On Line Bible Study - For the week April 27-May 3, 2009

Lesson 385

Jesus on the Water . . .

After the miracle of the feeding of the 5000 in Mark 6:30-44, we read this:

Mark 6: ⁴⁵Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. ⁴⁶After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray. ⁴⁷When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. ⁴⁸He 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, ⁴⁹but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, ⁵⁰because they all saw him and were terrified.

Immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." ⁵¹Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, ⁵²for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.

⁵³When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. ⁵⁴As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. ⁵⁵They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. ⁵⁶And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed.

Once again we are faced with several challenges in the text. There is some confusion over both the time of events - "evening" is thought to be dusk, and the "fourth watch of the night" would be between 3 and 6 AM - it seems unlikely Jesus would have watched the disciples for 9 hours before going to them; and the direction of the boat - the disciples have been on the west side of the lake, and when they end up, they are in Gennesaret, which is also on the west side. Scholars suspect the reason for this confusion is that we have different versions of the story merging together. These textual challenges do not alter the main themes.

Water is the place of chaos. Mark has once before presented us with a stormy sea that threatened the lives of the disciples. In three words, Jesus calmed the storm (Mark 4:35-41). Once again the disciples find themselves in a dangerous situation on the water. Note that this time, Jesus says nothing to the wind or waves. Rather, he reveals himself to his disciples who are unable at first to recognize him.

Donahue and Harrington suggest that this story is less about a miracle and more about an "epiphany", with the subsequent fact that the disciples are not only "amazed", but their hearts were hardened. The three phrases Jesus speaks look like this: Command - Revelation - Command. Jesus tries to reassure the frightened disciples - Take courage! ___ Don't be afraid! But the real meat of the matter is this: It is I. Here the translation fails us - it might be better to translate that phrase: I am. That should conjure up another Biblical scene - from the book of Exodus 3:14. This is the "name" of God - I AM. In the midst of the chaos of life, God is ... Jesus is.

Note that the disciples are both "amazed" and "hardened" - in other words, faith and doubt are living side by side. They "know", and yet they don't. It is almost reminiscent of the centurion - I believe. Help my unbelief! (Mark 9:24).

One final thought - note the paradox between the crowd ("people" in this translation) who recognize Jesus, and the disciples who don't. This begs the question: How does one come to know Jesus? How can it be that those who lived in close proximity to him still don't get it, while those who experience him only as he passes by have such strong faith in him and his power to heal, forgive and save?

We head into Mark 7 next time.