Jesus Walking on Water (Mk 6:45-52)
The Setting for the Miracle
"And straightway he constrained his disciples to get into the ship, and to go to the other side... And he saw them toiling in rowing; for the wind was contrary unto them"
The disciples are rowing together in the boat in the midst of the sea, and the Lord is alone on the land. The wind is against them and they are "troubled and tormented in their rowing" (amplified version). The picture to me is of a group of believers toiling in the work of the Lord in a contrary environment, where everything seems to be against them! Sound familiar? The disciples were right to be there, for the Lord had told them to do so, they were obediently doing his will. Challenge: Doing the will of the Lord doesn't necessarily mean it is going to be easy, there may well be toil and much frustration!
[caption id="attachment_134" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="A view across the Sea of Galilee, a few waves so perhaps a bit calmer than in Mark 6"]
[/caption]A Case of Mistaken Identity
The Lord sees them in their struggle and goes to them, he presents himself to them walking upon the water. I found it interesting that it says he "would have passed by them" and it reminded me of the road to Emmaus where it says "he made as though he would have gone further". What I learn from this is tha he is looking for a response from his people, a desire to be with him, a cry for help in time of need! By responding and asking the Saviour to be with us and help us we receive blessing, help and encouragement, just like the disciples here.
But the disciples were weak in the flesh and low in faith and they do not recognise the Saviour, believing him to be a Ghost! This is a classic case of mistaken identity as with Mary Magdalene in the garden of the tomb. She too was weak in the flesh at that time, stricken with grief and believing the Saviour to have been taken (and not risen as he said he would) in her low state she mistook the Lord for the gardener. The point is this; it is easy to become weak in the flesh, to let our environment and surroundings get on top of us or to let emotions and trials cloud our way. In times like this it is easy to lose sight of the Saviour or to miss him when in reality he is always close to us! In both our examples here the Lord was very near but they nearly missed him and the blessing, help and encouragement he offered with his presence. Challenge: Are we constantly looking for the Saviour? If we search the scriptures we will find him, he will speak to us through his Word.
A Moment of Revelation and Blessing
Here we have a lovely moment in scripture, where the Lord reveals himself to his disciples and reassures them. It is interesting to see how he chose to address them, in the original the words are: "Take heart! I AM!" The 2 Greek words for "it is I" read as "I AM" and this takes us right back to the Old Testament title for Jehovah used in Exodus 3:14 to encourage Moses as he prepared himself for service. The Saviour chose this moment to remind them that the Jehovah of the Old Testament is the Christ of the New Testament, and there can be no greater encouragement than this! The same revelation is made to those guards who came to arest the Lord in the garden in John 18, when the Lord says "I am He" it is the same 2 Greek words, the New Testament equivalent of I AM. We can see the effect that it had upon those soldiers, as they went backward and fell to the ground in awe!
How it should encourage us to appreciate afresh that the one in whom we have put our trust is the almighty creator God, the eternal one, the all powerful Jehovah of the Old Testament!
"I am the LORD, I change not" (Mal 3:6)
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