Growing in Grace: What it Means to Follow Jesus
Mark
6:45-52
Introduction: Have you ever been amazed by the performance
of a world class tightrope walker? Would you trust one enough to allow
him to push you across a chasm in a wheelbarrow? My short answer: “N O W
A Y!” That’s the difference between amazement and faith! Remember Mark’s first summary of Jesus’
preaching in Mark
1:15, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and
believe in the gospel.” Jesus came to reveal himself and to make a way
for sinners to be reconciled to God. That involves recognizing our sin and
turning from our pride and rebellion to Him. It means surrendering to Him, being
willing to “get in the wheelbarrow,” and trust Him with our life. The first
verse of Mark said it, Jesus Himself is the Good News, “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ,
the Son of God.” The miracles Jesus did amazed many people. Only gradually
are the disciples understanding what the signs reveal about the miracle worker.
When Jesus calmed the stormy sea in Mark 4:41 the disciples “…were filled with great fear and said to one
another, ‘Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?’” Faith is
recognizing who Jesus is, and receiving Him, trusting Him, taking Him at His
word. Three of the four gospels accounts report this miracle, all three
connecting it to the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. In Mark’s account
of Jesus walking on the water he explicitly says in 6:51-52, “…And they were utterly astounded, 52 for they did not understand
about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.” All that Jesus is doing
is to lead them to believe.
Matthew
and Mark tell this story from very different perspectives. In Matthew the
miracle leads to a confession of faith. In Mark the writer exposes the underlying
“hardness of heart” that still lingered in the apostles, and points to the “amazement”
of these men instead of to their faith. Is this a contradiction? God doesn’t
contradict Himself. So then, is it growing faith or lingering unbelief? I would
say that both are true! Matthew is looking at the glass half-full, the
disciples are growing in their understanding of who Jesus is. Mark is saying
the glass is still half-empty, they still have a long way to go! That’s
the Christian life, and it brings us to…
The Maine* Idea: Discipleship is a process of the Lord graciously
leading us into a deeper, more intimate, trust in Him.
I. Jesus showed by example the importance
of solitude and prayer (45-47).
45 Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and
go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the
crowd. 46 And after he had
taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. 47 And when evening came, the boat
was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land.
The
language Mark uses underscores a sense of urgency which we have seen
consistently in this gospel. “Immediately”
is that same favorite word of Mark, euthus,
and it underscores the movement from what just happened, the miraculous
feeding, to the next scene. First, He “made
the disciples get in the boat…” There is a sense of insistence and urgency.
He sent them out onto the lake ahead of Him. Why? Some suggest that we can get
insight into the urgency of sending them
off from John’s gospel, where we learn that some, on being fed miraculously,
desired to “make Him king by force.”
If that was the motive Jesus was trying to spare the disciples from getting
caught up in this wrong-headed attempt to preempt the unfolding of the
messianic story according to the Father’s plan. Focusing on Mark’s account we
don’t see any reference to that part of the story. Mark is emphasizing Jesus’
patient work with the disciples, leading them from unbelief and “hardness of
heart” to faith. He had a plan to reveal himself further to the disciples. So
He sends them ahead and dismisses the crowd.
As for
himself, Jesus goes up on the mountain to pray. Mark doesn’t emphasize as
frequently the example of Jesus praying compared to Luke. But we see Him at a
few key moments withdrawing from the crowds and spending time with the Father
(see also 1:35). We are not told what
Jesus was praying about, but could it be that He was asking the Father to continue
His work in the hearts of His disciples? We know He prays for them in the Upper
Room (John 17). There is a lesson for us here about the importance of prayer.
If it was necessary and important for Jesus, the Son of God incarnate, to pray,
how much more should we be people of prayer? Spending time with God is one of
the keys to knowing Him and loving Him.
The scene
was set, after a night of prayer (and for the disciples, a night rowing against
the wind!), Jesus was alone on the mountain, and the disciples were out on the
lake, this time without Jesus in the boat. Class in session! Discipleship is a
process of the Lord graciously leading us into a deeper, more intimate, trust
in Him.
II. Jesus
guided the circumstances of the apostles to maximize their growth, and saw them
in their need (45-48a).
45 Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat
and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the
crowd... 47 And when evening
came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. 48 And he saw that they were
making headway painfully, for the wind was against them.
The
omniscience and omnipresence of God were attributes of God recognized in the
Old Testament Scriptures. David, for example, asked…
O LORD, you have searched me and known me! 2 You know when I sit down and
when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. 3 You search out my path and my
lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you
know it altogether. 5 You hem
me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful
for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. 7
Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your
presence? 8 If I ascend to
heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! 9 If I take the wings of the
morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead
me, and your right hand shall hold me… (Psalm 139:1-10).
The
disciples have been getting glimpses of the glory and power of God in Christ,
but they haven’t yet understood the full answer to the question, “Who is this Jesus?” They asked the
question when He stilled the storm in Mark 4, and Jesus will ask it of them
again in Mark 8, but here in chapter 6 they are still in the darkness, still straining
at the oars, against the wind. Remember
how they got there, out on the lake alone. Mark says that Jesus “…made the disciples get into the boat
and go before Him to the other side…” He had a plan. Dewey Mullholland said,
“…Jesus is seeking to cure their hardness of
heart. He does this by teaching, testing and retesting them through word and
example, adjusting the methods to the disciples’ comprehension… [He] increasingly teaches them apart from the
crowds, even at night on Lake Galilee…”
This week I saw a relevant quotation from Eugene
Peterson (via Pastor James Lee on Facebook), "Our faith develops out of the
most difficult aspects of our existence, not the easiest."
We see Jesus using difficult
circumstances, another storm, contrary wind, to move the disciples toward
faith. Discipleship is a process of the Lord graciously leading us into a
deeper, more intimate, trust in Him.
III. He
reveals Himself to us during times of trial, when we may feel weakest (48b-50a).
And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them,
walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them,
49 but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it
was a ghost, and cried out, 50
for they all saw him and were terrified.
The fourth
watch would have been between three and six in the morning. Assuming the
disciples left in the late afternoon, they would have been on the lake for 9 or
more hours, now rowing hard against the wind. Mark doesn’t emphasize the severity of the
storm in the same way that Matthew and John do. Nor does he speak about what the
disciples learned through these signs. Instead, he emphasizes what Jesus
is doing and why He is doing it. Let’s try to hear Mark’s message
without injecting too much from the other gospels for now.
First of
all, this is the second miracle on the lake in Mark. The last time, Jesus was
in the boat with the disciples, this time they are out there alone (cf. Mk
4:35-41). Mark doesn’t emphasize
imminent danger from the storm, but rather that the disciples are rowing hard against
the wind and not making much progress. They are no doubt discouraged,
exhausted, and frustrated. And then they see something that they have no frame
of reference for, a figure walking toward them on the water! They are terrified! For the reader of the
gospel, it is easier for us than it would have been for the disciples at that
moment in the boat to think of Old Testament passages like Job 9:1-11…
Then Job answered and said: 2 "Truly I know that it is
so: But how can a man be in the right before God? 3 If one wished to contend with
him, one could not answer him once in a thousand times. 4 He is wise in heart and mighty
in strength- who has hardened himself against him, and succeeded?- 5 he who removes mountains, and
they know it not, when he overturns them in his anger, 6 who shakes the earth out of its
place, and its pillars tremble; 7
who commands the sun, and it does not rise; who seals up the stars; 8 who alone stretched out the
heavens and trampled the waves of the sea; 9 who made the Bear and Orion, the
Pleiades and the chambers of the south; 10
who does great things beyond searching out, and marvelous things beyond
number. 11 Behold, he
passes by me, and I see him not; he moves on, but I do not perceive him.
The
translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek, the Septuagint, uses several of
the same key words in Job’s discourse that we see here in Mark 6. For a reader steeped
in the Greek version of the Bible, Mark’s account would immediately evoke the
words of Job. It is foolish to be hardened against the Lord. He is the One who
can walk on the sea as on the ground. As He passes by, we should recognize
Him and see Him for who He is. This interplay with the language of the Old
Testament is intentional, it is part of the context in which the works and
words of Jesus must be understood (the literary devise is called “intertextuality”).
The idea that this was a “theophany,” a manifestation or revelation of God, is
further reinforced in the context.
He
meant to “pass by” them – in theophany! (cf. Ex 12:23; 33:19,22; 34:6). The
phrase “He meant to pass by them” may
seem troubling at first. He walked all the way out to them on the lake, and
then intended to walk right past them? What is that about? While the English
translations are difficult for us, once again the Greek translation of the
Bible would evoke the revelation of God to his people in times past. For
example, we read in Exodus 33:18-22,
18 Moses said, "Please show me your glory." 19 And he said, "I will make
all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name
'The LORD.' And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show
mercy on whom I will show mercy. 20 But," he said, "you
cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live." 21 And the LORD said,
"Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, 22 and while my glory passes
by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until
I have passed by…
The same verb, “pass
by,” is used three times here in this key text of God’s self-revelation to
Moses. Remember the words in John 1:14, where John, from his post-resurrection
perspective says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have
seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and
truth.” God has revealed
Himself in history. By the way, in the following context in Exodus 34:6, the
Lord showed himself to Moses saying…
6 The LORD passed before him and proclaimed,
"The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and
abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness…
When Mark says Jesus “intended to pass by them” he is saying that He came to them
intending to reveal His glory, to display His deity before them.
Mark
tells us they were terrified. They still
were not recognizing Him fully. Remember that in Matthew’s account, this event
led to a confession of faith. Mark wants us to know that the disciples have a
way to go before they will be ready to embrace the mission to proclaim Christ fully
to the nations. We’ve seen several instances in this gospel where the
revelation of God in Christ evoked “fear” from those witnessing his works. Not reverence,
but a lack of faith is exposed. But God isn’t finished with them (or us!) yet! Discipleship is an ongoing process of
the Lord graciously leading us into a deeper, more intimate, trust in Him.
IV. He offers the comfort of His presence and the
truth of His Word (50b-51a).
But immediately he spoke to them and said,
"Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid." 51 And he got into the boat
with them, and the wind ceased.
“Take heart… do not be afraid…” We can “lose
heart” when we are exhausted and frustrated or discouraged. It may help to
remember that God is there with us, and He is in control, even using the
circumstance that is troubling us to grow our faith. Frequently, as God is
revealing Himself to humans, there is the need for Him to say, “Do not be
afraid!” Multiple times God appears to people,
intending to reveal some aspect of His unfolding story. The disciples thought
they were seeing a ghost, but in fact they were in the presence of the Holy
One! They were tired, perhaps frustrated, maybe even fearful of the wind and
the storm. And Jesus came and met them, and He speaks words of comfort and
hope. Dr. Paul Tripp said,
"God meets us where we are. This is the
beautiful, hope-giving reality of grace... He comes to us in our fear. He draws
near to us when we are separated. He meets us in our doubt. He pursues us when
we wander. When we sin, he comes to us with conviction and forgiveness. He
empowers us when we're weak. He restores us when we are unfaithful. When we
deny him, he does not deny us. He comes to us at the moment of our salvation,
and he comes to us again and again as we journey from the already to the not
yet... He does not wait for us to come to him; he comes to us. It is the way of
grace."
“It is I…” = ego eimi = literally, “I AM”- I don’t think we can
miss the allusion to the divine revelation in Exodus 3:14,15…
14 God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he
said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to
you.'" 15 God also said
to Moses, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'The LORD, the God of your
fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent
me to you.' This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout
all generations.
Who
is Jesus? The Lord, Yahweh, God incarnate,
the Great I AM. Discipleship is a process of the Lord graciously leading us
into a deeper, more intimate, trust in
Him.
V. Jesus
knew their hearts, their needs, and their unbelief (51b-52).
And they were utterly astounded, 52 for they did not understand
about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.
Jesus
knew exactly where the disciples were, and He came to them, revealing himself
in the midst of their exhaustion and discouragement, calling them to deeper
trust in Him. What does it mean to follow Him? There is no promise it will be
easy. On the contrary, “In the world you will
have tribulation…” But He does promise to be with us… always. You
can take Him at His Word.
What is God
saying to me in this passage? Discipleship
is a process of the Lord graciously leading us into a deeper, more intimate,
trust in Him.
What would
God have me to do in response to this passage? As
you follow the story of the Gospel of Jesus, the Son of God, as presented by
Mark, is your heart being stirred, moving you deeper in your walk with Him? By grace, I am learning each week. Jesus said
“My sheep hear my voice… and they follow
me.” Faith comes by hearing, and
hearing by the Word of Christ. God opens the eyes of our heart when we believe
in Him and trust Him as our personal Lord and Savior. But that is only the
beginning of a process of discipleship. It’s easy to look at the disciples
and marvel at their spiritual dullness. That is until I look in the mirror! We
can all be slow of heart to believe! As the Spirit convicts us through the
Word, He exposes areas of our lives where we are still not living in the light
of the Gospel. Discipleship is the ongoing process of conviction and surrender,
of trusting Him and entrusting more and more of our life and our heart to Him. By God’s design we do that most effectively
as part of the church, a community of faith, provoking one another to love and
good works. Let’s grow together, it’s His plan for us! AMEN.
No comments:
Post a Comment