Jesus Walks on the Water-Mark 6:45-56

As we get started this morning, go ahead and turn in your copies of God’s Word, to the Gospel According to Mark 6:45-56. We will read these verses a little later.

Last Sunday morning, in the message on Jesus Feeding of the 5,000, we looked at how The Miraculous Always Begins With the Impossible . Jesus, and the disciples were surrounded by a crowd of upwards of 25,000, who had eaten next to nothing for an entire day. After spending some time teaching them, the disciples wanted to send them away so they could buy some food. Jesus, instead challenged the disciples to feed them. This was a head scratching encounter for the disciples, not only did they have very little money, the only food they could come up with was 5 small barley loaves and 2 small fish. Even that small amount of food wasn’t theirs, they received this small lunch from a boy that was among the crowd. As Jesus fed the hug crowd with the boys small lunch, we learned 4 valuable lessons from the hesitant obedience of the disciples that day:

1. Start where you are .

2. Use what you have .

3. Do what you can .

And lastly, take those 3 actions and place them in the Hands of Jesus, because:

4. Jesus is the Multiplier .

The truth is, I believe that God wants to do the miraculous through anyone who has surrendered their life to the Lord Jesus Christ, and if we will do these 4 things, He will accomplish the miraculous!

The disciples ended that day on a spiritual high, it was a major mountain top experience, and while mountain top experiences can be incredible, they also open up the door for a great work of the enemy. Likely less than a year from this amazing miracle, Jesus would go to the cross. The disciples still had some valuable lessons to learn if they were going to carry on the spreading of Jesus message after He was gone. In this mornings passage we will see Jesus continue with some valuable lessons to the disciples in one of the best avenues for learning, the inevitable storms of life. With that in mind:

Please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word. Next Slide

Mark 6:45–52 ESV

45 Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. 47 And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. 48 And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, 50 for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” 51 And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, 52 for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.

May God add His blessing to the reading of His Word, please be seated.

As we have traveled through the Gospel of Mark, Jesus has, over and over again, displayed His authority in all sorts of areas, He continues that display this morning also, but His first display of authority in this morning’s passage is seen in: Next Slide

Forced Obedience. Vs. 45; Matt. 14:22

This Forced Obedience could easily be missed as it doesn’t appear to be forceful in the English language, but in the original Greed, the word we translate “made” as in He made them get into the boat” is strong. It means to “compel, to drive, to force-whether by physical force or by threats”. The picture here in the original language is that this was not something the disciples wanted to do, but Jesus didn’t give them a choice.

To understand why Jesus would have to force them to leave, we need to look at Johns account of this event in John 6:15, where we read: Next Slide

John 6:15 ESV

15 Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

On the heals of Jesus providing an incredible meal for a crowd, upwards of 25,000, the crowd that was gathered there began to recognize the great potential in Jesus. If He could create food out of nothing, then, perhaps He truly was the Messiah, but they were looking for a physical Messiah that would be king, not a spiritual Messiah Who came as a suffering Servant. They decided to force the issue on Jesus. It appears the disciples were jumping on the “King Jesus” band wagon. They would be struggling with this all the way up to the crucifixion, remember their argument the night of the Last Supper regarding which of them would be the first in His kingdom? On this night, the crowd, including the disciples, began picturing Jesus wearing a crown, not realizing that the only that the only crown He would wear on this trip to earth, was a crown of thorns. Everyone present was experiencing a mountain top experience, and mountain top experiences open the door for great danger. We see further evidence of the dangerous situation the disciples were in in vs. 52 of Mark 6: Next Slide

Mark 6:52 ESV

52 for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.

Watching Jesus create bread and fish out of nothing, should have brought everyone present there that day to their faces, realizing that the very God of creation was in their midst. But instead of adoration and worship, everyone there looked to Jesus as a genie that could fill their stomachs. Rather than see Him as the Savior, they saw Him as a waiter. Understanding the danger of the situation, especially for His disciples, Jesus forced the disciples to get in the boat and leave.

Now, Jesus was alone with this huge crowd, a crowd that wanted to force Him to be their king, here Jesus did exercise some kingly authority, but not that of an earthly king, but more of The heavenly King as He dismissed the crowd. This is one of several occasions where we see Jesus speak with an authority that left no room for discussion. The unruly crowd obeyed the command of Jesus.

From there we move to: Next Slide

The Intercessory Prayer. Vs. 46; Matt. 14:23

Jesus ministry had reached a critical phase after the feeding of the 5,000. I think, sometimes, that we get the idea that Jesus temptation began and ended in the wilderness after His baptism by John the Baptist. But we find out in Like 4:13, that Satan just left Him temporarily “until an opportune time”. Could there be a more opportune time? Jesus had just performed His most impressive miracle since He began His public ministry. Now, the crowd was so strongly behind Him that they wanted to make Him their king. And there is little doubt the disciples were very much in on that desire. Could it be that Jesus Himself was tempted by the enthusiasm of the crowd. Don’t be to quick to dismiss this thought. Being tempted is not sin, giving into temptation is sin. I believe that Jesus intercessory prayer here is 3 fold: Next Slide

An Intercessory Prayer For Himself.

I believe it was entirely possible that Jesus was tempted to make His move.

The enthusiasm of the crowds and the disciples to make Him king was very much like the third temptation in the wilderness, in which Satan offered Jesus “all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory” (Matt. 4:8–9). “What better time to establish your kingdom than the Passover season, and in what better way than by marching triumphantly into Jerusalem at the head of thousands of faithful, enthusiastic supporters?” the devil may have asked. Jesus would surely gather many more thousands on the way to the Holy City, and His supernatural power would guarantee victory against any opposition. He could easily conquer the Herods, and even mighty Rome would be no match for the Son of God. He could bypass the cross and avoid the agony of having to take the sin of the world upon Himself. MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1985). Matthew (Vol. 2, pp. 437–438). Chicago: Moody Press.

If this was a temptation for Jesus, He would have approached it in the same way He approached God in the Garden of Gethsemane as He was only a few hours away from the crucifixion: “Not My will but thine.”

Next, I believe was: Next Slide

An Intercessory Prayer For The Twelve.

There is little doubt that Jesus was constantly interceding on behalf of His disciples. One of the most powerful pictures of Jesus intercessory prayer for His disciples in seen in Luke 22:31-32 Next Slide

Luke 22:31–32 ESV

31 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, 32 but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

It would not be pushing the envelope to see this as another time Satan wanted to sift Peter, and the rest of the disciples like wheat. With that in mind, Jesus pleads that their “faith not fail.”

The next area of prayer was: Next Slide

An Intercessory Prayer For His Followers.

According to John’s Gospel, the very next day, another large crowd followed Him to Capernaum. The crowd was again, not looking to follow Jesus because of His powerful teaching, but because He fed them. Jesus spent most of that chapter in John confronting them because they were “seeking (Him)....because you ate your fill of bread”. He let them know that He didn’t come to feed them physically but spiritually, by the end of that teaching, many of His disciples “turned back and no longer walked with Him.” I believe that part of Jesus intercessory prayer here was for some, who had not yet committed to following Him completely. He was pleading that they would move to the point of completely following Him, not because He fed them physically, but because He had “words of eternal life, and we have believed, and come to know, that You are the Holy One of God.”

From the Intercessory prayer, we move to: Next Slide

The Watchful Eye of the Savior. Vs. 48

I remember a couple years ago, I was transporting Kevin Hull to and from Eskanazie. On this particular day, we drove into an incredible rain storm. It rained so hard that even with the windshield wipers going as fast as the could, we could hardly see more than 100 feet in front of us. We had to slow way down and hope that the vehicles coming up behind us were doing the same thing. Have you ever been in a storm like that? Between the rain and the darkness brought on by the clouds above, you can hardly see. Which is what makes verse 48 so interesting.

More often that not, when we look at this Biblical account, we see only 1 miracle, that of Jesus walking on the water, or 2 if you throw in Matthew writing about Peter also walking on the water. But long before the miracle of the walking on the water, there was the miracle of the Watchful Eye of the Savior. We find out in John’s account that the disciples were 3-4 miles out into the sea, and the storm was so bad that the disciples, many of whom were fishermen raised on the sea, were in grave danger, yet the eyes of the Savior never lost sight of them. What a beautiful picture. You know He does the same for us as well. His eyes never loose sight of us. This is good to know, especially in light of the next point this morning.

Leading up to that point, let me ask you a question. What was it that put the disciples into the path of the storm? (Obedience to Jesus command.)

Which brings us to the next point: Next Slide

Sometimes Obedience Puts Us in the Path of the Storm.

If I am honest with you, this doesn’t always sit well with me, especially when the wind, rain and waves are swamping my boat. But what I have learned is that more often than not, we are placed in the path of storms for several reason, all of which are good. One reason is to strengthen our faith. Our faith is rarely strengthened when we are on the mountain tops, but in the valleys, if we lean on Jesus, trust Him, seek Him, our faith grows. Another reason He may direct us into a storm, is to prepare us for things that may lay ahead, possible ministry opportunities. Many times the storms we have faced open the doors for us to minister the love and grace of God in areas we would have had little ability to relate to, had we not experienced a similar storm. Yet another reason we may face storms is to draw us ever closer to Jesus, to bring us to the realization that He is our only hope. The 12 had some incredibly difficult roads in their future, many storms they would be brought into as a result of their obedience to the call of Jesus. They needed to come to the point of realizing that Jesus was their only hope. I am certain that this lesson was being permanently embedded into their memory banks on this stormy night. We will see that as we move forward.

By the way, rest assured that our disobedience can also put us into the path of a storm, if Jonah were with us this morning, he would be giving a hearty Amen! But for this morning, we will stick with the storms our obedience brings us into.

The next thing we see in this mornings passage is: Next Slide

God’s Timing May Not Be Great, but it is Always Perfect. Vs. 48; Matt. 14:25

Under Roman rule, and mark was writing to Romans, the night was broken up into 4 watches, each 3 hours, starting at 6PM. Jesus came to them during the 4th watch of the night, which would have been somewhere between 3 and 6 AM. This meant that the disciples had been fighting the storm for 8 or more hours. We don’t always understand why the Lord doesn’t do things on our time frame, which is now, or better yet yesterday! At least it is for me, but we can trust in His perfect timing. Because Scripture is clear that His plan for us is perfect.

This brings us to the next point this morning, this is another one that would be easy to miss, because our English translation does not do the Greek justice.

Next Slide

The “I Am” in the Midst of the Storm. Vs. 50; Matt. 14:27; Jn. 6:20

At the point of utter exhaustion, the disciples look up from their rowing long enough to see someone walking on the water. Superstitions at the time taught that spirits of the night brought on disasters, and in this instance the disciples assumed the worst. They thought Jesus was a ghost, actually a better translation is a phantom. They were petrified. Thankfully Jesus reassured them quickly. He said; “Take heart, it is I. Do not be afraid.” It is in this phrase by Jesus that we could miss His very powerful statement. When Jesus says; “It is I” He is literally using the exact same words God used when speaking to Moses from the midst of the burning bush. Do you remember the story? Moses is out tending his flock, when He sees a bush that is on fire, but not being consumed. Moments later God speaks to Moses from the midst of the burning bush, letting him know that He was sending Moses to rescue the Jewish slaves from the hands of the Egyptians. When Moses asks God Whom he should say is sending him, God tells him to declare that the “I Am” has sent you. This was a declaration that Moses was a spokesman for the God of the universe. Jesus uses the exact same phrase. So, what is the point? As if the fact that His walking on the water was not enough, Jesus declares to the disciples there, that He is the great I am, the God of the Universe. This had a significant impact on the Twelve, so much so that the next day, when many of the other disciples let Him, Jesus looked at the 12 and asked; “Do you want to go away as well?” Peter spoke for the 12 and said; “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know You, that You are the hoy One of God.”

In Mark 6:52 we read that their hearts were hardened, here, just one day later, but after this encounter with Jesus, God in the flesh, they weren’t about to leave Him!

I want to close out this morning with a part of the story that Mark does not include. Mark, who wrote from the perspective of Peter, didn’t include the part where Peter joins Jesus in walking on the water. My guess is Peter wanted the focus only on Jesus, not on him! But Matthew includes it in his account. My guess is that most of you are familiar with what took place. After Jesus identifies Himself as He approached the boat, Peter says, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” Jesus told him to come, here Peter is, the only one of the 12 walking on the water, and everything is fine, until he takes his eyes off of Jesus and begins to sink.

This brings us to our last point for the morning: Next Slide

Keep Your Eyes On Jesus, The Author and Perfecter of Our Faith.

So long as Peter focused on Jesus, the wind and the waves had no effect on him, but the moment he moved his focus from the Savior to the storm, he sank into the depths.

The same thing happens to us. We can accomplish everything God lays before us, if our focus remains on Him, but if, in the storms of life, our eyes move to the wind and the wave, like Peter, we sink into the depths. When this happens, and it will happen! We need to do the next thing we see Peter doing; “Lord save me.”