Jesus: The One Who Walks on Water and Heals the Hurting

142In the conflict between supernaturalism and naturalism, between miracles and rationalism, few stories draw the line in the sand more clearly than Jesus walking on the water. For example, the “Christian Biblical Errancy Debate” webpage states,

If you are tired of having Bible-quoting friends and relatives throw Scripture in your face and would like to have an avalanche of information to throw back at them, you have come to the right place.... We provide a level playing field for Biblicists to defend the Bible’s absurdities, contradictions, fallacies and inconsistencies. (“Welcome”)

Now, how do they handle the absurdity of Jesus walking on water? Unlike the Enlightenment skeptics who postulated “an optical illusion caused by Jesus walking along the shore, or a deception caused by his walking on a sand bar” (Edwards, Mark, 196), they take the more postmodern approach and consign it to the fanciful world of mythology. They compare Jesus to the Egyptian sun god Horus who walked on mythical waters in another world. Their conclusion: “When it is conclusively proved that the Christian miracles are nothing more than a pagan mode of symbolic representation literalized, there is no longer any question of contravening, or breaking, or even challenging any well-known laws of nature. The discussion as to the probability or possibility of miracle on the old grounds of belief and doubt is closed for ever” (Massey, Ancient Egypt, 688). In other words, “dead men don’t rise,” and “men don’t walk on water.”

I hope you will not be surprised when I say I agree! Men don’t rise from the dead, and they don’t walk on water! However, God can do both. Further, Peter reminds us, “For we did not follow cleverly contrived myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; instead, we were eyewitnesses of His majesty” (2 Pet 1:16). The early church knew of the mythical views of the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, and they rejected them. Instead, they followed and worshiped “what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have observed and have touched with our hands” (1 John 1:1). This story has none of the trappings of mythology. It gives all the evidences of a real event told by an eyewitness (i.e., Peter). Finally, if Jesus was truly raised from the dead, we can also believe that He really walked on the water (Mark 6:45-52) and He really healed the hurting (6:53-56).

What, then, would God have us learn that we might not lack understanding or have a heart that is hardened (v. 52)? How should we respond to the “wonder on the water”?

Jesus Is the One in Whom We Should Have Faith

143

Mark 6:45-52

Jesus has just fed 15 or 20 thousand people (Mark 6:30-44). Messianic excitement is at a fever pitch. The crowds want to make Him king now (John 6:14-15). However, it is neither the time nor the means whereby He would receive His kingdom. A throne awaits Him, but there is a cross on the way.

This “man for others” has business to which He must attend before He sits on the throne prepared for Him by His Father (2 Sam 7:14-16; Pss 2; 110). He will reveal His deity on the Sea of Galilee. This obedient Son will do God’s work in God’s way and be glorified in it all, on the water and on the cross.

We Are Guided by His Plans (Mark 6:45)

Jesus takes control in this politically charged situation and makes the disciples “get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, to Bethsaida.” Thus the disciples are exactly where Jesus wants them to be. Spurgeon said, “Their sailing was not merely under his sanction, but by his express command. They were in the right place and yet they met with a terrible storm” (Spurgeon’s Sermons, 55:3, 128). Jesus purposefully sent them into trouble!

Jesus may indeed send us into trouble and difficulty but with a redemptive purpose. There our understanding of His providence and power is increased. There our faith and dependence on Him and Him alone grow. His plans are not always easy or what we want, but they are always best. Believe! Don’t doubt.

We Are Encouraged by His Prayers (Mark 6:46)

Jesus leaves the crowd, goes up to an unspecified mountain (Mark calls it “the mountain”) and prays.

Mark only records three times that Jesus prays: (1) at the beginning of the Gospel when His ministry is being defined (1:35); (2) here, in the middle of the Gospel after He feeds the five thousand (6:46); (3) near the end of His ministry in Gethsemane, just before He goes to the cross (14:32-42). What do we learn? Any time He faced a critical moment, Jesus prayed.

He most often got away and prayed in private. In each instance overtones of spiritual conflict and warfare were in the air (cf. Eph 6:18). Prayer for Jesus was intense. It was war. John Piper well says, “Until you believe that life is war, you cannot know what prayer is for” (“Prayer”). Jesus knew this better than any of us. He sought His Father in the heat of the battle raging about Him.

144No doubt He prayed for Himself. No doubt He prayed for the crowd for whom He had compassion. And I suspect He prayed for His disciples who were in need of His prayers and His power.

We Are Blessed by His Power (Mark 6:47-50)

It is now late in the evening—the fourth watch of the night was between 3:00 and 6:00 a.m. The boat is at sea, and Jesus is alone on the land enjoying prayer communion with His Father.

He sees them (miraculously!) struggling on the sea. No doubt moved again with compassion (cf. v. 34), He does what no one had done before or since: “He came to them walking on the sea.” Walking perhaps several miles5 in pitch-black darkness, our Lord makes His way to those He has called, loves, and cares for. He knows where they are and what they are going through.

The phrase “He wanted to pass by them” has troubled many. David Garland summarizes the more common interpretations:

• Jesus intends to overtake the disciples and playfully surprise them on other side.
• Jesus wants to pass by but does not do so when He sees the disciple’s distress. However, He had already seen their distress.
• Jesus is trying to test their faith.
• The phrase should be translated, “He was about to pass by them.” But this is unlikely.
• The phrase refers to the disciples’ mistaken impression—they think He intends to pass by them.
• The phrase means He intends simply to go beside them.
• Jesus wants to be seen walking on the sea but wishes to remain unrecognized—something that supposedly fits the author’s theology of the messianic secret.
• Another view takes its cue from Amos 7:1-8:3 and interprets the phrase metaphorically: Jesus wanted to help the disciples in their difficulty (Garland, Mark, 262).

145There is, however, a better understanding of this phrase rooted in the Old Testament understanding of a theophany, an appearance and manifestation of God Himself. In Exodus 33:18, 20-23,

Then Moses said, “Please, let me see Your glory.”

... But He answered, “You cannot see My face, for no one can see Me and live.” The Lord said, “Here is a place near Me. You are to stand on the rock, and when My glory passes by, I will put you in the crevice of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away, and you will see My back, but My face will not be seen.”

And in 1 Kings 19:11 we see this encounter with Elijah: “Then He said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the Lord’s presence.’ At that moment, the Lord passed by.”

As the Lord “passed by” Moses at Sinai and Elijah at Horeb, so now the God of the Old Testament, who is Christ, “wanted to pass by” His disciples so that they might see His glory and believe! Only God can walk on water, and Jesus is showing them beyond question that is who He is!

Unfortunately, the disciples still do not see (cf. Mark 8:17-18). Oh, they see someone walking on the sea, and they conclude it is an evil “water spirit,” a “ghost” (Gk phantasma). It is no surprise that they scream in terror. I confess to some sympathy for them. I suspect all of us would have had the same reaction. A man—no, God—walking on the sea is not something you see every day or night.

In Matthew 14:28-31 we are given the record of Peter stepping out of the boat, walking on the water, sinking, and being rescued. But Mark is more interested in the One walking on the water than the ones in the boat. “The bread of life” (John 6:35) has just fed five thousand men plus women and children. The One who gives us “living water” (John 7:38) has just walked on the water. Mark chooses to focus on Him and His power to save and deliver. But He is not finished with his portrait of the deity of this divine Servant King!

We Are Blessed by His Person (Mark 6:50-51)

This miraculous event was not just about Jesus rescuing the disciples from their problem. It was a manifestation of His deity. Now He adds His words. Seeking to calm the terror of the Twelve, Jesus gently speaks to them saying, “Have courage!” They are in the place of obedience, and Jesus is there.

Next He says, “It is I” (Gk ego eimi). We will return to this in a moment.

146Third, He says, “Don’t be afraid,” a command telling them to stop an action in progress: “Stop fearing!”

“Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased” (cf. 4:39). Their response? “They were completely astounded.”

But now let us consider the statement, “It is I.” In the Greek it is simply “I am.” “Have courage!” Jesus says, “I am.” These are the words God spoke to Moses at the burning bush (Exod 3:14)! Our Savior declares Himself to be the great “I AM” (John 8:58) who led the Hebrews out of Egypt and safely through the waters of the Red Sea. Jesus not only walks where only God can walk, He also bears God’s name! The “I AM” has passed by, showing and declaring His deity. Deity is in the boat! The disciples are overwhelmed, but they still don’t get it, and they won’t until the resurrection.

We Are Blessed by His Patience (Mark 6:52)

Once again we see the disciples being exposed for their lack of trust in Jesus. The miracle “about the loaves,” the feeding of the five thousand, did not make a lasting impression on them. They remain in ignorance, and their hearts are becoming callous. Believe it or not, I find encouragement here. I see myself in them. There is hope!

Jesus could feed 20, 000 people. He had previously calmed the sea (4:35-41). Could He not protect them in this situation too? We say, “Yes God, I know You can, and that You have done , but my situation is different. I know You can do the impossible, but my situation is beyond impossible.” Not so with the God of Luke 1:37.

They receive no rebuke from their Master, the compassionate Shepherd (Mark 6:34). He knows they still have much to learn and endure. He will not give up on them. Praise God, He did not give up on us in our ignorance and hard-heartedness either!

Jesus is the One in whom we should have faith. He has proved Himself over and over.

Jesus Is the One to Whom We Should Come When We Hurt

Mark 6:53-56

Jesus has delivered the disciples from the storm on the sea. He now has more work to do.

No doubt this is a general summary of events that transpired over a period of time, as the word “wherever” would indicate. Once more the147 compassionate shepherd will care for His sheep without hesitation or discrimination. They hurt, and He heals. What a wonderful Savior He is!

Jesus Can Be Sought by Those in Need (Mark 6:53-55)

The boat lands in the area of Gennesaret (not Bethsaida). The strong winds had sovereignly sent them to a different location. More hurting people are in need of a helping hand, a divine touch. The people recognize Him, and they run throughout “the whole region” to bring the sick to Him.

Gregg Anderson, who works in the “Marketplace” focusing on those who serve in government, describes what was happening:

Scenes such as those that greeted Jesus should be easily imagined.... Desperate times require utilizing any available resources and space. Two thousand years ago, the resources would have included the beds on which the infirm were brought to Jesus.... The best locations were deemed to be open-air marketplaces in cities large enough to have them and any open spaces in the villages and countryside where everyone gathered to buy, sell, trade and socialize. From the “big city” to the suburbs to the country, the expectation was the same—with the needy all assembled in common areas where Jesus was likely to go, it was more likely they would experience the healing touch they sought. With the eager anticipation of a hospital patient and family members awaiting the physician’s rounds, those gathered in advance of Jesus’ arrival strained to see any indication of His imminent arrival. Many may very well have been long-time charity cases, suffering from their handicap for years. These, accustomed to begging to survive, were presumably the first to “implore Him.” (Anderson, “Healing”)

Jesus most certainly can be sought anywhere, anytime, and by anyone in need. There is not one whom He will turn away.

Jesus Will Bless Those Who Believe in Him (Mark 6:56)

Wherever He went, they brought the sick to Him, and He healed them. Minimally they believed He could heal, or they would not have come.

Men and women on mission for others brought people to the public square that they might meet and be healed by Jesus. Once there they “begged” continually (imperfect tense) to “touch just the tassel of His robe”—the tassels the law required as a reminder of the Lord’s commands (Num 15:37-41; Deut 22:12).

148And they were not disappointed: “And everyone who touched it was made well” (cf. Mark 5:27-29). There was nothing magical about the tassels. It was all about having faith in the One inside that garment: deity in a firstcentury Hebrew robe.

J. I. Packer says, “The true God is great and terrible, just because He is always with me and His eye is always upon me. Living becomes an awesome business when you realize that you spend every moment of your life in the sight and company of an omniscient, omnipotent Creator” (Packer, Knowing God, 86).

Jesus knows you better than you know yourself. He loves you more than you love yourself (which is a great deal). He is more compassionate than you could ever hope. He is more powerful than you could ever imagine. And He knows your needs more perfectly than you or I could ever comprehend. This “Bread of Life” allowed His body to be broken that your soul might receive the spiritual nourishment it needed. He walked the stormy waters through the dark night that led to the cross, so that He might rescue us and that we might never again be terrified or afraid. Through the wonderful touch of His bloody, redemptive hands, we can forever be healed of sin’s diseases and made well forever. He walked across the stormy waters of judgment in our place, and He took on our sicknesses in His own body. “Take heart,” He says. Understand, “I AM!”

Reflect and Discuss

1. If someone told you that it is impossible for a man to walk on water, how would you respond?
2. If someone suggested that the disciples created myths about Jesus after His death, how would you respond?
3. What was the crowd hoping for when they wanted to crown Jesus king immediately?
4. Have you ever felt that you were doing the will of God obediently, but you still ended up with trouble and difficulty? How did you feel during the trouble? How did it turn out in the end?
5. Mark records three of the instances when Jesus prayed (1:35; 6:46; 14:32-42). How might you change the time, place, and nature of your prayers in light of those accounts?
6. Try to imagine what you would have done if you had seen your favorite teacher walking on water. Why were the disciples terrified?
7. What are some of the other situations where God says, “Be courageous,” or “Don’t be afraid”? Where Jesus says, “I am ...”?
8. How are you encouraged by the disciples’ slowness to understand who Jesus was?
9. 149What does Jesus’ willingness to heal all who came to Him mean for us today? How do we avoid the heresies of the “health and wealth gospel” or “moralistic therapeutic deism”?
10. How was the experience of being healed by touching the tassel of Christ’s robe similar to the snake on a pole (Num 21:4-9)? How could this means be misunderstood (2 Kgs 18:4)?