As I meditate on today’s Gospel, the following phrase stands out to me: “At daybreak, Jesus left and went to a deserted place” (Lk 4:42).
When we zoom out and look at the rest of the Gospel, we will notice how often Jesus pulls away from His ministry in order to be alone. If we look at Mark’s Gospel, Jesus withdraws to the desert for forty days immediately following His Baptism (Mark 1:12-13). He comes back for a day and then withdraws again when we read, “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed” (Mark 1:35). When we look at Luke’s Gospel, the writer says that “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed” (Luke 5:15-16). It sounds counterintuitive. At this rate, is Jesus going to get anything done?
Relationship
Mission begins with identity and identity begins with relationship. Jesus needed time alone with His Father in order to accomplish the task ahead. He needed His Father’s affirmation of His identity. Remember: “I cannot do anything on my own; I judge as I hear, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will but the will of the one who sent me” (John 5:30). When Christ began His ministry, it was the Father’s voice who said, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11). It is the Father who fuels Christ’s mission because it is the Father who bestows upon Christ His own identity. And it is in those deserted places that Christ is able to re-enter that experience of love. Of course, Christ experienced the beatific vision 24/7, but in his humanity, Jesus needed His Father and therefore, He sought out moments when He could be alone.
Jesus reminds us to create the conditions for the Father to love us. Christ sought out a deserted place because there He found strength. There Jesus found relationship. There Jesus found identity.
What is your deserted place?
He awaits you there.
“Come and see.”
