A Surprising Answer
Opening Prayer
Lord, You are the end of my beginnings, the Lord of time. Thank You for the gift of time You have given me.
Read MARK 6:45–56
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
“Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness” (Psa. 96:9). As you come into God’s presence today, make sure that you come to worship truly.
Think Further
The disciples are once again in a boat. The last time Mark told a story of the disciples in a boat, they were battling against a storm that Jesus calmed with a word, leaving them with the question, “Who is this?” (Mark 4:41). Today’s story provides the answer.
Jesus approaches the disciples by walking on the water. The Old Testament suggests that this is something only God can do (e.g., Job 9:8; Psa. 77:19). To reinforce this point, Jesus goes “to pass by them” (48), but why? By using language similar to that used of God’s appearance to Moses and Elijah (Exod. 33:19–23; 34:6; 1 Kgs. 19:11), Mark is telling us that Jesus, in revealing himself to his disciples as the “One who passes by,” is revealing himself as God. Instead of being reassured, however, they respond with fear. In recognizing this, Jesus speaks to them in words that reinforce his divinity. The phrase “It is I” (50), literally “I am,” is the name by which God made himself known to the people of Israel (Exod. 3:14), indicating that the disciples and we, as readers, need to recognize that the one who has fed his people and who comes to his disciples walking on the water is truly God himself. This is the answer to the disciples’
question.
The disciples don’t understand the answer, however, because they cannot understand that the miracle they had witnessed in the feeding was not about the bread but about the person of Jesus (54). Their hearts and minds are closed at this point, and they cannot perceive him truly. Perhaps the disciples have an excuse. We do not. As we read this account we are called to recognize Jesus’ self-revelation and to respond in the only way one can in the presence of
God: we are called to worship.
Apply
When Christ goes “to pass by” you, how do you handle it? Do you think that God has abandoned you, or do you recognize that the one who comes in this way is God himself?
Closing prayer
Lord, help me to discern when You are drawing near to me. Perhaps when I sense that You are passing me by is a call for me to trust You more fully.
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