THE GLORY OF THE SON OF GOD (Mark 6:45-56)
INTRODUCTION:
This morning’s passage and the amazing events that take place in it follow on the heels of the miraculous creation of the meal that fed ten to twenty thousand people on the northeastern side of the Sea of Galilee. This visible display that was beyond anything that Jesus had done before dramatically demonstrated both the supernatural power and compassion of the Lord Jesus Christ. With this miracle Jesus reached the peak of His popularity. Jesus had been ministering in the region of Galilee for more than a year, preaching the gospel and performing countless miracles. He then extended His ministry by commissioning the twelve apostles and sending them out to preach the gospel and to exhibit the power that He delegated to them to heal the sick and to cast out demons. This resulted in word about Him sweeping through the region, even reaching the ears of Herod Antipas, who was worried and afraid that Jesus might be John the Baptist, whom he beheaded, come back from the dead.
Herod’s worry was not unfounded, when Jesus had created food enough to feed thousands, the crowd responded with an ecstatic attempt to crown Him king. They hoped He would overthrow the Herods and the Romans and bring in His millennial kingdom with power and provision like He had just displayed. The crowd’s elation was misguided, their interests were merely material and temporal. In contrast, Jesus’ focus in His teaching were truths that were heavenly and eternal. He insisted on a spiritual transformation within, not a political revolution. The Gospels and even Acts shows that the apostles shared some of the same Messianic hopes as the people. However, there was a significant difference between the apostles and the unbelieving crowds. When Jesus’ ministry did not fit their preconceived ideas about the Messiah, the crowds fell away and rejected Jesus; the apostles continued to believe. As Jesus watched the crowds leave and even disciples of His wider group also leave the day after He had fed them, He asked the Twelve if they wanted to leave as well. Peter responded for the apostles saying, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:68-69, NASB95)[1] This response by Peter raises an important question: What was it that convinced the Twelve to believe in Jesus when so many others rejected Him? He had created bread and fish to feed thousands the day before, yet most of those who experienced the miracle rejected Him the next day. Mark even tells us that the apostles “had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened.” (Mark 6:52, NASB95)[2] Something had caused this rapid transformation in their thinking. The event we are about to look at was only experienced by the Twelve, and this was the powerful impetus by which they first acknowledged Jesus to be the Son of God. Let’s pray and then get into God’s Word this morning.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles to Mark 6:45-56, we will finish up this chapter this morning. Please, if you are able, stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word and follow along as I read.
Mark 6:45-56,
“Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the crowd away. After bidding them farewell, 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 supposed that it was a ghost, and 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 heart was hardened. When they had crossed over they came to land at Gennesaret, and moored to the shore. When they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, and ran about that whole country and began to carry here and there on their pallets those who were sick, to the place they heard He was. Wherever He entered villages, or cities, or countryside, they were laying the sick in the market places, and imploring Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were being cured.” (Mark 6:45–56, NASB95)[3]
PRIVATE PRAYER WITH THE FATHER (Mark 6:45-46)
As we closed last week the crowd was in such awe over the creation of the fish and bread that they intended to make Jesus their king even if it had to be by force. Jesus knowing that even the Twelve might be swept up in this fervor of the people to make Him their king, we are told by Mark that, “Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat.” (Mark 6:45a, NASB95)[4] This word that is translated “made” is from a Greek word that means “to force” or “to insist.” The disciples would have recognized what was happening, because of the reaction of the people and they would have wished to stay and enjoy the sudden popularity of the moment, but the Lord Jesus gave them no choice as He insisted that they get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida.
There has been some question as to what Mark meant here, since the parallel passage in John 6:17 explains that the intended destination was Capernaum. There are two possible solutions to what Mark writes here and both merit consideration. The first solution is that there are two different villages with the name Bethsaida. Because the name means “house of fish” it is entirely possible that more than one fishing village by the Sea of Galilee claim this title. Those who hold this view differentiate between the two villages by designating one as “Bethsaida Julius” located on the northeastern side of the Sea of Galilee in the territory ruled by Philip the half-brother of Herod Antipas. The second is called “Bethsaida of Galilee” and they assert was located on the western side of the lake near Capernaum in Galilee, the territory ruled by Herod Antipas. According to this view, the meal created by Jesus took place near Bethsaida Julius. Upon leaving that area, the disciples sailed toward Bethsaida of Galilee and neighboring Capernaum. The second possible solution states that there is only one village named Bethsaida (that village being Bethsaida Julius on the northeastern side of the Sea of Galilee, this view is based mainly on the lack of archaeological evidence for a second village with the same name. According to this view, the feeding of the 5000 took place in a remote location southeast of Bethsaida. When Jesus commanded the disciples to go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida, He was actually instructing them to cross the lake by traveling “toward Bethsaida” The Greek preposition used here translated “to” can also be translated “toward” or “with regard to.” As the disciples sailed to the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, they would have initially gone toward Bethsaida, eventually passing it on their way. If this is what Jesus meant, He intended that they follow the shoreline as they crossed the lake, and this would have taken them at first toward the town of Bethsaida. Whatever solution is correct, the important part of this event was that they were sailing back across the lake heading to their home base of Capernaum.
After sending the disciples on their way, Jesus sent the crowd away. Dispersing ten to twenty thousand people, especially those held captive by the miraculous, would not have been easy. But with the same authority with which He had commanded them to sit down in groups, He commanded them to disperse, and the people complied. Even though they wanted to make Jesus king to suit their own ends, He dismissed them without argument or incident. John indicates that they did not travel far, but must have spent the night in the countryside, because many of them returned the next morning to where they been fed the night before only to discover that Jesus was no longer there.
As soon as Jesus dismissed the crowd, He headed up the mountain to spend some private time with His Father. When Satan had tempted Jesus, at the beginning of His ministry, he offered Him of all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory, Jesus had resisted. Perhaps, in the talk among the people of making Him their king Jesus again was tempted to bypass the cross and claim an earthly throne instead. But that was not the Father’s will—and it was the Father’s will that Jesus came to do. Jesus took the solitude of that moment to commune with His Father and be encouraged by the Father to carry out the plan that would bring salvation to the world. I am sure that as Jesus prayed, He prayed for His disciples. Knowing what they were about to experience, He entrusted them into the hands of His Father. Jesus, without doubt, asked the Father to grant the disciples true, enduring faith. The Father answered that prayer in a mighty way, granting them faith in response to an unparalleled wonder of the glory of God.
POWERFUL PRESENTATION FOR THE DISCIPLES (Mark 6:47-52)
When Mark records that it is evening, he is referring to the time of day that would have been from 6:00 to 9:00 pm. By now the sun had set and dusk had turned to darkness. As the hours passed the distance between Jesus and the disciples increased. Mark informs us that the boat was in the middle of the sea and Jesus was alone on the land. Matthew and John in their parallel passage inform us that the sea began to be stirred up because of a strong wind and the boat was being battered by the crashing waves and the wind was against them. Here they were caught in another storm on the lake and Jesus was not with them this time. The fact that they were in the middle of the lake and not along the shoreline must mean that the wind had blown them off course.
As already noted, Jesus had stayed on the shore and had taken this opportunity to pray and commune with His Father. Even though the disciples were alone by themselves and several miles away, they were never out of reach of Jesus’ divine protection. In a clear demonstration of God omniscience, Jesus saw the disciples straining at the oars for the wind was against them. They were struggling to get back on course and to get to the other side. The Lord was fully aware of their situation and the predicament that they had found themselves in and He knew about it before it even happened and remained in control of the situation at every moment. Though Jesus was too far away to physically see the boat through the stormy darkness, He knew exactly where it was because the omniscience of God is unlimited in its scope and universal in its sight.
Seeing their struggle, Jesus set out to go to them about the fourth watch of the night. This was a Roman reckoning of time; they divided the night into four watches. The first watch was from six to nine; the second from nine to midnight; the third from midnight to three; and the fourth from three to six in the morning. So, between 3 am and 6 am Jesus went to them walking on the surface of the water. The language that Mark uses leaves no doubt as to what he is saying, the words mean that Jesus walked literally “on top of” the water. He was doing something no mortal is able to do. Then we read what might appear to be a bit strange, Mark writes that Jesus intended to pass by them. Jesus saw that the disciples were in trouble, straining so hard at the oars that they were in physical torment, and so He walks out to them on the sea and when He gets to where the boat is He intends to pass by them? Why would Jesus do this? I believe Jesus did this to give them a glimpse of His glory. Often God manifested Himself in the Old Testament in some form, we call this a theophany, a visible display of God’s glory. Like when God’s glory passed by Moses and God put Him in the cleft of the rock and covered him until He had passed by and then He allowed Moses to see His back. I believe this is what happened on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus manifested Himself as a theophany. For just a short time the glory of God burst through the shroud of the humanity of Jesus and was made manifest to the disciples. In the moment of their distress and exhaustion they looked up and saw the glory of God passing by, the glory of the Lord shining out of the Son of God. The disciples’ reaction to this was sheer terror, they thought they were seeing a ghost. They knew that what they saw walking on the water was not natural, but supernatural and they cried out in fear. The Lord Jesus did not allow the disciples terror to last. We read, “But immediately He spoke with them and said to them, ‘Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid.’ ” (Mark 6:50b, NASB95)[5] Jesus identified Himself and they recognized His voice. The phrase “it is I” could be literally translated “I AM.” One of the key features of the Gospel of John is Jesus repeated use of “I AM.” He gave Himself several titles, “I AM the bread of life,” “I AM the door,” “I AM the Good Shepherd,” and others. When a person says “I am” in Greek, it can be said in two ways. You can just say Eimi or Ego Eimi. In all the I AM statements in John, Jesus says Ego Eimi, this is an intensive form of I AM. This is also an expression that translates the indescribable name which God gave to Moses from the burning bush: I AM WHO I AM which is usually rendered as Yahweh in Hebrew. When Yahweh is translated into Greek it is by Ego Eimi. Mark’s Gospel also has an I AM statement. As Jesus passed by the disciples’ boat, walking on the sea, He said to them, “Take courage; I AM, do not be afraid.” He said Ego Eimi, if there was any doubt that this was a theophany, Jesus’ use of the name of God, the personal name of God to identify Himself as He walked on the water removes all doubt.
Mark writes, “Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished,” (Mark 6:51, NASB95)[6] The disciples had seen Jesus walking on the water, they got a glimpse of His glory and now He instantaneously calmed a fierce wind. In the same instant, Jesus miraculously propelled the boat to its destination on the western shore. In the parallel passage in John 6:21 it says, “So they were willing to receive Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.” (John 6:21, NASB95)[7] One moment they were battling a storm in the middle of the lake, the next moment the wind and waves are calm, and the boat had arrived at the shore. Understandably, the disciples are shocked, the word translated “astonished” is a word that means “to be beside oneself.” These miracles, this glimpse of God’s glory blew their minds.
The parallel passage in Matthew 14:33 tells us that their astonishment turned to worship, Matthew writes, “And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, ‘You are certainly God’s Son!’ ” (Matthew 14:33, NASB95)[8] They recognized that they were in the presence of the Creator, the One who created and controls the winds and the waves. In their worship, the disciples’ astonishment surpassed the mere fascination of the crowds. Many people were amazed by Jesus, but few worshiped Him. This was the impetus that was needed for the disciples to begin to understand the truth that His miracles had pointed to all along: that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God. This recognition and understanding drove them to their knees and they expressed what they now knew to be true, “You are certainly God’s Son!”
Worship should have been the response of the disciples earlier when Jesus miraculously fed the thousands. But instead of worship, instead of falling before Him in reverence, they allowed themselves to get caught up in the enthusiasm of the crowd. Jesus appearance on the water, and the manifestation of His glory was necessary in order to strengthen their faith, because as Mark writes, “for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened.” (Mark 6:52, NASB95)[9] Due to their own spiritual dullness or hardness, the disciples had missed the true significance of the earlier display of creative power when Jesus fed the people. Now on the other side, safe on the shore in the presence of their almighty Savior, they were convinced that He was the Son of God, and they fell on their knees in adoration and praise. Because of what they had experienced, when Jesus asked them later that day if they also wanted to go away, Peter could declare, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:68–69, NASB95)[10]
POWERFUL PHYSCIAN TO THE MASSES (Mark 6:53-56)
Mark begins to wrap up this chapter by stating that when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret, and moored to the shore. Gennesaret was the name of another fishing village on the shore of Galilee, but it was also the name of a plain that stretched out to the southwest of Capernaum. John 6:17 indicates that the disciples were crossing the lake going to Capernaum, yet they landed southwest of Capernaum at Gennesaret. Though the disciples had set off to go to Capernaum, the storm they had encountered pushed them south and the Lord supernaturally and instantaneously placed their boat at Gennesaret. Storm or no storm, Jesus placed them exactly where He wanted them to be. They could easily walk to Capernaum after they got out of the boat. Capernaum was their ultimate destination, and it was there, in the synagogue, that Jesus preached His sermon on the bread of life that is recorded for us in the Gospel of John 6.
Once on the shore the people recognized who He was and ran about the whole country and began to bring the sick on their pallets, taking them to wherever they heard He was. As the Lord and His disciples walked from Gennesaret to Capernaum, Jesus continued to show compassion by healing the sick who were brought to Him. Arriving in Capernaum, Mark does not tell us what transpired there, but John picks up the history there and Jesus preaches in the synagogue and that is when the crowds begin to fall away and reject Him.
Mark in the final verse of this chapter zooms out and gives us a final summary of Jesus ministry in Galilee. Mark writes, “Wherever He entered villages, or cities, or countryside, they were laying the sick in the market places, and imploring Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were being cured.” (Mark 6:56, NASB95)[11] Wherever Jesus went He compassionately and mercifully healed the sick who came to Him. His healing power had no limits and His loving compassion for the people no boundaries. His ministry was marked throughout Galilee by His always caring for those who sought Him. Like the woman healed of the hemorrhage of blood, the people begged just to touch the fringe of His cloak, and all who did were healed. Jesus healed all who came to Him, or just touched His cloak and all of this was a demonstration of God’s great love and compassion for people.
CONCLUSION:
The account of Jesus walking on the water contains far more than a single miracle. First, it was preceded by the miraculous meal created for the thousands that had followed Him when He tried to go off to allow the disciples to rest. Second, Jesus omnisciently saw the disciples in the midst of the storm. Third, He suspended gravity and walked on the surface of the stormy sea. Fourth, as soon as He entered the boat the wind ceased, and the waves died down. Fifth, the boat was immediately transported to the shore. Finally, upon reaching the shore, Jesus began to heal the sick who were brought to Him.
Though many who experienced His miracles would never come to embrace Him in genuine saving faith, true believers, like the disciples, moved beyond mere amazement to the place of sincere worship. Overwhelmed by everything that took place in those two days, the disciples responded in worshipful recognition that their Master was the Son of God. What about you? What more evidence do you need to know, to understand that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the Son of God? This morning, we are going to celebrate the Lord’s Supper, this meal is a symbol that you belong to Jesus Christ, it is a testimony to everyone here that you have come to understand who Jesus Christ is, that He is the Son of God, who took on human flesh and blood to become our Savior. What better time to acknowledge this and repent of your sins and believe that Jesus Christ died for your sin was buried and on the third day rose from the dead triumphing forever over death, sin, and Satan. If you believe this then you are forgiven of your sin and made right in the sight of God and you have the promise of eternal life.
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[8]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[9]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[10]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[11]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.