Jesus Walks on Water
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Mark 6:45-52
Mark 6:45-52
English Standard Version Chapter 6
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.
OPENING REMARKS
Today we are considering one of the most well known miracles in all of human history, Jesus walking upon water. This miraculous account of Christ’s mastery over the elements is found in three of the four gospels; Matthew, Mark and John. So therefore it is strongly attested by three independent eye witness testimonies, so why have so many historians, scientists and even theologians set out to disprove it? Some have said it must have been a mirage (at night!) , others have said he was walking on a sand bank (none exists), I read a ridiculous theory by a scientist at FSU who claimed that Jesus was floating on a piece of ice created by a freak weather incident!
Skeptics understand that if they accept the gospel account as it is then they have to accept that miracles do happen, that supernatural events do occur and by extension, that there is a God who governs both the natural and the supernatural. Moreover, this miracle wasn’t performed by any old tom, dick or harry, but by Jesus of Nazareth, the same man who went on to be crucified for claiming to be the son of God. To admit to this miracle would mean admitting that Jesus truly is who He claimed to be; God in human flesh. These intellectuals seemingly don’t mind sounding extremely foolish in their desperate attempts to explain away this miracle on the sea of Galilee.
Jesus did walk on the water; there was no floating ice, there was no mirage, there was no sand bank. These gospels aren’t a collection of fables, they document actual historical events. If we don’t believe that to be true, then we don’t have a gospel to preach. Since if Christ wasn’t literally, physically raised from the dead then no one here has been saved from their sins. It’s important that we see this; Christianity is based on historical facts, not on sentiment or philosophy, but on actual events which have happened. Your faith is a deep trust upon these most crucial facts of history.
Brothers and sisters I want for you to see and glory in the following today:
That Jesus Christ watches over His people with a careful eye, He never lets us out of His sight, and comes to our rescue just at the right moment when it looks like the storms of this life are going to swallow us up.
I want for you to see today that sometimes The Lord actually sends His people directly into storms. Sometimes, for His own reasons He allows His children to experience hardships, and difficulties in this life through no fault of their own. Because so many Christians don’t understand this truth they are confused, weak and vulnerable. They think that being a Christian is supposed to mean you never have to suffer or have difficulty, and if you do it’s because something has gone terribly wrong. This is not always the case. We will see how we can have peace and even joy in the face of trials.
Finally, some say that Mark’s gospel has a low Christology or a low view of Christ’s divinity, and that this view of Christ as the second person of the trinity co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and the Spirit only developed later with John’s gospel. Today you will see that this view is incorrect. You will see how this account in Mark’s Gospel identifies Jesus as יהוה of the Old Testament.
Καὶ εὐθὺς ἠνάγκασεν τοὺς μαθητὰς αὐτοῦ ἐμβῆναι εἰς τὸ πλοῖον
to compel someone to act in a particular manner, compel, force, of inner and outer compulsion
The Greek text says that Jesus pretty much had to force His disciples onto the boat. Why was that the case? Remember that this is straight after the feeding of the 5000. You can imagine the response of the crowd when they have just seen Jesus perform a creative miracle and feed them all with five loaves and two fishes, maybe they were ready to take Him and make Him their king, make Him their messiah who would throw off Roman rule and restore Jerusalem. Perhaps He had to force His disciples onto the boat because they had gotten caught up in the hype, they were with the crowd, they didn’t want to get on a boat, they wanted Jesus to capitalise on this moment; “Jesus, here’s what you’ve been waiting for, this is your moment! The crowd loves you!” The problem is, the crowd probably had an agenda, and it was to use Jesus to fulfil their own aims and objectives, and Jesus wasn’t about to let that happen.
23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. 24 But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men,
There are people today who want to co-op Jesus so that He can do something for them; they hope that He will help them build a big ministry, help them make a name for themselves. They want Him to help them acheive their aims. But Jesus will depart from all who try to use Him for their own ends.
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Maybe the disciples were unwilling to get on the boat because they knew evening was approaching. Many of them were involved in the fishing trade and were very aware of the risks of being out sailing at night on the Galilee. The weather there can be extremely unpredictable. Perhaps they were trying to tell Jesus that it would be best to wait until morning before setting sail, but nontheless Jesus made them get into the boat and instructed them to cross immediately to Bethsaida. Do you think Jesus knew what was coming? Do you think He knew that there was going to be a storm, that they would get caught up in it? Of course He did.
I want you to see that Jesus sent His disciples out into a storm on their own and withdrew to pray. Did He do this to punish them? No, He did this in order that He might show them His glory, in order to reveal to them once again Who He really is; the Christ, God’s saviour sent to rescue lost sinners.
I want to tell you that sometimes it is God who sends you into storms, it’s God who drives you into the high seas of struggle, of suffering, of difficulty in life. Not because you’ve done something wrong, no! But in order to reveal Himself more clearly to you, to increase your trust in Him, your dependance upon Him.
ἀπῆλθεν εἰς* τὸ ὄρος προσεύξασθαι.
There are only three times in the whole gospel of Mark that we read of Jesus praying in His ministry, this is one of them. On each of the three occassions Jesus prays alone, at night and in a lonely place. Each time His disciples are removed from Him and are conflicted or confused about His mission, and each time after returning from prayer Jesus is reinvigorated and reaffirmed in His calling and mission.
Most people when experiencing the success Jesus was having would dismiss the crowds and wander off alone to pray. But this is exactly what He did. Showing that what mattered more than anything to Him was His Father’s approval, over and above the approval of men. Jesus never used the approval of the crowd as a barometer of His success. If anything, He ran from their approval. In this world of ‘approval addiction’ let’s not seek to be defined by the opinions of others, let’s not weigh our value by how many followers we have on social media or measure our faithfulness to Christ by how highly the world thinks of us.
john 15:18-19 “18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”
luke 6:26 “26 “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.”
What’s clear is that Jesus had a private prayer life, and that it was to prayer that He retreated often in times of crisis. May we also give prayer more of a central place in our lives, however that may look. Is there a time during the week that we might look to get alone with God? Turn off the phone for a while and just be with Him?
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,
Wherever it was that Jesus went to pray, He kept within eyesight of the Disciple’s boat out on the sea of Galilee. He was keeping watch over them. He saw that they were in difficulty, they weren’t making any headway and were straining at the oars because the wind was against them.
The disciples were heading exactly where Jesus had told them to go, they weren’t off course but they were struggling to make headway. They had been out on the lake for six or seven hours or more, they were tired and were being battered by the wind and waves.
You know, because some Christians believe that being a Christian is all about ‘living your best life now’, always being healthy and wealthy, always progressing, they don’t have a grid for the storms of life. When difficulties, set backs, pain and trials come they assume that it’s because they aren’t in the will of God, or that they’re getting this whole Christianity thing wrong somehow, they get discouraged and downhearted. But the Bible wanrs over and over and over again that trials, difficulties and suffering are a proper part of the Christian life. Christianity is not a cake walk!
12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
Now sometimes we do invite difficulties into our lives, sometimes we walk into storms of our own making, that’s absolutely true.
But sometimes your walk with God leads straight into a storm, theres nothing you can do or should do to try and avoid it, you have to go through it.
Do not consider that adverse circumstances are a proof that you have missed your road, for they may even be an evidence that you are in the good old way, since the path of believers is seldom without trial. - Spurgeon
The only thing you can do is keep rowing! Notice, the disciples didn’t give up. They didn’t throw in the towel and let the wind carry them off, they strained at the oars and kept their course. Brothers and sisters, sometimes the storm that has hit you, has hit you precisely because you ARE on the right path! Don’t turn back now, don’t give up! Stick that oar in and row like mad! Give it all you’ve got and trust that The Lord will rescue you at precisely the right moment.
He may not come to our aid at the time we like best, but He will never allow us utterly to fail. - JC Ryle
48 When he saw that they were straining at the oars against an adverse wind, he came towards them early in the morning, walking on the sea. He intended to pass them by.
Jesus comes out to them walking on the water, sometime between 3 and 6am. What’s odd is that the text seems to suggest that Jesus intended to pass them by. What does this mean? Was He just doing a fly by? What’s going on here?
What we have to understand here is the deep prophetic significance of that phrase ‘passing by’. In the OT God ‘passed by’ Moses to reveal His glory, He passed by Elijah to manifest His presence! ‘Passing by’ always signified a glory encouter with God!
19 And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” 21 And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, 22 and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by.
11 And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.
So it’s no accident that Mark includes this little Greek phrase παρελθεῖν it is absolutely loaded with messianic significance.
Moreover, not only is it significant that Jesus comes to pass-by just like God did in the Old Testament, but Jesus actually gets into the boat with them! When God passed Moses by he had to be hidden from seeing God lest he die but Jesus is the one who comes to us, we can look upon Him, we can touch Him, He will come into your life and save you, just like He got into the boat with His disciples. He is God in human flesh.
People who think the Gospel of Mark doesn’t have a high Christology are just wrong! Once again when we view Jesus’s walking on water through the lens of the OT, we see what He was saying through it. It wasn’t just a party trick, He was revealing who He really is.
8 He alone stretches out the heavens
and treads on the waves of the sea.
9 He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.
10 He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,
miracles that cannot be counted.
11 When he passes me, I cannot see him;
when he goes by, I cannot perceive him.
Job 9 is a statement on what makes God, God. It’s a list of things only He can do. What is it that only God can do? Tread on the waves of the sea.
καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς· θαρσεῖτε, ἐγώ εἰμι·* μὴ φοβεῖσθε.
The disciples see Him coming towards them and freak out! They are more scared initially of Jesus than they are of the storm! They think he’s a ghost.
Jesus calms them by calling to them and confirming to them that it’s Him. There is an even deeper layer of truth and revelation to these words of comfort hidden in the Greek. Literlly speaking, Jesus doesn’t say ‘it is I’ but ‘I AM’ ‘Εγω Ειμι’. The exact same phrase He uses at His trial.
61 But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” 62 And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”
This is exactly the name YHWH gives Himself when speaking to Moses from the burning bush!
13 Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ”
In Hebrew OT the Divine name is אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֶֽהְיֶ֑ה I AM THAT I AM, the Greek translation of that name is Εγω Ειμι. So Jesus wasn’t just saying ‘it is I’ but ‘I AM YHWH.’
Have your possessions failed? Is your health departing? Are your joys declining? Alas! it is a dying, fleeting world, but there is One who is always the same, for Jesus says to you, “I am; and because I live, you shall live also.” Be comforted; whatever else is gone, wherever else the arrows of death may fly, your Jesus still lives. “I am:” blessed word of rich comfort to be heard amid the darkness of the night by weary mariners whose spirits had been sinking within them. - Spurgeon
There is immediate comfort and peace when Christ is in the boat with you. There is no comfort when He is not. The Bible offers no comfort to those who want to sail alone, to those who reject Christ as the captain of their ship. The word of God has no comfort for those who have determined to be the captain of their own ship, who want to plot their own course in this life. Jesus is approaching your boat today, He will come in if you will have Him, but you will have to let go of the tiller first. Christ doesn’t come into your life to be your crewmate but your captain.
If you have been in the storm rowing for what seems like an age, I pray you know that you have never been out of His sight, He never took His eye off you. I pray you hear His words now, take courage, I AM, do not fear.
Pray.