GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 11:19
Rest
There are few things so rewarding as propping one’s feet up at the end of a long, hard day and letting out a satisfying breath. A new advertising campaign features people reclining in their overstuffed chairs, taking moments for themselves, and declaring, “Long Live the Lazy!”
I am in the middle of a novel in which the protagonist goes several days without rest. I find myself getting tired just reading about his extraordinary exertions. I worked at a job where employees were occasionally asked to “double over”—to work an additional eight-hour shift—during emergencies. At the end of sixteen hours, the body called for rest.
When Mark described Jesus’ last visit to Jerusalem, he wrote, “And when evening came, they went out of the city.” (Mark 11:19) Mark’s wording can suggest that Jesus left the city at the end of each day. Some translators render this verse as “And every evening he went forth out of the city” (ASV) or “When evening came, Jesus and his disciples would leave the city” (ISV). Matthew wrote, “And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.” (Matthew 21:17)
Why leave the city? Perhaps no one in Jerusalem offered him lodging. The crowd that welcomed him into the city may have melted away when he didn’t meet their expectations of a conquering warrior-Messiah. John wrote, “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.” (John 1:11) Two miles from Jerusalem, Bethany was the home of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha, so perhaps their home was where he could find rest at the end of a long, hard day.
There’s no guilt accompanying the evening’s rest. The body—even Jesus’ body—needs restful rejuvenation.
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