Trinity Baptist Church

The Book of Mark

Jesus Walks on Water

Mark 6:45-56

 

For the last couple of weeks we’ve studied the feeding of the multitude.  As I said, that miracle is one of only two that are recorded in all four gospels with the other one being the resurrection. 

 

No doubt, it is the highpoint of the Galilean ministry. It is the most massive miracle He ever performed. It involves more people than any other miracle that our Lord did. There were times when large crowds watched Him perform a miracle, but this one touched more lives than any other. 

 

Now you would think it would clinch the deal for those who were involved.  If there was any question about Him being the Son of God, after everything else they’ve witnessed, this should convince them. 

But as we will see tonight, that was not the case, even for those closest to Him. It took something else to convince them.

 

After Jesus fed the crowd, there was a move to make Him King, but He resisted that.  Instead of giving them physical food, He tells them He is the Bread of Life and offers them the opportunity to be part of the Kingdom of God.  But when the food stopped many in the crowd decided to look elsewhere for a King. 

 

You can read all of that in John 6 beginning in verse 22. In fact, it is at that time Jesus asked His closest followers if they would leave also. 

 

 

Peter replied, “Lord, where we gonna go?  Only You have the words of Life”.  Understand, they had the same expectations as everyone else, but they saw more in Jesus than did those who left.  God had done a work in their heart. 

 

In fact, Peter continued by saying, “We have believed and come to know that You are the Holy One of God.’”

 

Now this is a monumental moment and the question that comes to my mind is, “What convinced them?”  What did they see that others missed? 

 

We might be tempted to believe it was the feeding of the multitude.  After all, this is an amazing display of power.  But as in the next few verses, that wasn’t it. 

 

Let’s look at Mark 6 starting at verse 45. Here’s what made the difference.

 

Verses 45-56

 

There are three scenes that unfold here and as they unfold we get to see what convinced those closest to Jesus that He was the Messiah. 

 

Let’s begin with the first scene which is

 

 

When we arrive at verse 45 we are immediately after the miracle of creating food.  The crowd must have been at a fever pitch, and lest the Apostles get caught up in this move to make Him king, Jesus gets them away from the crowd.

In fact, you will notice the language is very strong.  He “made” them get in the boat.  It would have been easy to get caught up in the moment, and He is not about earthly kingdoms.  They are instructed to go to Bethsaida.  It was a relatively easy four-mile journey along the shoreline. 

 

Now as they are journeying, Jesus disperses the crowd, not an easy job in and of itself. You’ve got 20-25 thousand people with high levels of expectation and they are ready to make Him a King.  But He sends them away and then goes to the mountain to pray. 

 

We aren’t given any details about His prayer, but I would guess He is praying for the disciples.  He is the great High Priest who intercedes for His people, right? Remember He said to Peter in Luke 22, “But I have prayed for you.” The entirety of the High Priestly prayer in John 17 is His prayer for His own. 

I think there is no doubt He went to pray for them.

 

So first we see the Lord’s intercession with the Father. 

 

The second scene begins in verse 47 and it is

 

 

Remember, they had about four miles to cover and it was a fairly easy trip along the shoreline, but we are now into evening time, somewhere between six and nine o’clock in the evening and the boat is in the middle of the sea.  They’re professional sailors in a very familiar area and yet they are way off course.

 

In fact, John tells us they are three or four miles out into the middle of the lake. ANd we are told the reason in

 

verse 48

 

They’re in deep trouble. And while they are struggling out in the middle of the sea, Jesus is up in the mountain alone praying for them.   

 

But there is a critical phrase in verse 48 that I want to make sure we see.  The verse says Jesus “saw them”.   Now Scripture makes sure to tell us He is alone on the land and it’s evening and they are 3 or 4 miles out on the lake, and yet He “saw them”. 

 

How can He see them? He can see them the way God always sees us.  He is confined to a human body but His omniscience is still operating.  

 

Listen:  He always sees us! We are never out of His sight!  It doesn’t matter if it’s the dead of night and you feel isolated int eh middle of the storm and Jesus seems far away.  He sees them and He sees us!

 

And verse 48 tells us they’re trying to survive. They’re “straining at rowing”.  Their lives are on the line and Jesus isn’t there to still the storm, as He was in chapter 4 verse 35.

 

But in the middle of verse 48, everything changes.  And there we see some of the most beautiful words in Scripture.  “He came to them”.  How did He get there? He is “walking on the sea.”  And I’m convinced everywhere He placed His foot the waters just smoothed out. 

I just like to believe He was untossed and undrenched. ANd even though there was no way to see them in the dark night far from shore, He knew exactly where they were. He knew precisely where they were because He always knows where His children are so that He can come to them in the hour of their desperation.

 

And notice what we find at the end of

 

verse 48

 

Every translation I looked at treats that verse the same way and makes it appear Jesus intended to just walk right on past these guys.  I don’t think that’s what this verse means at all.  Why would He do that?  It makes no sense whatsoever and is completely inconsistent with what we would expect from the Lord. 

 

I think a better understanding of the phrase is that His intention is to come alongside them.  In fact, if you dig into the root of this word, you will find that meaning.  It’s not like He just accidently discovered them out there on the sea. 

 

He had no intention of leaving the Kingdom in that little boat to drown. He came to them intentionally for this purpose. He knew exactly where they were. He knew exactly when He needed to arrive. And He walked across the lake at a supernatural speed to arrive precisely at the right moment alongside the little boat.

 

And when He showed up, it scared them to death.

 

Verse 49 

Now these are grown men who have probably been doing a lot of yelling up to now anyway. But this is the shrieking scream of someone who is in panic. They thought He was a ghost. The Greek word is our word for a phantom. 

 

Verse 50

 

Troubled is better translated “terrified.  They were thrown into a panic. There was no way to process what they saw, a person walking on water.

 

And the Lord didn’t let their terror last very long. I love what we find in

 

verse 50b

 

The phrase He uses, “take courage”, means to be brave or get a grip on your selves. It’s used eight times in the New Testament and it is always Jesus saying it.  Seven times He says it in the gospels, one time He says it in Acts 23 to the Apostle Paul. He is always the One who gives us the courage to endure the trial.

 

Then He says, “It is I, be not afraid.” That phrase, “Be not afraid,” stretches from Genesis to Revelation.  It is used over 100 times in the Bible. 

 

In the New Testament in particular it appears in the gospels, in the book of Acts, and in the book of Revelation as over and over again we hear Jesus say “be brave, don’t fear, I’m here! He is always the protector of His people.

 

 

 

What He wanted the Twelve to learn and what we need to learn is if you belong to Him, you never need to fear no matter how terrifying the circumstances. If you are in the place of obedience, and they were, there is nothing to fear. 
 

They were where they were told to be. And if you’re in the place of obedience, you have nothing to fear. He will be a present help in time of need.

 

Verse 51

 

Now if you’re familiar with the story, you know something is missing and that is Peter walking out to meet the Lord.  Why does Mark leave it out?  Well, I don’t know, but I’ll take a guess. 

 

Mark wrote his gospel from Rome to Gentiles and he wrote under the influence of Peter. And I think by the time Mark wrote His gospel, Peter was a humble man and he didn’t want the focus on Peter, he wanted the focus on Christ.

 

And maybe the Holy Spirit allowed Peter to have that influence over Mark and let the story be told by Matthew instead. And because Mark doesn’t mention it, I won’t go there either. 

 

The important thing to see is how the Lord came to them and reassured them by His own presence.  The reason I want to underline that is found in the next verse.

 

I began by asking what was it that made the difference in the lives of the disciples versus those who turned and left. Here’s where we get the answer.

Verse 52

 

This is what made the difference.  It’s one thing to watch the miracles and see this massive display of power and authority, but what convinces us of the love of God is His personal involvement in our lives. 

 

It was this personal, private incident of divine protection and loving care over the little Kingdom in the little boat in the middle of the lake that made the difference. 

 

And Mark is careful to point that out in verse 52.  They didn’t see it in the feeding of the multitude.  They didn’t comprehend it when they saw the miracles.  But when He showed up and got in the boat with them in the middle of the night during a storm it all became crystal clear.   

 

There’s one final scene here I want you to see before we close.  We’ve seen the Lord’s Intercession with His Father and the Lord’s Protection of the Twelve. 

 

Finally we see

 

 

verses 53 to 56

 

By the way, notice verse 53

 

So how did they cross over?  You say, “Well they rowed the rest of the way.” I’m not so sure. 

 

John 6:21

 

That’s a completely different method of travel. That’s what is known as a quantum leap in science.  That’s when the reality moves from here to there without traversing the time and space in between. That’s what sent Einstein to the grave confused cause he knew it existed, but he couldn’t explain it scientifically. They were in the middle of the lake and immediately they weren’t in the middle of the lake, they were at the shore.

 

Well, however they got there, there they were and when they arrived it all started over again.  This was a typical day in the life of the Lord.  The word spreads and people recognized Him and the crowds began to converge on them. 

 

And what we find in verse 56 is actually a summary of His whole ministry in Galilee.

 

Apparently the woman we met back in chapter 5 has been sharing her testimony!  And everywhere He went, people were grabbing on to the fringe of His cloak and as many as touched Him were cured.

 

This is the compassion of our God.  So what do you want from Jesus? Some just want the healing.  But if you want the healer, you can have Him.  He comes to you wherever you are, in the moment of your greatest need, to bring His love and power and compassion.  But He comes only to those who acknowledge Him as Savior and Lord.

 

Let’s pray.