Alone time

“John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.
“When Jesus heard what had happened, He withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed Him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them and healed their sick.” Matthew 14:12-14
In Matthew 14 we see the circumstances that led to John the Baptist’s death: Herod’s wife pressured him into beheading him. We might wonder why John’s disciples would go and tell Jesus; the reason is because Jesus and John shared a special bond. They were relatives, and they also had complementary ministries: Jesus as the Messiah, and John as the Messiah’s herald. It was natural for Jesus to desire some ‘alone time’ with His disciples, so He sought to distance Himself from the crowds for a time. But when the people heard where He was going, they followed Him.
It would have been easy for Jesus to get back in the boat and go somewhere else, or to tell them to go back home and leave Him alone. But He didn’t do any of those things. He saw their needs, and He set aside His own pain for a time to show compassion to them. Out of Jesus’ pain and grief, He fed the 5,000. After that, He did dismiss the crowds, send the disciples away, and sought out a solitary place in the mountains to pray.
We all have times when we just need to be alone, to pray and seek God without anyone watching, listening, or distracting us. The key is to know when it is more important for us to meet the needs of others, when we ought to defer that ‘alone time’.