Jesus Takes A Walk - Mark 6:45-56 Series

Mark 6:45 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. 47 When evening came, 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. About the fourth watch of the night he went out to them, walking on the lake. He wanted 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. Immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." 51 Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, 52 for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened. 53 When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. 54 As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. 55 They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he went--into villages, towns or countryside--they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed.

Introduction: Why Have You Forsaken Me?

Have you ever noticed how many times in the Bible—especially in the Psalms God’s people feel like God has forsaken them?

Psalm 13:1 … O LORD? Will you forget me for ever? How long will you hide your face from me?

Psalm 42:9 I say to God my Rock, "Why have you forgotten me?

Psalm 43:2 You are God my stronghold. Why have you rejected me?

Psalm 44:23 Awake, O Lord! Why do you sleep?

Psalm 77:9 Has God forgotten to be merciful?

Psalm 22:1 …. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?

You see language like that in the Psalms a lot because God’s people often feel that way. Sometimes it feels like you’re in the dark, God’s not responding to your prayers, and it seems like he must either be mad at you or he doesn’t even exist. Now, did the psalmists really believe that God was asleep or that he had rejected them or forsaken them? No. You can tell by reading the rest of what they said in the same psalm that they didn’t believe that. They were just crying out to God and expressing how they felt. Even Jesus quoted one of those psalms on the cross. Even Jesus knew what it was like to be in a moment that was so dark that it seemed like God had abandoned him. That is common to the Christian experience, and today Jesus is going to teach us how to find comfort in desperate times.

In today’s passage, the disciples find themselves in one of those times. It’s yet another catastrophe at sea. This time they find themselves fighting a storm all night long and after 10 hours of rowing, they are miles from shore, being blown out even further in the pitch dark, and Jesus isn’t with them. How did they get into this mess? Let’s back up 10 hours and see.

You’re Dismissed

We left off last time with the biggest crowd we ever see in the gospels laying back in the grass stuffed to the gills after Jesus fed them all with one little boy’s lunch. If you think Jesus was popular before, now his popularity is through the roof. A Messiah who can create unlimited free food? John tells us that the crowd got so excited they were trying to make Jesus king. That sounds good, right? It’s exactly what Jesus came to be—the king of his people. I’m sure this crowd would have carried Jesus and the 12 home on their shoulders if Jesus let them. So what does Jesus do? He doesn’t like this situation one bit.

Mark 6:45 Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.

He wants his disciples out of there, he wants the crowd dispersed, and he wants to go be alone to pray. He’s not going to fall for the temptation to become king without suffering and dying on the cross. But John says they were going to take Jesus by force. So what is Jesus going to do against an army of 5000 men? Look at the last four words of v.45.