The Bible Says
Mark 6:30-32 Meaning

The parallel gospel accounts for this event is found in Matthew 14:13-14, Luke 9:10-11, and John 6:1-3.

In Mark 6:30-32, the apostles return to Jesus and report all they had done and taught, and Jesus invites them to withdraw to a secluded place, because so many people were coming and going that they had no time even to eat.

After telling the fate of John the Baptist (Mark 6:17-29), Mark returns his narrative’s focus to Jesus. The last time Mark narrated about Jesus, the Messiah had sent out His disciples in pairs to cast out demons, heal the sick, and preach repentance (Mark 6:7-13).

Now Jesus’s apostles returned to Him.

The apostles gathered together with Jesus; and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught (v 30).

An apostle is someone who is sent out with authority to represent and carry out the mission of the one who sends them. In this context, the apostles were the twelve disciples whom Jesus commissioned to preach, cast out demons, and heal in His name (Mark 6:7).

When they gathered, the twelve reported to Jesus all the miracles they had done in His name and all the teachings they had taught. When Jesus sent them, He had them go in pairs and He gave them authority for this mission over unclean spirits (Mark 6:7). Jesus instructed them to preach a message of repentance (Mark 6:12). Mark described the general success of their mission:

“And they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them.”
(Mark 6:13)

Now they were telling Jesus all of these things they had done and taught.

Based on the fact that the apostles gathered together, it seems that their regrouping was planned or called for. Mark does not specify where this was, but from the context that follows (they get in a boat-v 32) it appears to have been somewhere along the Sea of Galilee. Luke informs us that it was near the city of Bethsaida (Luke 9:10). which is along the northern shore of Galilee.

The placement of their return in the Gospel of Mark, and especially the chronologically arranged Gospel of Luke right after the beheading of John (Luke 9:9-10), strongly indicates that the apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported the details of their mission to Him about the same time or shortly after Jesus learned of His cousin’s murder.

It may have been the Jesus summoned His apostles to return to Him from their missions prematurely because of John’s execution.

The gospels do not specify which of Herod's palaces or in which nearby prison John the Baptist was executed. Herod the tetrarch had palaces both in Galilee and a hundred miles to the south in Perea. Josephus, the first-century Jewish historian, claims John was executed at Herod's fortress at Macherus in Perea (Antiquities of the Jews 18.5.2). But Mark's gospel says that “leading men of Galilee” were among Herod's guests (Mark 6:21). While this statement is not conclusive to where John was put to death, it possibly indicates that the execution took place at Herod's palace in Tiberias on the western shore of Galilee.

In either case, this Herodian town would have loomed on the horizon as Jesus's thoughts turned toward His cousin's death, and His own.

The gospel writer John informs us that “the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near” (John 6:4). We know that Jesus was killed at Passover. This means that either this event took place shortly before His death or a year before it. Given the travels of Jesus that Matthew, Mark and Luke record for their readers between their record of this event (Matthew 14, Mark 6, Luke 9) and Jesus's final week in Jerusalem (Matthew 21, Mark 11, Luke 19), the latter is more likely to be the case than the former.

Jesus wanted to be alone with God during this time of sorrow.

“Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself.”
(Matthew 14:13a)

Jesus recognized His need to be alone with His Father during this emotional time. This was not unusual for Him. Luke tells us:

“But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.”
(Luke 5:16)

Given what Jesus had just learned about the death of His cousin and forerunner, it was natural for Him to go to His Father during this difficult moment. The gospels usually do not tell us specifics about what Jesus prayed when He was alone (the clear exceptions being Matthew 26:38-42, Mark 14:36, Luke 22:39-46, and John 17). Neither do they tell us what was said or done on this particular occasion. But it is clear that Jesus’s time by Himself with His Father was an important and integral part of His life and ministry. In these moments, we see Jesus’s sense of utter dependence upon His Father for strength and wisdom (John 5:19). We see His humility. And we see the frailty of His humanity. Consider Jesus’s words to His disciples when He invited them to participate from a distance during a time of solitude and prayer on the night He was betrayed,

“Then He said to them, My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.”
(Matthew 26:38)

It is evident that Jesus felt human emotions such as grief (John 11:33-35) and fear (Luke 22:42-44). And sometimes He was greatly troubled by them. But rather than be controlled by His emotions or desires, Jesus acknowledged His frailties with His Father, sought His Father's comfort and counsel and, chose to obey Him (Matthew 26:38-42). It is reasonable to deduce that this was a moment that Jesus’s emotions upset Him and that is why He withdrew to a secluded place by Himself (Matthew 14:13).

And Jesus wanted His apostles to also spend time alone with God in a secluded place and rest following their mission.

And He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while” (v 31a).

Jesus instructed them to model what He was doing. Just as Jesus needed strength from the Father to overcome His emotions and trials, so did His apostles.

But finding a secluded place during this sorrowful time was difficult for them. Mark explains in a parenthetical comment:

(For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat) (v 31b).

Apparently, many people saw and recognized Jesus and His apostles. Bethsaida, where they gathered (Luke 9:10), was the hometown of at least three of Jesus’s twelve apostles-Philip, Andrew, and Peter (John 1:44).

So many people were coming and going to Jesus (and/or the twelve) that they could hardly prepare to leave-Mark says they did not even have time to eat. The disappointment of missing out on some home-cooking apparently stuck with Peter, who was Mark’s source.

In order to find a secluded place where they could rest and get away by themselves they had to get in a boat. This is why Mark says:

They went away in the boat to a secluded place by themselves (v 32).

Jesus and His apostles got in a boat to find a secluded place, along a quiet cove or shoreline-or hillside just beyond the shore away from the cities and crowds of people wanting a piece of His time and attention during a time of intense personal grief for Jesus.

As we will see in the next section of scripture (Mark 6:33-440, the only solitude Jesus and His apostles received seems to have been as He was in the boat traveling to His destination. Because when the people heard that Jesus was back in Galilee and saw the direction His boat was headed, they “ran there together on foot from all the cities, and got there ahead of them” (Mark 6:33).

As Jesus was desperate to spend time with His Father, the people were hungry to see Him.