"Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."
Ministry with Jesus is exhausting, no doubt about it. They served non-stop at His side so they couldn't even catch a break for lunch. The good news is, Jesus provides them an opportunity to rest because he recognized his disciple's needs. I'm positive his disciples were looking forward to that well earned rest.
But that's not what happens.
Thousands of people follow them to their resting place. Imagine, if you will, your work following you home to the place where you should be free to rest. The hour is late, you haven't eaten all day, and in addition you had already spent the entire day working. "A little annoyed" wouldn't begin to cover it, so they tell Jesus to send them away.
But that's not what happens.
It turns out, before they get to eat they must feed the starving crowd. Before they can get rest, they must pacify the restless crowds. Before they could retreat, they must deal with the crowd who ran from all the towns and beat a boat across a lake. But love often is inconvenient. Sometimes the times when people need us the most are the times we really don't want to deal with them. However, Jesus as well has gone through the same things as the disciples had just done, and no doubt he is tired and hungry as well, but he sets the example. So love like Christ loved you.
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