Mk 6:30-34
Desert: Mark uses the image of the exodus to make a theological point. Previously (6:7-13), Jesus sent the Twelve on mission; now, they have returned and reported their success.
Jesus leads the apostles to a desert place. It was in the desert, after the escape from Egyptian slavery, that God formed his people through the Law. Jesus, likewise, gathers his followers and teaches them his way in a desert place.
God worked through Moses; that is, God gave Moses special abilities to mold and hold together the Israelites. In fact, Moses (and his successors) was so attractive as a leader that other peoples (usually called foreigners) actively sought to join the Israelites. Mark uses this background in his portrayal of the “vast crowd,” who follow Jesus.
In the next scene of the Gospel, Mark tells the first of two feeding stories, which echo the manna in the desert. While the early Christian eucharistic overtones are obvious, Mark’s emphasis is on the teaching, the word of Jesus, which precedes the multiplication of loaves and fishes.
With this understanding, it is not difficult to see why Christianity has always had a fondness for the desert. Monasticism had its beginnings in the wasteland. Countless saints have spent untold years in the desert. Today, every person is encouraged to go away for a while and rest in a deserted or semi-deserted place, both for a short period each day for prayer and at least once a year for a retreat or other type of spiritual formation and evaluation.
In the desert there are no distractions. A person cannot be preoccupied by a hundred other things. There, in the desert, God can speak to the heart and mold it according to his way.