Mark 6:45-52

Big Idea:

Jesus has come to save us!

Intro:

Hi Church Online! Happy Easter! Thanks for choosing to spend Easter with us today!

If you call The River Church your home church, then you know on Sundays we’ve been going thru the book of Mark. And we’re currently in Mark 6. And if we were to pick up where we left off last week, we’d start off here...

Mark 6:45 ESV

Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.

Now, whether you’ve been to The River Church 100 times or if this is your first time, this is weird place to start, because basically we have no context for what’s going on. So, let me give you that real quick...

A little before this, Jesus had sent his 12 disciples on a short mission to preach the gospel (good news about God’s Kingdom coming to earth) to the surrounding towns in Northern Israel, also known as Galilee.

They experienced miraculous results, but it was also hard work. So, Jesus invited them on a short mini-vacation. However, because of all the miracles Jesus was doing, many people wanted to be around Him, so they followed them on vacation.

And although their time of rest was interrupted, Jesus wasn’t upset. In fact, Mark tells us Jesus had “compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.” (Mark 6:34). So, He decided to spend all day with both his disciples and the crowd of hurting people.

But the crowd had followed Jesus into the wilderness where He was planning to rest, and there was nothing to eat out there. And after a long day, Jesus miraculously provides dinner for 5000 people with just 5 loaves of bread and two fish, because the closest Chick-Fil-A was in Glastonbury, CT and that was 5,558 miles away (that’s the actual distance btw).

…and that’s catches us up for today. So, let’s read that again...

Mark 6:45 ESV

Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.

But that brings us to another question. How many of you realize that this story did not happen on or near Easter? Obviously, because Easter is about the death and resurrection of Jesus… and this story is NOT.

So… why are we talking about it on Easter?

That’s a great question! I have two answers:

Quite simply, we’re reading this passage because it’s where we’re at in the Book of Mark. Could I pause and fast forward to the Easter story, which is about 10 chapters away? Yes. But that brings me to my second answer...

I wanted to give you a different Easter sermon. I think some times we get used to hearing the same message on Easter, or even on Christmas. And don’t get me wrong… that’s not bad. Usually, it’s the gospel message (the good news about what Jesus has done for us) and that message is unchanging, ever-relevant, and is the power of God to change your life. But the gospel is ALSO found throughout this entire book, so some times I like to do something different - to keep things fresh on the holidays.

If you’ve joined us on Christmas last year, you experienced this. Last Christmas service, I preached out of the book of Obadiah!

Some of you didn’t realize there was even an Obadiah in the Bible, because when you hear that name, what instantly comes to mind is an Amish farmer.

Nevertheless, it was a different take, on the same eternal gospel!

And this Easter, I want to give you the same gospel, in a fresh way.

Mark 6:45–46 ESV

Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray.

The word “immediately” gives the beginning of our passage a sense of urgency. Similar to the feeling many of our households will have tomorrow morning when we send our kids back to school.

I don’t know about you, but it’s a struggle to get my kids out the door in time to make the bus. At times, I have to FORCE them out the door. Like, “GOOOO!!!” Sometimes, my boys will be like, “Oh Dad, I forgot my water bottle!” And I’m like, “I.Dont.Care. Drink your saliva. I’m not taking you to school if you miss the bus. Run!”

Here, Jesus FORCES the disciples to get into the boat and go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. But what’s the rush? Is it because Jesus knew his disciples were tired and really needed the rest? Maybe.

This past week was Spring Break for us in Glastonbury...

How many went to Florida or somewhere down south?

That’s good. I personally think God likes Spring Break. As we discussed last week, God values rest. Rest is good. And God likes when we rest. And I believe this passage has a little bit to do with rest, especially since verse 46 says Jesus, after dismissing the crowds, goes off by Himself to pray and rest with His Heavenly Father. But there’s something else going on here that the apostle John tells us in his version of this same story...

Before Jesus forces the disciples to leave, He supernaturally feeds the crowd of 5000 people, and John says...

John 6:14–15 ESV

When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” 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.

And you might be thinking, what’s wrong with that? As, the Son of God, the eternal 2nd Person of the Trinity, isn’t Jesus the King of Kings? Would they be wrong in proclaiming Him King?

No, but we must understand the crowd’s intention. They simply wanted a king who would powerful fight off the Roman Empire’s control and occupation of Israel. But Jesus was here for a greater purpose.

It may be similar to how many of us view our Spring Break rest. We live in a busy world. We’ve just been thru 2 crazy years of COVID. We’re tired. We needed this Spring Break. At the same time, how many vacations end up making little impact refreshing our lives.

You ever been on vacation (or taken a few days off) only to be more tired afterwards?

That’s because rest has a greater purpose. It’s not just about having fun or not working. Sometimes that stuff ends up distracting us and we miss the purpose of rest. The purpose of rest is reconnecting with God. That’s what truly restores our soul.

For example, this Spring break, I started catching up on Cobra Kai. It’s a fun show. And when I’m watching it, I’m not working. But I can tell you, after watching season 3, I’m not rested. I’m actually more tired because of my late night binge watching! And this distraction caused me to miss the purpose of my time of rest.

In a similar way, Jesus didn’t want His disciples getting caught in the crowd’s hype and missing His greater purpose, so He quickly sends them away.

Here’s a quick encouragement for you today: Regardless of how you spent your Spring Break, you’ve done the right thing by coming to Easter service. Today, you have the opportunity to reconnect with God and receive the rest you need.

Mark 6:47 ESV

And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land.

The phrase for “evening” means it was about 6pm. And by this time, the crowds were gone and the disciples were about 3-4 miles out to sea. But then...

Mark 6:48 ESV

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,

This journey to the other side was supposed to be a short, easy trip, especially for experienced fishermen. But the “fourth watch” is somewhere between 3am - 6am, meaning they got stuck about 4 miles out, for 10-12 hours, because a serious storm came upon them.

And before we talk about Jesus walking on water, let’s address one of Jesus’s decisions. Earlier, it says Jesus saw the disciples stuck at sea at about 6pm. But then it goes onto so that Jesus doesn’t come to them until 4am. That means Jesus sat there for 10 hours. What was He doing all that time? Did He have His popcorn out watching them like Michael Jackson?

I don’t know. But I have a feeling it’s connected to a principle we find in the Bible...

Isaiah 55:9–11 NLT

For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. “The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.

Sometimes we don’t understand why God does - or does NOT - do things. Why didn’t Jesus come to them earlier? We don’t know, but we can trust that He has His perfect reasons. And His way of doing things always accomplishes His good purpose.

Jesus had a reason for making them wait. And I personally believe it’s connected to preparing their hearts, so they could receive what Jesus was offering.

Remember, these were strong, manly, experienced fisherman. Coming to them in the first 15 minutes would likely result in them saying, “Nah, Jesus. We’ll meet you there. We got this.” But after 10 hours of exhaustion, they’ve likely got a different perspective.

God knows that sometimes we need to experience struggle in order to properly see who God is and receive what He offers.

I’ve told this story many times here at The River Church, but this reminds me of my oldest son’s birth. Through a series of traumatic events, he was born dead. It took the doctors 5 mins to revive him and when they did, he had a seizure which further injured his brain. He spent the first 10 days of his life on a hypothermic blanket in the NICU.

And Janelle and I received nothing but bad news from the tests they ran. But in the middle of that storm, God spoke to my heart, “I will heal your son.” That same morning, the doctors told us, “The tests show significant brain damage. It is likely he will struggle all his life and have Cerebral Palsy. Prepare yourself for that.”

But then God spoke to my heart again saying, “I am NOT subject to the doctor’s report.” As many of you know, God was right and the doctors were wrong. My son was fully healed.

Why did God allow us to go thru that struggle? Why didn’t He heal Him immediately or protect Him in the first place? I don’t know. But what I do know is that because of the struggle, I know my Savior better. Through that time, my heart was brought to a place where, from that moment on, I fear no medical sickness and am fully confident in God’s ability to heal. God knew I needed that experience to know Him more fully. And Jesus knew His disciples needed to experience this struggle first, so they could know Him better.

But look once more at verse 48… why does it say, “He meant to pass by them?”

Here’s two ways to interpret the text:

He was going to pass them by because He was fully confident in their ability to trust Him to get them to the other side. They had seen Jesus supernaturally calm a storm before. He had just miraculously fed 5000. Now they see Him walking on water. He desired to pass them by because He believes in their ability to trust in Him with these circumstances by faith.

But more likely, it means that Jesus “desired to come alongside them.” In their struggle, Jesus was now ready to help them, so they could see Him as they should. Not as the king the crowds wanted, but as the Savior of the world.

This morning, some of us need to hear this. Because like the disciples, we’ve struggled for a long time. And we’re tired - physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Even our Spring Break vacation didn’t help. And yet, something in our soul finds hope in knowing that “Jesus sees it.” And like with the disciples, He’s coming to be with us, to help us.

Mark 6:49–50 ESV

but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, 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.”

Yall ever have that homie who is pretty tough, but you began to question that because you heard him questionably scream when he got scared? I know this guy because I am this guy.

Look, I was never a troublemaker or gangbanger, but I did grow up in the hood. I can survive in rough areas because I’m from those kinds of places. Places where you had to be tough to make it. That being said… Imma be honest… when I get scared, sometimes I scream like a girl.

A couple months ago, we had a mouse problem at home. I caught like 8 mice (or maybe the same one 8 times). One day I was doing laundry (because that’s what tough guys do) and I was moving the wet clothes to the dryer. I saw something at the bottom of the washer bin and figured it was a sock or something. So, I picked it up and was like, “This is kinda squishy and furry.” It was a dead mouse.

At that moment, I let off a shriek (which is the same word used to describe what the disciples did when they saw Jesus) that rang thru the house. And in response, Janelle looked at me with eyes that questioned my ability to be the protector of our home.

When the disciples saw Jesus, they thought He was a ghost (for you people who like historical details, was connected to a cultural superstition that the Sea was the place that the dead haunted) and in fear, screamed. Yet, Jesus responds with 3 very important statements:

“Take heart” or “Have courage planted into your heart.” Why?

Because “It is I,” which likely means Jesus was revealing Himself as God in that moment. In the Old Testament, God often referred to Himself as the “Great I am.” Meaning, “I am” everything you need me to be: Provider, Protector, whatever.

“Do not be afraid.” Because Jesus was there, they no longer needed to fear, because God was with them. He was both ready and willing to save them in their time of need.

This is where the Easter message comes into our time together...

On the Sea, Jesus was revealing Himself to His disciples as Savior. But it wasn’t just the Savior of stormy circumstances, but to prepare their heart for His greater purpose. You see, Jesus didn’t come to earth just to fix wrong circumstances or make us comfortable. He came to save us from our sins.

You see, all problems can be traced back to a sin-problem. Everything wrong in this world is a result of sin. People rebelling against God’s way. Rejected the life He created them for. That’s what sin is...

And when we live this way, we hurt ourselves and we hurt one another. But the biggest problem is we offend a holy God. And with each sin, we go into moral debt. And one day, God will judge us according to this debt. And if we can’t pay the debt, we face the consequence. And the Bible says… “The consequence of sin is death” (Rom 6:23), which doesn’t just refer to physical death (though that is the reason we all die - because we all sin), but eternal death (what the Bible calls hell) which is eternal separation from God.

And even when we say we don’t believe this religious stuff, we intuitively live in response to this unacknowledged debt - trying to “do good things” to make up for all the bad. But we also sense we’re not making a dent in paying for this debt, especially since we continually add debt with our daily sins. And like the disciples fighting the storm, we’re exhausted trying to save our souls.

But the good news of Easter is, even though we can’t save ourselves, we don’t need to. Because that was Jesus’s greater purpose!

John 3:16 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

2000 years ago, Jesus died on the Cross to pay for our sins - all of them. And then 3 days later (on Sunday), He rose from the dead, showing the debt of sin had been fully paid. Because if the consequence of sin is death, Jesus rightfully rose because the grave could no longer legally keep Him in the grave. And the gospel (again - good news) is the only thing we need to do to have this perfect-payment credited to our account, is put our faith in Jesus.

To simply say, “Jesus, I’m drowning in this sea of sin and I’m exhausted. Please forgive me and save me. And I believe your Promise that, because of what you did on the Cross, the moment I trust You as Savior, I will be forgiven, be made new, and have the hope of heaven (eternal life - what our soul longs for). Furthermore, I can rest because I will no longer be alone, because You are with Me, even in the toughest storms of life.”

I’m not sure where you are at today. Not sure what storm you’re facing. What’s happening in the deepest parts of your soul. But there is One who does, and His name is Jesus. He’s the Savior and He desires to come alongside you in your time of need.

He sees you.

He knows your struggle.

He knows how long you’ve been fighting the storm.

And as your Savior, He’s here to help!

Response:

As we close, let me encourage you to NOT let this moment pass by without properly responding to Jesus. Unfortunately, that’s what initially happened to the disciples...

Mark 6:51–52 ESV

And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.

“They were utterly astounded.” They had an emotional response, but that’s it. Maybe you’re having one too. Something about the music touched your heart. Something said in the sermon miraculously spoke about your life. Don’t let your response simply stop at, “Wow. That’s crazy.”

On the Sea, the disciples missed Jesus’s greater purpose. He was showing Himself as the Savior of the World. But they still had a hard heart. This Easter [by the River] don’t leave with a hard heart...

Understand that you’re not here simply because...

We’re having an Easter Egg Hunt afterwards and you thought it’d be fun for your kids.

Because every Easter and Christmas you have to check off the religious box of going to church because it might help you tip the spiritual scales of justice.

You’re not here just because you’re being nice and honoring your friend who invited you - though that might be true.

You’re here because Jesus loves you. And He sees what you’re going through and brought you here to hear this message of hope.

Because He’s ready to save you.

Whatever you’re going thru - or however long you’ve been dealing with it (maybe asking where’s God?) - know God’s using it to orchestrate and prepare you for this moment. In your struggle, in your fear, in your lack of faith, today, Jesus confidently speaks to you, “Take heart, it is I. Do not be afraid.”

“I here for You. To meet your greatest need. To save you.”

That’s what Easter is all about. Seeing Jesus as our Savior. Will you trust Him today? If so, pray with me...

Jesus, this Easter, I’m finally ready. I ready for You to save me - in my many difficult circumstances, but especially in my sin. Forgive me for my sin.Thank you for dying on the cross for me. And I believe You rose from the dead that first Easter morning, which proves your victory over sin and death. Today, I put my trust in You as my Savior. In Your name I pray, amen.

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