Even Jesus Needs a Break
The text this week is Mark 6:30-34, 53-56. This is the start of the story of the feeding of the 5000, but the pericope jumps over that and finishes with Jesus healing the sick in Gennesaret. Since we miss the easier lesson contained in the feeding of the 5000, what are we to draw from this passage?
First, it seems that even Jesus needs a break. In Verse 31 He tells the apostles to “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest awhile”. Jesus has been hard at His ministry and needs a break, a vacation if you will. This underscores the essential humanity of Jesus. I have commented many times that all that we go through for good and ill, is known to God through the humanity of His Son. This includes the need for rest and getting away from it all, at least for a little while. We should remember this, and not feel at all guilty about taking some time for rest and rejuvenation.
Yet, Jesus Can’t Catch a Break
However much Jesus needs a break, He just can’t get one. The need of the crowds to hear Him and be taught by Him is too great. They will simply not let Him go. The crowd figured out where Jesus and the boys were going, so they hurried and got there ahead of them. This clearly moves Jesus. Verse 34 states “As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things”.
So, Jesus gives up his vacation and dives right back into ministry. Then things get even busier. When they crossed over into Gennesaret He was recognized, and people brought the sick to Him to be healed. This occurred everywhere they went. In the end, regardless of His need for a break, Jesus goes about meeting people at the point of their greatest need. No doubt this exhausted the human Jesus. Yet, the Son of Man was not to be stopped and would not let being tired stand in the way of healing all those who approached Him. Jesus sacrifices all for His children, as a good shepherd would.
The Lesson for Us
The lesson for us in the here and now is twofold. First, we too like Jesus need a break. There are points in Scripture where Jesus does indeed get the rest that all humans need. We should not forego the rest that will rejuvenate us and make us more productive in our lives and in our call to live out our faith. Also, keep in mind that Jesus knew that His time on earth would be relatively brief. Our time is likely a bit longer, so pace yourself.
Second, we should always have faith that Jesus will meet us at our point of greatest need, and that He will never tire of doing so. This is especially true in light of the resurrection and the arrival of the Holy Spirit to help us. We are never alone and never without the help of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We should try to emulate this as best we humanly can. We will fall short of the glory of God, as Paul reminds us. Yet, we can take our humanly needed rest, and then go forward again, proclaiming God’s love for all humanity. So in all good faith we obey as best we imperfectly can to follow our Lord and savior. Just remember in the midst of believing and obeying, it’s alright to take a nap.
Praise be to God
