(Mark 6:45-52)
After Jesus had fed the five thousand he dismissed the crowds and sent the disciples to cross the sea in the boat while he went up alone on the mountain to pray. When evening had come the boat was out at sea but was doing it hard. There was a strong wind against them and they were barely making any headway.
Jesus saw their difficulty and in about the fourth watch of the night, which would have been between midnight and 2:00 am, he came walking out to them on the sea. Jesus intended to pass them by, but they saw him coming and were greatly terrified thinking it was a ghost. But Jesus called to them not to be afraid, and he came into the boat with them. The seas were immediately calmed as the wind ceased and they made headway towards to opposite shore.
The disciples did not understand the miracle of the loaves when he fed the five thousand and they did not understand about Jesus walking on the water either. They did not understand that God, who could convert nothing into bread and fish to feed the five thousand, could also change the structure of water molecules enabling Jesus to walk on it, or change the molecular structure of Jesus so that he became light enough to stand on water. They did not understand the power of God over all things of this physical realm and that nothing is impossible to God.
We also get a good lesson out of this message too. For we see Jesus told the disciples they had nothing to fear. Likewise with the Lord we have nothing to fear either. Also when Jesus got into the boat all the storm and turbulence of the water ceased. In the same way when we invite Jesus into our life in times of troubles, the storms are calmed as he takes control of the situation. Finally we should understand that there is nothing outside the control of the Lord. The entire physical and spiritual realms are subject to him, so we need fear nothing nor be concerned about anything. We need only to remember his words, “I will never fail you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)
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Hi! I’m John, the owner, author, and editor of this site. Over the past 50+ years as a Christian I have been teaching, preaching and writing about the Bible to help Christians gain a deeper insight into the scriptures that are easily understood. I also answer specific Bible related questions, so feel free to contact me.
