Jesus Walks On The Water Series

Growing up in Wisconsin we would go “up north” twice a year at least, to a town called Minocqua. And we would spend hours boating, we would travel something they called up there the “chain of lakes.” We’d take my dads boat from lake Minocqua down through these thin passages, to lake Tomahawk, and we’d go to restaurants along the lakes, and then watch the fireworks from the boat. I loved it when I was a kid, but as I got older I started to dislike it and stopped wanting to go.

Jesus and the disciples have been very busy serving people. In fact, they’ve just served about 5,000 men, along with women and children, in the feeding of the five thousand.

Here at the salvation army, we serve about 350-500 meals a month. And we provide about 4 to 6 thousand lbs of produce and baked goods. So, it takes us about a year to serve 5000 people food. All this happens in a few hours.

I’m sure the disciples are all exhausted from this ministry work. They’re sweaty, they’re tired, and they need some rest.

So Jesus tells them to head across the lake.

It says in Mark 6:45-46, “Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.”

First thing to notice here, is Jesus went up on a mountainside to pray. Notice, that Jesus is cited as praying many times in the scriptures. If the Son of God needs desperately to pray to God the Father, how much more do we need to pray?

Many of you don’t pray like you should. You think no one will notice. But God notices. Let’s pray right now, pray with me: “God, help us to pray even when we don’t realize how important it is. In Jesus name, amen.”

Jesus is up on this mountain nearby, talking to God. But he’s also observing the disciples. He can see them from far off. They are struggling to cross the lake.

It says in verses 47-48: “Later that night, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. 48 He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them.”

They’ve been rowing on the lake for hours. And they aren’t making any progress. The sea of galilee isn’t that large. It’s 13 miles from north to south, and 7 miles from east to west, shaped like a pear.

But the wind is against them.

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where the wind was against you? I remember at one point in my life I had racked up some financial debt. I kept trying to pay off the bills, but the costs of daily items kept disrupting. It felt like taking two steps forward and one step back. They say pay the smallest bills or credit cards first, then move on to the bigger ones. But it seemed like I wasn’t making any progress.

Have you been in a situation where you felt stuck? A job where you felt you couldn’t make any progress? Or maybe you’ve got a mental health problem or physical health issue that you’ve been battling, and you feel like the disciples rowing on the lake, and not getting anywhere.

It affects you every day. You’ve prayed a hundred times about it. But the Lord hasn’t healed you.

These situations are not unique for us as Christians. They are the norm.

Remember, the disciples at this point were already tired. They had been working and serving and following Jesus. Often when we’re weakest, we take the hit. Something happens. Life happens. And we get upset.

But, we just keep rowing. Like the disciples. They keep rowing. And this goes on all night. Now, finally, it’s dawn. Jesus is praying, and watching, and now, Jesus takes action.

It says this verses 48b-50: “Shortly before dawn he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, 50 because they all saw him and were terrified.”

A terrible storm is raging, we’re told in other gospels, though it’s not specifically mentioned in Mark. It’s starting to not look good. It’s starting to look dangerous. At it’s maximum depths the sea of galilee is 150 feet deep, though it’s average is 85 feet deep.

You know in all my years of boating the chain of lakes in Minocqua, or on lake Wausau, or our family trips to Canada to thunder bay, never have I ever seen someone walking on the lake. Unless it was during winter and frozen over.