Mark 1:35-39 NIV
[35] “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. [36] Simon and his companions went to look for him, [37] and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!” [38] Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” [39] So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.”

What an opportunity to make a name for Himself, to win the popularity poll for the most compassionate, most caring, and…yes… most effective miracle worker Israel had ever known! Jesus didn’t need a campaign manager or a marketing expert. His fame spread before Him like a prairie wildfire.

When the disciples awoke, Jesus was missing. They hunted high and low, but He was nowhere to be found. Didn’t He know how popular He was? People came from everywhere, ignoring their need for sleep and food, clamouring to get near Him. The streets of the village resembled a hospital waiting room, every kind of sickness and disease represented in the milling crowd.

Just imagine! Here was a man who, unlike any person they had ever met, could cure disease with a touch and drive out demons with a word…but He was missing!

The disciples were frantic. They searched everywhere and finally…they found Him. Indignantly, they rebuked Him.. “Everyone is looking for you!”

Don’t you understand, Jesus? “This is an opportunity of a lifetime. You are so popular that people are flocking to you from all over the country. Here’s your chance to make a name for yourself.” Who wouldn’t jump at an opportunity like that, especially because He was God’s Messiah, after all! Didn’t He want to reach as many people as possible?

Jesus’ response left them bewildered, flabbergasted.

Mark 1:38 NIV
[38]… “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.”

Instead of capitalising on the situation, Jesus walked away. He left the bewildered crowd with all their desperate needs, clamouring and crying for help. He simply walked away!

Why, Jesus? Why?

Jesus, the Servant of Yahweh, was under orders from a higher authority. It was not for nothing that He spent long hours in prayer. In the quietness and darkness of the night, while His disciples slept, He was in touch with headquarters, fellowshipping with the Father, receiving instructions for His next assignment. He may have been separated from the Father by geography by not in heart.

Without His daily instructions, without the Holy Spirit’s intimate presence, Jesus would be rudderless, left to His own devices to steer His own course. He had a divine and eternal mission to fulfill. Despite His divine nature, He had laid aside His divine power and privileges, making Himself utterly dependent on His union with the Father and His partnership with the Holy Spirit to plot His daily course and to fulfill His divine calling.

What took precidence in His life above all other needs and demands? Not food..not sleep…not creature comforts…not even rest or recreation. When people interrupted His rest time with the disciples, He was quick to respond to their needs, but… above all else, His response to His mandate was…

Psalms 40:7-8 NIV
[7] “Then I said, “Here I am, I have come— it is written about me in the scroll. [8] I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart.”

The Father’s Word and the Father’s will stood out above every other demand…and Jesus pursued His purpose with diligence and dedication. To neglect daily prayer and intimate fellowship with the Father would make shipwreck of His mission.

So, Jesus moved on, not because He was unaware or unfeeling towards human need…not because He was oblivious to opportunity… but because He was the Servant, always under orders from heaven. He was never need driven…always Spirit led. When the Father said “Go!”, He went. When the Father said, “Speak!”, He spoke…and what He said, so He assured even His fiercest opponents, was only what He heard the Father say.

John 12:49 NIV
[49] “For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. [50] I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”

These few verses in Mark’s gospel speak volumes about the Servant of Yahweh. Without engaging in extended and detailed explanations, Mark tells us, in graphic stories, that Jesus was under orders. He was dedicated to fulfil His mission. He was careful to stay in touch with His authority and to obey every instruction.

Despite His disciples’ blundering efforts to assist Him, Jesus steered a straight course through human demands and needs to do the Father’s will and to fulfill the Father’s commission… Even to death!

So, how do we respond, as servant/sons of the Most High God, to this magnificent example of the Servant/Son? We can do no less than He did, through diligent and faithful prayer…not by issuing orders but by reporting for duty.