14:13 "Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; and when the people heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities."
Jesus hears about John's tragic beheading and takes some "alone time". After this comes the famous feeding of the 5,000.
After reading this, I immediately thought of Hebrews 4:15:
"For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin."
Don't follow? Well, I was thinking what would Dave do if he were in Jesus' position right then? I've got a big following that loves me. John the baptist has just been killed. John had a big following of people who loved him. Herod was afraid of killing John for fear of a mob retaliating. In my mind... this is the time to rise up against the man! Just a couple fiery speeches and I can get an army to topple this Herod guy and implement some real changes! And that's not even taking into account that Jesus (unlike Dave) has the same power that turned the Sodomites into crispy critters at His disposal.
But Jesus retires to meditate on the situation, then goes out and feeds hungry people. He never says a word about John, knowing it might incite rather than unite. People always point to the temptations in the wilderness, but Jesus faced temptations every step of the way... and never faltered. Jesus could have carried out what I described above, but where would it have gotten His children? Even if successful, does the Bible show a good track record of long-term human governments? No! They just keeping messing up again and again! Jesus continued in His ministry to bring His children real freedom. Freedom from sin, freedom to commune with God. I'm so glad Jesus resisted temptation and kept pointing to the cross.
Lord, You are perfect. Help me to grow more like You and to keep my focus on the things above. Help me to resist temptation to make change through strife, and to seek to make change through Your gospel.
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