Mark 6:45-52 – All You Need
Bob heard a rumor that his father, grandfather and great-grandfather had all walked on water on their 21st birthdays. So, on his 21st birth-day, Bob his good friend Brian headed out to the lake. "If they did it, I can too!" he insisted. When Bob and Brian arrived at the lake, they rented a boat and began paddling. When the got to the middle of the lake, Bob stepped off of the side of the boat... and nearly drowned. Furious and embarrassed, he and Brian headed for home.
When Bob arrived back at the family farm, he asked his grandmother for an explanation. "Grandma, why can I not walk on water like my father, and his father, and his father before him?" The feeble old grandmother took Bob by the hands, looked into his eyes, and explained, "That’s because you were born in July, dear. Your father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were all born in January."
Well, the water Jesus walked on certainly wasn’t frozen. Today we are going to look at the story of Jesus walking on the water in Mark 6. Now, I’m going to refer often to the same story as recorded in Matthew 14 and John 6. Now, this story is one that we like to tell to kids in Sunday school about how Jesus can do such wonderful things. But as with many stories, they gather dust upon our shelves, and we forget that perhaps they might mean something to the grown-ups they were witnessed by, written by, and written for. So, my goal today is to take an old story and make it relevant to you in the situations you find yourself in now. Let’s read Mark 6:45-52.
Now, here’s a little background on this story. Jesus and His disciples are along the Sea of Galilee, also lesser known as the Sea of Tiberias. The sea was really a large lake, set 650’ below sea level, and surrounded by cliffs and mountains. This made for good fishing but horribly surprising weather conditions. Our story here starts out in v45 with Jesus and his disciples at a solitary place along the shore – v32.
It was there that Jesus took 5 small barley loaves and 2 small fishes – one little lad’s lunch as we are told in John 6:8 – and fed 5000 men, let alone women and children. Jesus did a great miracle – actually, the only miracle recorded by all 4 Gospels - here at this solitary place outside of Bethsaida. We don’t know exactly where Bethsaida, a little fishing village, was, but obviously it was nearby. Jesus sent his disciples on ahead with the boat while he would catch up to them later. First Jesus dismissed the crowds with some final words, and then went to pray. In the meantime, the disciples head out onto the water.
Soon, the disciples were in trouble. A storm had arisen, and they were in the middle of the lake – v47. John tells us they were 3-1/2 or 4 miles out – which is a long way to swim in a storm. They were seriously concerned. Now, at this point, I have to draw your attention to a certain detail that I could not find a decent explanation to. In Mark 6:45, Jesus told His disciples to go to Bethsaida. But, in John 6:17, we read that they were headed to Capernaum. If Jesus told them to go to one place, why were they headed to another?
I have 3 possible explanations, well, 4: 1) Somebody didn’t get their stories straight and so one of them is wrong. I don’t buy it. I believe in the infallibility of scripture, that is, it will never fail, and it was without errors or mistakes when it was first written down. This leads me to believe that what we have is right and from God, who never makes mistakes.
So, we search for another explanation. 2) Jesus told them to go to one or the other, either Bethsaida or Capernaum. Well, I don’t see any clues as to Jesus not making up His mind. I can’t grasp this one.
3) The disciples were sinning. Jesus told them to go to Bethsaida, but since Jesus sent the crowds away because they wanted to make Him a king before His ministry was done (John 6:15), the disciples got disillusioned and confused. Out of these, they decided to withdraw.
That almost sounds logical, and that would explain why they got caught in a fierce storm – disobedience always makes messes in our lives. But I also don’t see Jesus rebuking them over it. I don’t see that kind of defiance in their lives at this point. This was my best explanation until I read that people today really aren’t sure where Bethsaida was.
So, explanation #4 of why they headed to Capernaum instead of Bethsaida could be that 4) Bethsaida was right outside of Capernaum. They weren’t being defiant or disobedient – it was the same general direction. Which leads to the obvious conclusion. Sometimes doing what Jesus wants isn’t easy. Sometimes Jesus leads us into difficult circumstances. Sometimes the road we are called to walk is uphill. Sometimes the path set out for us is bumpy and narrow. But if we trust in Him through it all, we come out with the same lesson as what Jesus tried to teach His disciples that day: I AM ALL YOU NEED. After all, watch how the story progresses from here.
At about 3AM, after the disciples had been struggling for hours with the oars, Jesus came out walking on the water. They didn’t know where He had been – they probably figured off doing something else important, or not. But all along, He had been watching from where He was sitting. Folks, I know sometimes trials make you wonder where God is, but take heart: He still knows exactly where you are.
And when Jesus does show up, they don’t even recognize Him. They even think He’s a ghost. Something odd and out-of-place. But sometimes God uses those things to move in ways we don’t expect. Well, the disciples were obviously scared – who wouldn’t be if they thought they saw a ghost? But it’s in times like this – when we are frightened, overwhelmed by the challenges we face, sometimes feeling like we won’t pull through – that Jesus plans to save us. Sometimes we are led into difficulties for the sole purpose of learning that Jesus is all we need.
You see, there’s a word that appears in all 3 versions of the story – “immediately.” Matthew and Mark tell us that after Jesus had fed the multitudes, He immediately told the disciples to go into the boat. Both writers also tell us that when they cried out in fear, Jesus immediately spoke comforting words to them. Matthew says that when Peter cried out to be saved when he began to sink while walking on the water, Jesus immediately reached out to save him. (But that’s next week’s sermon on walking by faith.) And, John says that when Jesus got into the boat and the wind and waves were clamed, the boat immediately reached the shore where they were going.
Now, these guys had been struggling with the waves all night. They had gone through much of the storm. They had been wondering about drowning for hours. They had been wondering where Jesus was. No doubt they had prayed. And Jesus still had not shown up. But then, He did. Understand something about God’s ways: He is not a slave to your timetable. He doesn’t do things as you see fit. He works on His own schedule. But when He does move, watch out, because it will be quick and effective. All the pieces will fit into place and finally come together. And looking back, His actions and movements will make sense.
So getting back to Mark’s story – v50-51. Then we read this interesting verse, which isn’t mentioned in the other versions – v52. Mark mentions the loaves. He says that the disciples couldn’t believe their eyes about Jesus calming the storm, because they had first not understood about Jesus and the loaves. And it’s all because they had hard hearts. Well, what’s the connection? What do multiplied loaves and calmed waters have to do with each other?
Well, in each case, the miracle simply boiled down to one thing: having our needs met. With the loaves and fishes, the need was to be fed. With the storm on the lake, the need was to be safe. In each case, there was a need, and in each case, Jesus met it. The connection between the starvation and the storm is that Jesus is the only one who can meet any need we face.
Yet, too often, we are like the disciples – too clueless to this fact. We don’t realize that without Him we can do nothing, we have nothing, we are nothing. We struggle with taking care of others in our own strength, resources and cleverness. We strain against the storms of life, rowing with all our might but ending up feeling tired and washed up. We work and labor to take care of ourselves and those around us but never tap into the limitless resources of God. So we run out of steam. We lose focus. We lose vision. We get bitter. We get angry. And all the while, Jesus is waiting for just the right time to rush in to save us.
Colossians 3:1-4 says this: “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” You see? Christ is our very life. He is the very air we breathe. He is the only thing that can sustain our hunger. He is our purpose. He is the reason to live. He is the key to make sense in this world. He alone can clean the guilty conscience. He alone can give reason to get up in the morning. He alone is the answer to any question you may have. He is our only hope of getting through this life with something worthwhile to take into the next.
And yet we walk on by, oblivious to these truths we want to ignore. We want to be able to do it ourselves. We want to be the loaves and fishes that help others, without being broken to be more useful. We want to paddle and do it ourselves, because it hurts our egos less than asking for help.
But because Jesus is so loving, so merciful, so good to us, He always holds out His hands to us. He’s really quite willing to overlook all the times we tried to do it on our own. Not to say that He will fix all the messes we create because of our defiance and disobedience, but He will at least give us a hand cleaning them up. He will answer prayers in ways we hadn’t even thought of. He will give us a new perspective on our situations as we study the Bible. He will speak to our hearts as we worship Him. As we go to Him for strength, He will pour our His grace upon us, and we will be revived and refreshed.
I’m told of an alcoholic who became a believer, and was asked how he could possibly believe all the nonsense in the Bible about miracles. “You don’t believe that Jesus changed the water into wine do you?” “I sure do, because in our house Jesus changed the whiskey into furniture.” Let Him transform your obstacles into opportunities. Folks, as Jesus is your very life and strength, go to Him through prayer, the Bible and worship and draw upon Him. He will flood your life with His presence. He is all you need.
