Feb. 18, 2007
Feb. 18, 2007
Mat 14:22-23
(22) And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.
(23) And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.
Yesterday we looked at Jesus having compassion for the multitude and how He was able to draw from the well when it came to being able to do so when He himself was down. The general thrust is that because he had spent so much time with the Father that when he was at his lowest point He would be able to draw from His reserves. Even Jesus had to recharge His spiritual batteries though. Our verse for today follows shortly after yesterdays. After the incident we talked about yesterday Jesus helped the disciples feed the people with the equivalent of a child's happy meal (maybe that should be another devotion), then after the clean up, our verses from today take place. First he gets the disciples off on a boat and then he sends the multitudes of people away. Now remember He is at an all time low and He has ministered to the people and then had to feed them. Jesus has gone deep into His spiritual well at this point in time.
At this point he climbs a mountain and just gets fed. Not food like you or I would, but spiritual food, and He stays in it for a long time. He sent the people away while it was day, and he sent the disciples away before that. We find out in the verses after these that Jesus came to them in the boat at about 3:00 AM. He must have been in prayer to the Father a good 6 or 7 hours. The well was dry and He went to the source that He needed to refresh it. What did the two of them talk about? The Bible does not say. I can speculate about it. Maybe He asked about John the Baptist and why he was taken away. Maybe He talked about the problems with disciples that just did not get it. Maybe He just sat in the refreshing love that was coming from the Father, we just do not know. What we do know is that he took the time to do it. He could not keep giving out with out getting something to refresh Himself.
As people we cannot minister to others till we have received ministry ourselves. You need to take time each day to get into fellowship with the Father and speak to Him, and even more important to listen to Him. If it was good enough for Jesus, it is good enough for us as well.
