Ghost Or Messiah? Series

Scripture: Mark 6:45-52; Isaiah 43:1-2

Theme: Ghost or Messiah?

Sermon – This sermon is about Jesus revealing Himself to His Disciples as the Son of God/Messiah.

INTRO:

Grace and peace from God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Have you ever had a day that seemed like nothing went right?

Everything you planned to do that day didn’t go well.

You may have thought it might have been better for you to just go back to bed and start again the next day.

Not everything goes as planned.

This morning we find ourselves in Mark 6:45-52 where there is this amazing and yet strange story of Jesus walking on water and bringing peace and calm to not only the waters but also to his disciples.

It had been a rough day for Jesus. If you remember right before this story, there is another strange story. It’s the feeding of the 5,000.

Jesus does this incredible miracle involving some fish and biscuits. He had been sharing the entire day about His Heavenly Father, about the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY and how that He loves all of them, wants to lead them, comfort them and provide for them.

Jesus then punctuates his message by showing them just how much Lord loves them with the feeding of the 5,000.

He thought that in response the 5,000 would then take the time to praise God and thank Him for His love, His mercy and His care. That they would see that right now God was breaking through to show His people His love just as He had done with Moses and the manna in the wilderness.

But that was not what happened.

Instead, they tried to make Jesus some type of freedom fighter/king. They thought that if Jesus could provide food in this way, then they would just elevate him to be their king and he could then lead them to victory over the Romans. I mean if a person can feed 5,000 with just a couple of fish and five small biscuits then who knows what he could do with an army of people behind him.

The disciples didn’t understand either. They were more worried about what to do with the leftovers than they were to either praise God or see Jesus in a whole new way.

+Do they take the baskets of fish/biscuits with them when they leave?

+Do they give them to the poor?

+Do they just leave them on the shoreline?

+What do they do with the miracle fish and miracle bread?

Disappointed, Jesus sends both groups away. He sends the disciples to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, and he sends the crowds back to their homes.

This morning, let’s see what Jesus does next and if what he does can help us this morning:

I. Jesus goes up on the mountain.

After getting everyone to go away – the disciples and the crowd, Jesus walks up the mountain to spend some time with His Heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit.

It’s not a long walk up the mountain. It was about a third of a mile to get up to any of the mountains that were on the west side of the Sea of Galilee. It would have taken at the most around 20 – 25 minutes.

Just enough time and distance to get away by yourself away from the 5,000 and his hardheaded and at times hard-hearted disciples.

You can imagine Jesus’ conversation with the Father and Spirit:

“They are not getting it Father. After all I taught about you all they could think about was their stomachs and me becoming some type of freedom fighter. They didn’t even take the time to praise you and thank you for feeding them. And what is even worse is the 12 you gave me were more worried about leftovers and scraps than they were that they had been a part of a miracle.”

“How are we ever going to get them to see the truth about who I am and what I am going to do here on earth.”

“Are they just so blind that they will never see?”

If you have ever taught a lesson to either a group of people or had one of those heart-to-heart talks with one of your children, then you probably know how Jesus felt.

There are few things more frustrating and exhausting than doing your best to teach a class, a person, or a child something and they seem like they just don’t get it.

It makes you wonder if they have a brain. It makes you tired.

Jesus needed some Heavenly Father time. He needed the guidance and assurances that come with His Holy Spirit. He needed a chance to be with Heaven and to feel the wonders of Heaven again. He needed some refreshing and renewing.