Mark 6:48-52

Passage

Jesus saw that the disciples were making difficult progress against the wind.  It was already late in the evening.  Jesus walked upon the water, and He meant to walk past them.  However, when the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water they cried out and were terrified because they thought it was a ghost.  Jesus comforted them, telling them that it was Him.  He got into the boat with them and the wind ceased.  They were completely astonished by this turn of events, because they hadn’t understood the loaves and their hearts had been hardened.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Today we can see the second reason that Jesus commands them into the boat immediately after the miracle of the fish and bread.  The disciples didn’t understand the miracle.  In fact, let’s put this in context.  They had earlier been sent out by Jesus to do mission work and it had been an absolute success.  When they returned to Jesus they got to experience an incredible miracle with fish and bread – a miracle they didn’t understand.  I can only imagine how big their heads were getting.  I can only imagine how impressed with themselves they must have gotten.  Add to this the fact that they didn’t understand what was going on and this was a recipe for disaster.  They needed to be sent away for not only protection, but for some time of humbling.  They needed to be shown how dangerous it is to act upon spiritual things they don’t understand.

What is the danger to you when you act upon things you don’t understand and have not fully processed?  What is the danger to others?  How diligent are you about processing your spiritual life and the spiritual things happening around you?

Second Thought:

 How does Jesus point out to the disciples that they need to come back to reality?  He intentionally sends them into a storm.  Think about it.  Jesus had to know the winds were coming.  He’s God, after all.  This passage also tells us that His intention was to walk by the boat and let the disciples continue to struggle against the storm.  Jesus put His disciples into the boat to protect their faith from the passion of the crowd as we saw yesterday.  But we can also see that Jesus put them in the boat to protect them from their own growing ego.  Jesus places them in a time of humbling and struggle so that they might realize the importance of relying upon God and not our own understanding.  As this passage indicates, when we rely upon our own understanding (or lack thereof) our hearts are hardened.

Why do we as human beings have a tendency to act upon our own understanding?  How does it make you feel to realize that Jesus intentionally put His disciples in the path of the storm?  Actually, how does it make you feel knowing that this is the second time that Jesus has put His disciples in the direct path of a storm with which they were to struggle?  (See Mark 4:35-41)

Third Thought:

The disciples were terrified.  They cried out.  Suddenly, they come face to face with their humanity.  They come face to face with just how much they don’t understand.  They come face to face with the humbling realization that they aren’t as big and powerful and mighty as they thought they were.  They cry out; Jesus is there to rescue them.  He gets into the boat and the winds cease.  They were astonished and still struggling to comprehend.

Have you ever had a moment in your life when you had nowhere to go but to cry out in your anger, fear, or frustration?  How did that feel?  Have you ever had a moment when God saved you in a situation from which you really didn’t deserve to be saved?  How did that make you feel?  Why is it important for us as human beings to occasionally go through storms in life?

Passage for Tomorrow: Mark 6:53-56