What Jesus did #5: he took time out

NEWSFLASH: Jesus withdrew. He went off on his own. He took time out. He understood the importance of ‘me’ time. When everything became too overwhelming, he sometimes walked away. He valued silence, time alone, space to be still and be with his God.

Be still and know that I am God.  Psalm 46:10

He didn’t feel the need to be constantly available. To be there for everyone every minute of every day. He didn’t feel the need to fix everyone. He could switch off and concentrate for a while on his own needs. He could do what he needed to do to rest and recuperate.

And yet he was not selfish. Hear that? Taking time out for himself was not selfish. It’s an essential part of being human.

That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.

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. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”

Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” Mark 1:32-38

Jesus healed many. But he did not heal all. He sometimes walked away from those who were looking for him, looking to be healed. As a completer finisher, I struggle with that. I can’t move on to the next thing until this one is finished. And yet this was never going to be finished. There would always be people who needed healing just as there would always be the poor, as Jesus tells his disciples later in Mark 14. That job would never be finished, until there is no more illness and suffering and sadness and need when the new kingdom of God is established.

We saw yesterday how sometimes Jesus walked away from an argument, from danger even. That didn’t make him a coward or weak. It made him wise. When the time was right, he would stay and face persecution and suffering. He knew the right time to stay and the right time to withdraw.

In the same way, he was moved with compassion for those who came to him in need – the sick and the hungry. And at times, he healed many and at times, he fed many, but at other times, he did not. He moved on to the next place. It’s hard to understand, but we have to accept that he knew what he was doing. He was never going to be able to eradicate disease and poverty – not in this life, anyway, not as a human being. That was never the plan.

It actually took huge courage and wisdom to say no, to draw the line, to move on, to create boundaries.

I know some people who need to hear this today. Who believe that they have to be fully available all of the time. They don’t know how to switch off.  They don’t know how to switch off their phone. They see ‘me’ time as selfish and indulgent.

For me, it’s all tied up in self care. We’re all only human, after all. To better meet the needs of others, we have to give some attention to our own needs too.

And in silence too. Time alone in the presence of God. This is where we’ll discover the wisdom to know how and when and where to be available, to carry out God’s work, the work that we were created to do. This is where we’ll discover the courage and resolve to say no sometimes too.