We've been looking at Jesus' regular practice of solitude. Today we will see three more times in the gospels that Jesus seeks out solitude. We won't talk about the Garden of Gethsemane, here. We will give that a full week later in this campaign.
We are going to focus on this story in Mark 6, which effectively captures Jesus practice of solitude and how he sought to teach it to his disciples. This takes place immediately after he sends them out to do ministry on their own. (It's interrupted in Mark's gospel with an account of John the Baptist's beheading. Verse 30, however, seems to pick up right where verse 13 leaves off.)
Mark 6:30–46
30 The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. 31 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”
32 So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. 33 But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
35 By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late. 36 Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”
37 But he answered, “You give them something to eat.” They said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?” 38 “How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.” When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.”
39 Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. 41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. 42 They all ate and were satisfied, 43 and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. 44 The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.
45 Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.
Here we see Jesus leading his disciples to a solitary place to find rest after successful ministry efforts. Yet, because of his popularity their solitary place quickly becomes crowded. Clearly in need of rest, Jesus' response to the interruption is even more amazing. Instead of being agitated and angry with the interruption, he has compassion on the crowd. This is a sign of a deeply formed life. At a moment when most would react with anger, Jesus reacts with compassion.
After this event, John's gospel says that the people were likely to take him by force and make him king after witnessing this miraculous event. Jesus, instead of engaging to try to dissuade the crowd, or worse, taking them up on their offer, withdraws to the mountain for solitude.
In the very next scene, Jesus walks out on the water to the disciples in the boat. Then when he reaches the other side, the crowds follow him seeking another free lunch. Jesus, however, teaches a rather hard lesson—he claims to be the bread of life. At this point most of the crowd deserts him and only the twelve are left.
It seems as if Jesus relied heavily on his quiet moments with God in solitude in order to weather the up and down nature of his ministry life. In a few short hours, Jesus went from potentially being king to a leader of only twelve misfit dudes. At critical moments in his ministry, Jesus is said to withdraw by himself for time in prayer. Without the confidence of who he is and the nature of his mission from God, these drastic fluctuations would have been moments of crisis in his life. But they weren't, and it seems this is largely due to his regular practice of solitude and prayer.
Honorable Mentions
Mark 1:35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.
Luke 6:12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.
Additional Content
Reflection
When your life gets more busy, what do you tend to look to for rest and relaxation? Is solitude and prayer a part of that rhythm? Very often we say we are too busy to find solitude and pray. It seems as if the life of Jesus indicates we are too busy not to seek solitude and prayer. If life seems busy for you now, commit to using some of your R&R time for solitude and prayer. Then compare the life this gives to your soul with the other activities you tend to run to for rest.