A young man in the student ministry at my home church came up to me recently. He asked me about a particular verse in Mark 6. This intrigued me because the pastor had just given a devotional out of Matthew and had everyone turned to that gospel, not Mark. The young man had read this verse in Mark 6 a long time ago and could not explain why it had popped into his head this night. The verse was Mark 6:48:
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 intended to pass by them.
Indeed this is a curious verse. Let me explain what was happening in brief, though I hope you will read the entire chapter for yourself. Jesus had just given a talk to about 5,000 men (back then they tended to omit the women and children so it was likely far more). The hour was getting late and the disciples grew concerned about so many people growing hungry, so they suggested the crowd be sent away to find food for themselves. Jesus insisted on shaking things up, so He tells the disciples to feed the people. They were flabbergasted and could the most creative idea that came to them was to spend a bunch of money and order out. Since the disciples could not feed the crowd, Jesus ended up feeding these thousands with two fish and five loaves of bread. The disciples passed out the food and more was left over than they had to start.
Then Jesus sends the disciples off in a boat telling them to go to Bethsaida and He would meet them there. This is where it got a little crazy for the disciples because a big storm hit and they rowed for hours on end, making no headway. They diligently and faithfully kept going,though, attempting to do what Jesus directed. Jesus saw all this. He knew the disciples were straining against the wind; pulling on the oars with all their might, but getting nowhere. And here is where that curious statment at the end of Mark 6:48 comes about. Jesus “intended to pass them by.”
This seems quite callous. Isn’t Jesus love incarnate? Why would he not run to them and help them? Instead, through my own tainted filter of people letting me down, it seems like Jesus is abandoning them in their hour of need. Scripture, though, reveals a different story. The disciples end up seeing Jesus and they cry out in terror because they think this figure walking on the water must be a ghost. Then, Jesus changes course and joins them on the boat. The storm ceases and they end up at Gennesaret (not Bethsaida). But another curious phrase sticks out before we get to that conclusion of the story. It is in Mark 6:51-52:
Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished, for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened.
The curious phrase here to me is “they were utterly astonished”. Seems that would be one of those “well, duh” comments. Of course, anyone would be astonished if someone walked across the water in the midst of a storm, got in my boat, and calmed the storm instantly. Woudn’t you be astonished? But, apparently the author saw it differently. Mark explained that being astonished was problematic. Their astonishments reveals a problem with the disciples – a heart problem – and this problem helps us understand why Jesus intended to walk by them.
The problem was a hard heart. Now that I look at the entire story, starting with the feeding of the five thousand, I get a glimpse of why they should not have been astonished in that moment. They had just witness a full on, unexplanable miracle of Old Testament proportions. Where manna from heaven fell and fed the Israelites in the wilderness, Jesus creates food out of nowhere – plenty to feed these Israelite descendants of those who ate the manna. If the disciples had been discerning and soft hearted, they would have gotten the truth Jesus was trying to convey: They (we) were made to rely on Him entirely; relying on ourselves is sin. Relying on Jesus is salvation; relying on ourselves is death.
But, they missed it. Just like I miss it over and over again. Just like we all miss it at times. Even after we surrender intially to Jesus and pass from spiritual death to life, we keep turning back to self-reliance. Maybe it was because the miracle of the feeding was one they witnessed rather than one directed at them. Maybe they were just so intent on doing what Jesus said that they didn’t stop to think on it. Maybe, probably, it is because the essence of sin is relying on something or someone other than God and our sinful nature keeps clawing its way into our heart and mind every chance it gets. Call it pride or anything else you like, but sin comes down to placing our reliance where it does not belong. From the beginning when Adam and Eve relied on their own discernment and trusted Satan all the way to you and I relying on our own judgment as to what will fill us up – that is the nature of sin.
Even as the disciples were seeking to do Jesus’ bidding, they were in sin. They were in sin becuase they were obeying upon their own power; relying on their own strength. They must have been exhausted, ready to drop. But, they remained diligent . . . and sinned. The hardness of their heart was the belief in self-reliance that said, “I must do this thing. I must make it happen, even if it kills me. I must make it right and I must see it through.” All these things sound a bit noble to you, don’t they? They do to me also. But, it is still sin.
Jesus did not care why the disciples dropped their oars. He did not care if they kept going until fatigue caused their muscles to fail or if in sheer desparation they simply gave up. I am sure He would have preferred that they suddenly realize, “oh, wait – Jesus will save us. He just fed five thousand people with squat, Put the oars down and let’s call upon Him!” But, it was sufficient that they dropped those oars our of sheer panic. He does not care why we relent, only that we do relent. And the moment we stop relying on ourselves and place that reliance on Him, He shows up.
Until we are at that point of surrender, He will intend on passing us by. Not for lack of love, but because He knows that showing up and bolstering our position while our hearts remain hard will do harm rather than good. If he shows up and helps us out of a bad situation when we are still struggling on our own power, even if all we have left is 1% self, then we will simply assume that “God helps those who help themselves.” That is a lie and Jesus will have none of it! God helps those who give up: who give up on doing for themselves, give up on self-help and self reliance, who give up on their way and their power. God helps those who let go of the oars when it make no worldly sense to do so.
Are you still rowing?
Sans Tache 