There was such a swirl of activity around Jesus, with so many people coming and going, that they were unable to even eat a meal. So Jesus said to his disciples, “Come, let’s take a break and find a secluded place where you can rest a while.”
Jesus and his apostles came down from the hillside to a level field, where a large number of his disciples waited, along with a massive crowd: people from all over Judea, Jerusalem, and the coastal district of Tyre and Sidon.
When Jesus went back home and away from the crowd, his disciples acknowledged that they didn’t understand the meaning of the parable and asked him to explain it.
Once again Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lakeside, but a massive crowd of people followed him from all around the provinces of Galilee and southern Israel.
But no sooner did the man leave than he began to proclaim his healing publicly and tell the story everywhere. Jesus’ growing fame prevented him from entering the villages openly, which forced him to remain in isolated places. Even so, a steady stream of people flocked to him from everywhere.