After the miraculous
feeding of the multitude, Jesus “made his disciples
get into the boat and go ahead of him to Bethsaida, on the other side of the
lake, while he sent the crowd away” (Mark 6:45, GNB). I wonder, what was the reason behind this sudden
decision? Apostle John gives the answer: Jesus wants to avoid the people who
intended to take him by force and make him a king (John 6:15). Jesus is not
like any other religious leaders. We cannot
“make” him a King, he “is” the King. The people’s idea of Jesus is totally
wrong because they were desperate and need king to overthrown the Roman
government, a political and military leader king. But that is not what Jesus
came to do. So Jesus hurried his disciples away to prevent them from being
influenced by this mistaken enthusiasm. I think if Jesus “went away to a hill to pray” (6:46), withdrew himself
for an extended time of solitary prayer was an indication of how seriously he
viewed the situation.
“When evening came, the boat
was in the middle of the lake, while Jesus was alone on land. He saw that his
disciples were straining at the oars, because they were rowing against the
wind; so sometime between three and six o'clock in the morning he came to them,
walking on the water. He was going to pass them by, but they saw him walking on
the water. “It's a ghost!” they
thought, and screamed. They were all terrified when they saw him” (Mark
6:47-50, GNB)
When you read Mark chapter
1 to 6, just six chapters, you’ll noticed that Jesus is showing his power and authority
over the evil spirits and demons, over sicknesses and diseases, over the
Sabbath and religious rules, over life and death, and over the nature – waves
and storms – and particularly here, over the sea. All of these supernatural power reveals Jesus’ divine identity, his
Lordship. I read, for the Jews (as most ancient peoples), the sea was
considered to be the dwelling place of demons. Plus, some of the commentators
writes that there was a local rumour that the last thing a boatman saw before
drowning in the lake Galilee was a ghost on the water. Now I know that when the
disciples ran into a storm and saw something or rather someone walking on the
water, they screamed, “It’s a ghost!”
I once watched a video on
how Criss Angel, the Mindfreak
magician, demonstrates his ability to walk on water. It was amazing. But magic
is magic, no matter how amazing it is, it can be explain. Of course he didn't
literally walk on water. I then watched another video of Val Valentino, the Masked Magician, performing his own version
of walk-on-water illusion and explaining it at the end. He used plexiglass. Jesus
walks on the water. How to explain this away? That Jesus also used plexiglass?
Funny. Ha ha. That Jesus actually walked on ice? Nonsense. That Jesus was
simply walking by the seashore, it was dark and the disciples mistook him to be
actually walk on water? Now, the disciples are slow in learning but they are
not stupid. They were terrified, remember? (If Jesus walks by the seashore, why
would they be terrified?). Thus, Jesus
is walking on water.
“Jesus spoke to them at
once, ‘Courage!’ he said. ‘It is I. Don't be afraid!’ Then he got
into the boat with them, and the wind died down” (Mark 6:50-51). The lesson
in Mark 4:35-41 relearned again here. The disciples’ terror here shows their
lack of faith. Once more Jesus had to rescue them when their faith failed. They
have seen Jesus commanded the wind and the storm, now they saw Jesus trampled
the sea underfoot. They have heard Jesus’ questions “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” (4:40), now they listened
to Jesus’ assurance statement, “Courage! It is I.
Don’t be afraid!” They were “completely amazed, because
they had not understood the real meaning of the feeding of the 5,000; their
minds could not grasp it” (Mark 6:50-51), now If they do, they
wouldn’t have been so amazed at Jesus walking on the water and calming the
wind.
Here are some questions for us today:
Jesus is
King, but is he the King and Lord of
your life?
Jesus have
power and authority over everything, have
you entrusted your life to him?
Jesus is the Lord of Miracle not a magician,
are there any ‘storms’ in your life that you want
Jesus to calm down?
Jesus is God, do you need more courage and faith to face trials
and temptations in your life?
Jesus feed
the five thousand, walk on water and calming the wind,
do you still don’t understand His divinity as the Son
of God?
THINK BIG.
START SMALL. GO DEEP.
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