Luke 9:10-11 marks the disciples’ return to Galilee after completing the mission Jesus gave them—to proclaim the coming of God’s kingdom and to heal the sick. Jesus seeks solitude, retreating with His disciples to the town of Bethsaida. However, crowds, eager to see and hear Jesus, follow them. Rather than turn them away, Jesus welcomes the multitudes, continuing to teach and heal those in need.
The parallel Gospel accounts for Luke 9:10-11 are Matthew 14:13-14, Mark 6:30-34, and John 6:1-3.
In Luke 9:10-11, the disciples return from their missions and reunite with Jesus near the town of Bethsaida where He seeks solitude with them, but crowds of people gather around Him to hear Him preach and perform miracles.
When the apostles returned, they gave an account to Him of all that they had done (v 10a).
An apostle is someone who is commissioned with authority to represent and accomplish the mission of the person who sends them. In this context, the apostles refers to the twelve disciples whom Jesus had recently called and commissioned to preach, cast out demons, and heal in His name (Luke 9:1, See also Matthew 10:1, 10:5-7, Mark 6:7).
When the apostles returned from their missions, they gave an account to Jesus of all that they had done during them. The Gospel of Mark describes the general success of the apostles’ missions:
“And they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them.” (Mark 6:13)
The time and place of their regathering may have been prearranged or it may have been suddenly called for in response to the news of the death of John the Baptist, Jesus’s cousin (Luke 9:7-9, Matthew 14:13a). Jesus may have summoned the apostles to return prematurely from their missions because of John’s execution, or He and His apostles may have learned of John’s death while they were giving an account to Him of all that they had done.
In either case, Jesus needed time to grieve the murder of His cousin.
Taking them with Him, He withdrew by Himself to a city called Bethsaida (v 10b).
Luke writes that Jesus withdrew from public appearances after the apostles regathered to Him. This indicates that He sought solitude during this time of grief. Jesus wanted to be alone with God during this time of intense sorrow. Matthew writes:
“Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself.” (Matthew 14:13a)
Jesus was fully human (Hebrews 2:17). And grief is a part of human life and it is a natural response to deep loss. People often withdraw during moments or seasons of grief. And Jesus withdrew by Himself during His time of sadness over the execution of His cousin and the impending time of His own crucifixion.
Spending time alone with His Father was not unusual for Jesus. In fact, it appears to have been part of His normal life:
“But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.” (Luke 5:16)
Even though Jesus was fully God (Colossians 1:15-19), He completely lived by faith as a human and lived dependently on God for everything (Philippians 2:6-8). Jesus drew wisdom and strength from His Father. And He cast His troubles upon Him—which meant He acknowledged His hurts and temptations to God, but trusted God to establish the course for His life.
Jesus was the perfect human, and Luke’s Gospel to the Greeks presents Jesus as the ideal human that their philosophers sought. And it is by following His perfect example (of living by dependence and faith) that we too can attain what they described as the Good Life. For the Greeks, and for us, the Good Life does not mean never experiencing bad or even terrible things; the Good Life means being able to weather the storms of life well—AND—being able to enjoy the blessings. We attain the Good Life by knowing God by faith (John 17:3) and emulating the example of Jesus (Luke 9:23-24, Philippians 2:5-11).
Luke informs us that the place Jesus withdrew to and took the apostles with Him was Bethsaida.
The city of Bethsaida was a small village on the northern shore of Galilee a few miles east of Capernaum. In Hebrew, Bethsaida means “house of fish.” And it was the home of no less than three of Jesus’s apostles—Peter and Andrew, who were fisherman, and Philip (John 1:44). James and John, who were fishermen before following Jesus, also came from Bethsaida, or near it.
Apparently, Bethsaida did not provide the level of solitude Jesus wanted, so He took His disciples and “they went away in the boat to a secluded place by themselves” (Mark 6:32—see also Matthew 14:13a).
Even still, it seems that Jesus did not find the solitude He sought, as Luke writes:
But the crowds were aware of this and followed Him (v 11a). and welcoming them, He began to teach them about the kingdom of God and curing those who had need of healing (v 11).
It seems that while Jesus and His disciples were away during the apostles’ missionary journeys, the crowds had been anxious for Jesus to return to Galilee. Once He came back, they kept a close eye on Him. And the people were aware that Jesus withdrew, and they followed Him to the place where His boat was going in search of seclusion.
Just as Jesus longed for time with His Father, the crowds eagerly sought Him—though their pursuit seemed more driven by what He could do for them than by a desire to truly know Him (John 6:2).
According to Mark, many ran on foot to the spot where Jesus’s boat was going and got there ahead of Him and His disciples (Mark 6:33), so that there was already a crowd waiting for Him when He arrived at the place which He was seeking solitude.
This was possible because the Sea of Galilee is a relatively open lake. It is diamond shaped and most of its waters are visible from single vantage points along the shore. The Sea of Galilee is also not an excessively large body of water. It is only about 13 miles long from north to south and about 7 miles wide from east to west at its broadest point.
The city of Bethsaida was located near the northeastern corner of the lake. This location made it possible for the people to watch Jesus’s boat and then follow which direction it was going.
When Jesus arrived, instead of being angry with the crowds for imposing themselves upon His time of solitude, He had compassion on them. Luke writes:
and welcoming them, He began to teach them about the kingdom of God and curing those who had need of healing (v 11).
Jesus was welcoming to the crowd. Despite His own grief and desire for quiet, Jesus was not irritated by their intrusion,
“When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd…” (Mark 6:34a—See also Matthew 14:14a)
As a true servant, the Son of Man set aside His own sorrow and put the needs of others above His own.
Jesus began speaking to this crowd, about the kingdom of God.
The kingdom of God/heaven was Jesus’s core message (Matthew 4:17).
Luke 6:20-49 provides a sampling of some of Jesus’s teachings about the kingdom of God.
Jesus was also miraculously curing those who had need of healing. It is interesting how Luke the physician uses medical language—i.e. curing—to describe Jesus’s miracles of healing.
As Jesus taught about the kingdom of God and healed those brought to Him, the crowd continued to grow in number.
Luke later reports that this crowd would swell to about five thousand men (Luke 9:14), and the account of Matthew adds that this estimate did not even include the women and children who were present (Matthew 14:21).
In the next section of scripture (Luke 9:12-17), we will see what else Jesus did for these crowds. It is one of His most famous miracles and one of the few events of His ministry that is recorded by each of the four Gospels in detail. It is the feeding of the five thousand.
Luke 9:10-11
10 When the apostles returned, they gave an account to Him of all that they had done. Taking them with Him, He withdrew by Himself to a city called Bethsaida.
11 But the crowds were aware of this and followed Him; and welcoming them, He began speaking to them about the kingdom of God and curing those who had need of healing.
Set to dark mode
Luke 9:10-11 meaning
The parallel Gospel accounts for Luke 9:10-11 are Matthew 14:13-14, Mark 6:30-34, and John 6:1-3.
In Luke 9:10-11, the disciples return from their missions and reunite with Jesus near the town of Bethsaida where He seeks solitude with them, but crowds of people gather around Him to hear Him preach and perform miracles.
When the apostles returned, they gave an account to Him of all that they had done (v 10a).
An apostle is someone who is commissioned with authority to represent and accomplish the mission of the person who sends them. In this context, the apostles refers to the twelve disciples whom Jesus had recently called and commissioned to preach, cast out demons, and heal in His name (Luke 9:1, See also Matthew 10:1, 10:5-7, Mark 6:7).
When the apostles returned from their missions, they gave an account to Jesus of all that they had done during them. The Gospel of Mark describes the general success of the apostles’ missions:
“And they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them.”
(Mark 6:13)
The time and place of their regathering may have been prearranged or it may have been suddenly called for in response to the news of the death of John the Baptist, Jesus’s cousin (Luke 9:7-9, Matthew 14:13a). Jesus may have summoned the apostles to return prematurely from their missions because of John’s execution, or He and His apostles may have learned of John’s death while they were giving an account to Him of all that they had done.
In either case, Jesus needed time to grieve the murder of His cousin.
Taking them with Him, He withdrew by Himself to a city called Bethsaida (v 10b).
Luke writes that Jesus withdrew from public appearances after the apostles regathered to Him. This indicates that He sought solitude during this time of grief. Jesus wanted to be alone with God during this time of intense sorrow. Matthew writes:
“Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself.”
(Matthew 14:13a)
Jesus was fully human (Hebrews 2:17). And grief is a part of human life and it is a natural response to deep loss. People often withdraw during moments or seasons of grief. And Jesus withdrew by Himself during His time of sadness over the execution of His cousin and the impending time of His own crucifixion.
Spending time alone with His Father was not unusual for Jesus. In fact, it appears to have been part of His normal life:
“But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.”
(Luke 5:16)
Even though Jesus was fully God (Colossians 1:15-19), He completely lived by faith as a human and lived dependently on God for everything (Philippians 2:6-8). Jesus drew wisdom and strength from His Father. And He cast His troubles upon Him—which meant He acknowledged His hurts and temptations to God, but trusted God to establish the course for His life.
Jesus was the perfect human, and Luke’s Gospel to the Greeks presents Jesus as the ideal human that their philosophers sought. And it is by following His perfect example (of living by dependence and faith) that we too can attain what they described as the Good Life. For the Greeks, and for us, the Good Life does not mean never experiencing bad or even terrible things; the Good Life means being able to weather the storms of life well—AND—being able to enjoy the blessings. We attain the Good Life by knowing God by faith (John 17:3) and emulating the example of Jesus (Luke 9:23-24, Philippians 2:5-11).
Luke informs us that the place Jesus withdrew to and took the apostles with Him was Bethsaida.
The city of Bethsaida was a small village on the northern shore of Galilee a few miles east of Capernaum. In Hebrew, Bethsaida means “house of fish.” And it was the home of no less than three of Jesus’s apostles—Peter and Andrew, who were fisherman, and Philip (John 1:44). James and John, who were fishermen before following Jesus, also came from Bethsaida, or near it.
Apparently, Bethsaida did not provide the level of solitude Jesus wanted, so He took His disciples and “they went away in the boat to a secluded place by themselves” (Mark 6:32—see also Matthew 14:13a).
Even still, it seems that Jesus did not find the solitude He sought, as Luke writes:
But the crowds were aware of this and followed Him (v 11a). and welcoming them, He began to teach them about the kingdom of God and curing those who had need of healing (v 11).
It seems that while Jesus and His disciples were away during the apostles’ missionary journeys, the crowds had been anxious for Jesus to return to Galilee. Once He came back, they kept a close eye on Him. And the people were aware that Jesus withdrew, and they followed Him to the place where His boat was going in search of seclusion.
Just as Jesus longed for time with His Father, the crowds eagerly sought Him—though their pursuit seemed more driven by what He could do for them than by a desire to truly know Him (John 6:2).
According to Mark, many ran on foot to the spot where Jesus’s boat was going and got there ahead of Him and His disciples (Mark 6:33), so that there was already a crowd waiting for Him when He arrived at the place which He was seeking solitude.
This was possible because the Sea of Galilee is a relatively open lake. It is diamond shaped and most of its waters are visible from single vantage points along the shore. The Sea of Galilee is also not an excessively large body of water. It is only about 13 miles long from north to south and about 7 miles wide from east to west at its broadest point.
The city of Bethsaida was located near the northeastern corner of the lake. This location made it possible for the people to watch Jesus’s boat and then follow which direction it was going.
When Jesus arrived, instead of being angry with the crowds for imposing themselves upon His time of solitude, He had compassion on them. Luke writes:
and welcoming them, He began to teach them about the kingdom of God and curing those who had need of healing (v 11).
Jesus was welcoming to the crowd. Despite His own grief and desire for quiet, Jesus was not irritated by their intrusion,
“When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd…”
(Mark 6:34a—See also Matthew 14:14a)
As a true servant, the Son of Man set aside His own sorrow and put the needs of others above His own.
Jesus began speaking to this crowd, about the kingdom of God.
The kingdom of God/heaven was Jesus’s core message (Matthew 4:17).
See “The Kingdom of Heaven vs. the Kingdom of God.”
Luke 6:20-49 provides a sampling of some of Jesus’s teachings about the kingdom of God.
Jesus was also miraculously curing those who had need of healing. It is interesting how Luke the physician uses medical language—i.e. curing—to describe Jesus’s miracles of healing.
As Jesus taught about the kingdom of God and healed those brought to Him, the crowd continued to grow in number.
Luke later reports that this crowd would swell to about five thousand men (Luke 9:14), and the account of Matthew adds that this estimate did not even include the women and children who were present (Matthew 14:21).
In the next section of scripture (Luke 9:12-17), we will see what else Jesus did for these crowds. It is one of His most famous miracles and one of the few events of His ministry that is recorded by each of the four Gospels in detail. It is the feeding of the five thousand.