Mark 6:45-52 (NIV): 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.
The disciples were not having a good time. They were trying to obey Jesus’ instruction and get to the other shore of the Sea of Galilee, but the wind was against them. They couldn’t use the sails in that situation, so they all had to row. Even then, the waves were pushing against them. After several hours of hard rowing, they had only covered a little more than 3 miles (John 6:19). They were tired and discouraged, and figured that, even having to walk around the lake, Jesus would probably beat them to their destination.
One of them looked toward the stern of the boat, and caught his breath. What was that sticking up out of the water? He poked another of the disciples (it was too windy to talk and be heard) and pointed toward the mysterious object. More of them had noticed the thing, whatever it was, protruding out of the sea, with what almost looked like fabric flapping around it. And it seemed to be getting closer. Finally it was close enough for them to see it clearly. It looked like a person walking on top of the water right toward them. “A ghost!” someone cried out, and then they were all saying it.
Then, over the sound of the wind and the waves, they heard a familiar voice call out, “Take courage! It’s me! Don’t be afraid!” It was Jesus walking toward them on the surface of the stormy water; they could see that now. They stopped rowing, and in just a moment He was climbing into the boat with them, smiling at the fear that they had shown. And, as soon as He was in the boat, the wind died down, the sea grew calm, and they were able to quickly get to the other side.
The disciples, far from being comforted by Jesus’ presence, were once again mystified, stunned at the things Jesus could do. Calming the storm a few weeks before was amazing; raising the dead was stunning; even feeding a multitude with five loaves of bread and two fish was incredible. But what were they to make of a man who could walk across the surface of a stormy lake like they walked on dry ground? Their minds were completely blown. They had no idea what to do with this. They still had no idea who Jesus really was. Yet.
Father, we often point fingers of ridicule at the disciples for being so slow to understand. But we are not that much better. We are stunned when we see a real miracle. We still try to work out our own solutions to the major problems we face each day, only turning to You when we can’t see a way forward (and even then with more desperation than faith). Even with the Bible and all of the information that we have about You, I think we only have a small glimpse of all that You are, and of all that You are capable of doing. Help us, Lord, to lean on You more fully and more completely , so that we can experience more of You. And then help us to share what we learn with the people around us, so that they can learn more about You, too!