Mark: From Fear to Faith
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From Fear to Faith; Jesus Walks on Water
Text:
Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After he said good-bye to them, he went away to the mountain to pray.
Well into the night, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and he was alone on the land. He saw them straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Very early in the morning he came toward them walking on the sea and wanted to pass by them.
When they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out, because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke with them and said, “Have courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
Then he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. They were completely astounded, because they had not understood about the loaves. Instead, their hearts were hardened.
When they had crossed over, they came to shore at Gennesaret and anchored there.
As they got out of the boat, people immediately recognized him. They hurried throughout that region and began to carry the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was.
Wherever he went, into villages, towns, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch just the end of his robe. And everyone who touched it was healed.
Thesis: If we do not grasp who Jesus truly is, we will never be able to move beyond our fear and in to faith.
Intro: (I hope you’ll forgive me, this morning, as I will spend a little more time than usual on this introduction)
The events of this passage only occur in Mark and John, Matthew also includes the story, but adds in that Peter got out of the boat and walked with Jesus on the water.
It’s not really clear why Mark, who likely got the bulk of his information from Peter, didn’t include that aspect of the story - perhaps Peter was ashamed, but most likely, he did not want the focus on himself.
John also does not include the story of Peter walking on the water, likely because - like Peter - he wanted the attention on Jesus and not someone else in the narrative.
But what we have been seeing take place in our text is that Jesus is now beginning to unveil, more and more, His divinity. And more and more, His disciples are miss the point. Until this night on the sea...
His disciples are the only ones who witness all of this - the 12 are the only ones who experience this night on the sea.
The next morning, John records that the crowd that had eaten the bread and the fish come back, and they realize Jesus is gone, but they knew he didn’t get in the boat with the disciples, so they don’t know where he is.
So they hitch a ride with some boats from Tiberias and go to Capernaum to look for him. They meet up with Jesus and they say, “Hey, when did you get here?” (John 6:25) but Jesus’ reply begins as a rebuke of them.
He basically tells them, “You don’t want me, you wanted breakfast. You thought since I made all that bread I’d feed you more bread.”
His exact words, John tells us goes like this:
Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Don’t work for the food that perishes but for the food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set his seal of approval on him.”
They think he means they can perform miracles, so they say John 6:28 ““What can we do to perform the works of God?”
So Jesus clarifies when he replies, “This is the work of God - that you believe in the one he has sent.” (John 6:29)
They don’t think that’s enough, they begin saying, “What other miracles are you going to perform, what other thing can you do? Will you send manna down from heaven like Moses did?” (Because they’re probably still hoping for some breakfast)
And Jesus tells them, “I am that manna from heaven, I’m the bread of life! And unless someone has me in their life” - he speaks metaphorically, saying they need to eat this bread, eat his flesh and drink his blood - “then if you don’t do that, you’re not going to have eternal life.” (John 6:43-58)
Ultimately, many of his disciples - not just his followers, disciples - turn back and no longer follow him. Not the 12, but many of the rest of them.
And this is the point of John’s text and the point of our text today in Mark: If we do not grasp who Jesus truly is, we will never be able to move beyond our fear and in to faith.
If we don’t get who Jesus is, we never move beyond our fear and into faith. So who is Jesus?
Jesus is our Redeemer
Jesus is our Redeemer
Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After he said good-bye to them, he went away to the mountain to pray.
He made them go so as not to be a part of the revolution, Jesus understood that the 12 disciples were weak.
They’re already tired, they’ve not gotten the rest they had intended to get because the crowds kept coming to Jesus. They’ve been working with the people, feeding them, so Jesus makes them get into the boat and go.
In fact, the word “made” is the Greek word “anakasen” (ηναγκασεν), which means he forced them to go, he ordered them, He strongly urged them to leave.
Why? Because John tells us, after feeding the 5,000, the crowd wants to make Him King and rebel against Rome.
When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, “This truly is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” Therefore, when Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
The disciples would have been tempted by this. They’d expected this for 2 years. Now they’ve got an army of 5,000 men, freshly fed and ready to rumble.
Judas, of all people, would have been chomping at the bit to get that party started, so Jesus, knowing this, sends his disciples away - “Go on, get out of here, we’re not doing this”, and He dismissed the crowd.
We often think of Jesus as our Redeemer because He saves us from our past sin, that He redeems us in our sin, but Jesus also saves us from sins we might commit - He keeps us from sinning.
That’s what a Redeemer would do - Saving us from sins we might yet commit so that we do not commit them.
You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of people.
Jesus redeems the disciples by keeping them from taking part in a potential riot.
Jesus instructed us to pray Matthew 6:13 “And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”
He’s not going to lead us to sin, but keep us from it - that’s one of the qualities of Him as our Redeemer. James reiterates this:
No one undergoing a trial should say, “I am being tempted by God,” since God is not tempted by evil, and he himself doesn’t tempt anyone.
So He is redeeming the disciples here - in that He is keeping them from sin by sending them off.
Now, if you notice in the text, He tells them to go to the other side, to Bethsaida - and I said last week, that Luke (Luke 9:10) made it clear they were already at Bethsaida. So how does that work?
It’s likely there were two regions known as Bethsaida - Bethsaida Galilee and Bethsaida Julius was the area with a range of mountainous hills that had steep slopes, with the tops being nice plateaus - perfect for “going up the mountain to pray”.
And the disciples would have likely headed to Bethsaida Galilee, which was farther south than Gennesaret where they’ll ultimately end up.
Of course, we’ve seen Jesus go up a mountain to pray already in Mark’s Gospel - He’d gone up a mountain when he called the disciples (Mark 3:13), and Jesus does this because this is what prophets do.
Moses goes up Mount Horeb when he first speaks to God through the burning bush (Exodus 3:1); Elijah goes to Mount Horeb as well in 1 Kings 19 (v. 8).
They go to get alone with God and that’s what we see Jesus doing here. Because He isn’t just “a” prophet, He is the Prophet.
So He goes up the mountain to pray. Then...
Well into the night, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and he was alone on the land. He saw them straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Very early in the morning he came toward them walking on the sea and wanted to pass by them.
The ship is in the middle of the sea - and this gives us some idea as to how strong the winds must have been. This is a fishing boat, at the most it was really designed and built to stay closer to the shower, within a couple miles of it. But our text says it’s been tossed out into the “middle of the sea”.
The disciples are struggling. Even from the shore, Jesus can see them - which alone tells us He had amazing eyesight - able to see them a few miles away, in the dark? Sure, the moon may have been out, and it might have been a clear night, but still...
Still He sees their straining. (βασανιζομενους) He saw their basanizo-menous - It’s a word used for torture, or torment. Here it literally means He saw their “harassment in rowing”.
A lot gets made about this - this can quickly become one of those motivational, good speeches, “God sees your struggle, God sees you being harassed, God sees your pain and your torment”, and you know what? He does.
But Jesus knew they were going to struggle, Jesus knew they were going to have that torment, that harassment the minute He sent them out without Him in the boat.
Jesus knew you were going to have struggles in this life, He knows you’ll be harassed, tormented, suffer pain and heartache.
Yet Jesus lets the disciples struggle anyway. He doesn’t rush in to make everything better.
They’ve been doing this for some time, He sent them away around sundown and now it’s “about the 4th watch” that means it’s almost 3 AM and the disciples still haven’t reached their destination.
It is then Jesus places His foot upon the surface of the water and begins to walk. With the intent to pass by.
He doesn’t do this because He doesn’t care - He doesn’t intend to pass them by and leave them as they are. Don’t misunderstand this. The words used for when Jesus is going to “pass by” are the same Greek words used in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, for when God passes by.
In Exodus 33, Moses says, “Show me your glory!” and God says, okay, but you can’t see my face.
The Lord said, “Here is a place near me. You are to stand on the rock, and when my glory passes by, I will put you in the crevice of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by.
Moses was a tortured man, Moses was a man who had been harassed by the people, and in the midst of all of his struggles, He said “GOD SHOW ME YOUR GLORY,” and God passes by.
Elijah, when he has been threatened by the evil queen Jezebel, he’s a fugitive on the run, and God says, Elijah, what’re you doing here? (1 Kings 19:9)
And Elijah says, “God I’ve done all I can, I’m the only one standing for You, and I’m tired, I’m done. I just wish you’d take my life because I can’t do it anymore,”
1 Kings 19:11 “Then he said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the Lord’s presence.” At that moment, the Lord passed by.”
I want to tell you something, God doesn’t always fix your problems, God doesn’t always heal the sickness, God doesn’t always calm the storm, but when you cry out to Him, He is faithful to pass by and a glimpse of His glory is all we need.
That glimpse can sustain you, it can refuel you, it can retool you, because Christ has Redeemed you, with His blood upon the cross, with that empty tomb, and who He is inside you is greater than the world around you.
No words of people can trouble you, no pain of this earth can shake you, no demon from hell can touch you, because you belong the God who merely has to pass by and the light of Jesus Christ eliminates the darkness of this life.
Most of you know me, you know I don’t say this for hype and for amens, but some of us need to remember who we are in Christ, and who Christ is in us.
He did not call you to be tossed by the winds, He’s made you a warrior and
Psalm 144:1 “Blessed be the Lord, my rock who trains my hands for battle and my fingers for warfare.”
If you are in Christ, you are an heir of the King, an adopted Son or Daughter of the Lord of Hosts (Galatians 4:7), and when the world keeps pushing you back, you stand your ground with your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace (Ephesians 6:15), and you stand your ground.
If we do not grasp who Jesus truly is, if we don’t grasp the glory and the power He holds, if He is not our Redeemer, we will never be able to move beyond our fear and in to faith.
Jesus is our Rescuer
Jesus is our Rescuer
When they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out, because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke with them and said, “Have courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
Mark makes it clear - despite how some people in history have tried to remove the miraculous from this story - Jesus is not on a sand bar, He is not walking on some very thin ice (the grass was green, if you remember last week, and the weather is likely warm), and he’s not wading through shallow water, either.
Jesus is walking on the sea, and the disciples, in fear, see Him as a ghost, or a phantom.
Now we can’t blame them too much, I’d probably drive off the road if I was going 75 miles an hour down the interstate and looked out my window and saw someone running alongside my car - and that’s basically the equivalent of what’s taking place here.
Notice Jesus’ words to their reaction. “Have courage!”
Later in Mark 10:49 when Jesus goes to heal Blind Bartimaeus, “Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called the blind man and said to him, “Have courage! Get up; he’s calling for you.””
Have courage! Maybe you need to hear the words of Jesus telling you, today, HAVE COURAGE!
He told His disciples,
I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.”
Then Jesus says, “It is I.” The Greek “ego eimi” (εγω ειμι) is the same phrase used in the Septuagint, which in Hebrew is “ani hu”, or “I AM.”
In other words, Jesus is literally telling them here - there’s no way around it - Jesus is saying, “TAKE COURAGE, I AM GOD.”
It’s the same phrase God told Moses in Exodus 3, Moses was trying to get out of going to Egypt, giving God excuses, and he says, “God, I don’t even know your name, how can I tell Israel you’ve sent me?”
God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.”
God will reiterate that again in Isaiah 41:4 “Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I am the Lord, the first and with the last—I am he.””
and again in Isaiah 43:10-11 ““You are my witnesses”— this is the Lord’s declaration— “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. No god was formed before me, and there will be none after me. I—I am the Lord. Besides me, there is no Savior.”
I bring up Isaiah 43 because earlier in that chapter, just as Jesus told the disciples, “Don’t be afraid”, God says Isaiah 43:1 “Now this is what the Lord says— the one who created you, Jacob, and the one who formed you, Israel— “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are mine.”
He will go on and say Isaiah 43:5 “Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, and gather you from the west.”
The point Jesus is making to the disciples here can not be understated:
“The one who commands the winds and the waves is with you.”
But we read on...
Then he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. They were completely astounded, because they had not understood about the loaves. Instead, their hearts were hardened.
He got into the boat with them, and the wind stops.
Here, in Mark’s account, Jesus says nothing, in fact He does nothing but gets inside the boat, and all the chaos stops. Can there be any question as to who or what the Man is at this point?
Jesus had been walking on the water - as God walks on the Sea in the Old Testament.
He alone stretches out the heavens
and treads on the waves of the sea.
Your way went through the sea
and your path through the vast water,
but your footprints were unseen.
You tread the sea with your horses,
stirring up the vast water.
The idea of the sea is that of chaos - any time the Bible talks about the Sea, unless specified otherwise, it typically is referring to the Mediterranean, and it represents chaos and terror.
There’s no guarantee you’ll survive the sea, yet God walks on it as if it’s pavement, and He walks alongside the Disciple’s boat, and He gets inside the boat, and the chaos of the sea calms under His power.
Jesus rescues the disciples from the chaos, just as He rescues us. He is our calm in the storm.
Mark tells us the disciples were astounded, the Greek is “lian ekperisson en eautois existanto kai ethaumazo” (λιαν εκπερισσου εν εαυτοις εξισταντο και εθαυμαζον) which if taken word for word into the English would mean “They excessively in themselves were amazed and marveled.”
This was something they weren’t going to get past, this shocks them! They are so greatly amazed at what just happened, but...
But, because they didn’t understand the significance of what just happened with the crowd of 5,000. They didn’t get it because their hearts were hardened.
The hardness of heart alludes to more than dullness of mind, by the way. It’s not just that they didn’t get it, it’s not just that they missed the point, they didn’t want to.
When we see hardened hearts within Scripture, it’s often associated with rebellion:
Paul, speaking of unrepentant Gentiles says:
They are darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them and because of the hardness of their hearts.
The writer of Hebrews (Quoting Psalm 95) says,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
on the day of testing in the wilderness,
The disciples’ hearts were hardened, whether it was from selfish ambition, lack of sleep, frustration with the weather, we’re not told, but something put rebellion within their hearts that night.
Yet Jesus is still there to rescue them, He is still there to calm the storm.
There may very well be a storm in your life, and you’re like the disciples, you’re rowing, and rowing, and you’re pushing against it, but God is passing by, and His glory is visible, and whether the storm is calmed or not, it is time to let Him in your boat.
Let Him in your life. The storm may not stop, but you’ll have Him with you inside the storm.
But the sad fact is some people don’t want to be rescued, some people get too much attention from their storm, they like the pity, they like the drama, they like the chaos.
They’ll never let Christ in, because they think they’re fine.
And they’ll crash, and they’ll drown. Because of the hardness of their own hearts.
When it all comes down to it, there are two types of people in this life: Those who have Jesus, and those who rebel against Him. That’s it.
Black, white, asian, latino, male, female, tall, fat, skinny, short. No. You’re either someone who has called out to God, repented of your sins, and followed Christ, or you’re on a path to hell. Period. There is no in-between.
If we do not grasp who Jesus truly is, if He is not our Rescuer, we will never be able to move beyond our fear and in to faith.
Jesus is Our Restorer
Jesus is Our Restorer
When they had crossed over, they came to shore at Gennesaret and anchored there.
This passage is short, but it gives us some incredible insight into what’s taken place. The wind had not only carried the boat out into the middle of the sea - taking away the possibility of swimming to shore in the event a real disaster hit - the wind has also knocked them off course.
In fact, they’re likely about 5-10 miles farther north than they had originally intended.
This happens to us, doesn’t it? We’re on our course, we have our destination in mind, our plans, our goals, only to be taken completely off course.
I mean, Gennesaret isn’t even really a town, it’s just a strip of land between Tiberias and Capernaum. They basically are now anchored in the wrong place.
I can relate to that. If I can get a little personal this morning with you...
Living in Bismarck for two years, living on Indianapolis West Side for 8 and a half years, never really fitting in outside of work, never really having friends in the city. I think the only reason I felt comfortable in Valley City is because half the time I lived there God was preparing me to come here.
It’s funny, kind of, because in all the other place Jennifer and I lived since we left college, the people who wanted to hang out with me, I feel like I stick out like a sore thumb when I’m with them.
In Indianapolis I’d be the only white guy at the dinner table, in Bismarck the only guy not enjoying the hockey game. By the time we got to Valley City, I mostly kept to myself and would hide out at the gym.
I mean, you feel like an outsider quick. Not really my personality but felt driven to that.
But I said to Jennifer a few days before I even had read through this text, Lisbon’s the first place we’ve lived in a long time where it felt like we were home.
Yet in Indianpolis, Bismarck, Valley City, Christ was in the boat, He had his hands in the navigation. Maybe at times I drifted off course, but He always brought us back on track.
It does not matter how far off our course we go, as long as we have Christ with us for the journey, and by this time, the disciples do.
Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight.”
The disciples may have gotten off course, but Christ knew their path and He took them right where He wanted them.
As they got out of the boat, people immediately recognized him. They hurried throughout that region and began to carry the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was.
They immediately recognize Him. This is a callback to earlier in the chapter - something Pastor Calvin had preached.
Mark 6:14 “King Herod heard about it, because Jesus’s name had become well known.
Jesus had become well-known. He couldn’t hide, it wasn’t easy for Him to slip away like He did back chapter 1, after He healed Peter’s mother-in-law (Mark 1:35).
Those who see Him recognize Him and they run off to get everyone who is sick, everyone who is hurting, everyone in need and they run to Jesus.
Everyone whose life had been taken off course by illness, by pain, they come to Him and He heals their body but He teaches them, He loves them, He speaks to their truest need - the same message He’s preached since the beginning:
“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
These who come to Him, they’re also like sheep without a shepherd, but He is the Good Shepherd. And he will make their paths straight. He will restore them. He will help their lives get back on track - if in no other way, spiritually they’ll be made right through Him.
Just as we are made right through Him, through His cross, before God.
Wherever he went, into villages, towns, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch just the end of his robe. And everyone who touched it was healed.
There’s an area of these towns and villages called the Agora, and it was a popular place in the 1st Century. It was this public area where news was traded, goods were sold, politics were discussed, and even speeches were given.
When Jesus wasn’t in the village synagogue, chances are he could be found in the Agora, and the people would meet Him there.
He’s now about 2 years into His earthly ministry, His reputation has spread...
In fact, the people know now that if they could just touch the end of His robe they could be healed - where have we heard that before?
Having heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his clothing.
For she said, “If I just touch his clothes, I’ll be made well.”
The woman with the issue of blood - that story has made the rounds.
And I imagine as they dragged people on mats, they recall the story of a man whose friends lowered him down to Jesus through a roof, on his mat, and Jesus told him that all his sins were forgiven.
Only God can do that. Doctors, medications, even pagan practices can sometimes heal people, but only God can restore us from the consequences of our sins.
Jesus is our Restorer, and He will prove it, when He lays down His life as an atonement for our rebellion, for our sin.
It was Ambrose of Milan who wrote in the 300’s, “The Lord of hosts was not signaling weakness as he gave sight to the blind, made the crooked to stand upright, raised the dead to life, anticipated the effects of medicine at our prayers, and cured those who sought after him. Those who merely touched the fringe of his robe were healed. Surely you did not think it was some divine weakness, you speculators, when you saw him wounded. Indeed there were wounds that pierced his body, but they did not demonstrate weakness but strength. For from these wounds flowed life to all, from the One who was the life of all.”
Christ is our Restorer - what sin and shame has taken from our lives, He freely gives us something better - Himself.
If we do not grasp who Jesus truly is, if He is not our Restorer, we will never be able to move beyond our fear and in to faith, we will never turn our confusion to confession, and we will never be able to turn our worry into worship.
Conclusion:
I’m going to move to close but I just want to end with this.
There are so many who want Jesus for the wrong reasons, they want to feel good, they want their treasures on earth not the treasures stored up in heaven.
As Christians, we do not live for this world, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t a part of this world. We have to live here.
Like in that one superhero movie, the guy says, “Why do you care if someone blows up this planet?” and the hero says, “I don’t know, maybe because that’s where I keep all my stuff?”
While we are here, sometimes it gets messy. It becomes chaos. We push against the wind and the waves, and if we aren’t careful, we’ll miss it when God passes by and we will miss out on a glimpse of His glory.
He’s doing something in the middle of the wind, in all the waves, and He’s right there, let Him in the boat. Let him lead, let him make the paths straight.
If we do not grasp who He is we will miss out on all He has to offer us - love, joy, peace, patience, the list goes on.
Is He your Redeemer, your Rescuer, your Restorer?
Or will you keep fighting the waves?
Pray