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The Desire of Ages
their work; for Christ did not send them away without His Spirit, and
by faith in Him they worked many miracles; but they needed now to
feed on the Bread of Life. They needed to go to a place of retirement,
where they could hold communion with Jesus and receive instruction
for future work.
“And He said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert
place, and rest awhile.” Christ is full of tenderness and compassion
for all in His service. He would show His disciples that God does not
require sacrifice, but mercy. They had been putting their whole souls
into labor for the people, and this was exhausting their physical and
mental strength. It was their duty to rest.
As the disciples had seen the success of their labors, they were in
danger of taking credit to themselves, in danger of cherishing spiritual
pride, and thus falling under Satan’s temptations. A great work was
before them, and first of all they must learn that their strength was
not in self, but in God. Like Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, like
David among the hills of Judea, or Elijah by the brook Cherith, the
disciples needed to come apart from the scenes of their busy activity,
to commune with Christ, with nature, and with their own hearts.
While the disciples had been absent on their missionary tour, Je-
sus had visited other towns and villages, preaching the gospel of the
kingdom. It was about this time that He received tidings of the Bap-
tist’s death. This event brought vividly before Him the end to which
His own steps were tending. The shadows were gathering thickly
about His path. Priests and rabbis were watching to compass His
death, spies hung upon His steps, and on every hand plots for His ruin
were multiplying. News of the preaching of the apostles throughout
Galilee reached Herod, calling his attention to Jesus and His work.
“This is John the Baptist,” he said; “he is risen from the dead;” and he
expressed a desire to see Jesus. Herod was in constant fear lest a revo-
lution might be secretly carried forward, with the object of unseating
him from the throne, and breaking the Roman yoke from the Jewish
nation. Among the people the spirit of discontent and insurrection was
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rife. It was evident that Christ’s public labors in Galilee could not be
long continued. The scenes of His suffering were drawing near, and
He longed to be apart for a season from the confusion of the multitude.
With saddened hearts the disciples of John had borne his mutilated
body to its burial. Then they “went and told Jesus.” These disciples