WWUTT 2168 Jesus Walks on the Water (Mark 6:45-56)

The disciples were out on the Sea of Galilee. A big wind came up, was tossing the boat to and fro.

They thought they were going to go down. And who comes walking out to them on the water but Jesus?

He who passed before Moses, when we understand the text. This is

When We Understand The Text, a daily Bible study in the Word of Christ. For he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Tell your friends about our ministry at www .wtt .com. And once again, it's Pastor Gabe.

Thank you, Becky. In our study of the Gospel of Mark, we're finishing up Chapter 6 today and reading about Jesus walking on the water.

I'm going to read here verses 45 to 56 out of the Legacy Standard Bible. Hear the word of the

Lord. And immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side to Bethsaida, while he himself was sending the crowd away.

And after bidding them farewell, he left for the mountain to pray. And when it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and he was alone on the land.

And seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night, he came to them, walking on the sea, and he was intending to pass by them.

But when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, for they all saw him and were terrified.

But immediately he spoke with them and said to them, Take courage, it is

I, do not be afraid. Then he got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped.

And they were utterly amazed, for they had not gained any insight about the loaves, but their heart was hardened.

And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret, and moored to the shore. And when they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognized him, and ran about that whole region, and began to carry here and there on their mats those who were sick, to the place they heard he was.

And wherever he was entering, villages or cities or countryside, they were laying the sick in the marketplaces, and pleading with him that they might just touch the fringe of his garment.

And as many as touched it were being saved from their sicknesses.

So remember yesterday we read about Jesus feeding the 5 ,000, and that actually comes back into play here, because you'll notice that after Jesus comes walking to his disciples on the water and gets into the boat, it says that they didn't understand what it was that had just happened, what they had just witnessed, him walking on the water and getting into the boat, and the wind and the waves are calm because their hearts were hard, it says.

They had not gained any insight about the loaves. They're always seeing, they're there with Jesus, observing the miracles that he performs, and yet they still don't understand who he is, or what he does.

Jesus reveals himself to his disciples in a very powerful way here, but they're not able to make the correction.

And the way that Christ reveals himself to them, this is one of the most glorious presentations that Jesus makes to his disciples outside of the

Mount of Transfiguration, and then his own resurrection from the dead. And I'll show you how that's the case here as we read about this miraculous story once again.

We've already read about this when we were in Matthew. The equivalent in Matthew is in chapter 14, and it's also in Matthew 14 where we read about as Jesus comes to them on the water,

Peter wants to get out of the boat and walk to him, right? That aspect of this miracle is not included in Mark's gospel, but still very powerful because the focus here is

Christ and the way that he shows himself to his disciples who are being tossed to and fro on the sea.

So back to verse 45, and immediately, of course, Mark's favorite word, Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side to Bethsaida while he himself was sending the crowd away.

Now you'll notice when we get down to verse 53, it says they came to land at Gennesaret. Bethsaida is not on the shore.

Gennesaret is. Bethsaida is like kind of to the northeast of Gennesaret.

So it's kind of funny that they land there. I don't really know why they could have landed closer to Bethsaida.

I'm sure the land formation over there probably has something to do with it or where the boats had to be set. Because as I said to you before, these boats that they were in didn't belong to them.

It's not like they were hauling the boats around wherever they walked. The boats were always there on the Sea of Galilee.

So if somebody wanted to go fishing, they just grab one of these boats and go out there and go fishing. Or if they wanted to go from one side of the lake to the other, then they would hop in a boat and they would go to the other side.

And it even had oars, because you have it mentioned here that the disciples were trying to row against the wind that was pushing against them.

So these are community boats. And it could have been that the boat had to be at a certain spot. So that's why they went to Gennesaret instead of like rowing to the edge of the

Sea of Galilee that would have been closer to Bethsaida. And again, I'm sure land formation has something to do with that as well.

What would you say that the topology like, are there cliffs over there by Bethsaida?

And so that's why they couldn't land there anyway. So Jesus sends them on ahead.

What's he going to do? Is he going to walk over there or is he going to meet them in Bethsaida? It doesn't say, but he sends them in the boat to go ahead of him while he is sending the crowd away.

And he's going to spend some time praying by himself. So after bidding the crowd farewell, he left for the mountain to pray.

And again, this is the crowd that had just been fed the five loaves and two fishes, which

Jesus divided up and fed 5 ,000 with this, the miracle of the five loaves and the two fish.

So the crowd is sent away. Jesus goes up to pray. And verse 47, when it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea and he was alone on the land.

So the mountain, a reference to the mountain, just likely was a higher place than where they were down low, where Jesus had been speaking to the crowds.

He can see the Sea of Galilee. He hasn't gone beyond the view of the sea. So as he's up there on the mountain, he can probably see exactly how far the disciples have gotten, where the boat is at, and that they're unable to get any further because of the wind that has come up.

The boat was in the middle of the sea. He was alone on the land, verse 48, and seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them.

At about the fourth watch of the night, he came to them walking on the sea. This would have been between three to six o 'clock a .m.

That would have been the fourth watch of the night. Now with them straining at the oars, the wind had come up.

Oftentimes the way you see this depicted is during a great thunderstorm, right? If you've ever watched any of the

Jesus movies or even The Chosen, strongly discouraged watching

The Chosen, but if you've ever watched any of these cinematic or television portrayals of this particular account, it's always a storm.

It's raining. It's windy. There's thunder and lightning. The waves are being stirred up and all this.

That's always the way that it's depicted. Son of God, which was the movie that was the spinoff of the

Bible miniseries on the History Channel. Do you remember that from last year? That was the kind of the period in which we had

Jesus hitting TV screens in the theater once again, and that all the hoopla was regarding the

Bible miniseries. Right now it's The Chosen. Ten years from now in the next decade, it'll be something else.

In the 30s, in the 2030s, somebody else will come up with a cinematic portrayal of the

Bible or the story of Jesus, and we'll go through this all over again. It's like every decade something different comes along.

But anyway, as it's depicted, you always see this with a great thunderstorm. Son of God, the special effects were not even very good, but it's this great storm, and Jesus is even kind of glowing as he comes walking up to them, which

I don't think that would have been the case. The fact that you can see a form right there walking on the water is enough to spook you and make you think that you're seeing a ghost, just like the disciples are saying.

He doesn't have to be glowing, and it's unlikely that he was glowing as he was walking to them.

It is crazy enough to see somebody standing there on the water. So at the fourth watch of the night,

Jesus came to them walking on the sea. There's not thunderstorms, there's not lightning, it's just wind.

But the wind is aggressive enough that it is stirring up quite a frenzy on the water.

There are plenty of waves, and the disciples are not able to row against it.

And as Jesus is coming to them, this is the end of verse 48, consider what this says, and he was intending to pass by them.

That's funny. I remember when I was a kid and I read that. And by the way, only

Mark records that. Any of the other gospels that talk about Jesus walking on the water, it does not say that he intends to pass by them.

Only Mark mentions that. And I remember that as a kid when I read that, I was like, why?

Why was he going to pass by them? Was he racing them? Like he's going to haul by and go, hey guys, race you there.

Try to catch me. But then they call out to him and go, whoa, whoa, wait, we're not going to get anywhere. We're going to capsize out here if you leave us out here.

That's what I thought as a kid. That's what I thought was going on. Jesus was going to race them to the shore. But he intends to pass by them.

Why would Mark include that detail? Again, not in the, not in the other gospel accounts of this miracle, but only in Mark.

So why does Jesus intend to pass by them? Consider this in Exodus 34, now

Yahweh said to Moses, carve out for yourself two stone tablets like the former ones.

And I will write on the tablets, the words that were on the former tablets, which you shattered because remember

Moses had thrown down the 10 commandments when the children of Israel were worshiping the golden calf.

This is taking place after that has happened. So be prepared by morning, God says, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain.

God is going to fulfill Moses request to get to see God. And God has said to him, no one can see my face and live.

But he will hide Moses in the cleft of the rock, and he will let Moses see him from behind.

So verse three, and no man is to come up with you, nor let any man be seen anywhere on the mountain.

Even the flocks and the herds may not graze in front of the mountain. So Moses carved out two stone tablets like the former ones.

And Moses rose up early in the morning and went up to Mount Sinai as Yahweh had commanded him.

And he took two stone tablets in his hand. Now get this verse five, then

Yahweh descended in the cloud and stood there with him.

And he called upon the name of Yahweh and the he there, by the way, is Yahweh. So Yahweh called upon the name of Yahweh.

How amazing would that have been to witness

God proclaiming himself, his own name, God worshiping in himself, which of course he can do because only

God is worthy of our worship. And God is triune father, son, and Holy Spirit glorifying in themselves.

Jesus even mentions this in in John chapter 17, father, glorify me together with you, with the glory which

I had with you before the world was. So Jesus kind of gives us a picture there in John 17 about how the father and the son and the

Holy Spirit wall were all glorifying and one another. What was going on before the universe was created?

There was just God and he was glorifying himself. And so you have Yahweh passing before Moses proclaiming himself, his own praises.

This is still Exodus 34 verse six. Then Yahweh passed by in front of him and called out

Yahweh, Yahweh, God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding and loving kindness and truth who keeps loving kindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin.

Yet he will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.

These are words that God says about himself. Is that the God you worship?

The God who is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding and loving kindness and truth, and he keeps his loving kindness for thousands and forgives iniquity, transgression and sin.

And yet he will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, but he visits the iniquity of the fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.

Is that the God you worship? What God has said about himself. And like I said, that surely would have been an awesome thing to behold that Moses got to see

Yahweh proclaiming the praises of Yahweh. And my friends, a day is going to come in which you and I will likewise get to see that Yahweh proclaiming the glory of Yahweh, and we will become participants with the rest of the saints in proclaiming the glory of Yahweh.

That promised day is coming for us, for all those who are in Christ Jesus. But there where you have an

Exodus 34, Yahweh passing before Moses. And we actually have the same thing also in 1

Kings, when Yahweh passes before Elijah. So you have Elijah and Moses get to see

Yahweh pass by them. And so what do we have here in Mark 7, 48?

He was intending to pass by them. This is showing that Jesus is

Yahweh. The same Yahweh that passed before Moses, the same Yahweh that passed before Elijah.

That they might see him pass and glorify him. That same Yahweh is the

Yahweh right here, who is passing before the disciples. But they don't trust and believe.

They are in fear. They're in fear of him, but not for the right reason. And they're in fear of the waves that are around them as well.

They don't trust that this is Jesus, whom they have previously seen calm the wind and the waves.

When they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost. And they cried out.

And again, it's not necessary for him to be glowing or anything like that. There's enough stars or even half a moon out.

They can see by the moonlight, there's a figure there on the water. And that's enough to terrify them.

For they all saw him and they were terrified. Verse 50, but immediately he spoke with them and said to them, take courage.

It is I, do not be afraid. And then he got into the boat with them and the wind stopped and they were utterly amazed.

They had seen this before, where they were in the boat, Jesus was with them in the boat. The wind was up, tossing the boats to and fro, and they thought they were going to capsize and they panic and they say,

Lord, how do you sleep through this? We're going to drown. And Jesus rebukes them, then rebukes the wind and everything is calm again.

They saw that happen and they marveled at that. Who is this that even the wind and the waves obey him?

But it's like they have forgotten all of that. Most especially here, Mark records that they forgot about what

Jesus had just done with the loaves and the fish. He got into the boat with them and the wind stopped and they were utterly amazed for they had not gained any insight about the loaves, but their heart was hardened.

They're right there with Jesus and they see these miraculous things and yet they still don't understand who he is or what these things mean.

And as I said yesterday, with the feeding of the 5 ,000, the breaking up of the loaves and the fish to feed all those people, and then there are baskets that are taken up, 12 baskets are taken up that are left over.

This is showing that those who believe in Jesus will be satisfied.

Number 12, representing the people of God, all who trust in Christ, we are filled up and satisfied with every good thing that he gives to us.

But here the disciples don't seem to yet understand that. They're just panicking about the wind or they're terrified that he's a ghost, but it doesn't seem to cross their minds.

Hey, wait a minute. People don't just walk out here on the water like this. But though the disciples are shown here as doubting and not understanding, we have this next portion here, the last of chapter six, where the people in the surrounding towns and villages and countryside, they understood who

Jesus was and what he could do for them. Verse 53, and when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore.

And when they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognized him. And now the word is spreading, it's getting out.

And they ran about the whole region and began to carry here and there on their mats, those who were sick, to the place they heard he was.

And wherever he was entering villages or cities or countryside, they were laying the sick in the marketplaces and pleading with him that they might just touch the fringe of his garment.

And as many touched it, were being saved from their sicknesses.

And this illness, this sickness is demonstrating to us that we are all sin sick and in need of a savior and that Jesus Christ is that savior.

The only way to be forgiven our sins and healed of this sickness and even have the consequences of sin taken away from us, the consequences, which of course is death.

Romans 6, 23, for the wages of sin is death. And the only way to have that cured for us is to believe in Jesus.

Even a little tiny bit that might fill us up, we will be completely satisfied and taken care of and healed in our savior.

Just like Jesus took a little bit, five loaves and two fish and fed 5 ,000.

There were people that were just touching the fringe of his garment and being healed of their sicknesses. We would desire

Christ so much. I'll take even the tiny bit, even the little bit, the littlest that you can give me.

And even that little bit will be enough to cleanse us of all unrighteousness.

And Mark has already made the connection previously that faith in Jesus means this.

It was back in chapter two. Mark had set this up at the beginning of his gospel. At the beginning of chapter two,

Jesus heals the paralytic. And it's there in healing the paralytic that he demonstrates, I'm doing this so that you will know that I also have the authority to forgive sins.

It's easy for anybody to say your sins are forgiven. It's harder for a person to say, take up your mat and walk.

But so that you know the son of man has the authority to forgive sins, he heals the paralytic by telling him to take up his mat and walk.

So that miracle is to show us that Jesus has authority even over our guiltiness.

And he can declare us innocent by his own mercy and grace.

And we will be saved from our sicknesses. Yahweh, who has come in the flesh to die on a cross, to rise again from the dead so that all who believe in him will not perish, but have everlasting life.

By faith in him, we are saved. Heavenly father, we thank you for what we've read here today.

And I pray that in addition to being filled with awe over the things that we have read here, we're also convicted in our hearts of our sin.

And we would turn from our sin to Jesus so that we may be healed of our sin. We would no longer be slaves to sin, but we would be followers of the one who walks on water that we too might be delivered up from the storms of this life that cannot topple us or tear us down.

For we are looking unto him who gets in with us and brings calm into our madness.

Who saves us up from the craziness of this world and has even seated us in the heavenly places with him.

And if we have been risen to life in Christ, we must seek those things that are above where Christ is no longer going after the passions of our flesh and the ways of this world.

But we have a heavenly mind, Christ mindedness to do those things that are pleasing to the

Lord today. Help us to stay focused on that. And where we're tempted, turning to Christ, asking that we might be delivered from that temptation, that we might be upright and blameless before you in Jesus name.

Amen. You've been listening to When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Gabe will be going through a

New Testament study. Then on Thursday, we look at an Old Testament book. On Friday, we take questions from the listeners and viewers.