Everywhere Jesus went, people flocked to him. They wanted what he was offering. They wanted inspiration. They wanted healing. They wanted God. Mark's gospel tells us that "so many people were coming and going they (Jesus and the apostles) did not even have a chance to eat" (Mark 6:31). That coming and going provided a chaotic atmosphere for Jesus' ministry. That chaos meant that even before Jesus got to a town, the mass of admirers and hangers-on rushed ahead of him and waited for his arrival (Mark 6:33). Mark points out that people "ran throughout that whole region of the Gennesaret and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was" (Mark 6:55).

In dramatic contrast to all this chaos, Mark simultaneously reports that Jesus said to his apostles, "Come with me by yourselves to a q…