Luke 9:10-11 (NIV) When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida, but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing.
The apostles returned to Jesus full of news about the various missions that they had been on. They had each experienced God’s blessings, God’s provision, and God’s power for ministry as they went out in obedience to Jesus’ commission. But Jesus was so overrun by needy people who were crowding around Him, that they had no chance to share.
So Jesus loaded them all into a boat (Mark 6:32) to go off for some quiet time, where they could wind down away from the crowds, and be able to share their experiences. It was a great strategy, but it didn’t work out exactly as planned.
When they got to their destination, they found that there were thousands of people there waiting for them. The people had seen Jesus and the disciples in the boat, and had been able to determine where they were headed and beat them there. At that point, Jesus had three broad actions that He could take. He could simply put back out to sea and find another place to land. He could send the people away, berating them for barging into a personal retreat. Or He could set aside His own agenda, and that of His disciples, and minister to the crowd.
It’s no surprise that Jesus chose the third alternative. And it’s no surprise that He did it without grumbling or complaining. He welcomed the people graciously, as if they were His sole agenda. He taught them about the kingdom of God. And He healed all who were sick. Those people, far from being an interruption to His agenda, were the very reason that He had come into the world. That was a vital lesson for His disciples, both then and now.
Father, it is easy to mistake our agenda. We can easily get to thinking that our agenda is church work, or social work, or, especially for pastors, study and preaching. And we can easily resent people whose presence interferes with those agendas. But we need to take a lesson from Jesus. His agenda is our agenda: telling people about the kingdom of God, and helping them to find the physical, emotional, and spiritual wholeness and freedom that spring from that reality. Thank You for this lesson. Amen.