Jesus Walks on Water

Good Morning

So I was wondering why Marvel doesn’t use the Hulk to do more advertisements! He is basically one big banner!

Jerry Couch is going to preach next Sunday for me. I am having hip surgery on Wednesday. I hope to be here with you, but I will not be able to prepare a sermon.

Today we are going to be in Mark 6:45-52. Last week we looked at the largest miracle that Jesus did. He fed up to 25,000 people with 5 loaves and 2 fish. He not only created enough food for everyone to eat, He created enough that everyone was gorged. No one was hungry when they were done eating. There was also 12 baskets left over. One for each disciple! The disciples were tired from going out and evangelizing, and they had to row the boat to where they were. Then when they got there, there was a huge crowd waiting on them! No rest when there is kingdom work to be done. Today we are going to look at more miracles that Jesus did. We are going to see Jesus send the disciples into a storm and then come to them on the water and save them.

Let’s read our verses, please stand as we read God’s Word.

Mark 6:45–52 NASB 2020

45 And immediately Jesus had His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He Himself dismissed the crowd. 46 And after saying goodbye to them, He left for the mountain to pray. 47 When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land. 48 Seeing them straining at the oars—for the wind was against them—at about the fourth watch of the night, He came to them, walking on the sea; and He intended to pass by them. 49 But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they thought that it was a ghost, and they cried out; 50 for they all saw Him and were terrified. But immediately He spoke with them and said to them, “Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid.” 51 Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished, 52 for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.

Let’s pray

Verse 45, Jesus makes them get into the boat and go to the other side of the lake. He sent them to Bethsaida ahead of Him. Why did He send them away? In John 6:14-15

John 6:14–15 NASB 2020

14 Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.” 15 So Jesus, aware that they intended to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself, alone.

Jesus knew that they were going to try and force Him to be King. They wanted a king different that the king that Jesus was. They wanted to be set free from Roman rule. They wanted their worldly freedom. They were blinded to what their real need was. They needed a king to give them spiritual freedom. They needed Jesus. We have that same problem in the world today. We have an election coming up in November. It doesn’t matter who gets elected, they are not the leader (king) we need. They are both sinners. They are both slaves to their flesh. They are not where are hope is to lie. Jesus is our hope. He is our king. This world is not our home. We are just temporarily here. Our home is in with our king. With Jesus. Jesus sends the 12 on ahead of him and He sends the people away.

Then He goes up to a mountain to pray. When evening came, the 12 were in the middle of the sea. They were struggling. Normally when traveling across the northern end of the lake they would have been with in 1 or 2 miles of the shore. But because of the severe winds, they had been blown out to the middle of the lake. Jesus saw them from where He was. Remember that the Sea of Galilee was below sea level and was surrounded by mountains and hills. Because of its unique topography, there were frequent violent storms and winds. Jesus saw them struggling against the wind. We can understand struggling with the wind here in Oklahoma. I have been caught on lakes in the middle of storms and it is not fun. I can’t imagine getting caught in a storm and have to try and row the boat. That would be extremely hard. It says that the wind was against them. They were having to row into the wind to get to where Jesus wanted them to go. They were not making much head way.

We are told that it was the fourth watch. Back then they divided the night into 4 watch groups. It was impossible for 1 person to stay awake all night and keep watch. The first watch was from 6-9, second was from 9-12, third is 12-3, and fourth is 3-6. It was late. Remember, they were still tired. They had not gotten to rest at all. Mark tells us that immediately Jesus sent them away. They were exhausted but on a high from what Jesus had just done. I imagine that in the middle of the night, they began to feel how tired they really were. Jesus wasn’t with them and they had been rowing for hours not making any head way.

Jesus seeing them and the conditions they were in, He went to them. He walked to them on the water! I have spent a lot of time on the water. I grew up in south Texas. I grew up fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. Then when I moved to Oklahoma, my grandpa to me fishing all the time a Canton lake. All those hours on the water and I have never seen anyone walk on water. No person can do that, only someone who can command the wind and the waves can walk on water. Only God can do that.

Jesus was not going to stop. The literal translation is that He desired to come along side of them. He wanted to test them, so He altered His course to come parallel to the side of the boat. He wanted them to recognize Him, He wanted them to recognize that He could save them. He wanted them to invite Him into the boat. They failed on all accounts!

We see the reaction of the 12 when they see Jesus walking on the water. They thought He was a ghost! They screamed out loud. 12 grown men! That would have been a sight to see! They were terrified. All 12 of them saw Jesus, none of them recognized Him! It was dark, they were tired, they were fighting against the wind and waves! It wasn’t until they screamed and cried out that Jesus spoke to them.

He told them to take courage. Do not be afraid. They had no reason to fear. They were doing what Jesus told them to do. We have nothing to fear when we are doing the will of our Father! It may not be easy, it will be difficult. It will challenge us and grow us, but we have nothing to fear. In Matthew’s version 14:28-32. Peter asks Jesus to command him to come to Him on the water. Why wouldn’t Mark have this in his version? Mark was not there so he is getting his information from someone who was. He was Peter’s close companion and most likely got his information from Peter. Now at this time, Peter had matured in his faith and had been humbled. He didn’t want the story to be about him, he wanted the focus to be on Jesus.

In Marks version, the next action is Jesus got in the boat with them. The wind stopped when He got in the boat. Jesus didn’t even have to rebuke the wind this time. It just stopped. Another detail that Mark left out was that as soon as He got in the boat, it was at the other side. We can see this in John 6:21

John 6:21 NASB 2020

21 So they were willing to take Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

We get non stop miracle after miracle! We can see that they were astonished. It also says that they had not gained any insight from the miracle of the loaves! Their hearts were hardened. They were ready to make Jesus king like the people they had just left. They were still worldly minded and were not thinking about who Jesus truly is. They hadn’t connected all the dots from all that Jesus had done and taught them. After all they are men, and we are hard headed and slow. I wonder if I lived back then, how many miracles and teachings would it have taken for me to get in the right mind set?!

A couple of key points I want to look at today from this story.

Spiritual blessings must be balanced with burdens and battles, otherwise, we may become pampered children instead of mature sons and daughters. Previously Jesus lead the disciples into a storm after an exciting day of teaching. He was with them in the boat the whole time. Then again here, Jesus sends them into a storm, but this time He doesn’t go with them. After a miraculous day of feeding tens of thousands of people, He sends them into a storm again. He tests them. In Acts, the storm of persecution doesn’t begin until after they receive the Holy Spirit and win 5,000 people to Christ! Each new experience of testing demands of us more faith and courage. In the first storm Jesus was with them, this time He was praying on the mountain, miles away. He was teaching them to live by faith. This is an illustration of God’s people today! We are in the midst of this stormy world, toiling and seemingly ready to sink, but He is in glory interceding for us. When the hour seems darkest, He will come to us, and we will reach the shore.

2. When we are in the storms of life, Jesus is never far away. He is there with us. He is telling us to take courage, do not be afraid. He will never leave us or forsake us. The storms are not meant to destroy us, only to strengthen us. It is up to us to on what affect they will have on us. Do we live by faith and stay focused on our King, or do we lose sight of eternity and lose our hope. The storms are a necessary part of our maturity and growth. If they never came, we would be forever children in our faith. When we change our attitudes toward the storms, we can begin to mature and grow. We begin to be able to help others while they are in their storms. Children are not much help in a storm. They get scared easily and often panic and don’t know what to do. We must grow and mature so that we can not be like children in the storms. A lot of times children will begin to get scared even before the storm arrives. They will see it in the distance and panic. Then the storm never even makes it to us. We can’t help others if we are constantly scared and in panic mode. Have faith, take courage, do not be afraid! Jesus is right here with us! Let the storm have its intended affect on us. Let it grow us, let it push us more and more to our King. Let it mature our faith so that we can walk by faith and not by sight.

Let’s pray