[TheRealThing]

First, another poster said, "only a naïve fool" to which I said "thou knowest" (as anointing oneself the judge of fools), not, "You, sir, are a fool.". In John 2, Jesus will not entrust himself to the crowd, " he knew all men...knew what was in a man.". I would suggest this same distrust of the crowd, it's fickleness and tyranny, lived in the thinking of Roger Williams, a man of God, and Thomas Jefferson, a man of the Enlightenment. I would argue that as long as the United States pursues freedom of conscience and justice for all that God's true children will find freedom to pursue the narrow path unthreatened by civil government and that the blood of Christians will not be spilled by this civil government so regulated, and that God does regard that.

1) The Gospel writer records that the people came to make Jesus King, 2) but he would not entrust himself to the crowd because he knew what was in man. [COLOR="Red"]3) He also suggested that if he wanted this world's polity as his kingdom, he could call 10,000 angels and have it. [/COLOR] 4) He stated his kingdom was not of this world. As to "naive fools," thou knowest.

There are two separate discussions here. The first is between you and the Lord, only you two know the intent of your comment and mine is not to judge. I will say this however, to say one who would do so and so is a fool, is different from saying so and so is a fool, right? As for the rest of the first quote box, The Lord did not distrust the crowd, He was and is God Who, is omniscient. He knew therefore exactly what was in the hearts of man, both in the day He walked this earth, and now that He is seated at the right hand of The Father, so it would have been impossible for it to have been a matter of trust. Thus in my opinion, your ideas about Roger Williams are, forgive me, incorrect as are the rest of your conclusions as they are based in error. I can't prove what was in the mind of Williams, but his actions stand apart from your conclusions.

So, that brings us to the second chapter of John. (The first quote box, and the 2nd quote box for the sake of context.) But before I get into that I should point out the transition you set up went from the starting point which was John 6:15, then you mixed in two more ideas from John 2 and the idea that He could call on 10 thousand angels to secure His Kingship in this world (still don't know where you're taking that one from.) And lastly, you wound up in John Chap 18:36 when The Lord spoke of His Kingdom as not being of this world. That line of rationale, in my view, is incorrect for several reasons.


First, the account of the people who came to make Him King was already covered in my explanation of John 6:15. That is the only time the people came to make Him King and had nothing to do with entrusting Himself to the people. We know that this world was already offered to Him by Satan, if He'd wanted it He could have taken it then. Matthew 4:8-11 (KJV)
8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

Second, when you veered off into John 2, you said He would not entrust Himself to the crowd. The John chap 2 account has not a thing to do with anybody making Him King. To gauge the context of your reference there, we should start in John 2 verse 23, then on to verses 24, 25 and on to the 1st verse of John chap 3.
John 2:23-25 & John 3:1(KJV)
23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did.
24 But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men,
25 And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.
1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:

Here is the meaning of the text. The people believed Him (v23) because they saw His miracles. It certaianly does not take faith to believe what just happened before your very eyes.

Nodding in agreement with what they had just seen did not indicate, nor did the Lord believe that theirs was a saving faith (Vs 24 & 25.)

Many people today are exactly like those in the mob who really liked to follow Jesus around. They like to go to Church, they are very interested in the things of God, and they are usually enthralled with the music. The only problem is that they have yet to come to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus. When push comes to shove, they become offended for His name's sake and they, like the people of this account, will scurry back to the relative safety of their private lives once the trouble starts.

There was a different sort or man however, and he stood out from among those who followed so superficially. His name was Nicodemus, (John 3:1) And though The Lord did not bother with speaking any further to the crowd, the next 20 verses are an account of His speaking to and educating Nicodemus about the Scripture and His person. In fact, it is here in His discussion with Nicodemus, that we see John 3:16 (KJV)
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Nicodemus was saved BTW, and verification of this fact shows up later in Scripture. At any rate, this mob certainly was not the mob that tried to lay hands on Him to take Him by force to make Him King. They were like many, who having heard of the Lord Jesus are interested for a while but, for whatever reason are soon distracted and their attention turns again to the cares of this life.

Third, I already dealt with the 10 thousand angels deal in the Matt 26:53 explanation. (Post #249)

Fourth, Like I said, in John 18:36 Jesus told Pilate that His Kingdom is not of this world. (Post #249)