John 6:1-3 – After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased. And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.
There is an important statement in this passage that is easy to miss if you are not paying close attention. Did you see it? John remembered this moment. He remembered just being with Jesus as much as he remembered the miracles. That’s how it is when you know Jesus for yourself; yeah, you are thankful for the miracles but those special times when you just sit there with Him are the best moments. Discovering that is the secret to contentment. Contentment doesn’t come from the breakthrough miracles but from discovering and enjoying intimacy with the Lord. Just sitting with Him on the mountain was enough for John, all of the ministry that came out of those moments was to help others discover the precious treasure of intimacy with God. Here is how the reformer Musculus describes this.
“Let us also consider here the image of divine philanthropy in Christ. Of all things this is the most delightful thing to a Christian heart. “And he sat there,” he says, “with his disciples.” Who with whom? The teacher with his students, the shepherd with his sheep, the hen with her chicks. Let us consider this gathering not of such a kind as physical eyes would have been able to see but of the sort of gathering that they were establishing: that paternal love in Christ and the souls of the disciples clinging to Christ no differently than chicks who run up to and cling to a mother hen. And let us not doubt that there will always be that same love for us if we are disciples of Christ, such that he sits and rests among us, feeding us by his Spirit, no differently than when he sat and rested among his disciples and fed them. And where did he sit with them? On a desert mountain.”
This is the very strength and inspiration of our Christian faith, just being with Him. I am certain Paul had this in mind when he said that we are seated together in heavenly places in Christ. Being seated in Christ in heaven is more than a theological belief that we have, it is actually an acknowledgement of the access we have to our Savior right now. John was proclaiming this as he described himself and the other disciples seated with Christ on the mountain. Today we are enjoying intimacy with our High Priest who has entered behind the veil granting us access into His very Presence.
