Mark 6:45-56
Introduction
In the last study we examined the story of the feeding of the five thousand. And in this study, we see Jesus refer to that miracle in verse 52. And that is significant as we will see.
When Jesus walked on the water it had enormous significance for the 12 disciples and for us today.
In today’s study, we are going to see two hermeneutical principles put into practice: ‘understanding the original language’ and ‘scripture interprets scripture’.
Bear all of this in mind as we examine today’s passage.
Verses 45 to 46
I want to start our study of today’s text with a question. Why did Jesus act the way He did in verse 45? The answer is because Jesus perceived that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king. I got this by looking at John’s account of the same story in chapter 6 of his Gospel. In John 6:15 we read, ‘So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone.’ This is an example of scripture interpreting scripture.'
In His first coming, Jesus came as a suffering servant. In His second coming He will come as a king. It was not the Father’s will that Jesus should be king at that time. So, Jesus had to stop it happening. He sent the disciples away because He knew that they would encourage the crowd to make Him king.
As the disciples set off in the boat, Jesus went up a mountain to pray alone. And so, the scene was set for what would happen next.
Verses 47 to 48
The disciples are now out in the middle of the Sea of Galilee heading eastward. The disciples were straining at the oars because the wind was against them. They were having a hard time because they were rowing against a strong wind. The Greek word translated as ‘straining’ is ‘basanizo’ which actually means to be tormented or tortured. The rowing was extremely painful for them. This is a good example of understanding the original language in order to get a better understanding of what was really happening.
Verse 48 tells us that Jesus saw what was happening to the disciples. Jesus responded to their suffering and struggles by walking across to them on the sea at about the fourth watch of the night to help them. The fourth watch of the night was between 3 and 6 o’clock in the morning.
Notice how Jesus was walking on the sea. He was literally walking on the sea, in defiance of the laws of physics. However, in verse 48, there is something strange going on. It says that Jesus intended to pass by them. So, why was He going to do this and how would it have helped them? The answer is that He was going to reveal His divinity to them. Let me show you what I mean.
One of the attributes of God is that He is able to walk on the waves of the see. In Job chapter 9, Job talks about the attributes of God and in verse 8 he says that He walks on the waves of the sea. In Job 9:8 we read, ‘Who alone stretches out the heavens and tramples down the waves of the sea;’ In the original Hebrew it actually says to tread or walk on the waves of the sea. By walking on the sea Jesus is revealing that He is Almighty God.
But there’s more. In the Old Testament, Almighty God sometimes revealed Himself by ‘passing by’. He did this for Moses for example. Moses asked God to reveal His glory to him. And God answered Moses by passing by him and letting Moses see His back. In Exodus 33:18-23 we read, ‘Then Moses said, “I pray You, show me Your glory!” And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion to whom I will show compassion.” But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” Then the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and I will come about, while my glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take my hand away and you shall see My back, but My face you shall not see.”
Another example can be seen in 1 Kings. Elijah hides in a cave because Jezebel wants to kill him. And God passes by and speaks to him. In 1 Kings 19:9-13 we read, then he came there to a cave and lodged there; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” And he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.” So, He said, “Go forth and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rock 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. After the earthquake, a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
What these scriptures show us is that Jesus wanted to help the disciples by walking on the sea and passing by them. This should have given them peace and assurance. However, the disciples didn’t get it.
Verses 49 to 52
Instead of seeing the glory of God, the disciples thought they were seeing a ghost. This failure to understand what they were seeing had consequences. Their belief that they were seeing a ghost made them terrified. If they had understood what was really happening this would not have happened. And so, it is for us.
Jesus responds to their state of terror by abandoning His original plan and speaking to them. Remember what we learnt about the compassion of Jesus in the last study. Jesus says to the disciples, “Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid.” When Jesus said, “it is I”, He was telling them that He was Almighty God. This is the same thing that He intended to show them by walking on the sea and passing them by. To understand what I mean, we need to look at the original language in Greek. ‘it is I’ is translated from the Greek words, ‘eimi ego’. Eimi ego literally means ‘I am I am’ or ‘I am who I am’. ‘I am who I am’ is God’s name. God told Moses that His name is Yahweh and Yahweh literally means I am who I am.
Then Jesus got into the boat and the wind stopped. But what does Mark mean when he says, “they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves? The miracle of the loaves and fish should have taught the disciples that Jesus was Almighty God; that He was God incarnate. Who else could have done such a miracle.
But the disciples did not get it because their hearts were hardened. In the scriptures the heart is the centre of a man’s personality. And among other things, it is the heart that enables man to understand the truth. When the heart becomes hardened it dulls the ability of man to understand the truth. What causes a man’s heart to become hardened is sin. It was sin that had hardened the hearts of the disciples. This is true for us as Christians. Sin hardens our heart and stops us from understanding the truth. Think about that.
Verses 53 to 56
And in the final section of our text today, we see that when they reach Gennesaret, Jesus faces the same issue that He always does in His ministry. As soon as they recognise Him, the people press in on Him to heal their sick. If only this was true today for the Church.
And Finally
I would like to end with a quote from R C Sproul which sums up nicely what we have learnt in this study. ‘When we know the presence of the Lord, we stop straining at the oars. We are removed from our torment, and we are left in a state of awe and reverence before Him.’