How well do you know Jesus? The Holy Spirit inspired Mark’s Gospel so that you could grow in knowing him. Mark 6:45–52 unpacks, both for the disciples and for you, something of who Jesus is.
Trust the Lord who reveals himself to you. Appreciate the mystery of the Son of God praying. Herod and the people had wondered who Jesus was: a prophet? Elijah? John the Baptist raised to life? Mark moves on to describe the martyrdom of John without giving an answer. But he then describes the compassion of Jesus in feeding the 5,000, an echo of God’s wilderness provision for his people. The incident on the lake gives a further answer. Now he sends away his disciples (he is going to pray alone). He dismisses the crowd. John’s fuller description of the even makes explicit the reasons only implied in Mark. The crowd is over 5,000 men — more than the adult male population of Capernaum. The crowd (would ‘mob” be the right word?), had run around the lake on foot to be near him (Mark 6:32), and were like sheep without a shepherd. It would not take much to stir up the crowd to rebellion against Rome, or for it to try to force Jesus to be their king in that undertaking. Jesus is the King (and more than that), but his mission was a greater one than a guerrilla war for independence. He had come to die, but not for that cause. So he dismisses the crowd. Not only has Jesus’ activity in feeding the people shown his divinity, the theophany on the lake is about to underscore that. But Jesus, whom Mark introduced to you as the Son of God, needs to be alone to pray. He left, not just the crowd, but his disciples. He needs to be alone with his Father in heaven. (Take the time to be alone with God in prayer–and help make time for others to do so as well.) Mark presents us with Jesus praying at crucial points in his messianic work, 1:35 and 14:32. He is God himself, but he is doing the will of his Father. Appreciate the mystery of who Christ is as well as of what he does.
“Jesus was a man of constant prayer, and yet he also sought special times of fellowship with his Father, when the strategy of his life and ministry might be reviewed. We need to follow that pattern. We need to help others to do so as well. Not all mothers, for example, can send their little disciples away in order to have time alone with God! Not all husbands realize that their wives need such times, as they do themselves. At the very lowest level, our Lord’s example is an encouragement to build seasons of special communion with God into our lives, and to do what we can to help others do so as well.
Sinclair Ferguson, Let’s Study Mark, p. 96
Trust the Lord who reveals himself as the Lord of glory. The disciples, without Jesus, are in trouble again. They had been terrified of the storm in Mark 4, when Jesus was in the boat, but asleep. Although the terror here is not until after Jesus comes to them, Mark describes the struggling of the disciples to row the boat against the strong wind. It is late at night (the fourth watch is the 3–6 a.m. period), the disciples are in the middle of the lake and Jesus praying on the shore, but he sees his disciples and their struggle. And so Jesus goes to them, walking on the water. Some critics have suggested that Jesus was walking on a sandbar that was covered with a few inches of water, and the disciples mistakenly believed he was walking on water. Remember that at last four of the disciples had earned their living fishing on that lake prior to following Jesus. They knew the lake and its shallow and deep parts. I’m strongly inclined to take the word of the men in the boat, rather than the skeptics whose nautical abilities come from the books they write! “He was about to pass by them” seems a bit strange. But put yourself in the boat with Peter, who likely told this in Mark’s presence: we saw this figure coming towards us, and it seemed about to pass us by, when we realized it was walking on the water, and we were terrified! (Matthew gives more detail, including Peter briefly joining Jesus in walking on the water.) The fear in part is because they thought they saw some kind of apparition, a ghostly figure.
The Lord passing by echoes the language of Old Testament theophanies: Exodus 33:19, 22; 1 Kings 19:11; and especially in connection with the sea, Job 9:8 & 11. Jesus comes, but he doesn’t abandon the disciples. He enters the boat, and immediately there is calm. Jesus is the ultimate theophany. He comes as God himself to reassure the disciples, to be present with them. He continues to come to you and to give himself to you.
“In this instance the divine appearance occurred for the very purpose of being seen. In wonderful fashion Jesus put his authority at the disposal for the disciples and passed by to assure them of his presence with them.”
William L. Lane, The Gospel According to Mark, NICNT, p. 236
Just who is this one who comes to his disciples in this strange way? Recognize your merciful Redeemer. Jesus identifies himself with “I am.” The disciples are terrified, thinking they see a spirit. Jesus reassures them, identifying himself. On one level this is simply self-identification: “It is I.” The compassion of Jesus is explicit in verse 34, and it is seen in his actions in verses 53–56. Jesus echoes the language of the Lord’s self-identification, Exodus 3:14ff. The presence of the Lord is what you need: Psalm 118:5ff; Isaiah 41:4ff. Mark’s account of Jesus’ actions include elements found in Old Testament theophanies: some kind of appearance of the Lord, terror on the part of those who witness it, and God’s self-identification, togther, frequently, with assurance.
“Jesus had identified himself with words which must have sounded like an echo in the ears of the disciples: ‘It is I,’ or ‘I am he,’ “Do not fear.’ Where had hey heard these words before? Later they would remember that this was the way the Lord characteristically introduced himself to his needy people in the Old Testament. He was “I Am,’ the Lord who banished his people’s fears.”
Sinclair Ferguson, Let’s Study Mark, p. 97
Trust your Redeemer. The disciples were amazed. Mark is emphasizing that even the disciples, those closest to Jesus, failed to recognize who he was. The expression, “their hearts were hardened” is a strong one, especially as it picks up the language of Isaiah 6:9–10, another theophany. Mark identifies their failure as not recognizing the significance of the miracle of the loaves and fish. Jesus had revealed himself there as the complete provider for the needs of his people, with the setting and circumstances reflecting the Exodus. Against that background they should have been in a position to understand that their God would meet all of their needs–and that he was the One walking on the water to them. Pointing out the hardened hearts of the disciples (at this point) summons you to a contrasting response. Jesus reveals himself as the Lord of all creation. He stilled the storm, he cast out demons, he proclaimed (and sent his disciples to proclaim) the good news, he fed the 5,000, he saw through the darkness and distance the needs of his followers, and in the following context continues to perform miracles that roll back the curse on sin. Mark is presenting you with the sovereign Redeemer, who would not only work miracles, but offer himself as the sacrifice for your sins. He would redeem his people, including every aspect of their lives. The contrasting response to the disciples is reverent trust. Mark calls you to trust him.
Your God has come near to you in Jesus Christ. He summons you to believe, to trust him, and to live in faithful obedience to him.