Heavenly Father, as I meditate on your Word today, please use it to strengthen my faith and show me new reasons to follow the footsteps of Jesus with vison and confidence.
Read MARK 6:45–56
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Jesus Walks on the Water
45 Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.
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, 49 but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, 50 because they all saw him and were terrified.
Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” 51 Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, 52 for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.
53 When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. 54 As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. 55 They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
‘Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us / o’er the world’s tempestuous sea. / Guard us, guide us, keep us, feed us, / for we have no help but thee.’1
Think Further
The disciples had had a long day, returning from their mission, reporting to Jesus, and then rowing possibly 10 km, vainly trying to outwit the crowd. They had heard Jesus teach, assisted at the feeding of the 5,000, and now, at about 4am, they had been rowing for hours against the wind. To the Jews, historically a desert people, the sea represented chaos, danger, and fear. By the time Mark was writing, early Christians had come to understand in this event what the disciples did not. The storm was an allegory of the chaotic and dangerous human world, and the boat was the early church, struggling to negotiate the ‘world’s tempestuous sea.’ Conscious that soon he would no longer be physically present to guide and protect, Jesus, like the prophets of old, made his own life into a living parable.
Jesus knew that the disciples were struggling. Although not physically with them, he wanted them to feel his presence, but they didn’t. So, he made himself more obvious, passing by them, walking on the water. In this momentous encounter, he thrice declared that he was God. First, while God’s prophets could heal or raise the dead, God alone ‘treads on the waves of the sea.’2 Second, Jesus was about to ‘pass by,’ the term used in the Scriptures for God’s close self-revelation to Moses and Elijah.3 Third, Jesus used for himself the name of God, not ‘it’s me’ but I AM, lost in translation here.4 So it is with us: whether alone as God’s child or together as Christ’s body, the church, Jesus knows when we struggle against the buffeting of the world. Jesus comes to us, through the turbulence. ‘Don’t fear the storm,’ he says to us, ‘I AM is here. I AM is with you, always with you until the end of time.’
Apply
He is the Lord of all calmness, come to us through the chaos. Jesus will stay with us in our frail boat, steer us through the storms, and take us home.
Closing prayer
Son of God, it’s easy to acknowledge your presence in good times. Help me to trust that you are at work and cling to your promises when things are hard, frightening, and seeming hopeless.
Last Updated on October 29, 2024 by kingstar
