Jesus Departs to the Desert - Matthew 14:13

Matthew the apostle wrote how Herod the king, “beheaded John in the prison. And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother. And his disciples came, and took up the body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus”, and in chapter fourteen and verse thirteen of his book, Matthew wrote, “when Jesus heard of it, he departed there” where we read:

When Jesus heard of it, he departed there by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities.

The verse reads, “When Jesus heard of it, he departed there by ship into a desert place apart: ” Matthew began with the word, “when” which means “at the time and moment” “Jesus” whose name means “Jehovah is Salvation” and is “the Son of God, the Savior of mankind and God incarnate” “heard of it” which means “discovered, discerned and understood that John the Baptist was killed”, “he departed there” or “Jesus left from the place He and His disciples were” “by ship” which means “by means of a sailing vessel or boat” “into a desert place” which refers to “to a solitary, lonely, desolate and uninhabited place” “apart” or “separate and private”. Matthew shared how Jesus heard the news of John the Baptist's death and left where He was with His disciples to a “private and desolate place” in the desert.

The verse continues, “and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities.” Matthew added the words, “and when” which means “and at the time and moment” “the people” or “the multitude or crowd” “had heard thereof” whose name means “understood and discovered that Jesus left to the desert place”, “they followed him” or “the crowd and multitude went after and joined Jesus” “on foot” which means “by running or walking” “out of the cities” or “from the dwelling places and towns within which they lived”. Matthew shared how the multitudes discovered where Jesus was going by “ship” and “went after” Him by walking away from their dwelling places.

When we think through Matthew's words in this verse, we see how Jesus meant to separate He and His disciples from the jurisdiction of Herod and to recreate for a while in a solitary and private place. There was certainly reason to rest, however, when the people discovered where He was going, they “followed” Him. God desires to have a personal relationship with every person through His Son Jesus, and this is another example of the effect Jesus has upon people who will come after Him. Let all who read these words be like this multitude and get to Jesus by whatever means necessary.

Next time we see Matthew shares Jesus saw the multitude and was, “moved with compassion toward them”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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