“Come Away with Me”
July 21, 2024
Mark 6: 30–34, 53–56
The apostles gathered around Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, ‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.
(In the missing verses here we read of Jesus’ feeding the 5000 and walking on water)
When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored the boat. When they got out of the boat, people at once recognized him, and rushed about that whole region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.
*****
Some years ago, I visited Kolkata (Calcutta), India. In this city of nearly 15 million people smells, sounds and unusual sights are everywhere and they are incessant. There is seemingly no place or time to rest in that metropolis. Car horns blare every second. Bollywood music blasts through tinny speakers, competing with the ancient and eerie chants of the imams, calling the Muslim faithful to prayer. Roosters crow at odd hours and dogs bark throughout the night. The air smells thick and close. Like car exhaust, urine and greasy street food.

Spice merchants, beggars, wedding processions, and uniformed schoolchildren share the dusty streets with cows, goats, chickens, and feral dogs. Traffic laws are unheeded as trucks, buses, cars, bicycles, and autorickshaws vie for dominance at every intersection. There is no place to go where there are not people, people, and more people.

The purpose of my visit was to learn about what Christians are doing in this very impoverished city. Amidst all the anguish residents live with, what is being done in the name of Jesus is quite inspiring, even in the face of so much human need.

Kolkata, unlike some parts of India, is not a vacation spot if you seek quiet, rest, and solitude. Rather, it is the kind of place that makes serious demands on your heart, mind, and body.

Kolkata came to mind as I contemplated this reading from the Gospel of Mark where we are told about disciples fired up and Jesus seeking rest. This reading is odd, a disjointed cut-and-paste that surrounds each side of the story of Jesus’ feeding of the five thousand and walking on water.

This story begins with the return of the disciples from their first solo ministry tour. They are excited about the works they have conducted in Jesus’ name. In their minds, what they need is their next project, the next assignment from Jesus. In their minds, the crowds are waiting, and it is time to go.

But Jesus disagrees. Where the disciples see energy, Jesus sees overstimulation. Where the disciples are energized with a tightly packed schedule, Jesus sees a poor sense of balance and rhythm. Where the disciples see invincibility, Jesus sees the need to debrief and reflect. The need to eat, pray, play, and sleep. Jesus knew they needed to learn the art of solitude, so he says to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.”

Jesus, meanwhile, is not in top form himself. He has just lost John the Baptist, his dear cousin and prophet, the one who baptized him and spent a lifetime in the wilderness preparing his way. Worse, Jesus has lost him to murder, a terrifying reminder that God’s beloved are not immune to violent, senseless deaths. Maybe Jesus is feeling his own ending and thus his own vocation seems more ominous. In other words, Jesus has many reasons to feel heartbroken. Grief weighs heavily.

“Come away with me,” Jesus says to his disciples as the crowd gathers around them. I hear both wisdom and love in these words. He wants to provide a time of rest and rejuvenation for his friends. But he is weary, himself; the hunger he articulates here is his own, too.

Several times throughout the story of Jesus we read brief remarks about his humanness. Passages like “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed” (Luke 5:16) and “The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry.” (Mark 11:12) Or “Jesus was sleeping” (Matthew 8:24) or upon seeing the tears of Mary and Martha over their brother’s death “Jesus began to weep” (John 11:35).

In these verses, I see essential glimpses of Jesus’s human life. His need to withdraw, his desire for solitary prayer, his physical hunger, sleepiness and inclination to get away from people, and his grief are helpful reminders of his humanness. From this honesty about human life, I find enhanced appreciation for his divinity. The God of all life hungers, sleeps, eats, rests, withdraws, and grieves. In all these ways, our God is like us.

Here is an insight we would be wise to learn. Jesus is able to honor the boundary between work and rest and honor his internal and emotional needs because he trusts God enough to let go. Even as he keeps his commitments, he does not hoard the limelight, or allow his disciples to imagine that their faith makes them invincible. In the end, the work of the kingdom is God’s. We are precious and beloved, yes. But we are not indispensable.

Of course, this lesson is not new; it runs through Scripture from its earliest pages. In Genesis, God rests on the seventh day, and calls the Sabbath holy for all future generations. Honoring a sabbath rest is no small feat in our 21st century lives. To remember that God rests, that Jesus rested, is startling and humbling. The Sabbath is the only thing in the creation account that God calls “holy.”

Fortunately, we know a Savior who is unapologetic about his need for rest and solitude. He sees no shame in retreating when he and his disciples need a break. He does this even when the needs around him continue to press in on all sides.

God rests. We would do well to pay attention.

Images:
Isaac Horton “The Secret Place”