Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 14:22

"And straightway he constrained the disciples to enter into the boat, and to go before him unto the other side, till he should send the multitudes away." — Matthew 14:22 (ASV)

Immediately, Jesus constrained His disciples — St. John narrates more fully the impression made by the miracle. It led those who witnessed it to the conclusion that this was the Prophet that should come into the world. They sought to seize Him and make Him a king against His will (John 6:14–15). Shrinking from that form of sovereignty, He withdrew from His disciples, dismissed the multitude, and spent the night in prayer on the mountain. At His command, the disciples were crossing to the other side to Bethsaida (Mark 6:45)—that is, to the town of that name on the western shore of the lake, near Capernaum (John 6:17).

We may reverently say it was as if, in this unusual stir of popular excitement in His favor, He saw something like a renewal of the temptation in the wilderness. This nearness to a path of earthly greatness, instead of the one that led to the cross, required special communion with His Father so that He might once again resist and overcome it. And so, He desired to pass through the conflict alone, as He later would in Gethsemane, with no human eye to witness the temptation or the victory.