moses he faces a ‘Korah’s’ rebellion (Numbers 16). And initially it seems as if the rebels are going to face the same fate as Korah and his colleagues, except it was going to be the sea that was going to swallow them up, not the earth.

In the Synoptic version of events it is difficult to understand why there is a storm. It is as if it just happens. And Jesus comes to rescue them. In John’s Gospel it all makes more sense. Consistent with every story in the Old Testament, when God’s people rebel against Him they head for trouble. The writer of John makes this very clear. As soon as they get into the boat without Jesus the problems start. It’s ‘dark’ – always meaning the absence of God in John’s Gospel; the sea rose – we’re back in the Old Testament and the dread Israelites have of unruly waves’; there is a strong wind – it’s a storm, more than physical turmoil. If the disciples had been obeying Jesus they would have had peace in this storm, but there is no peace. They are ‘frightened’ (John 6: 20) They are the sad picture of what happens to Christians when they get upset with Jesus because He does not dance to their plans and leave him in a rude way. There is then no blessing in their lives – just darkness, waves, wind and fear.

Now Jesus comes and their fear increases. As with Korah’s rebellion this Moses has every right to let them meet the end they deserve. That is the law, the law that came through Moses. And now the writer delights in showing that through the new Moses came - ‘grace upon grace’. Jesus does not sink the boat, but He gets into it and the Gospel of John makes a point of saying that the boat ‘immediately’ arrived at the land.

In John’s Gospel no story is ever just a story about what happened. There is always more, and so too here with the storm and Jesus’ rescue. This is a warning to all believers not to abandon Jesus, but also a reminder that even when we do rebel, He comes to us in the midst of the storm and shows us grace. And if we take Him in, there will be immediate blessing.

So, what happened after the feeding of the five thousand?

In the Synoptic version of events Jesus makes the disciples leave and he later comes and rescues them from a storm. It just about works as a story line. The version though in John’s Gospel makes much more sense. After the feeding of the five thousand there was a stampede to make Jesus king. To ease his escape Jesus tells the disciples to go to the boat and leave, while He heads for the mountain. Though upset the disciples do not immediately leave. It would be an act of rebellion to abandon Jesus. So they wait, but then still he does not come. This is a breaking point for Judas. He has decided that the Jesus movement, led by Jesus, will never become the political force it should be. So he exploits all the ill feeling the disciples already have about how they have been treated, and especially how Jesus has denied them the chance of taking the movement on. He explains it is a crisis moment and they must now start to take things into their own hands. Jesus has told them to leave, so he suggests they actually should leave. Let Jesus understand that He can’t just treat them however he likes, that He needs to listen to their ideas too. Once he has got over to the other side, they will have a meeting and he, Judas, will make sure the disciples get more involved in the decision making. Feeling sore that Jesus had refused to take the crown, and seeing it was getting dark, the others, some no doubt reluctantly, agreed. They leave Jesus and as soon as they get into the boat everything goes frighteningly wrong. Death seems near. No doubt some angry looks were now cast towards Judas. And then Jesus comes near. They are saved. And all the plans for Judas ‘re-structuring’ of the Jesus movement are shelved. Indeed for Peter and no doubt others, the storm event, more even than the feeding miracle, convinced him that Jesus was the only one worth following. And so when Jesus brings up the question of their loyalty the next day, he is quick to affirm his. Sadly the storm did not convince Judas. It was just bad luck, and they would have probably made it anyway. It was good of Jesus to turn up. But in his heart nothing changes. The Jesus movement must be changed, or betrayed.

This is very possibly what happened and the moral of the story is this: don't leave Jesus when He doesn't fit into your plans.

Tom Hawksley
May 2013