God said. “You are my son, whom I love.”

God said. “You are my son, whom I love.”

Jesus had been baptized by John the Baptist. When he came up out of the water, the heavens tore open, and the Spirit settled on him like a dove.

After that experience, you’d think Jesus was all set to launch his public ministry. After all, he’d been waiting around for 30 years already. Let’s get on with it. But that’s not what happened.

Before Jesus began his ministry, he went out into the desert for 40 days where he was tempted by Satan but made strong in the Spirit. He was alone away from people, spending time with God. He knew exactly what he needed to do.

He knew where he needed to start. Jesus spent time retreating with his father. The very first thing Jesus did before beginning his ministry was to retreat.

Jesus came out of the desert full of the Holy Spirit. What does this say to us? We all need times of extended retreat, resting in the presence of God, focusing on him. Like Jesus, at the start of a new ministry or task or phase in our lives, we need to spend concentrated time receiving power and strength from the father.

When you look at the pattern of life the disciples began to develop, it’s clear that Jesus was trying to teach them the same thing. In this passage, the disciples gathered around Jesus, reporting back to him all that they had done after returning from being sent out in Mark 6:7. So, many people were coming and going that they didn’t have a change to eat.

Jesus told his disciples to follow him to a quiet place where they could rest and eat. All this happened in the midst of what we would call revival.

God said. “You are my son, whom I love.”