Now when Jesus heard [that John the Baptist had been killed], He withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by Himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed Him on foot from the towns. Matthew 14:13 ESV1
Read Matthew 14:12-36
Jesus had just received some heartbreaking news. One of His best friends, one of His close relatives, the person whom He probably respected most out of everyone on Earth, John the Baptist, had just been brutally murdered. John had been in prison for standing up for what was right. Now, there was no hope that this innocent man would be released; he was dead.
Jesus wanted to pull away, be by Himself, and mourn His loss. But that was not going to happen. Somebody noticed Jesus trying to withdraw. The news quickly spread, and a great, needy, crowd soon assembled. As the Son of God, Jesus could have become invisible or called down angels from Heaven to scatter the people, or done just about anything He wanted to get rid of the people. Instead, “when He went ashore He saw [the] great crowd and He had compassion on them and healed their sick” (Matthew 14:14). Not only that, but He hung out with them the rest of the day; “He welcomed them and spoke to them of the Kingdom of God” (Luke 9:11).
“When it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, ‘This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.’ But Jesus said, ‘They need not go away; you give them something to eat.’ They said, ‘We have only five loaves here and two fish.’ And He said, ‘Bring them to Me'” (Matthew 14:15-18). Jesus then proceeded, through a miracle blessed by God, to turn that tiny lunch into a massive banquet feeding more than 5000 people!
Finally, Jesus “made the disciples get into [a] boat and go before Him to the other side, while He dismissed the crowds. And after He had dismissed the crowds, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray” (Matthew 14:22-23a). Finally, He had his solitary time to mourn and to get refreshed so that He could continue to fulfill the purpose for which He had come to earth.
But the peacefulness didn’t last long. Soon the disciples needed rescuing. The boat in which He had sent them out “was a long way from land, [being] beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them” (Matthew 14:24). Having no boat, Jesus miraculously “came to them, walking on the sea” (Matthew 14:25). After a brief episode of Peter trying to do the same, Jesus “said to them, ‘It is I; do not be afraid.’ Then they were glad to take Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going” (John 6:20-21). On land, Jesus went right back to ministering.
As a wife, mother, grandmother, and a woman involved in ministry, I understand a little bit how Jesus must have felt. I have often been in a place where I needed to withdraw to a desolate place but was unable because someone needed me. Next time you find yourself unable to even use the restroom without the phone ringing or little hands pounding on or reaching under the door, remember Jesus knows what you are going through. Thankfully, “we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize with [us]” (Hebrews 4:15a). So then, we can “with confidence draw near to the Throne of Grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). Even from the toilet.
1 Scripture quotations marked with ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All Scriptures are taken from the ESV unless otherwise noted. To aid in understanding, I have capitalized references to God.