And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.
And he said, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. Observe the various reasons He had for crossing to the other side. First, Matthew (Matthew 14:13) says, that "when Jesus heard" of the murder of His faithful forerunner-from those attached disciples of his who had taken up his body and laid it in a tomb (see the note at Mark 6:29) - "He departed by ship into a desert place apart;" either to avoid some apprehended consequences to Himself, arising from the Baptist's death (Matthew 10:23), or more probably to be able to indulge in those feelings which that affecting event had doubtless awakened, and to which the bustle of the multitude around Him was very unfavourable. Next, since He must have heard the report of the Twelve with the deepest interest, and probably with something of the emotion which He experienced on the return of the Seventy (see the notes at Luke 10:17-22), He sought privacy for undisturbed reflection on this begun preaching and progress of His kingdom. Once more, He was wearied with the multitude of "comers and goers" - depriving Him even of leisure enough to take His food-and wanted rest: "Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while," etc. Under the combined influence of all these considerations, our Lord sought this change.