The Mountain and Rest

Ἀνῆλθεν δὲ εἰς τὸ ὄρος Ἰησοῦς, καὶ ἐκεῖ ἐκάθητο μετὰ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ. Τί δήποτε δὲ τὸ ὄρος καταλμβάνει νῦν, καὶ ἐκεὶ κάθηται μετὰ τῶν μαθητῶν; Διὰ τὸ μέλλον ἔσεσθαι συμεῖον. Τὸ δὲ τοὺς μαθητὰς ἀναβῆναι μόνους, κατηγορία τοῦ πλήθους ἦν οὐκ ἀκολουθήσαντος αὐτῷ. Οὐ τούτο δὲ ἕνεκεν μόνον τοῦτο ποιεῖ, τὸ ὄρος καταλαμβάνων, ἀλλὰ καὶ παιδεύων ἡμᾶς ἀεὶ διαναπαύεσθαι ἀπὸ τῶν θορύβων, καὶ τῆς ἐν μέσῳ ταραχῆς· ἐπιτήδειον γὰρ πρὸς φιλοσοφίαν ἐρημία. Πολλάκις δὲ καὶ μόνος αὐτὸς τὸ ὄρος καταλμβάνει, καὶ διανυκτερεύει καὶ εὔχεται, διδάσκων ἡμᾶς ὅτι τὸν μάλιστα Θεῷ προσιόντα πάσης ἀπηλλάχθαι δεῖ ταραχῆς, καὶ καιρὸν καὶ τόπον θορύβου καθαρὸν ἐπιζητεῖν. Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος, Υπόμνημα Εἰς τὸν ἅγιον Ἰωάννην τὸν Ἀπόστολον και Εὑαγγελιστην, Ὁμιλία ΜΒ´ Source: Migne PG 59.239

So Jesus went up the mountain and there sat down with His disciples. 1 And why does He seek the mountain now, and sit there with His disciples? Because of the miracle which was about to take place. And that only the disciples went up with Him, was a charge against the multitude which did not follow Him. Yet not for this alone did He go up the mountain, but to teach us ever to rest at intervals from the tumults and confusion of common life. For solitude is a thing that befits the study of wisdom. And often He goes up the mountain alone, and spends the night there, and prays, to teach us that the man who will come nearest to God must be free from all disturbance, and must seek times and places free of disturbance. Saint John Chrysostom, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint John, Homily 42 1 Jn 6.3