‘Now when Jesus heard, he withdrew from there in a boat, to a wilderness place apart, and when the crowds heard of it, they followed him on foot from the cities.'
‘When Jesus heard.' What did Jesus hear? Was it the news of the death of John as in Matthew 14:12. Or was it the news of what Herod was saying about Him in Matthew 14:2? Matthew quite possibly intends us to understand by it the whole scenario. He learned of the death of John and He heard the rumours that were flying around about the way that Herod was thinking. But whichever way it was He noted the danger that it involved. Herod in this mood was not to be trusted. So He ‘withdrew' across the water into a wilderness place, in the same way as Israel had done from Pharaoh. Compare, ‘Out of Egypt have I called My Son' (Matthew 2:15). This was why He had come. For withdrawal as a result of hearing of danger see also Matthew 2:22; Matthew 4:12.
And ‘when the crowds heard of it they followed Him on foot from the cities'. There is probably significance to be read into the fact that ‘they followed Jesus'. Here were those who would not desert Him as others had but would follow Him wherever He went (compare Matthew 8:19). They are the beginnings of the new community, which is why the disciples have a duty to feed them. ‘On foot.' It was ‘on foot' that the people originally set off on the Exodus (Exodus 12:37), to ‘a wilderness' place. The wilderness in Psalms 78:19 is also anarthrous. They have left the cities (as they left the cities of Egypt) and sought Him in the wilderness, leaving the cities behind. Cities are regularly the sign of rebellion against God in the Scriptures (e.g. Genesis 4:17; Genesis 11:1-9; and often). So, in a few brief words, every one of which counts, Matthew has skilfully depicted a new Exodus.