Jesus walks on the water

Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.

When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, because they all saw him and were terrified.

Immediately he spoke to them and said, 'Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid.' Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened. (Mark 6:45–52)

The One who sees me

Jesus told his disciples to get into a boat and cross over to the other side of the lake, and they obeyed him. Having dismissed the crowd, he then went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. By the time they'd reached the middle of the lake the disciples were straining at the oars because the wind was against them. Matthew tells us they were being buffeted by the waves (Matthew 14:24): things were rough for them.

What can we learn from this? The lesson is that we shouldn't expect everything to run smoothly for us when we obey the Lord. It didn't for these men, either now or later in the Book of Acts. Neither was it so for the apostle Paul.

While the disciples were struggling in the boat, Jesus was on a mountainside praying. Mark tells us that even though the boat was in the middle of the lake, Jesus could see them. John's Gospel says that it was dark and they were between three and three and a half miles from the shore (John 6:17,19): there was no way Jesus could have seen them with natural eyesight.

In the Old Testament Abram's wife, Sarai, ill-treated her maidservant, Hagar, so she fled from her. The angel of the Lord (a manifestation of Jesus) appeared to her near a spring in the desert and told her to go back to her mistress. He also told her what would happen to the child she was carrying. Hagar gave a name to the Lord who appeared to her. She said: 'You are the God who sees me'. And she added: 'I have now seen the One who sees me (Genesis 16:1–14).'

The names of God in the Old Testament describe God. He is the God who sees us—no matter where we are, no matter what we're doing. Hagar was in distress because of the way her mistress had treated her. She'd fled into the desert, but Jesus could see her. Our Lord's disciples were in the middle of the lake, straining against the wind and the waves, but he could see them, and he came to rescue them.

Jesus came to them walking on the water (a miracle) and when he got into the boat the wind died down (another miracle). John's Gospel tells us that as soon as he got into the boat they reached the other side (John 6:21)—yet another miracle. Are we still trying to do God's will in our own strength? Are we still struggling against the winds and the waves of life by ourselves? If that is so, then isn't it time we welcomed Jesus into the boat with us and looked to him and his mighty power (Ephesians 6:10)?

Paul confessed to being under such great pressure at one point in his ministry, far beyond his ability to endure, that he despaired of life itself; indeed he felt the sentence of death upon him. But that happened, he said, so that he would no longer rely on himself, but on God who raises the dead (2 Corinthians 1:8–9).

Jesus allows things to come against us as we perform his will so we'll depend less and less on ourselves and more and more on him. In the end Paul came to the end of himself and said: 'It's no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives in me (Galatians 2:20).' When that happens then God gets the glory in our lives, which is what he's looking for (Isaiah 42:8).

Men without the Spirit

Mark tells us that when Jesus climbed into the boat the wind died down, and when the disciples saw it they were amazed 'for they had not understood about the loaves (v52)'; the disciples had not grasped the meaning of the miracle Jesus had just performed (Mark 6:30–44). That is a surprising statement considering the facts.

These men had been with him since the beginning of his ministry. They'd seen most, if not every one of his miracles. Not only that but each of them, under the Lord's direction, had healed the sick, raised the dead and driven out demons (Matthew 10:1–8), and yet they still couldn't understand what the miracle of the loaves and the fish was telling them. Was there a reason for that? Yes there was.

On the evening before his crucifixion Jesus spoke to his disciples about the Holy Spirit (John 14:16–17). He said that he would ask the Father and he would give them another Counsellor who would be with them forever—the Spirit of Truth. The world did not know him, but they knew him because he lived with them and would be in them (future tense). That means that the Holy Spirit had been with the disciples up to that point, and had performed miracles through them, but he'd not yet come to dwell in them. And that was their problem.

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:14:

The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Without the Holy Spirit a person cannot grasp, see or perceive spiritual truth. Paul says that such things are 'spiritually discerned' (understood by the action of the Spirit). The Holy Spirit who inspired the Word is the one who interprets it to us so we can understand it.

When Jesus taught in parables he explained everything to his disciples afterwards because they couldn't understand them, any more than the people could (Mark 4:10,13; 33–34). But on the evening of his resurrection he appeared to them, breathed on them and said: 'Receive the Holy Spirit (John 20:19–22).' The Holy Spirit then came to dwell in each one of them and they were born again.

Luke tells us that Jesus then opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures (Luke 24:45). That was now possible because the Holy Spirit, who would teach them all things (John 14:26) and guide them into all truth (John 16:13a), was living in them. They were now men indwelt by the Spirit of God.

Not only the Word of God, but also the miracles Jesus performed had come from the Spirit of God, which is why they hadn't understood them either. They'd seen them with their eyes, but they hadn't understood them in their hearts and so their faith had not increased (Mark 8:14–21).

Does this have any relevance for us? Yes it does. What was true for the disciples before they were born again is true for the unsaved today: they can go to church, read the Scriptures, hear them taught and even see miracles performed, but unless the Holy Spirit gives them understanding it will have no effect on them. That is why we need to pray for them.

Man's desire for health and healing

When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognised Jesus. They ran throughout the whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the market-places. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed. (Mark 6:53–56)

Imagine the scene unfolding before your eyes: people recognizing Jesus as soon as he gets out of the boat; running throughout the whole region, carrying the sick on mats to wherever he was; begging him to let them touch him, and seeing everyone who touched him healed. It must have been an amazing sight. What does it show us? It shows us God's power and willingness to heal, but also man's desire to be healed.

There is in everyone, I believe, a desire to be well. I believe God has placed that desire in man. Look at the queues in doctor's surgeries; look how much is spent on medicines and treatments each year—all in an attempt to make us well. If physical health is not God's will for man, then why has he given us an immune system—a complex defence mechanism that constantly seeks out and destroys foreign organisms in our bodies which, if left unchecked, would make us ill or even kill us? God has designed us with such a system to keep us in health. Health is God's will for man.

The apostle John, inspired by the Holy Spirit, wrote:

Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. (3 John: 2)

Good health is a joy—you only have to be sick for a while to appreciate that. Next to spiritual health, physical health must be the greatest blessing man can experience on earth. God wants us to enjoy both of them.

Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases… (Psalm 103:1–3)

Jesus went around doing both of those things—forgiving people's sins and healing their diseases—and he still does today! Did Jesus turn any of the people away who wanted to be healed? No, everyone who touched him was healed. Neither will he turn us away when we want to be healed.

Michael Graham
February 2009

home | next | guide