Matthew 14

Chapter 14 is packed with significant events in Jesus life:  the unjust death of John the Baptist, the feeding of the 5,000, and the famous story of Jesus walking on water.  But on my first reading through I missed something that caught my eye on the second reading; Jesus tries twice to get away for some personal privacy. 

            After Jesus hears about John being executed, Matt. 14:13 tells us“Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself.”   Then later in the chapter after he had fed the 5,000, he dismissed the crowds and sent the disciples across the lake.  Verse 23 then says “he went up on the mountain by himself to pray.”   I have never really given a great deal of thought to Jesus’ private life, which includes his life of prayer.  If you are like me, then let’s meditate today on Jesus’ need to be alone.   He needed to be alone to mourn his cousin John’s death; Jesus was truly like you and me in this way. Let’s meditate on Jesus need to be alone to pray after his wildly successful miracle of feeding 5,000 ‘men’ (remember that number did not include women and children, so it could have easily been twice that many).  

If Jesus needed personal alone time to grieve and to pray, what does that teach us about our needs?   How much alone time do you take to talk with God about the things in your life?