Mark 6:45-56
We have been working our way through Mark 6 for the past month or so. We’ve had readings from it every week, and even a couple of sermons. And today, sadly, we get to the end of Mark 6. I love this chapter, because it is vintage Mark. What I mean by that is that God used Mark to write a Gospel, a history of Jesus earthly ministry, that is fast paced, hard hitting, and to the point. The pace is incredible (the word “Immediately” is used about 40 times), the language isn’t flowery, but concise, and yet the book is jam packed with the teachings and actions of Jesus. When you read through it, or hear it out loud, you don’t want to blink, because you might miss something huge.
Just look at what has happened in chapter 6 (in 1/16th of the book): Jesus is rejected in his hometown, the Apostles are sent on mission impossible, which God makes possible (healing, preaching, casting out demons in Galilee), John the Baptist is beheaded and buried, Jesus feeds thousands of people with 5 loaves and 2 fish, and then we get to today… Jesus walks on water!
There is something that the Holy Spirit wants to teach us with HOW Mark tells this story. I say that because I know some of you were reading along, listening to how Jesus walks on water and thinking, something is missing. Where’s Peter? Jesus walks on water out to the boat. The disciples are afraid, and then isn’t Peter supposed to get out of the boat and walk toward Jesus?
Rest assured that Peter is there with all of the rest of the disciples, and that all of that happened, but Mark doesn’t mention this part of the account. WHY? There is a point to be made here about how we study the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). They all tell the story of Jesus life and ministry, and many of the events they talk about overlap. But we are blessed to have these 4 witnesses and their unique perspectives, because they each help us to focus in on different aspects of Jesus life and ministry. It’s fun to compare different accounts in the different Gospels, but there is also a great benefit to taking each account individually, apart from the others, and seeing what message God is trying to get across.
It’s kind of like when Anne and I both go to a wedding. We will focus on different things. If you ask Anne what the Bride’s dress was like, she might say something like, “it was a beautiful, empire waist gown, with beading on the front, and made from a shimmery satin.” I would answer that question by saying, “It was white.” Someone might ask, what the bride looked like, and Anne would say, “she had great eye makeup, diamond earrings, and great shoes.” I would say, “the bride was very pretty.” Anne might say the flower were, “calalilies.” I might say they were, “real.” There would be details that Anne would focus on that I wouldn’t. On the other hand, at the reception, I could look relate the buffet configuration to you from memory after glancing at it once. Same event, different details, different emphasis, but each has it’s own purpose.
It’s the same way with the Gospels, and we are blessed for it! And how are we blessed by Mark’s account of Jesus walking on the water. Well, there are a whole lot of thing we could talk about, but the main point is this: Mark wants us to know, God wants us to know, is who Jesus is, and how loving and patient Jesus is even when our faith is weak, even when we, “just don’t get it.”
I say this because if there is one thing you should be able to say about the disciples when we start this reading, it’s that they should be on a spiritual high. They just witnessed Jesus take 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish and feed more people than you can fit into the new Columbus Clippers Stadium. And afterwards, there were 12 big basketfuls of leftovers (which I think James was going to combine with some cream of mushroom soup to make into a casserole).
And then they hurry off to the boats to get to their next stop Gennesaret, and Jesus stays back to get some time to himself to pray: “Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land.”
So Jesus is alone, the sun has set long ago, and a storm comes up and makes life hard for the disciples on the boat. We read that Jesus, supernaturally, sees them out there struggling: “And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them.” Unlike the last storm, the disciples aren’t terrified, they are experienced fishermen and are making progress, slow as it is. But then Jesus does something totally unexpected, he just starts walking out toward them. “And about the fourth watch of the night he (JESUS) came to them, walking on the sea.”
It’s all great, and then we read these words, “He meant to pass them by.” This is where the brake slam on for me. What does that even mean? Did he mean to sneak by them, but got caught? That doesn’t sound like the creator of the Universe, the one who controls the water and waves with his very voice! Did it mean he meant to beat them to Gennsaret? Why would he do that? Well it actually doesn’t mean either of these two things. It has much more significance than that. When the Bible speaks of God passing someone by, it often means he is going to reveal himself to someone, he is going to pull back the veil of his glory for a moment and show a glimpse of his power, of his holiness, and give his grace (because he lets you live through the experience of seeing him!)
We see this very thing with Moses on Mt. Sinai with God: (Exodus 33:18-23) “Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” And the LORD said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.”
It’s similar to what happens when God fills the Tabernacle in the wilderness, and the temple with his Glory, God passes by to show he is really present, really powerful, and really perfect. And that is exactly what Jesus is doing here. He means to pass by them and let them see that he is there with them, that he is powerful (just walking on water!), and that he is perfect (holy, and in perfect control of his creation).
While it would have been surprising to see Jesus showing up as he does, the disciples should not be shocked. Just to recount, so far in the Gospel of Mark they had seen Jesus heal Simon’s Mother in Law, cure a leper, a paralyzed man, a bleeding woman, and a shriveled hand, raise a dead girl, calm a storm, stump the best Pharisees, cast out demons, and feed a huge crowd of people with almost no food. These are just the specifics, he did all kinds of other stuff that Mark doesn’t bother listing!
When they see anything out of the ordinary, they should KNOW it’s Jesus. They of all people, should, “get it.” They should understand who he is, and what he does, and be filled with joy upon seeing him anywhere. But no, “when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, for they all saw him and were terrified.” You can hear the shrieks storming out of the mouths of these grown men. Their response is all wrong and we find out why in verse 52: “for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.”
But here is the amazing thing, how Jesus responds to these guys. These guys who just don’t “get it” even though they should, these guys who are all mixed up, who have hard hearts, who have no excuses. Jesus doesn’t stop revealing himself to them, in fact, he makes his identity and his love for them even clearer: “But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded.”
Don’t you love that? Jesus doesn’t say, “forget you guys,” or, “after all I’ve done for you,” or, “you of all people should understand.” He doesn’t say any of that stuff, he just comforts them by telling them who he is again, he comforts them by coming closer to them, and being with them. And that’s what this lesson is all about. It’s about Jesus. It’s about his love for his people, as hard hearted, and thick, and sinful as they are.
There is great comfort in Jesus words for us too, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” Don’t we need to be reminded of who Jesus is and what he does for us all the time? The message hits home pretty well doesn’t it? We may not be terrified because we’re sitting in a boat in stormy waters, but we get terrified at all kinds of other things. We look at our lives and see the things that make our headway painful and they scare us.
There are financial concerns, there are worries we have for our children (no matter how old they are), there are problems at home we don’t want to talk about, there are sicknesses, and job concerns, there are sins that pile up and wreak havoc all over our lives. And sometimes we just don’t get it do we; that Jesus is there, that God is in control, that he sees us even when we can’t see him, that he can comes to us wherever and however we are. And he doesn’t come to judge, or point a finger, or watch us suffer. He comes to comfort us, to let us know he’s there, to remind us who he is and to be with us.
This is Jesus. And this is his Grace. You have a God who not only is powerful beyond knowing, who created the universe, who walks on water, who calms the storms with his mere presence. But you have a God who loves you more than you can possibly know as well. We talked about how God reveals himself to show you his power, his presence, and his perfection. We can’t forget that he did all this for us ultimately when he died for our sins on the cross and when he rose from the dead on the third day. He showed us his presence in our life as our crucified Savior and victorious Lord. He showed us his power in humility to death and then in his conquering of death. He showed us his perfection in his being able to take our sin upon himself, and being able to give us his perfection in sin’s place. Don’t ever forget that!
I know though that sometimes I do. And sometimes you do too. But the good news is that God never forgets who he is, or why he came, or how much he loves you. He loves you so much, that your mind can’t possibly understand it. And that is a comfort in itself. I love how Paul writes about this in our lesson from Ephesians (3:14-21). His prayer for these people is that they, “have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
I love that last part, to know the love of Christ that surpasses all knowledge. It says we can’t possibly know how much God loves us, but what a great comfort it is to know that we are loved that much. Paul reminds the people that they have a God, “who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us.” And isn’t that what we need to know as well.
Jesus sees you, Jesus knows you, Jesus saves you, and reveals himself to you, and comes near to you, and loves you with a love beyond your understanding. With that, I want to end with some time in prayer. Take some time to lift those things that are terrifying you right now, those things that seem too big to handle right now, those things that cause you to wonder if God really cares.
Let’s pray…
And we close with the words of Jesus to you and for you : “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
Amen
