Who Is This Man?

Who is Jesus?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYJY20zPtqo

Creepy huh? Everything around him is in disarray and he is just walking around…Now in this clip he is not unafraid or in control, he just realizes that he has no control and resigned to the fact that his life is over. Hopefully that will make sense later...

Tonight we continue in our study of Mark. We will be in Mark 6:45-56

Mark starts - “The beginning of the Gospel”

Jesus first words- “The time has come, repent and believe”

Jesus calls - “follow me and become like me, I’ll make you fishers of people in a world of calamity”

Jesus shows - “power demonstrated of the inbreaking kingdom. Demons, Mothers, and Lepors”

Jesus explains - that our real problem is sin “Man of a mat with a desperate faith. The most fundamental problem is the one of sin”

Jesus loves - people who don’t deserve it...just like you and me. Our response should be to love people who me may feel like they don’t deserve it.

JESUS ENCOURAGES us to turn to him when we have difficult, stressful times in our lives

Jesus Responds when we reach out in faith.

Jesus Responds when we reach out in faith.

Last week Adam showed us that Jesus Feeds the hungry and weary, in the passage He feeds them physically and He feeds them with the Word of God.

Last week Adam showed us that Jesus Feeds the hungry and weary, in the passage He feeds them physically and He feeds them with the Word of God.

Tonight we are looking at sort of an odd passage. It almost seems a little scattered, but I think there is a good reason for that.

Tonight we are looking at a passage with three parts. We see Jesus pray, we see His power, and we see His heart…the disciples are starting to understand that they have no idea who this guy really is...

Tonight we are looking at a passage with three parts. We see Jesus pray, we see His power, and we see His heart…the disciples are starting to understand that they have no idea who this guy really is...

Mark 6:45–56 NIV

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. 47 Later that night, 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. Shortly before dawn 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. 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. 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 it were healed.

I. PRAYERFUL

The first thing that stands out to me is that Jesus is prayerful

Jesus illustrates the importance of spending time alone with God. He pours our and lets the Father pour into Him. We see Jesus do this a lot…if you remember, when He started His ministry He went off into the wilderness. When He prays in the garden before He is arrested He goes off by Himself…and a whole bunch of times in between we see Jesus slip off to be alone.

Do you ever do that? Is there ever a time where you let it get quiet, maybe even awkward?

I wish I did more often, it’s amazing what God does in those times if you let Him. Sometimes I just put my headphones on and listen to white noise trying to block out the world around me to focus on Him…it doesn’t always work because my brain is going in a thousand different directions…and there are innumerable distractions in our world. But when we take the time to let God speak to us through His Word and through prayer it is well worth our time.

(Jen Wilken Quote about deposit verses debit when spending time with God - Possibly)

II. POWERFUL

There is chaos all around and the disciples are straining trying to keep their boat on track…and Jesus is just taking an evening stroll on the water. Jesus has been working with them on their faith and trusting in God. It’s not just saying you believe, it’s living like you know God is going to provide and not striving to fix everything on your own.

There is chaos all around and the disciples are straining trying to keep their boat on track…and Jesus is just taking an evening stroll on the water. Jesus has been working with them on their faith and trusting in God. It’s not just saying you believe, it’s living like you know God is going to provide and not striving to fix everything on your own.

Remember where we have been…Jesus is rejected in His own hometown. He barley heals anyone because they didn’t believe in Him…

He sends them out with nothing instructing them to trust in God.

They all survive and by all accounts seem to have done well on their mission…God showed up…

They all survive and by all accounts seem to have done well on their mission…God showed up…

They come back and as soon as they encounter a trial the revert back and try and solve the problem theirselves. (Feeding of the 5,000 men)

God shows up…and they each get to carry around a basket and collect leftovers. I think as a personal reminder to trust God.

And then they are in a boat and they think Jesus is a ghost and become afraid.

But what does Jesus do? He says, it’s ok…it’s Me. One commentary suggests that what Jesus actually says is ‘don’t be afraid, I AM’ and not I am afraid…I AM as in the Name that God gives Moses when he asks who shall I say sent me to Pharaoh? The commentary drew a dotted line between this episode and where God revealed Himself to Moses on the mountain. This idea of ‘passing by’ to reveal His glory is evident in both.

I believe Jesus is really trying to help His boys believe...

III. HEALER

When Jesus gets out of the boat, sick people come out of the wood work looking for healing…they beg just to be able to touch His robe. And all who came in faith received healing.

If we are asking the question who is Jesus my answer is as follows:

Jesus is the prayerful, powerful, healer; Who welcomes all who will come to Him in faith and place their trust in Him.

Who welcomes all who will come to Him in faith and place their trust in Him.

That is my summary for tonight. If we cold wrap our minds around the fact that Jesus actually wants us, I think we could undo a lot of hurt in our lives and re-form our opinons of God and ourselves.

If I could be real with you for a few minutes, there are a lot of times I really don’t think He wants me anymore. There are times when I am so far off from where I want to be and I think if I mess up one more time then Jesus is going to be done with Me. Like He is waiting for me to blow it just one more time before He pulls the rug out from under me.

Now, I KNOW that is not true…but sometimes my heart tells me that it is. Sometimes I just want to walk away from all of this so that I’m not the one who messes it up for everyone else. Studying this passage really helped me understand that part of being a disciple of Jesus is Him picking you up when you fail. Part of following Jesus is Him helping you realize how far away you are from where you want to be.

I still struggle with things that I thought I would have been done with a long time ago. I still have thoughts that make me believe Jesus doesn’t really want me anymore…and passages like this say no. Jesus isn’t waiting to crush the disciples, He is waiting to comfort them.

A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out… He’s not looking to crush the weak, He is looking to heal the sick...

If I could be honest, the video I opened up with isn’t really a picture of Jesus in this passage. It’s me. That is how I feel a lot of the time. Life is moving so fast and it never slows down, I never get enough sleep, never get enough coffee, and there is always something that needs to be done…and it’s like I’m on a sinking ship with no hope...

But when I stop, and let it quite…maybe even a little awkward and I just try to feel God, I just listen for His voice, something comes over me and I feel loved and comforted in a way that I don’t even understand. And it’s not just blank meditation, because there are things about me that only God knows and in those moments, He deals with me and He is kind. He doesn’t let me get away with it…but He doesn’t crush me. He gently speaks into my life and helps me realize where I am off track.

(“Distant God” reference - possibly)

And did you know that Jesus is still praying, He is still all powerful, and He is still welcoming all who need healing to come and place their trust in Him. says that He is at the right hand of The Father interceding for us. says that, not only were all things created in Him, but He sustains them by His power. says that we have a great High Priest Who understands our temptation, because He Himself was tempted, yet He did not fail. And it is by His sacrifice on our behalf that we have the ability to approach God’s throne with confidence and receive mercy and find grace that will help us in our time of need.

Want peace when the storm comes? Spend time with God before the storm starts and His peace will be there already.

What distracts you most from spending time alone with God?

How can we limit our distractions and create space for time with God?

Do you believe that Jesus welcomes you the way that you are? Why?

If Jesus accepts everyone, do we need to change our behavior? Why?