Matthew 14:22-23

“Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away.  And when He sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray.”

Matthew 14:22-23

When we read this passage, it seems like Jesus was kind of in a hurry, trying to get rid of the disciples for a while.  And He was.  In John 6:14-15, John tells us that the crowd wanted to make Jesus king. Jesus knew that their motives were not according to God’s plan and if the disciples were around, they probably would have fallen in with the plans of the crowd. So Jesus got them all in that boat and sent them off ahead. It says that when evening had come, He was there alone praying. 

This is a great picture of the Lord and His church today. His people are on the sea in the middle of various storms and Jesus is there in heaven praying for us and making intercession for us. When you are going through a tough time, remember that Jesus is at the right hand of God praying for you! If that doesn’t encourage us, I don’t know what will.

Resting in my Lord,

Pastor Rich Kikuchi