And he says to them, Let us go elsewhere into the neighbouring country towns, that I may preach there also, for for this purpose am I come forth.
After a day of healing crowds in Capernaum, Jesus went out alone to pray. Peter found Him with news that everyone was looking for Him — and His answer set the shape of His whole mission.
Jesus did not make this decision in the crowd. It came out of the quiet hour before dawn.
He rose early the next day, not to begin the day with service, but with prayer in a solitary place. How vital a need this is for every servant of God! Indeed, one would say, if it was necessary for Him, how much more for us! Morning by morning He received guidance from God (Isa. 50:4). But Simon and others with him were a little too anxious about service. If they had followed His example and prayed, they might have discerned the mind of God more clearly, as He did.
Everyone looking for Him sounded like the best reason to stay. Jesus treated it as a reason to leave.
But this public attraction to the Lord Jesus was enough ground for not returning. He did not seek the applause of man, but the praise that comes from God. As soon as it came to be published abroad, so to speak, the Lord Jesus withdraws from the scene. If all men sought Him, He must go where it was a question of need, not of honour. So He says, "Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out." He always remains the perfect, lowly, dependent servant of God here below.
Another writer reads the same moment as the mark of a Servant who would not trade obedience for applause:
Nature might argue that if everyone is seeking us, this is the time to stay. But that was the very moment when the Lord said, "Let us go into the next town." As the Servant of Jehovah He was not here to win popularity, but to do the will of God.
The miracles had drawn the crowds. The verse names something else as the reason He came.
The Lord's hour of triumph had not yet come, and He knew what was at work in the hearts of the people, while Peter did not. Jesus did not commit Himself to men in Galilee any more than in Jerusalem (John 2:23-25). Not seeking popularity or importance in the eyes of men, He expressed His will to go forward in the service of His Father… Preaching, not miracles, was the chief end of His mission. So we find Him continuing His blessed service throughout the synagogues of Galilee, preaching and casting out demons.
One writer explains how a crowd could get in the way of the souls He came for:
The crowd might instead get in the way of His access to souls. It might misrepresent the grace that was seeking men, to bring them with their personal needs before God. This could best be done in quietness, not in the crowd. The seed of the Word had to be spread far and wide, to find the good ground that would receive it… He passes over the wonders that have attracted the masses, to stress the preaching of the Word as His true object.
One writer quotes a fuller form of the same reply, from an older translation.
But He said to them, I must announce the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also. This is why I have been sent forth. The great object of the coming of Christ was to preach God's kingdom. It was bringing God and God's power before men — God's power visiting man in mercy. No healing of diseases or casting out of demons could satisfy the Lord. And when He had attracted attention in any place by His miracles, that was all the more reason for going to another. He did not seek His own fame… For our Lord Jesus, to attract a name was a reason for departure, not for staying.
Some treat gospel preaching as a small thing. One writer answers them.
We are well aware that in some quarters there is a strong tendency to pour cold water on the work of evangelism. There is a sad lack of sympathy with the preacher of the gospel. As a necessary result, there is little active co-operation with him in his work. Further, some speak about gospel preaching in a way that shows little sympathy with the heart of Him who wept over unrepentant sinners. At the very start of His blessed ministry He could say, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor."
- Prayer first. The day's direction came out of the solitary place before dawn. The disciples were anxious about service instead, and did not discern the mind of God as He did.
- Sent, not self-moved. "That is why I came out" points back to a sending. The sending settles where He goes next.
- Word over wonders. The miracles drew crowds, but preaching was the declared object of His mission.
- Wider, not louder. Popularity in one town became the reason to move to the next. The seed of the Word had to go wide, to find good ground.
- Fame refused. He went where there was need, not where there was honour. That is the pattern for every servant of God.
And he was preaching in their synagogues in the whole of Galilee, and casting out demons.
The Lord had spent Himself on the sick, then rose long before dawn to pray. He did not go back to the crowd looking for Him. He moved out across the whole region instead, and this verse shows what the Servant of God came to do.
The verse follows a choice. Everyone was looking for Him. He answered with His own priority, and then acted on it.
"Let us go elsewhere," He says, "into the nearby towns, so that I may preach there too. This is why I came out." He sets aside the wonders that have drawn the crowds. He puts the preaching of the Word forward as His true object.
The miracles were not pointless. They had two purposes of their own, alongside the preaching.
His miracles served two purposes. They confirmed the testimony He gave, and they delivered people there and then from the power of Satan. But His great business was preaching the kingdom of God. He will set up the kingdom in power later on. But His great object then was (and is) to bring the heart into contact with God. The word does this more than miracles do.
A crowd forming around Him did not hold Him. Word that everyone was seeking Him moved Him on.
But this public attraction to the Lord Jesus was enough reason for not returning. He did not seek the applause of man, but that which comes from God. As soon as people began to talk about it, so to speak, the Lord Jesus withdraws from the scene. If all men sought Him, He must go where there was need, not honour. He always remains the perfect, lowly, dependent servant of God here on earth. Nowhere else can we see the perfect ideal of ministry fully realised.
The journey through Galilee began before daylight, in a lonely place, with prayer.
He had been busy early and late with the sorrows of others. Yet here we find Him long before the dawn, while it was still dark, talking with His Father… He withdrew to be with God — He who is Himself the Lord God — before He started the work of the day. Can we wonder that we fail so much in outward labour, when we fail far more in this inward closeness with our Father? Be assured, the secret of holy strength and endurance in service is found there alone.
The prayer, the refusal of the crowd, and the journey through Galilee show one Man.
After all that display of power, He was seen to be a dependent Man, for He prayed. He was a perfect Man, for popular favour did not attract Him or guide Him in His service. And He was an obedient Man, for He carried out without wavering the mission He had taken up on earth: "He went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons" (v. 39).
Synagogues were the Jewish meeting places. Teaching there was His settled habit, and there was a practical reason for it.
It was the practice of the Lord to teach and to preach the word in the synagogues where the Jews regularly gathered on the sabbath. When the people came together like this, there was a chance to put the truth before many at once, and the Lord took that chance again and again. It was His "custom" to do so.
Later He widened that circle to villages that had no synagogue.
This time villages were to hear the good news as well as cities. The good news was not to stay only in places that had synagogues. At first the Lord preached in synagogues. But He would extend the sphere of His labours to reach people, if possible, wherever they might be.
Casting out demons was not a side note to the preaching. It went with it, and it showed who is stronger.
Men's apparent interest does not decide His movements. His Father's will alone guided Him. The neighbouring towns also must hear the Word of God from His lips, for He was sent for this purpose. Often it is only curiosity that moves people, and He would not cater to that. Throughout all Galilee He preached in the synagogues and cast out demons, and His power in service proved greater than Satan's.
- Prayer first. He began the Galilee tour in a lonely place before dawn. Writers trace His strength in service to that hour alone with His Father.
- Purpose first. Miracles confirmed His testimony and freed people. But preaching was His errand, for the word brings the heart into contact with God more than miracles do.
- Popularity refused. When everyone was looking for Him, He moved on. He went where there was need, not where there was honour.
- Reach widened. He used the synagogues because crowds already gathered there. Later He went on to villages, so people heard the good news wherever they were.
- Power proved. Across all Galilee, preaching and casting out demons went together. His power proved greater than Satan's.