Mark 6:45-56
July 28, 2024
A woman and her husband interrupted their vacation to go to the dentist. The woman said to the dentist, “I need a tooth pulled, but I don’t want any pain killers because we’re in a hurry. Just yank the tooth out as quickly as possible and we’ll be on our way.” The dentist, somewhat surprised said, “You’re a brave woman. Which tooth is it?” The woman looked at her husband and said, “Go ahead and show him your tooth, dear.”
It’s easy to talk brave when you’re not the one who has to be brave. The disciples, in our Gospel lesson from Mark 6, are placed in a situation by Jesus where they experience once again how difficult it is to be brave, but where they learn once again what to do in the midst of a difficult or fearful situation.
This story may be somewhat familiar to you as it is also recorded in the Gospels of Matthew and John. With 3 of the Gospel writers giving us their observations on this event, there will be some things that Matthew includes in his book that are not found in Mark or John, and some things that John includes that are not found in the other two. The point is each Gospel writer gives their unique perspective to help us focus on the different aspects of Jesus’ life and ministry.
It’s kind of like when my wife, Sue, daughter, Sarah, and I observe a wedding. We will focus on different things. If you asked Sue and Sarah what the bride’s dress looked like, they might say something like, “It was a gorgeous, long gown, with pearls and sequins all over the dress from top to bottom, lace on the sleeves, and a short train made of satin.” I would answer that question by saying, “It was a beautiful white dress.” If you asked Sue and Sarah what the bride looked like, they would probably say something like, “She had a subtle but dark eyeliner with her cheeks highlighted with a soft blush, large diamond earrings, her hair was up, and she wore tall high-healed shoes.” I would say, “The bride was very pretty.” Same event, just different details and a different emphasis, but each has its own purpose.
It’s the same way with our Gospel lesson for today. Jesus had just miraculously finished feeding over 5000 people with just 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. The disciples had told Jesus that it was impossible to feed so many people with such a small amount of food and I’m sure they were a little fearful knowing that if they did not send these people home to get something to eat, they could have a riot on their hands. But Jesus calms their fears and concerns by miraculously providing enough food from the small amount they gave Him to the point that everyone was full and they had 12 baskets of leftovers. The Gospel of John tells us that when the people saw what had been done, they were so amazed, so impressed that they were ready to make Jesus their king.
I’m sure Jesus knew that the disciples were very vulnerable in this situation, meaning they might have felt pretty good about themselves. After all, they were the inner circle of friends to Jesus. They had participated in this miracle by organizing the people, giving out the food, and picking up the leftovers. And now with the crowd wanting to make Jesus their king, the disciples would have found it very easy to talk brave. Can’t you just imagine what they would have said to today’s media. “I knew Jesus could feed these people. Some of the disciples doubted, but I never doubted for a second, that’s why I left my job to follow Him.”
So notice what Jesus does at the beginning of our text. It doesn’t say that Jesus asked His disciples to please get in the boat and go on ahead of Him to the other side. It says in verse 45, “Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side.” I’m sure the disciples wanted to enjoy this moment, after all Jesus was very popular, but they did what Jesus commanded.
Meanwhile, Jesus has gone off by Himself to pray. As the evening sets in a storm comes up and makes life very hard for the disciples in the boat. Our text tells us that Jesus saw them out there struggling against the storm. This probably want on for a while, so they had to be exhausted, until Jesus finally decided to do something. In verse 48 it says, “And about the fourth watch of the night (meaning between 3:00am-6:00am) he came to them, walking on the sea.” That’s amazing, now Matthew’s Gospel tells us that Peter then got out of the boat and he started to walk on the water towards Jesus, but Mark doesn’t record that event. Instead, Mark records something that seems very unusual, but that can also be very easy to miss. At the end of verse 48 he wrote, “Jesus meant to pass by them.” What does that mean? Was He trying to sneak by them, hoping they wouldn’t see Him, but He got caught? That doesn’t sound like our loving God. Was He trying to race them to the other side? I don’t think so. What is Jesus doing? What is His intent? Actually, there is great significance in that phrase.
Whenever the Bible speaks of God “passing someone by,” it often means that God is going to reveal Himself to someone by showing a glimpse of His power and love. For example, in the book of Exodus, Moses is having a conversation with God and he asks God for some kind of assurance that God would be with him as he leads God’s people. God agrees and says, “I will make all my goodness pass before you…but you cannot see my face” (Exodus 33:19-20). [Some of you may remember that I wrote about this in my newsletter article this month.] So while God passes by Moses, He covers Moses’ face with His hand (which represents God’s protecting power) and after passing by He allows Moses to see His back. What Moses sees, we don’t know, he never says anything about it; but Moses then proceeded to bravely lead God’s people, knowing that God would always care for Him.
I think Jesus meant to pass by the disciples as a way to test them. While it would have been surprising for most people to see Jesus showing up in this way by walking on the water, the disciples of all people should have known it was Jesus. After all, they had just seen Him feed over 5000 people and a few weeks earlier He was with them in a boat in the middle of a storm where He instantly calmed the storm by speaking just a few words, and they had seen Him perform other miracles, so if someone was going to be walking on water it’s probably Jesus. But instead of being relieved or filled with joy, the disciples just don’t seem to get it as they were terrified and thought they saw a ghost. However, Jesus quickly identifies Himself and calms their hearts by saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” And then He gets close to them by stepping into the boat and calms the storm.
While we think the disciples should have recognized Jesus on the water, especially since we know how everything ends, maybe we should put ourselves in their shoes for a moment or maybe we should look at how we respond to difficult or scary situations, because many times our response is just like the disciples when we fail to see or understand what Jesus is doing in our lives. For example, we may have financial challenges, we may worry about our children (no matter how old they are), there may be problems at home we don’t want to talk about, we might be dealing with illness, or maybe even the death of a loved one or friend that just doesn’t make sense; or we may have sins that are wreaking havoc on our lives that we don’t want to face. And sometimes we just don’t “get it.” Instead of looking to Jesus and being brave, we panic, and we try to handle things ourselves, even though Jesus is there with us and working through people around us.
Paul says in our second lesson for today that we have a God “who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20). Isn’t that what we need to remember? Jesus sees you, knows you, loves you, and comes near you with a love that is beyond our understanding. Yes, in life there will be storms, but Jesus is always with us. And when we clothe ourselves in the lifejacket of faith and begin to walk on the troubled waters of our lives, through all the waves that seek to distract us, Jesus will be there, calling out to each one of us saying, “Take heart, it is I, do not be afraid.” May those words from our Savior bring you great comfort today and may they enable you to look to Him in all circumstances and be brave.
