John 6:16

Departed. Gr. anachoreo, “to withdraw,” “to go back again,” implying perhaps that Jesus had come down from the hill or hill country where He had sought repose with His disciples, and had met the multitude by the seashore. Accordingly, He would now be returning to the hills for further meditation. In place of anachoreo one important early Greek manuscript has pheugo, “to flee.” This reading is also retained in some ancient versions. Whatever may be the correct reading, it is clear that Jesus realized a crisis was at hand, and quietly withdrew.

Mountain. See on v. 3.

Alone. The fact that Jesus withdrew alone, whereas before the coming of the multitude He had taken His disciples with Him for meditation and rest, is a further indication that they themselves did not understand His purpose in refusing kingship (see on Matt. 14:22). This day, which had begun as one of relaxation with His disciples after their tour of Galilee, had become, instead, a crucial point in Jesus’ ministry, and its close found Him misunderstood and completely alone. See on Matt. 14:23.

Once more Jesus was victor over the same temptation with which Satan had confronted Him in the wilderness, the temptation to betray the spiritual nature of His kingdom for worldly glory. Once more He had tried to show His uncomprehending followers that His kingdom was “not of this world” (John 18:36), but that it was a kingdom of grace (see Matt. 5:3, 10; 13:18-52), a spiritual realm entered into by believers through the experience of the new birth (John 3:3). Only “at the last trump” will the kingdom of grace be transformed into the kingdom of glory (1 Cor. 15:51-57; see on Matt. 4:17; 5:2).