Mark 6 (Part 3)

I want to start by reading in verse 45, and I'm going to read through verse 52. You can follow along with me. And then we're going to pray and then I will cover the last few verses of the chapter as well. But this is the part that I really want you to focus on here this morning. Beginning in verse 45, it says,

I'm going to have you stop there and let's pray. Holy Spirit, we invite You as always, to speak to our hearts. To minister grace and insight. To guide us and direct us, LORD God, in the study of Your Word. And really help us, Jesus, to apply the things that we see here in this passage. And we ask it in the name of Christ, our Savior, amen. As we get into this last section here of Mark chapter 6, we find the disciples weathering yet another storm. This is the second one they've had to deal with now. And they were both probably equally as frightening. They were both on the Sea of Galilee, which is by the way, if you know a little bit of the geography of Israel, the Sea of Galilee is below sea level. And there are hills around it. And it is very subject to sudden, furious windstorms that come sweeping down onto the sea. And can kick up some great winds and swamp boats very easily.

Back in chapter 4, you'll remember they were in a similar storm. Jesus was asleep in the boat at that time. And you remember they went to Him and woke Him up and said, don't you even care that we're going to die? (Mark 4:38) And now we find them in the boat once again. Again, a storm comes up on the lake. Jesus is not there this time but He put them there. I want you to notice very carefully here in verse 45, look with me again. It says, "Immediately he made his disciples get in the boat..." Now, it's sort of an interesting phrase. And there's other dynamics that are going on here. But Jesus orchestrated His men getting into the boat. And I have to believe He knew that there was going to be a storm. I have to believe He knew that the wind was going to be coming up. And He was going to use it for His purposes. We'll talk about that. But it says very, very clearly here, He caused them to get into the boat. In the other story—in Mark chapter 4—we have the similar sort of situation where Jesus said to the guys, let's get in the boat. We're going to go out on the lake..., which they called the Sea of Galilee. And again, the storm came upon the lake. And I don't believe Jesus was caught off guard. I don't know what that does for your theology. But the essential conclusion that we come to is, that Jesus led them into this storm. I just want to let that sink in for a second. There are times... Because in the storms that we deal with in life... And this storm on the sea is a picture of the issues that we deal with, the problems, the challenges, the battles that we go through. You got to admit, some of them we cause ourselves because of our own bad choices; because of our disobedience to the Lord. Sometimes we can bring storms into our lives. Biblical example: Jonah. But there are also times when we are led into a storm by the Lord, who is the Master of the storm. And that's what we're going to look at here this morning. And hopefully we're going to learn some interesting things about why and what God is actually doing in the midst of that. Once again, we're told in verse 45, He made His disciples get in the boat and go before Him, to the other side to Bethsaida while He dismissed the crowd. What Mark doesn't tell us is why He dismissed the crowd. And abruptly sent His disciples off and then went up into the hills to pray. John actually is the one who tells us and gives us a little bit of the backstory on that. I'll put it on the screen for you from John 6:15. It says,

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And what had just happened, you'll remember in our last study, Jesus had fed the multitude with just a few loaves of bread and a few fish. And everybody knew that it was a miracle. And seeing that this miracle had taken place, the people were jazzed. And they got very excited about this Jesus guy. And there's all this talk buzzing around— this Messiah talk. And of course, the Jews believed that Messiah was primarily going to come and set them free from their political bondage. They thought, hey, It's not going to get any better than this. This man is quite obviously the one we've been waiting for. And we're going to declare him to be king, whether he wants to or not. Jesus sensed that that was all about to transpire. He quickly dismissed His disciples, and He went up into the hills Himself to spend some time in prayer. And it says in verse 47 that, "...when evening came, the boat was out on the sea,..." Now these couple of verses right here are going to give us a lot of information related to the battle that these men are about to face on the Sea of Galilee. And I think we're going to see a lot of real interesting insights about the battles that you and I face. And it tells us here that "he (Jesus) was alone on the land." Verse 48, "And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them." When I looked at these two verses, I saw three important things that I think relate to the difficulties that we face, the problems, the challenges, the battles that we go through in life. And I want to put these up on the screen here for you, so that you can get a... You can maybe, I don't know, use these in your own note taking. Any headway was PAINFUL Any headway was PAINFUL. But it says here, that when Jesus looked down from wherever he was praying and he saw the disciples out on the lake, He noticed that they were making headway, but only painfully. And they were straining against the wind and the waves, And they were barely getting anywhere. They're working hard and barely getting anywhere. Can you relate? And what's interesting about this word, painful, or painfully, I actually looked it up in the Greek. And it goes far beyond describing the muscular strain that these men were experiencing by trying to control this boat while they were being tossed and turned on the lake. It actually, goes on to speak of mental distress and anxiety. And I think we can all relate to that, particularly when we're going through battles, and challenges, and persecutions, and problems, and tribulations, and the mental anxiety that goes along with that. Some of you are struggling in your family; some of you in your marriages, some in other places related to your home - your business, perhaps. Or, could be even just something in your own heart that's just so unsettled. And you know that there's a battle going on. And it feels like, you take one step forward and three steps back. And even when you do take a step forward, it's at great pain and there's distress and anxiety that goes along with it. This is very... This is the caricature, if you will, of many of the problems that we struggle with. Any headway was PAINFUL The wind was against them The second thing that's really interesting from this is, when it tells us that "the wind was against them." And the Old King James says that "the wind was contrary to them." But this is another interesting word in the original Greek. When I looked it up, I found that it means hostile opposition. Isn't that interesting? It's almost like it was a hostile opposition to them getting where they were intending to go. They were trying to get where they wanted to go to land safely. But the wind was in a hostile position of opposition against them. And again, I think we can relate when we're going through some real, severe, challenges in our lives. We find that we're just being opposed, it seems, at every turn. And there's a sense of hostility. And we just can't seem to rise above it. And it's very discouraging sometimes. But in the midst of all of that, there's another very interesting point that we bring out from just these 2 verses. And it's our third point here. Any headway was PAINFUL The wind was against them Jesus was FULLY AWARE of their situation. ---

And that is that, Jesus was FULLY AWARE of their situation. It says that He could see from where he was praying, up in whatever hills, where they were. And if it was a full moon, it would have been easy to see. The Sea of Galilee is only like four miles across. And to see just to midsection—a couple of miles from a bird's eye spot up above, full moon, probably wouldn't have been hard at all. But how easy it is for us to forget when we're in the midst of those challenges, in the midst of those trials, in the midst of those battles, that in fact, Jesus sees. And He is aware. How quickly we forget. Okay, I'll admit it. How quickly I forget. I don't know about you, but I know about me. And when I'm going through a challenge in life, it feels like He doesn't care. It feels like God doesn't care. In fact, one of the things I love about the Psalms is they're so painfully honest. From Psalm 13.

How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? (That's the cry of an honest heart who is seriously in pain) How long will you hide your face from me? There are times when we're going through those painful situations when it just, it feels like God has just turned the other way. He isn't noticing. He isn't even aware of what's happening. He doesn't see our tears. He doesn't see our pain and the agony that we're going through. But that's the voice of man. It's an honest voice. But it's an incorrect one. Because the voice of God comes through at a time like this and it's somewhat different. There was a there was a passage... Well, you know what? Let me just go on to this passage in Matthew because this says it so beautifully. Jesus said

"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father. (Is that interesting to think about that? Not one sparrow falls to the ground without God being aware. And that's what that is basically saying to you and I) But (He says, listen to Me, when it comes to you) even the hairs of your head are all numbered. (And so don't be afraid He says,) Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than (a bird) many sparrows." That's the voice of God, when you and I begin to lose hope, when we begin to get discouraged, and when we begin to feel like God doesn't care. Or, at least He's not aware of what I'm enduring. Jesus says, oh yeah. Oh, let me tell you just how aware I am. Listen, your Heavenly Father doesn't even allow a bird to fall from a tree without His awareness. And how much more is He aware of what's going on in your life? You are His precious child. God said to the nation of Israel at one point, He said, forget you? Could a mother forget her child? And He said, even if that were possible, I cannot forget you. I will not forget you. (Isaiah 49:15) That's the heart of God speaking to His people. But like I said, it's very quick, or very easy for us rather, to quickly forget. And then in the middle of verse 48, I want you to notice too, it gives us a little bit of the timeframe, which kind of increases the intensity of the situation. Verse 48 says right about in the middle of the verse. "And about the fourth watch of the night..." Now, let me just explain very quickly. The fourth... They had the nighttime set up divided into watches because it was almost impossible for one person to stay up all night long and keep watch. They divided it up. And the fourth watch of the night was the last watch of the night. And that would occur sometime between 3 and 6 am. I believe that this is arguably the most difficult time of the night, when you've been up all night battling. And the reason is because at this point you are exhausted from no sleep. It's not quite dawn. It's just about dawn and you are at the height of your weariness from whatever battle you've been going through. And I want you to notice that it was during that very time when the weariness would have been the highest. I mean, they probably... I don't know if they can even see the shore from where they are. But they are continuing to battle against the wind and the waves that are just mercilessly pounding against this boat that they're in. And they're probably just praying for sunlight so they can begin to get some sort of a sense of where we're going to get to.

--- And it is at that point that I believe most difficult point, that the Bible tells us, it was then, "He came to them." And that's what it goes on to say in that verse. "He came to them,..." And I want you to notice those words right there. "He came to them,..." But I want you to also notice, He came "walking on the” water. Sometimes God just blows our minds. We pray for Him to meet our needs in very specific sorts of ways. And don't say you don't do, because you do. And I know you do, because I do, too. We basically, we tell God what to do. When we— particularly when we're in pain— we tell God exactly what we want Him to do. And this is the way we'd like You to do it. Thank you very much. And often, have you noticed, that He doesn't respond to our prayers in the way that we anticipate or the way that we ask. But that He comes many times in situations, or ways that just are completely off our radar. I don't think any of the disciples expected Jesus to come walking out to the boat on the water! Most of these guys are fishermen. They know what happens when you try to walk on water. Doesn't work! You sink. And this is just not an expected sort of a situation. And yet, here's the answer: Here's the Savior, Here's the Shepherd who's coming to take care of them at this very dire moment. And He comes to them walking on the water. It says in verse 49, that "When they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, (which of course just means a spirit) and they cried out," Here's these men— big men, with burly beards, and muscles from fishermen and stuff— and they're screaming like little girls out there on this boat; just freaking out! It says they "were terrified. But then Jesus spoke to them and (He) said, "Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid."” You almost got to wonder if God has a sense of humor. I mean, to come walking to them on the water, which is freaky enough. And then to say, "Don't be afraid." And He usually makes statements like that just after He's done something completely supernatural and unexpected. Like, He's suddenly in the room when the door's locked. And He's just there. And He says, don't be afraid. It's Me. (Luke 24:36-38) And now when they've been struggling all night long and are in fear of their very lives. Then they see this figure walking on the water, which scares them even further. And Jesus comes along and says, don't be afraid. I can tell you, I've had a couple of times in my life when I was so afraid, I tried to say something and couldn't. Have you ever been there? ---

I remember one time. Happened when I was a teenager and I won't tell you the circumstances. But I was... I just couldn't say anything because it was just sheer terror. And that's, I'm sure the way I would have been had I been one of those men. Now, what's interesting about this is, that even though Mark doesn't tell us about it, we know that Peter did speak. And he actually called out to Jesus. And actually, to read this, you got to go to Matthew's account. Which is interesting because Mark is considered to be Peter's account. Because Mark, is written by John Mark, who is an assistant of Peter, in his later years. And many people believe that John Mark's account, is actually Peter's telling of these events. Interesting that Peter left this part out from Matthew chapter 14,

And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you command me to come to you on the water.” Interesting language, huh? “…command me to come...” You can tell that Peter is saying, I see You have the authority, right? To walk on the water, now use that same authority to command me to also come out to You on the water. And Jesus responded by saying, "Come." What happens? Peter - he swings his legs over the side of the boat, he gets out and, lo and behold, he walks on the water. And he starts coming to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid. And beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me." (And) Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt. And when they got in the boat, the wind ceased." Great story you got to admit. I mean, this is one of those classic stories about Peter who usually said things when he shouldn't say something. But he speaks up. And as outlandish as it was for Jesus to be walking on the water, Peter asks for something equally as outlandish. And he says, let me come to you walking on the water. Jesus says, "Come." Come. And Peter, as you see in the passage... And this is not a small little fishing boat. This is a big, with tall sides... He has to get his legs up over the thing and shove off down onto the water. And he's walking on the water. Wow, what an amazing thing that would have been. And as we go on and read, we find out that something happened. It says, that "he saw the wind,..." Obviously, the huge waves that were breaking over the top of the side of this boat. And it tells us that he became afraid. And what happened? He began to sink. Well, there's no big, huge surprise here. We see what's going on. We see that as he took his eyes off Jesus, and he put them onto the wind and the waves, he lost faith. Then he began to sink. Now, praise God, he was smart enough to know what to say at that point, Jesus save me. "Lord save me." Right. And of course Jesus, will always respond positively to that. He is the Savior, after all. And He lifted him out, and so on and so forth. But there's such a powerful image here that we learn about. What we're looking at in the midst of our battles. Because battles come to all of us - hard, hard times, difficulties, challenges. And the question we all have to ask ourselves at that point is: What are you looking at? What do you have your eyes on? Because let me tell you something. Some of the things you put your eyes on are going to build up your faith. And other things you put your eyes on are going to deplete your faith. It's as simple as that. And we can see from this story that what caused Peter's faith to be depleted, was by taking his eyes off the Lord, and putting them on the threat that was in front of him. And the more he looked at that, the bigger it becomes, the more threatening it becomes, and the more he begins to sink. And you know what? We're going to do the same thing, you and I, if we take our eyes off the Lord and begin to put them on our problems. This is that same picture of the nation of Israel. They come through the wilderness, after being delivered from their bondage in Egypt; they get to Kadesh Barnea, where they set up camp, And they say, okay, we're going to go in. But before we do, we're going to send some spies into the land. They take these 40 guys and they send them into the land. And they come back after a period of time... Or however many it was; 12 spies I think, 40 days. I forget the numbers. I think it was 12 spies, 40 days. Right? It doesn't matter. They come back and they have nothing bad to say about the land. It's good land! It's just like God said, flowing with milk and honey, it's wonderful, fruitful. But there's a problem. There's giants in the land. And there's nothing we can do about it. And they're too strong for us. (Numbers 13:1-29) What's interesting is that all of those people heard all there was to hear about that land and how good it was. But the only thing that they remembered was there were giants in the land. And that's what they fixated on. And because of that, their hearts were filled with unbelief. And they had to turn around and go back out to the wilderness for about another 38 years until all those people dropped dead in the wilderness and their children were able to go in. (Numbers 14:31-32) What happened? They got their eyes on the giants. What's a giant to God? Right? Well, it depends. You sit there and look at the giant, and he gets big. I mean, he gets bigger as you look at him. Pretty soon, he's bigger than a Goliath type giant. He's like a mountain - insurmountable, nobody can move this thing kind of a giant. And there's nothing you can do about it. Why? Because that's all you've been focusing on. Many times when we pray with people, you can tell that, they're coming for prayer, but you can tell that the last, however long, they've been doing nothing but focusing on their problem. But when we begin to focus on Jesus as the solution to our problem, the answer to our problem, it begins to change our whole perspective. We begin to be build up in faith. And we begin to say, you know what? God is able. God can do this. I don't know how, I don't know when, but I know He's able. Because I've been keeping my eyes fixed on Him. Isn't that what we're told to do in the New Testament? Focus not on things below, but on things above. Set your heart, set your mind, set your eyes on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father. (Colossians 3:1-2) That's where the answer is going to be. If we focus and fixate on all of our issues and problems and concerns, they'll only get bigger. And we will find that our faith will be completely depleted after a short period of time. And pretty soon, we're just drowning. We're sinking and drowning. Verse 51, if you look in your text there, it goes on to say, "And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded,..." I can well imagine. What's interesting here is, once again, John gives us another insight to this very same event. Check this out from John 6:21. It says,

Then they were glad to take him into the boat, (I bet) and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. I mean, that's even weirder, practically... I mean, here's Jesus comes walking on the water. They go through the whole thing with Peter attempting, succeeding for a period of time, sinking, Jesus saves him. They get back in the boat. Not only does it immediately become calm, they're at their destination. They were out in the middle of the lake and now they're just there. Mind blown, right? I mean, just how crazy is that? And then Mark, notice this comment he makes in verse 52. "for they did not understand about the loaves but their hearts were hardened." And again, he's talking about what had happened just prior to this event. And that was Jesus fed the multitude miraculously with just a few loaves and a few fish. And it says here—Mark's comment—was that there was a hardness of heart that caused them to just not understand. They didn't get it. And they weren't connecting the dots properly. In other words, what they just saw, as amazing as it was, was really no different as far as the power of God is concerned, than the feeding of the multitude. Right? Now, it might not seem quite as miraculous. I mean, we know that it's miraculous. You take a few loaves of bread, a few fish, and it feeds everybody. And it's like, wow, how did that happen? And everybody knew that it was a miracle. But somehow, some way, that doesn't seem like as big of a miracle as walking on the water. Why? Because we don't see people walk on the water. We see people getting fed all the time. And there's just something in our minds, that has this sense of this is a bigger thing. Well, it wasn't a bigger thing. And Jesus was communicating to them that, My power is complete. And whether it's feeding people—two or multiple thousand, or whether it's walking on the water, learn to expect the unexpected. I am God. Right? I mean, that's the point of this whole thing. I am God. And all of the rules and all of the things that hold you back, don't hold Me back. I'm not limited by any of this." And that's where we begin to build up our own faith, that when we face a situation for which you and I have no answers, we look at it and then people all around us say, well, this is how that's going to turn out. Have you ever noticed people love to do that? They love to prognosticate or whatever. And they'll, they look at your situation and say, I know how that's going to turn out. And it's always bad. It's like never good. And Jesus comes along at a time like that, and we're reminded of these events. And He says, listen, I am the God who is unlimited. I am the God who has all power. And if you keep your eyes on Me, and your faith in Me, I'm going to do amazing things in your life. Listen, you look away, even for a moment, and get your eyes on your problem, on the threat that is in front of you, it could very well overwhelm you. Because the more you look at it, the bigger it will get. How quickly we forget. Just like the disciples. It's like, they just saw Jesus feed this multitude of people, and now they're out on the boat and they're like... It's gone. It's like what they saw is gone. And far from criticizing them, I can relate to that. Because when I'm going through a problem, when I have a threat that comes against me in whatever form and it's scary... And we have those sometimes don't we. When a scary threat raises its head against me, it's like God has never done anything in my life before. Suddenly, I can't remember. It's like it creates this wall or something in my memory. And in my times when I'm kind of emotionally stable and I'm doing okay, I could sit and recite all the wonderful things God has done for me. If I gave you an opportunity today, many of you could stand up right here, right now, and you could tell about God's provision, God's deliverance, and you could tell incredible stories. And by the way, you should be telling people those things. But you know, if we had the opportunity and the time, you could do it. You could stand up and say, oh, let me tell you about a time when God just delivered our family... Or delivered me. Some of you had addictive issues. Some of you just... All kinds of things. And God just supernaturally, just scooped you up and took care of you. But then something bad begins to happen in your life and what happens? We just forget. It's gone. And it's about that time the Lord begins to speak to our heart, and He says, have I not shown Myself to be faithful? Have I not shown Myself to be true in your life, over and over again? Jesus could have said that to the disciples when He got back in the boat. He could have said, "Guys, didn't I just feed a multitude? Haven't you watched Me causing the crippled man to walk? Haven't you noticed the blind can now see. Have you noticed that the deaf can now hear? What's going on?" "Well, we forgot!" Yeah, I can relate to that. There's a passage we used to always recite when we did child dedications. I mean, it's not just about child dedications. Deuteronomy 4:9 says,

And this passage helps you and I to be aware of the fact that it is possible for those things to fade from our hearts. Otherwise, He wouldn't warn us against it. It'd be ridiculous for Him to spend even that amount of time to remind us not to let them fade, if it wasn't possible. Right? Certainly it is. He says, what are you going to do? Teach it, teach it to your kids and then to their kids after them. Tell about how God delivered you. Tell about how God supernaturally provided: those miracle things in the mailbox, those things when God just brought someone or something across your path that made all the difference, that gave you hope again. Tell about how you got saved to your kids. Tell your children how you got saved. What came about to bring you to that place of repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Tell them. Don't expect them just to know. Teach it to your children and then to their children after them. Why? Because otherwise if we don't remember, those things are going to fade from our heart. And God warns us here, that that is a very real possibility. And when they fade from our heart, we lose those altars of faith that we would have otherwise had built as a monument to God's faithfulness.

--- The chapter ends, verse 53, it says, "When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore. 54 And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him 55 and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well." Now we're back doing miracles, aren't we? And the disciples are back to seeing it. It's got to open their eyes. And so do we. Pastor Paul, how come we don't see miracles like they saw in the early church? What do you mean? Well, what do you... You don't think we are? Let me tell you how many miracles I've seen in my life. It's amazing. Every time somebody comes to Jesus as Savior, that is a miracle. I've seen so many miracles. Just people's lives being transformed. The old life giving way to the new. That's a miracle. There's miracles all around if we just open our eyes to them. And once we do, we begin to see the Miracle Worker who is behind it all. And once we begin to keep our eyes fixed on Him, we live in that reality that, God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, in all we can even ask or think. And it begins to change our entire outlook. And it begins to change the way we go through trouble and trials. And instead of fixating on those troubles and trials, we start keeping our eyes on Jesus. ---