When God interrupts

By Bill Chambers

Deacon, Immanuel Baptist Church

Jesus’ disciples had just returned from a trip of teaching and healing and exorcising and they needed a break. The Lord decided to take them to a secluded retreat, ordered them into a boat and off they sailed. But as they approached their destination a crowd recognized them and ran to meet them as they landed. No vacation for the exhausted disciples. What’s a Messiah to do?

Some time earlier, Jesus had been teaching in the synagogues of the villages he visited. As a rabbi, he knew these houses of worship were ideal places to connect Jud...