Silence and Solitude
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the WILDERNESS to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry. —Matthew 4:1-2
Eremos: desert, deserted place, desolate place, solitary place, lonely place, quiet place, wilderness.
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a SOLITARY PLACE (EREMOS), where He prayed. —Mark 1:35
Simon and his companions went to look for Him, and when they found Him, they exclaimed: ‘Everyone is looking for you!’ —Mark 1:36-37
Let us go somewhere else - to the nearby villages - so I can preach there also. That is why I have come. —Jesus, Mark 1:38
Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat —Mark 6:31a
Come with me by yourselves to a QUIET PLACE (EREMOS) and get some rest. —Jesus, Mark 6:31b
So they went away by themselves in a boat to a SOLITARY PLACE (EREMOS). —Mark 6:32
But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So He began teaching them many things. By this time it was late in the day —Mark 6:33-35a
Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of Him to Bethsaida, while He dismissed the crowd. After leaving them, He went up on a mountainside to pray. Later that night, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and He was ALONE on land. —Mark 6:45-47
Yet the news about Him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses. —Luke 5:15
But Jesus often withdrew to LONELY PLACES (EREMOS) and prayed. —Luke 5:16
When we get busy, the quiet time is the
rather than .
There are two dimensions of silence:
and .
There is a difference between
and .
Without solitude it is virtually impossible to live a spiritual life
We do not take the spiritual life seriously if we do not set aside some time to be with God and listen to Him. —Henri Nouwen, Making All Things New
I am the vine; you are the branches. If you REMAIN/ABIDE in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. —Jesus, John 15:5