John the Baptist is dead. In the reading today, we see that Herod beheads John. John told Herod that his marriage to his brother’s wife was unlawful. This angered Herodias, Herod’s wife, until she finally got her chance to kill him. John’s ministry lasted about a year. He was 30 years old when he was executed.
Immediately upon hearing of John’s execution, Jesus experienced something very human. As soon as Jesus heard the news, he left in a boat to a remote area to be alone. (Matthew 14:13, NLT) In fact, twice in Matthew 14, Jesus sought to be alone. However, this desire for solitude was initially interrupted, for as Jesus stepped off the boat, a crowd was waiting for Him.
Amid Jesus’ grief over John’s death, Jesus had compassion for this crowd and healed their sick. This led to feeding them from the five loaves of bread and two fish, and finally, when it was all done, He had some time alone. In this time alone, what did Jesus do? He prayed. After sending them home, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone. (Matthew 14:23, NLT) Amid the grief of John’s death and the likely exhaustion of healing and feeding thousands of people, Jesus refreshed Himself through prayer.
Have you ever felt like life is coming at you from every direction? Maybe you feel tapped out, exhausted, and spent physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Perhaps you were running on empty, and now you are? Then, it is time to refresh yourself by getting alone in prayer. If Jesus, the Son of God, needed times of prayerful solitude, don’t we? This is a good pattern for us to follow–the very thing that refreshed Jesus is ours, too!
Thank you for joining me as I read and journal chronologically through the Bible! This devotional reflection comes from Matthew 14; Mark 6; Luke 9:1-17.