“Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid.”

Mark 6:30-56 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

³⁰ The apostles gathered together with Jesus; and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught. ³¹ And He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while.” (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.) ³² They went away in the boat to a secluded place by themselves.

³³ The people saw them going, and many recognized them and ran there together on foot from all the cities, and got there ahead of them. ³⁴ When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things. ³⁵ When it was already quite late, His disciples came to Him and said, “This place is desolate and it is already quite late; ³⁶ send them away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” ³⁷ But He answered them, “You give them something to eat!” And they said to Him, “Shall we go and spend two hundred denarii on bread and give them something to eat?” ³⁸ And He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go look!” And when they found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” ³⁹ And He commanded them all to sit down by groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰ They sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. ⁴¹ And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food and broke the loaves and He kept giving them to the disciples to set before them; and He divided up the two fish among them all. ⁴² They all ate and were satisfied, ⁴³ and they picked up twelve full baskets of the broken pieces, and also of the fish. ⁴⁴ There were five thousand men who ate the loaves.

⁴⁵ Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the crowd away. ⁴⁶ After bidding them farewell, He left for the mountain to pray.

⁴⁷ When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land. 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. ⁴⁹ But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out; ⁵⁰ for they all saw Him and were terrified. But immediately He spoke with them and said to them, “Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid.” ⁵¹ Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished, ⁵² for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened.

⁵³ When they had crossed over they came to land at Gennesaret, and moored to the shore. ⁵⁴ When they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, ⁵⁵ and ran about that whole country and began to carry here and there on their pallets those who were sick, to the place they heard He was. ⁵⁶ Wherever He entered villages, or cities, or countryside, they were laying the sick in the market places, and imploring Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were being cured.

Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished, ⁵² for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened.     The disciples had just returned from being sent out by Jesus, with authority to teach, heal and cast out demons. They had returned to tell Jesus of all they had done. They watched as in Jesus hands five loaves of bread and two fish were multiplied to feed 5000 men plus the women and children who accompanied them. What was it that astonished them? Was it the walking on water or the calming of the storm? With all they had seen and experienced, why would anything Jesus could do astonish them? The text says:   they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened.    What was it that hardened their hearts? Perhaps it was that they had become so engrossed in their current situation, they were struggling with the circumstances of the natural realm. The text says: 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.     The disciples were so caught up in the physical struggle, battling the wind and the current, which was against them, in their own strength, that Jesus almost passed them by.

How often do we, like the disciples, with all we have seen and experienced, still allow ourselves to become so engrossed in the circumstances of the physical struggles we face, battling them, in our own strength, that we miss the presence of God as He approaches us? Jeremiah 17:9 says:  “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?  Jesus says:    Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. (Mark 11:23) Too often we rely on what we see and experience in the physical realm, we allow what is going on around us to affect and harden our hearts. We become deceived and we believe that the mountain is too big, that the storm is too great, we battle with all of our strength and only when we finally come to the end of ourselves do we look to Jesus. When the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water, the text says:  they supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out; ⁵⁰ for they all saw Him and were terrified.       We need to recognize Jesus. He is not a ghost, an illusive unperceivable presence. The text says:    But immediately He spoke with them and said to them, “Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid.”   Jesus promise to us is: I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:20)   

Later in today’s text it says:    When they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, ⁵⁵ and ran about that whole country and began to carry here and there on their pallets those who were sick, to the place they heard He was. ⁵⁶ Wherever He entered villages, or cities, or countryside, they were laying the sick in the market places, and imploring Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were being cured.    There was and is power in the presence of Jesus. The presence of Jesus changes circumstances in this physical realm. Were Jesus is the kingdom of heaven is with Him. The circumstances of earth line up with the realities of heaven. In Psalm 91 the psalmist says: He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.  We need to learn that regardless of the circumstances of this physical realm, regardless of the size of the mountain before us or the fury of the storm that rages around us, we can dwell in God’s shelter. We can abide in His shadow. We need to not allow our hearts to become hard and deceive us. We need to not be so engrossed in the struggle of the physical circumstances that we fail to see Jesus, that we fail to hear Him say: “Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid.”   The text says: and as many as touched it were being cured.    Whatever your need today, whatever struggle you are in lay down the oars, stop straining against the wind and the waves. Invite Jesus, the living Christ into the boat, touch Him, dwell in His shelter and abide in His shadow.

 Like the psalmist say: I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!”   May the circumstances of this world line up with the realities of heaven. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.   Amen.