The same day they fed five thousand people, they were terrified in a boat
Jesus and the twelve had gone to a quiet place to rest. John the Baptist had just been executed and they needed the afternoon off. The crowd worked out where the boat was heading and got there first, on foot, five thousand men before anyone counted the women and children.
By evening everyone was hungry and there were five loaves. You know how it ends. Bread kept coming out of the disciples' own hands, basket after basket, until a hillside of people had eaten and there were twelve baskets left over. Whatever else those men were that day, they were not spectators. They served it.
That night he sent them across the lake and the wind turned against them. Around three in the morning he came walking on the water and they screamed, because they thought he was a ghost.
But when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out: For they all saw him, and were troubled. And immediately he talked with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid.
Mark tells you why
This is the line I missed for years. Mark does not leave the terror unexplained.
For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened.
Not because the storm was unusually bad. Because they had not taken in what had already happened that afternoon. The evidence was under their fingernails and it had not gone anywhere near their hearts.
The evidence was under their fingernails and it had not gone anywhere near their hearts.
On Mark 6:52
I find that oddly encouraging rather than the reverse. These are not weak men who never saw anything. They saw more than most people see in a lifetime, and eight hours later they were shouting at a ghost. The gap between what God has done and what we have actually received is a normal gap. It is the ordinary Christian problem.
Which means faith is not a mood
If the twelve had needed more courage that night, the story would tell us to be braver. It does not. It says they had not considered the loaves. What they needed was already behind them.
So when you are in the middle of something at home or at work and you cannot see the far shore, the question is not whether you can summon enough belief. It is what you have already seen him do, and whether you have let it settle.
He fed five thousand people who had not been invited, had not asked properly and had ruined his day off. He did not check whether they deserved lunch. Nothing about your situation is going to be handled on a stricter basis than that hillside was.
The wind dropped when he got in the boat. It did not drop because they rowed better.
Premasis Satman
Founder and Executive Director of 5Talents Magazine, writing from Hyderabad. He has written the magazine's editorial column since the first issue in July 2012.
Faith · Grace · Mark · Editorial · Point of view