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Matthew 14:13
Jesus was in what we might call a low point of His ministry when He was informed about the death of John the Baptist (His cousin, as is believed by the relationship of Mary – the mother of Jesus, to Elizabeth – the mother of John the Baptist (Luke 1:36). He had been preaching and teaching a people that refused to believe in Him (Matthew 13:57-58). In Matthew 14:13 we are informed that Jesus departed from there and went to a place where He could be alone. Jesus, in His humanity, experienced the ups and downs of life just as we do, and in this instance, He needed to be alone for a time to think and to gather Himself – to have a quiet time to seek the guidance, strength, and comforting of His heavenly Father.
But it was not long before the multitudes discovered where He was, and even in their unbelief, they were drawn to Him because of His divine nature.
This is an example that Jesus shows us of the need to have a quiet time – a personal time with God to seek His guidance, strength, and comforting each day.
Jesus had lost a loved one and a relative. He had lost His forerunner that announced His coming as it happened (Matthew 3; Mark 1:1-11; Luke 1, 3:1-22; John 1:6-9,15,19-34). And Jesus turned to God for comforting; in His humanity, He needed comforting in showing His connection to His human nature, which in turn makes Him the acceptable sacrifice for the sins of humanity when He would die on the cross. But it is not just the death of Jesus on the cross that makes Him our Savior as many people have died by way of crucifixion. It is the fact that His purity and innocence in never having committed a sin, did not fall to the punishment for sin, because He had no sin to punish. Romans 3:21-26 (ESV), “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it – the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” And in Romans 6:23 (HCSB) we learn, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” It is the resurrection of Jesus that makes the righteousness and the forgiveness that He presents through the gift possible for us.
Jesus was sent by God to be the Savior of the world (John 3:16-17), and while He walked the earth as the divine nature of God combined with the human nature of man, He set the example of how we should live our lives. Don’t get me wrong, we cannot be Jesus as He was sinless, but we can be forgiven by asking Him and thanking Him for paying our price to sin so that we may be forgiven. And we can then strive to start living by following His example – we can implement His traits and characteristics in our lives. This is true repentance – to turn from our old way of living in the sinful nature to living in the footsteps of Jesus. Jesus needed to spend time alone with His heavenly Father – so do we!
Dear LORD,
Jesus experienced highs and lows in His human nature, and He turned to You each day for guidance, strength, and comforting. Please help us to see that Jesus came to this earth to be our Savior, but that He also came to set the example for us as to how we should live our lives – in Christ. Please let it be so LORD. In Jesus name I pray, amen.