Mk 6:45-56 
Key Verse 50b.....Immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." 

Good morning!  Last week, we learned about Jesus who fed the 5,000 with just 5 loaves and 2 small 
fish.   Jesus displayed his compassion for the crowd, to not only teach them but also to give them physical 
food for their hungry stomachs.  From his command to the disciples, "you give them something to eat," I 
learned that I must accept other people's problems and burdens as my problem too.  It is not appropriate to 
send them away, but instead to solve their problem.

The feeding of the 5,000 is the backdrop for this week's passage.  This miracle had occurred mere hours 
before.  We will find that the disciples had not understood the significance of the 5 loaves.  They did not 
apply what they saw.   We will learn how important it is to have a sense of history.

Part 1  Another storm training

        Look at Mark 6:45. "Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to 
Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd."  The feeding of the 5,000 happened in the late afternoon. 
Perhaps the disciples picked up the left over pieces as the sun was setting.  By now it was evening, and 
Jesus immediately sent the disciples ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.  Why did he 
send the disciples ahead?  How would he get there without a boat?  Why did he send the disciples out by 
themselves into a rough sea?  But Jesus' action shows great wisdom and purpose.  First of all, it allows him 
to escape from a crowd that had turned hostile (an event which is recorded in John 6:14-15)  Secondly, it 
gives Jesus some quite time.  How did he spend this time?  Let's read verse 46. "After leaving them, he went 
up on a mountainside to pray."  How long did he pray?  Most of the night.  He finished during the fourth 
watch of he night, which means later than 3:00 am.
When we study Jesus life, we find that he was always praying.  He would get up before the sun and go 
to a quiet place to pray.  He would go up to a mountain to pray at night.  He often had all night prayers, such 
as here.  We wonder when he found time to sleep.  We wonder how he could have strength without a good 
night's rest.  This teaches the importance of prayer.  When his day was to busy to pray, Jesus prayed at 
night, at the expense of his sleep.  This means that prayer is more important than sleep.
Some people skimp on prayer.  They would rather have a good night's sleep.  In the morning they're 
body is rested, but their soul is restless.  Sometimes my soul is restless and not at peace.  Then I know that I 
have to set aside some serious time to pray and restore my spirit.  When we make a clear priority to have 
real quiet time with God, like Jesus, then we can build a relationship with God.  Prayer is not just praying 
before meals, or 2 by 2 before Sunday Worship.  But Jesus sets an example for us of quiet time with God.
Normally, we tend to pray to God only when we are in desperate trouble or need. We wonder why 
Jesus needed to pray earnestly, although He was the Son of God who was granted divine power to rule over 
all creatures on earth. He seemed to have nothing inadequate or troublesome that required help or 
counselling. But he prayed to God  desperately and humbly as was his habit. What did Jesus pray about? 
Firstly, He thanked God who had fed five thousand people with five loaves and two fish and so brought 
glory to God. Secondly, He prayed for world salvation and his disciples. No doubt, Jesus prayed that his 
disciples might bear in their minds the spiritual secret of how to feed over 5,000 people with five loaves and 
two fish and become spiritual leaders equipped with a sense of responsibility, shepherd's heart and faith. 
Thirdly, he prayed for himself. Through prayer, Jesus got spiritual power to overcome all evil spirits and 
have wisdom to serve the gospel ministry. Also, through his prayer, he received from heaven direction for 
his upcoming gospel work. 
        For Jesus, prayer was not a casual job, but a major activity in his life. Jesus started, continued, and 
finished his Messianic ministry with prayer. Before he inaugurated his gospel ministry, He prayed and 
fasted for 40 days and armed himself with spiritual power to rescue God's children from Satanic 
domination. Jesus prayed in all circumstances irrespective of place, time, or style. He was even able to pray 
on the cross while breathing his last breaths, "Father forgive them, for they don't know what they are 
doing." (Lk 23:34). As Christians, we can pray with a sense of duty or obligation. There are not a few 
believers who  pray unwillingly out of an obscure fear that they will be punished in return for not asking 
God for something. But to Jesus, prayer was not an awful burden or stressful job, but a great pleasure and 
honest expression of his love and trust towards God. Jesus always enjoyed sweet hours of prayer because he 
was able to communicate with God freely concerning all matters. 
While Jesus the disciples were in difficulty.  Look at verses 47 and 48.  Let's read those together. 
"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, "
The disciples were having trouble with the boat, because the wind was against them.  In the evening, 
they had set out, and everything seemed to be going well.  But then the wind turned against them.  Strong 50 
mph gusts were pushing against the boat and whipping the waves into a frenzy.  Does this sound familiar? 
Only 2 chapters ago, in Mk 4:35-41, another storm comes upon the unsuspecting disciples in the sea of 
Galilee.  I will remind you of it.  At that time, they were rowing across the placid sea, and Jesus was 
sleeping in the stern.  Suddenly a furious storm came up!  One minute they were enjoying a peaceful cruise, 
much like those of you who rented boats during our picnic on Monday.  The next minute the sky was dark, 
and the next minute the thunder cracked, the rain poured, the winds howled and the waters raged.  Within 
the span of 5 minutes the sea went from gentle to life-threatening.  When he boat was about to sink, they 
woke Jesus up, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"  Jesus calmed the storm with one command, then he 
rebuked his disciples for their lack of faith.  They had not awakened Jesus until it was almost too late.  And 
they were afraid of drowning.
The storm in today's passage has a different character.  When we studied Mk4, we called that event as 
"Jesus' storm training."  Since today's passage is a different type of storm, we can say that this is Jesus' 
different-type-of-storm training.  What type of training?  This storm did not come upon them suddenly, like 
the first storm.  This storm did not threaten their lives.  Rather it started with a gentle breeze and built and 
built in intensity over a period of 8 hours.  Some storms spring on us suddenly, like a daughter's illness, or 
loosing our job.  But there are other storms that build with deceptive slowness.  They do not appear life 
threatening, but they threaten to exhaust us, and to prevent us from going anywhere.  This passage says that 
the disciples were straining at the oars.  The cried, "OK men, pull! pull! PULL!" But the waves replied 
,"woosh!  woosh!  WOOSH!".  They were not going anywhere!  Although they had gotten to the middle of 
the lake by evening (v47), they struggled for at least the next 8 hours, without making any further progress. 
We can imagine the struggling of the disciples.  At first, when the wind picked up, they were not 
concerned.  Peter, John,  Andrew and James were all used to the whimsical weather of the sea of Galilee. 
They had rowed against the wind many times, and always won.  Although the wind pushed hard, they had 
always been able to push harder and get where they were going.  So they were not concerned at first.  In fact 
they made some progress for the first hour.  They though they could see the lights of houses on the far 
shore.  But by then disciples were getting tired, where as the waves were just getting warmed up.  The less 
experienced rowers like Thomas, Mathew, and Philip complained that they needed a rest. The more 
experienced rowers began to accuse them of not pulling their weight.  Frustration lead to bickering.  Soon 
they could not see the lights of the shore any more.  For the next 7 hours, they futilely struggled against the 
waves.
They were finally all exhausted.  Every muscle ached.  Every hand was blistered.  And for all of their 
work they were still going nowhere.  During their difficulty, where was Jesus?  Verses 46 tell us that Jesus 
was praying on a mountainside.  This is the second difference of this storm training.  Jesus was not in the 
boat with them.  The disciples felt all alone in their current troubles.  They didn't think to ask Jesus for help, 
because they didn't think he could see them or hear them.  They thought he was unaware of their trouble.
But verse 48 tells us "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."  How could he see them, him 
way up on a mountainside, them several miles out to sea, in the middle of the night?  But he saw them, and 
he knew about their trouble.  The whole time that he was praying, he knew that they were struggling.  Then, 
at the appropriate time, he went out to them.  What this teaches us about Jesus is very important.  Even 
though he was miles away from the disciples, he could see them.  Even though he allowed them to struggle 
on their own for 8 hours, he always had a plan to go out and rescue them, at the right time.  When the 
disciples left Jesus on the shore, they thought that they were now on their own.  They thought that they had 
to do it themselves.  And in a usual situation, they could have managed.  But in this turbulent sea, they 
reached their human limitation.  Although they pulled and strained, they were not going anywhere.  But, 
since they knew that Jesus was not with them, they just tried harder on their own.  But we see that Jesus was 
in fact with them.  He knew exactly what was happening; he saw them and was praying for them.  But they 
were not praying.  They were not crying out to Jesus or to God.  They were trying on their own and they 
were failing.
Actually, the disciples in the boat are a picture of all people.  When people try to accomplish something 
without the help of God, they may meet initial success, but they will ultimately reach their human limitation, 
where the situation is just too much for them.  Man reaches a point where he just isn't going anywhere.  For 
many people, this occurs in finances.  They get a paycheck in the mail along with bills.  The bills are for 
more than the paycheck.  It seems that no matter how hard they work, they just can't break even, but keep 
slipping further and further into debt.  For others, it is school studies.  They finish 2 homework assignments, 
and have 3 new ones assigned.  When people struggle to get ahead out of selfish ambition, their effort is 
meaningless, a chasing after the wind (Ec 6:9).   But even we who are Christians experience these same 
types of struggles.  They can only have meaning when we are following God.
Ever since Adam disobeyed God, man's life has involved painful toil and struggle.  Struggle with nature 
to survive.  Struggle with others who ruthlessly steal or cheat to get ahead of us.  Struggle with our selves to 
do what is right.   In all of this human struggle, there is always a limit to what we can do.  Some people are 
more capable than others, but all experience failure.  We can row against this much wind, but not this much. 
When encounter that much wind, we begin to move backwards, like the disciples. 
We all also wage a struggle against sin.  In this struggle, many feel like the disciples- not going 
anywhere.  They resist Satan for 3 days, then he tempts them again and they fall again.  They never get any 
closer to righteousness, no matter how hard they try.  This is the picture of defeated man in Ro 7.  Paul says 
in Rom 7:19, "For what I do is not the the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do-this I keep on 
doing."  How helpless man is in his struggle against sin!  He is like a man straining at the oars, amidst a 
torrent then renders all of his effort in vain.  Then what should man do?  Should he give up?  There are 3 
types of people: Those who found the struggle with sin to difficult, and so instead chose to justgive in to 
their bodies and enjoy wild life.  They no longer have struggle, but enjoy sin for a short while.  They do not 
fight the waves, but let the waves carry them whereever they wish.  Later they will have to pay for their 
lifestyle.  The second group is those who continue to struggle with their sins.  Their struggle is futile, the sea 
is too strong for them to overcome, but they are more noble because continue to resist even though they are 
loosing.  The third type of person is the one who has resisted to the end of their ability.  They have come to 
the point where they can recognize their own human limitation.  But rather than give up, they cry out to 
God, "rescue me from this body of death!" (Ro 7:24)  Then Jesus gives us the strength through his spirit to 
do what is right.  Jesus pays the cost for our sins and sets us free from condemnation (Ro 8:1).  Our struggle 
helps us to find our weaknesses so that we can pray to God about them.  We have a limitation, but God is 
limitless.  He said, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (2Co 12:9) 
Praise God who doesn't leave us fighting a loosing battle with the waves of sin, one step forward, two steps 
back, but who instead gives us the visctory through his spirit. 
Similarly, in the disciples struggle with the sea, they had a choice.  The disciples never gave up with 
their rowing.  They never said, "Let's just go the way the wind is blowing."  Rather, Jesus told them to go to 
the other side, and they were going to go to the other side.  They show their noble human character in that 
they obeyed Jesus dirrection, even though it was difficult.  And yet, despite all of their nobility, they had 
reached their human limitation. They need the help of Jesus who is not limitted, even by the laws of Physics, 
but who can walk on water.
At 3:00 am, when the disciples' last strength was ebbing and they were about to fall asleep at the oars, 
Jesus came to them walking across the water.  Here Jesus shows that we are never beyond his reach.  He 
saw them, even though he was far away.  He came to them, even though they were lost at sea.  When there 
was no boat for Jesus, he simply walked across the water.  There is no obstacle for Jesus.  Among Jesus' 
miracles, the walking on the water is one of his most visually impressive.  It was not subtle, like the feeding 
of the 5,000.  It is something which looks completely impossible. You would rub your eyes if you saw it.
We can think about who is this Jesus who can even walk on water.  In Mathew's gospel, when Jesus 
climbs into the boat, the disciples proclaim, "Truly you are the Son of God."  This is correct.  For Jesus 
there was nothing that he could not do.  He could even walk across the waves.  Jesus demonstrates by this 
that he is the creator God who is the Lord of the sea.  Like God at the creation, Jesus can float above the 
waters.  When we think of this Jesus we can see that he has no human limitations.  This storm which caused 
the disciples so much trouble was no trouble for him.  When they reached their limit, Jesus was still 
unlimited.  He could help them when no one else could.
Christian life is also a struggle.  When we see the standard that Christ has set for us, we struggle to meet 
it.  Many of us received a calling to raise disciples.  We may have met an initial success, and had many 
students.  But later they all left.  We got more students, but they left too.  It seems that no matter how hard 
we work, we never make any forward motion.  Some people have even given up on the idea of ever raising 
a disciple.  They stopped going fishing.  They are more at rest, because they just let the waves carry them 
wherever the waves want to, without struggling against them.  But the right response is to acknowledge our 
human weakness, and depend on God whose strength is made perfect in our weakness.  We cannot do it. 
But we do not give up; because God can do it.  Once I had 10 Bible studies.  Now I have only 4.  One has 
studied for 6 years and is still not Christian.  Many of them do not seem to be growing.  Am I making any 
forward progress, despite rowing all night?  It is clear that I cannot make a disciple.  But Jesus can make my 
sheep into disciples.  Its less what I try to do with my sheep and more my prayer to God to do something 
with my sheep.  When I can acknowledge my inability and come humbly and faithfully to God, that is when 
there is hope for my sheep.
Missionary Maria Kim prays earnestly every morning for her sheep, crying out to God.  And her sheep 
are growing.  Prayer is the secret to overcoming our human limitations.
When we pray humbly, God will listen.  Like the disciples, Jesus sees us struggling at the oars. 
Sometimes, we feel that Jesus is far away, but he is instead very near.  He sees everything.  He promised to 
be with us always.  So he knows our difficulties and cares about them.  He knows we are failing.  He is 
waiting until we reach the point of our human limitation.  At the point when we will admit that we need 
Jesus' help, he is ready to step in and help. 

Part 2 Don't be afraid

How did the disciples react to the approach of Jesus?  Let's read verses 49 and 50.  OK lets go. "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.' "
They thought he was a ghost.  Of course we can understand why.  It was a dark night on the lake, with 
only a cresent moon of light.  The strong wind made eerie howling noises.  The waves began to sound scary. 
A big fish jumped out on the lake with a splash, and the disciples jumped, "What was that!?"  Then they saw 
something walking to them accross the waves.  No solid object can walk on water.  Not the boogie man or 
the werewolf.  So it must be a ghost.  They remembered campfire stories when they were young about the 
sea ghosts of those who had died at sea, and who would wander at night bringing disaster with them.  Their 
conclusion is understandable, but it is superstitious.  It is not Biblical.  It shows their lack of faith, and their 
fear.
First of all, biblically, such ghosts do not exist.  It would be more likely to be an angel.  Secondly, even 
if there were such a ghost, they should not be afraid of it.  The Bible says that we should fear God only. 
Some people come from very superstitious cultures, but even if all of the imaginary monsters were real, we 
should not fear them.
When we do not fear God, we fear everything else.  We fear imaginary ghosts and also real troubles. 
We have fear of loosing our job.  We have fear of having an accident.  We have fear of getting sick.  Fear 
makes us powerless.  But when we fear God, we do not need to fear anything else.  Jesus taught us not to 
fear even those who can kill us, but rather to fear God who controls our eternal soul.
Look at Jesus reply to the disciples.  "Immediately he spoke to them and said, 'Take courage! It is I. 
Don't be afraid.' "  They didn't recognize him because of the poor light, but also because of their fear.  Jesus 
showed his concern for the disciples.  "Take courage! It is I.  Don't be afraid."  They were encouraged. 
Actually Peter even asked to walk on the water too, according to Matthew's gospel.  In our struggles we may 
also be encouraged by Jesus, who came to the disciples in their time of need.  They had no reason to be 
afraid, when Jesus was with them.
In the midst of our troubles, we too can take courage.  Jesus is there too help, so we do not need to be 
afraid of anything.  When we take courage, we can have faith in God to deliver us from evil.
Look at verses 51 and 52.   Let's read them. 51 and 52. "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."
When Jesus got into the boat, the wind stopped, and they were able to reach the shore immediately. 
The disciples were amazed that Jesus had walked on water.  They couldn't believe that such a thing was 
possible.  For the one hundredth time they asked themselves, "Who is this?"  But Mark interprets their 
amazement as unbelief.  "They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their 
hearts were hardened. 
What does it mean that "they had not understood"?  It does not mean that they did not remember.   The 
miracle with the 5 loaves and 2 fish had only happened 12 hours before!  They remembered but they didn't 
understand.  It was like my class on queing theory.  The professor was writing all of these equations on the 
board.  I was feverishly copying them down.  Later I looked over my notes.  I could remember him talking 
and see the notes, but I could not understand what he was talking about.  So I could not apply it to the 
homework problems.
Understanding does not mean remembering, but applying.  The disciples did not understand what the 
feeding of the 5,000 was supposed to teach, so they could not apply it, when a new situation came along. 
What should they learn?  Jesus who fed the 5,000 with 5 loaves and 2 fish is the Son of God who can do 
anything.  If he could do that, he can do anything, such as calm the sea or walk on water.  Even though these 
are very different sorts of miracles, when they saw one miracle, they should be able to apply it to the next 
situation.  But they missed the point of Jesus miracle, because their hearts were hard. 
When one's heart is hard, nothing penetrates the hard outer crust.  One miracle or a hundred will not 
matter, because the heart is not open to accept.  The pharisees, who had seen Jesus do many miracles, 
demanded an additional sign- none of the others would do, because their hearts were hard, due to unbelief. 
To these people Jesus would give no sign except his resurrection.  That one sign is sufficient, but if our 
hearts are harden to it, then no number of signs will do.
The Israelites are another example.  After God performed 10 wonders to bring them out Egypt with a 
mighty hand, he even parted the Red Sea, allowing them to pass through as on dry ground, while the 
Egyptians were destroyed.  None-the-less, only three days later, they complained again.  When we study this 
we think what was wrong with them, after all that they had seen?  The answer is that they hardened their 
hearts.  Psalms says, "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart like they did in the desert."
We soften our heart through a conscious decision, and through spending time meditating on God's 
word.  Often my heart is hard to what a passage is trying to teach, until I begin to write my testimony.  At 
first I can't write anything.  Nothing applies to my current situation.  My present problem is entirely 
different, like walking on water, compared to feeding 5,000.  Nothing in common.  So before I write I have 
to pray and meditate.  Then so many applications come out of the passage.  This is how I soften my heart, 
through prayer and meditation on the word of God.  Sometimes, I even thought the passage was boring, 
until I found, through meditation, how beautiful and important it was.
The disciples failure to understand the current significance of a past event shows that they did not have 
a sense of history.  We also need a sense of history of what God has done for us in the past.  We need to 
accept that the current situation is no different than the past situation, in terms of what God can do.  My own 
testimony is that God has always been faithful to me.  So many times, I was making mistakes, or forgetting 
deadlines, or messing up somehow.  But God always fixed it.  He has always been faithful, so I can depend 
on him and trust him with my future to.  I know my weakness, but I do not need to be afraid.  I can take 
courage, because Jesus is with me.
Now look at verse 53-56 "When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. 
As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus.  They ran throughout that whole region and 
carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was.  And 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."
        When Jesus' company crossed over the lake, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. Now the 
time came to eat and rest. This time, surely nobody would bother them. But people recognised Jesus. They 
ran throughout the whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. And 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.  Their actions show their 
great expectation and their faith.  They had learned from the woman who touched Jesus' cloak.
        We need to take note of the growth in Jesus' ministry. The eminent characteristics of God's ministry 
and our Christian life are gradual growth without stop. Jesus' gospel ministry started in the desert, but now 
he had such a big congregation that that there was no room for them in synagogues but only in spacious 
marketplaces. His beginning seemed to be humble and nothing, but now his following was huge. If we don't 
grow in our spirit and faith gradually, but remain unchanged or  go backwards, it means we have some 
problems in our Christian lives. There is no stop or degradation in God's kingdom. Just as a plant grows 
steadily and produces many choice fruits in season, so we must not stop growing in our faith and spirit. This 
year, God wants us to grow spiritually through  spiritual struggles and discipleship training. Even though 
last year we may have lived as bible teachers without a single student, this year we can become excellent 
bible teachers in Jesus, the one who is pleased to give us all we need for campus mission and spiritual 
victory.  But we need to stop depending on our flesh and depend on the almighty God.  May we have soft 
hearts to accept and apply to ourselves even just one word of God.