When You Just Can't Catch a Break...

Now when Jesus heard this, 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.  When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.  Matthew 14:13-14

Jesus Christ needed a break.  He was troubled on some level.  He was God, but He was also human, and he'd just gotten word that His cousin/friend/co-laborer had been killed.  He just wanted to get away for a bit, alone.  He was looking for a bit of solitude... Peace... Quietness...  

Sometimes you just need some time to yourself.  Sometimes, though, it's like you just can't catch a break!

Jesus got in a boat BY HIMSELF to get away from people for a bit.  He set His course for a "desolate place."  He had specifically aimed for a location where there would NOT be people and work and requests and demands and neediness.  But the people followed Him.  

Sometimes, there's just no rest for the weary.

Personally, I'm not as gracious as Christ in these kinds of situations.  When I'm needing a break and can't get one, I get grumpy.  I may keep on going past what I perceive to be my limits, but I make it pretty obvious that I'm not happy.  There may be some sighs...  A frown... A rolling of the eyes... A sour expression...  A tone of voice that communicates clearly that the words, "What do you need?" really mean, "I'm tired and I don't want to deal with this right now so hurry up and tell me what you want so I can send you on your way!"

But not Jesus.  When Jesus needed a break and couldn't get one, the Scriptures tell us that "...He had compassion on them...".  He didn't turn the boat around and aim for a different destination when He saw the people waiting on the shore.  He didn't get out of the boat and ignore them and just walk past them.  He didn't explode at them and tell them to go away because He needed a break.  He had compassion on them. 

He healed their sick.  

But He didn't stop there.  He didn't just give them a couple of minutes of His time and then continue on His way.  He spent the rest of the day there with a demanding and needy crowd.  When evening came and Jesus' disciples had caught up with Him, they encouraged Him to send the people away, for their own good.  But Jesus did not.

The disciples, too, were probably a bit shaken by the execution of John the Baptist.  They were acquainted with him and his mission, and though the disciples were not always the brightest guys, they had to have some bit of concern that the same thing could happen to them.  After all, they were on a similar mission.  These men probably needed some time to process the situation as well.  They probably wanted to sit with Jesus and have Him tell them that they were safe, and that everything would be okay and they wanted comfort and reassurance.  But Jesus put them to work.

And at this point, emotionally drained, physically tired, needing a break but getting none, Jesus proceeded to feed the multitude.  He wanted to be alone, but instead He got thousands of people who were needy and unprepared and inconsiderate.  And Jesus loved them.  He had compassion on them.  And He fed them.  And when He was done, He knew His disciples were weary, so He let them off work early, while He stayed behind to finish up.

While we can look at Scripture and the nature of Christ and know that He already knew what was going to happen, and that all of these circumstances were setting the stage for the miracles of the feeding of the five thousand and the walking on the water and the calming of the waves, I think there is an important lesson for us beyond the miraculous.  It is that in the seemingly never-ending grind when you feel like you can't carry on for another moment and you can't deal with one more person or one more task or one more need, that maybe, in fact, you can.  And maybe, in the carrying-on beyond what you feel able, maybe your attitude need not be grumpy or begrudging.  Perhaps, in Christ, we can find enough compassion to extend to others for just a few more minutes, hours, or days if necessary.  Perhaps, what we have to give is greater than what we think we need.  

Maybe that interruption that just came in your moment of quiet this morning is just an invitation to be conformed again into the image of Christ and to extend compassion, not frustration.  That's how I'm going to try to look at it today...

For now, anyway...

... just a thought...