35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 36 Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37 and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”
38 Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” 39 So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.
We explored earlier how Jesus, the founder of their Jewish sect, had no mainstream credentials. He had no recognized right by the Jewish religious authorities to offer his own teaching, his own Mishnah, or interpretation of Scripture. Not having been certified by semicha, rabbinic ordination, Jesus did not have, s'mikhahto, "authority". His claim to legitimacy and the right to speak rests on being a Chasidium, a Rabbi who can dispense the mercy of God. As such, Jesus' message and mission depends on his personal revelation of, intimacy with, and favor from God rather than the continuation of existing recognized teaching or the agendas of the current religious authority.
As members of a Jewish sect that followed Jesus' teaching, this community must have had to answer to other Jews and to themselves why they did not observe the same purity laws and rituals, or to the same degree. What right did their founder have to give them a different direction? Stories like this would reinforce their conviction that their teacher's direction came from personal interaction with God. This story shows Jesus seeking out communication and intimacy with God as the source for his message and the purpose for his mission. It follows that, after an early morning of isolated prayer, Jesus is presented as announcing his intention and purpose to preach throughout Galilee.
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