Mark 1:35

Solitary Prayer. Tour in Galilee

35. in the morning, … a great while before day] Another graphic touch of the Evangelist. He brings the scene before our eyes. The previous day had been a long day of conflict with and victory over the kingdom of sin and death. He now retires to refresh Himself in the heaven of prayer, in communion with His Father. He prepares Himself in the desert for a second great mission of Love, this time accompanied by His first four disciples.

a solitary place "A remarkable feature of the Lake of Gennesaret was that it was closely surrounded with desert solitudes. These -desert places" thus close at hand on the table-lands or in the ravines of the eastern and western ranges, gave opportunities of retirement for rest or prayer. -Rising up early in the morning while it was yet dark" or -passing over to the other side in a boat," He sought these solitudes, sometimes alone, sometimes with His disciples. The Lake in this double aspect is thus a reflex of that union of energy and rest, of active labour and deep devotion, which is the essence of Christianity, as it was of the Life of Him, in whom that union was first taught and shewn." Stanley's Sinai and Palestine, pp. 378, 379.