Mark 6:45-56 Fear

Mark 6:45-56 (Evangelical Heritage Version)

45Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he himself dismissed the crowd. 46After he had sent them off, he went up the mountain to pray.

47When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and Jesus was alone on the land. 48He saw them straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night, he went to them, walking on the sea. He was ready to pass by them. 49When they saw him walking on the sea, they thought he was a ghost, and they cried out. 50They all saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke with them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.” 51Then he climbed up into the boat with them, and the wind stopped. They were completely amazed, 52because they had not understood about the loaves. Instead, their hearts were hardened.

53When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. 54As soon as they stepped out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. 55They ran around that whole region and began to bring sick people on their stretchers to where they heard he was. 56Wherever he entered villages, cities, or the countryside, they were laying sick people in the marketplaces and pleading with him that they might just touch the edge of his garment. And all who touched it were made well.

Fear

I.

Have you ever had one of those days? You know the kind—crammed with too many things; you rush from one to the other, hardly getting a chance to catch a breath. Sometimes we tend to do things like that, even when we’re on vacation. You have to get as much relaxing done as possible before getting back to work.

It was supposed to have been their vacation. Jesus himself had said so, and even planned the trip. In the Gospel from two weeks ago we heard Jesus tell them: “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while” (Mark 6:31, EHV).

Vacation was planned as a chance to get away from it all and talk about their mission trip. Perhaps they would also have time to reflect on the death of John the Baptist and what that might mean for Jesus’ own ministry—and their’s, as well.

Days of vacation simply hadn’t materialized. There was no secluded place at the conclusion of the few relaxing hours of their cruise. The crowds had followed the progress of the boat and met them at the docks. Jesus took compassion on them and began to teach them.

Hours later, Jesus refused to send the crowds away to fend for themselves at dinner time. The disciples were pressed into service as maitre d’s to seat the people, and then were wait staff and busboys for an impromptu banquet for more than 5,000 who had gathered to listen to Jesus.

It had already been a long day, filled with changes of direction. From a relatively relaxing cruise and the promise of vacation to doing some crowd control as Jesus taught. From crowd control to maitre ‘d. From Maitre ‘d to wait staff. From wait staff to busboys.

II.

Have you ever had days like that? Days crammed full? Days of great adventure with euphoric highs, but days that were also so busy and demanding that you’re left exhausted? Days when all you need is to just collapse in the corner and sleep for 10 or 12 hours?

Perhaps they thought the promised vacation might come now that the serving and cleanup was done. John reports about the crowds: “Jesus realized that they intended to come and take him by force to make him king” (John 6:15, EHV). I wonder whether the disciples were inclined to join the crowd’s desire.

Maybe that’s the reason behind Mark’s wording that begins today’s Gospel: “Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida” (Mark 6:45, EHV). No rest for the weary. “Go across the lake; I’ll join you.” Notice the word “made.” The Greek is just like it sounds in English—Jesus forced them, or compelled them to go; he didn’t give them any choices.

Dutifully they set off. Their nerves were raw; they were on the razor’s edge. To say the day hadn’t gone according to plan was a gross understatement. This wasn’t much of a vacation.

The debrief from their mission trip was now all but forgotten. The death of John the Baptist had been put on the back-burner; they would have to deal with their grief and fear about that later. Working with the crowd and feeding the crowd had been utterly exhausting. And now they had to sail the boat. At least that was something they knew how to do.

That was their day. The sails had to come down and the Twelve had to man the oars. It was another storm they had to deal with. Only weeks ago they had been in the middle of the lake in a storm, but that time Jesus had been with them. This time, they were on their own.

But were they? “Jesus was alone on the land. 48He saw them straining at the oars, because the wind was against them” (Mark 6:47-48, EHV). No matter how far out they were from the shore, Jesus knew their plight. He knew they needed help.

There had been storms before. They had even been bad storms. Back before the Twelve took their mission trip when confronted by the storm, the disciples knew the correct course of action. They shook Jesus awake: “Teacher, don’t you care that we are about to drown?” (Mark 4:38, EHV). Though they shrieked their prayer in an accusatory way rather than making a humble plea for help, at least they had known where to turn and rushed to Jesus for aid. This time was different.

“About the fourth watch of the night, [Jesus] went to them, walking on the sea. He was ready to pass by them. 49When they saw him walking on the sea, they thought he was a ghost, and they cried out. 50They all saw him and were terrified” (Mark 6:48-50, EHV). Jesus wanted them to cry out for help. He was passing by, walking calmly on the water. It should have encouraged them to cry out to him for help. Instead, their fear grew. Their panic grew. They failed the test.

The day the disciples had is not unique in human history. Perhaps you have had days like it; days that go from euphoric highs down to depths-of-despair lows. Maybe the days of depths-of-despair lows have all seemed to string together so that you can’t even remember the euphoric high days. The storms of life seem to surge all around you; you are straining at the oars of life, trying everything humanly possible to deal with the situation at hand. Nothing seems to work. You are making no progress.

Maybe, just like the disciples, you failed to scream the accusatory prayer at Jesus like the disciples did in the first storm, and instead just succumb to fear. Life is tough. Life is relentless. Life is filled with ups and downs, and sometimes it seems like there are no ups, only downs.

Does your fear over the storms of life ever grip you like that? Does fear so overwhelm you that Jesus merely looks like a passing specter rather than the ever-present help he has promised to be? Does fear so grip you that you refuse to cry out for help? That you are afraid to cry out for help?

III.

“Immediately he spoke with them and said, ‘Take courage! It is I. Do not be afraid’” (Mark 6:50, EHV). Even when fear is so overwhelming that you refuse to call on Jesus, or are too afraid to call on Jesus, he still is there.

Take courage. No storm of life is too powerful for Jesus. Today’s Theme of the Day said: Meaningful ministry: Fear not, for the Lord is with you. He’s there with you, even when you are so afraid of what’s happening in your life that you think he can’t possibly be with you. Take courage.

“It is I.” When you put it into English, Jesus words don’t have the same impact they would have had for the disciples. To them it sounded like: “I AM.” Jesus deliberately chose to identify himself as the Great I AM of the Old Testament. I AM is with you.

The I AM God is the God of Promise; the God who would redeem his people from their sins. With this God on your side, fear takes a back seat. Though your human nature might continue to be plagued by fear, “Don’t be afraid,” he reassures you.

Sin has been dealt with. Not just partly. There isn’t something you have to do to complete the process. Jesus has done it completely.

That’s a good thing. That’s a relief. Because time after time our human natures take over and we revert to fear. Do I believe strongly enough? Does Jesus really love me? Is it really finished, as he said it was from the cross?

“Then he climbed up into the boat with them, and the wind stopped” (Mark 6:51, EHV). Jesus’ plan of salvation really is finished. The fiercest storm of life isn’t the illness you face, or the tragedy of losing a loved one, or the day to day problems you face in life. The fiercest storm is sin and its eternal consequences. Jesus didn’t just climb into the boat with you and your sins, he took them to the cross and obliterated them. You are forgiven.

IV.

“They were completely amazed, 52because they had not understood about the loaves. Instead, their hearts were hardened” (Mark 6:51-52, EHV). It’s natural to be amazed at what Jesus has done. From a human perspective, it’s unreal—impossible.

Don’t take the next step. Don’t harden your heart. The disciples had much more to learn. Their mission trip hadn’t taught them everything they needed to know, nor had the Feeding of the 5,000, or even this boat trip that went from fear to relief.

Time after time they would still misunderstand. The hardening even might have continued for a time. But the realities were piling up. After Jesus rose from the dead they finally could put all these days filled with both euphoria and depths-of-despair lows into perspective. There would be no more fear.

Don’t wait, as they did. Embrace your Savior in all the storms of life. Amen.