So I’m reading through the Bible and am currently in the book of Mark. I’m also still going through a very difficult trial with some stormy seas. In the middle of this storm, I read:
And immediately Jesus had His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He Himself dismissed the crowd. And after saying goodbye to them, He left for the mountain to pray. When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land. Seeing them straining at the oars—for the wind was against them—at about the fourth watch of the night, He came to them, walking on the sea; and He intended to pass by them. But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they thought that it was a ghost, and they cried out; for they all saw Him and were terrified. But immediately He spoke with them and said to them, “Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid.” Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished, for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.
Mark 6:45-52 New American Standard Bible (Italics mine)
Some background for you… earlier in Mark 6, Jesus had fed the 5,000 with five loaves and two fish. And He did not forget His disciples, because there were 12 full baskets leftover- one full basket for each of His disciples to have a meal also. Wow! What a miracle Jesus did! So glorious!
Jesus then went to the mountain to pray while the disciples went ahead in a boat to Bethsaida. In the companion account in Matthew 14:24, it says that Jesus was several stadia away from the disciples at this point (a stadia is 600 feet), so pretty far away, yet Mark 6:48 says, “seeing them straining” He went to them. It’s encouraging to note that even though God may seem far away during your trial, GOD SEES YOU. He sees your “STRAINING”; He sees your “STORMY SEAS”.
As I was going through my trial, the end of verse 48 really bothered me; HE INTENDED TO PASS BY THEM. Jesus SAW them straining; He came to them; why would He PASS BY? This went against everything I knew of my Jesus. My Jesus came from Heaven to rescue and ransom me. My Jesus has always been GENTLE AND LOWLY (Matthew 11:29). I must be missing something. Was there a good reason that He wanted to pass by them?
Let’s look at another scripture, in Exodus 33:18, 21-22 NASB (Italics mine):
18 Then Moses said, “I pray Thee, show me Thy glory!…21 Then the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; 22 and it 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.
Maybe this is exactly what the disciples needed; for Jesus to PASS BY so that they could SEE HIS GLORY. What could be more glorious than seeing Jesus taking a stroll on the stormy seas? Only God can stroll on top of stormy seas!
To see why the disciples needed to see His glory, let’s look closer at the passage. Verse 51 says when they saw Jesus walking on the water and calming the seas, “they were ASTONISHED”. In the Greek, Astonished means “to be astounded” or from the Noah Webster 1828 dictionary, “surprised.” This implies an element of DISBELIEF. Wait, He had just fed 5,000 with five loaves and two fish, and fed His disciples too! Why were they surprised that He could walk on water and calm the seas?
We get a deeper look at the disciples’ hearts in verse 52, “for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened.” Ok, ouch! I think I have done this before too! God does something wonderful for me, but when I come to my next trial, I stand in doubt forgetting all about the previous victory He gave me.
So what is a hardened heart? In Mark 8: 17b-19 NASB Jesus confronts the disciples about their hard hearts again:
Do you not yet see or understand? Do you have a hardened heart? Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces you picked up?…
Apparently, a hard heart, DOES NOT SEE, DOES NOT HEAR, DOES NOT REMEMBER His previous works. Hey, let’s ask God to help us SEE, HEAR, REMEMBER all that He has done for us. Let’s choose too SEE GOD in our situation, HEAR GOD’s voice calling us closer during our trial, REMEMBER that He came through for us before and
CHOOSE TO STAND IN FAITH THAT HE WILL COME THROUGH FOR US AGAIN.
In HIs love,
Suzanne
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