It is good to engage with
people. It is good to tell, in action and in words, the good news of God’s
Kingdom. However, we all need times when we can escape from the pressures of
mission and ministry. We need opportunities when we can reflect on what we have
done, what we are doing, and what we are called to do. I wonder whether we make
adequate provision for such times and, in particular, how we do that.
Here we have a reference to
the apostles gathering with Jesus and their trying to set up such a time. This
may well be in response to the mission that is described earlier in this
chapter. Was this the moment of reporting back? It is significant that the word
used is ‘apostles’ and, if we link that to the earlier reference to the twelve
being sent out, it suggests that this particular gathering around Jesus simply
involves the immediate core band of disciples, and not a wider grouping.
We certainly get the
picture of the disciples/apostles coming back from this first mission on which
they had been sent and wanting an opportunity to share the news of what had
happened and, almost certainly, to review the experience. As Brendan Byrne (A Costly Freedom) puts it – “One detects in the report a
breathless sense of novice enthusiasm – matching the increased enthusiasm of
the crowds that prevents them having any time to eat (v. 31).”
It is hard to resist when people keep
coming to ask for help. It is hard to stop when there is more work to be done.
Yet Jesus is always aware of the need for time out of the limelight, what we
might call moments of retreat. ‘Burning out’ is of no help to anyone. I wonder whether
we need to take steps to balance our lives.
As on other occasions, the boat is used as
a means of escape, and to put distance between the apostles and the crowds. At
least, that’s the plan.
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