Just when you think you know who Jesus is – He reveals something else that throws you completely off. Just when you have a handle on your life, something happens to upset everything you’ve come to rely on. We think that describes someone who is young in the Lord or who should know better. But in reality, Jesus made a regular practice of doing just these things with the men who were closest to Him.
In reality – there are so many layers to knowing Jesus and Him working in and through us that we can never know it all. But the wonderful thing is that He wants us to know Him and wants us to be drawn more and more into a relationship where He controls the shots and works incredible miracles through us.
We are in the middle of Mark 6. Two events occurred in the beginning of this chapter – Jesus visited His home town of Nazareth where a lack of faith precluded miracles – and John the Baptist was killed by Herod.
Neither of these events stopped people from coming to Jesus – even though the people of Nazareth thought he was just a hometown boy – people crowded around for healing. Even though John’s death could have sent a message of fear – the people came anyway. That’s how powerful the message of Jesus is.
But the Lord is doing something more here – He is gradually moving His disciples from one situation to another – letting them get to know slowly the magnitude of their commitment and the true nature of His character. It’s interesting how Jesus starts out:
31 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."
Now Jesus I’m sure knew that rest was the last thing they were going to get. But it is good after a time of heavy ministry to take time out to recharge – rest in the Lord and get your bearings again. Our problem is we really get to enjoying the rest and don’t want to get up again!
But look what happens:
32 So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. 33 But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
The crowds just figured out where they went and followed. Jesus had “compassion.” He never rejects a person who honestly comes to Him in need. And, once again – Jesus’ priority was teaching. Yes, He heals, yes, He performs miracles – but His number one goal was to teach about His Word and His kingdom. That’s why it’s our number one priority too.
So Jesus teaches until the afternoon stretches into evening:
35 By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. "This is a remote place," they said, "and it’s already very late. 36 Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat."
So the guys were probably nervously glancing about at the size of the group – looking at their watches and thinking – “we better get these people to McDonalds or something quick!” So they tug on Jesus coat sleeve – as if Jesus just didn’t care about the important details of event planning!
So watch how Jesus responds.
37 But he answered, "You give them something to eat."
“Excuse me, Lord – you want us to give them something to eat?” Instead of focusing on the Lord’s command, they focused on what they didn’t have.
They said to him, "That would take eight months of a man’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?"
They were thinking that Jesus wanted them to raise 200 Denarii’s – a Roman coin equivalent to a day’s wage. Then they would travel around to remote villages, scarf up a bunch of bread and somehow haul it back. They were so busy calculating how impossible it was to do Jesus command that they missed what He was trying to do.
38 "How many loaves do you have?" he asked. "Go and see."
When they found out, they said, "Five-and two fish."
John’s gospel tells us that this came from a little boy’s lunch. Some Jewish mom had made sure that her son didn’t go out to the big rally without a nutritious lunch. I think it’s wonderful that the Lord uses something from such an unlikely source – but I also wonder – did no one think to bring something for themselves? Or maybe it was that they were unwilling to share what they brought – this “I want” attitude creeps up again in the crowds that follow Jesus.
Be careful that you are not following Him just to get something – riches, social status, escape from a problem – but be willing to give of yourself to the Lord.
Here’s a question – when you hear the Lord’s command – do you run around in frustration to prove how impossible the situation is, or look around in faith for what the Lord can use?
So now Jesus does something totally amazing:
39 Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. 41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. 42 They all ate and were satisfied, 43 and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. 44 The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.
Interesting note; the fish Jesus multiplied was already cooked. How did He do it?
Five thousand men? That means there could have been 10,000 fed at this feast. Here God authenticates Jesus by providing food in the wilderness like He did for the children of Israel in the desert (Exodus 16) – or oil for the widow in Elijah’s time (1 Kings 17).
I’m pretty sure that the disciples were so busy handing out the food that it wasn’t until it was all done that they realized just what had happened. But before they could open up a restaurant and start feeling pretty powerful about the whole thing – Jesus sends them away.
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.
Why did Jesus do this? John’s gospel reveals to us that the people were going to take Jesus by force and make Him king. You see, the people were focusing primarily on what they could get – full bellies, healed bodies – and freedom from the political oppression from Rome.
Jesus is the King of Kings – but He takes His kingship in His time – not the people’s. Jesus will not be the kind of leader we want Him to be – His purpose is much higher than just taking political control – or being some genie that gives us what we want. Jesus is out to make a new race or people, a new kingdom – of servant-priests – who are freed from sin, not freed from the problems of the day.
So Jesus goes to pray – but even though He is spending time with the Father, He is not unaware of His disciple’s needs.
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 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.
So these guys are out there at 3 – 6 am – pulling with all their might against the wind – and then here comes Jesus – strolling along (3 – 4 miles), almost seemingly oblivious to His guys – “Oh, hi there – I was on my way to the shore – you guys okay?”
I think you’d react the same way as they did – walk on water? I don’t think so. We may think Jesus is about to pass by and leave our needs unmet – but its not really true – He is there and ready to help.
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.
I love this – this is what Jesus says when He comes into our boat as we are straining at life – “take courage” is the opposite of our normal response when bad things happen. “Run for the hills!” is our normal response. Jesus is kind of saying “stay put – don’t panic.” Then He says “It is I.” In the Greek the phrase is literally “I am.” Jesus is the great I AM, Yahweh, God of the universe – and where He is, there is no need to fear or be afraid.
If you have Jesus present in your boat – in your heart – if you’ve given your life to Him – then you need not fear. The Bible says “perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:8) – Jesus is love, and His presence means fear must flee.
Now it says that the disciples were amazed because they had not understood the loaves and fishes. They didn’t really get who Jesus was – it wasn’t that they hadn’t figured it out, but that they refused to believe that this human could be God’s Son. How about you? You’ve seen what Jesus has done and what He said – will you harden your heart and refuse to believe Him – or soften your heart and give it to Him.
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.
So again, no rest for the weary – Jesus has gone non-stop all day and all night and now all day again. The storm had pushed the disciple’s off course – and they landed in Gennesaret instead of Bethsaida. This is an area on the west side of the Sea of Galilee not far from Capernaum. What I like here are two things:
1. No matter what storms seem to knock your life off course, as long as you have Jesus in the boat you will go to the right destination. Just as much ministry took place here at Gennesaret as would have in Bethsaida. You can minister for God no matter how wrong things seem to go as life blows you around.
2. The second thing is that Jesus healed all who came to Him. There were probably lots of people in that region who never came – and were never healed. You have to come to Jesus and ask for your sins to be removed. He is a gentleman – He will never force His way in to your life.
Conclusions
• Resting on your laurels or ready for the next level
Sometimes when we feel like we can go no further, handle no more hassles or challenges – that’s when the biggest challenge yet comes.
God does this purposefully to #1 show us that there are no limits, and #2 that He is the One doing it – not us.
• How big is your God? “You give them something”
Our normal response to a situation is to look around and figure out that what we’ve got is pretty ordinary and unusable. But in the Lord we need to look at what we’ve got and pray for the Lord to do something extraordinary with it.
Jesus didn’t snap His fingers and fish appear (He may have done that after the Resurrection on the beach with Peter). He takes what we’ve got – if it is offered to Him, He will use it mightily.
• Blessed – Broken – Given out
I see this as a pattern for the things we offer to Him – He blesses (His presence in us), breaks (through trials that get us to rely on Him more and us less) and then gives out.
We want #3 – oh, maybe #1 – but certainly not #2. But it’s the way it works.
Jesus did the miracle – then handed it to His disciples to give out. Once you give whatever meager resources you have to Him, allow Him to bless, and break you and them – then His power can flow though you to bless others.
• Straining at the oars – or walking on water
It’s a perfect contrast between trying to accomplish God’s will in the flesh or in the Spirit. We launch off and think that the harder we row the more we are accomplishing “great things for God!” when in reality Jesus has a completely different mode of transportation in mind.
I’m not saying that everything should be easy – but everything ought to be bathed in prayer and empowered by the Spirit and if we find ourselves working at it so hard yet not going anywhere then we should ask – am I going about getting to the destination the right way? Notice what Jesus was doing just prior to Him walking on water – He was praying.
• Jesus: feared or embraced? “Take courage. It is I. Don’t be afraid”
Jesus’ disciples had seen numerous miracles – including feeding 5,000 people – but they still had not made the ultimate connection – that He was God’s Son.
We can think Jesus is a good man, a prophet, a powerful shaman – but He begins to reveal who He really is – what is our reaction – are we ready for the God of the universe to take up residence in us?
Jesus has this way of always challenging us to know Him more deeply – just when the disciple’s thought they’d gotten it – He can make food appear – He astounds them by walking on water. Jesus will always call us to a deeper walk with Him – the question is, are we ready?
