September 1, 2024 NOTES
NOT EDITED
The Story of
Jesus According to Mark, pt17, “Walking
Like Jesus”
Mark 6:45-56
SIS – Jesus did not walk on water to impress the disciples with
His power, but to inspire us to walk with Him INTO the battle.
Most of the sermons related to
Jesus walking on the water come from Matthew and focus a great deal on Peter,
who stepped out of the boat to walk like Jesus.
That instance did not work out as Peter planned.
Luke and John do not even
record
this miracle, and Mark does not mention Peter.
It is probably because Mark records the Apostolic record of Peter (see
note at end), and Peter chooses not to make himself the center of this miracle.
Thus, Mark (speaking for Peter) continues the theme of “preaching
Jesus and focusing on His identity. I
will follow Mark’s lead and continue to “put Jesus in the very middle of what
the gospel is all about.” In this case,
the theme is about, “Walking Like Jesus.”
One day a Presbyterian a
Methodist and a Baptist decided to go fishing. They got in their boat and rowed their way over to the
middle of the lake.
The Presbyterian remarked, 'I've forgotten my hat,'. The sun is getting hot so I’m going to go get
it. The Presbyterian got up, got out of
the boat and walked across the water, got his hat on the shore and walked
back. The Baptist could not believe his
eyes.
Just as the Presbyterian
stepped back into the boat, the Methodist said, “I’ve forgot my bait on the
shore.” So, the Methodist got up, climbed out of the boat and walked across the
water. He picked up the fishing bait and
walked back.
A little while passed as they fished. The Presbyterian said, “Hey, anyone else
getting hungry?” The Methodist said, “Yea, but our lunch is on the shore. I’ll go get it.” The Baptist did not want to
be outdone by the Presbyterian and the Methodist, so he said boastfully, “Don’t
worry guys, I’ll just walk over to the shore and get our lunches. I’ll be back
in a flash.” With that the Baptist stood
up and stepped over the side of the boat. He immediately sunk. With his arms flailing he yelled, “I can’t
swim.” The Presbyterian and the Methodist reached over and pulled him back into
the boat. The Baptist could not believe
what happened. He was crushed. He said, “I am so embarrassed. You two ministers both walked on the water,
but I sank like a stone. I guess I just
don’t have much faith.”
The Presbyterian turned to the Methodist and said with a bit of a
smirk on his face, 'Do you think we
should have told him where the him where the stepping stones are?'
I guess it doesn’t necessarily take a miracle to walk on water—if
you know where the stepping stones are.
In our text today, we will examine the real miracle of Jesus walking on
waters – no stepping stones, just
the power of God at work in His life.
Now, as we examine Jesus walking on the water in our text it is quite
remarkable. It’s a miracle! But, here’s
the thing to keep in mind – “Walking
on water” is not the issue – “Walking On Faith,” or “Walking Like Jesus,” that is
the issue. There are three
aspects to “walking like Jesus” outlined in this text. When we walk like Jesus, we walk Beneath the
Providence of God, Above the Circumstances of Life, and Into the Battle for
Souls. Three prepositions will help us
develop our thoughts: Beneath,
Above, and Into. First,
1. walk Beneath the Canopy of God’s Presence (46)
46 After
He said good-bye to them,
He went away to the mountain to pray.
Perhaps no passage of Scripture in the Gospels gives a more
fundamental description of the “essence” of Jesus Christ than this verse. This verse sums up the character and mission
of Jesus Christ—and therefore what should be the character and mission of His
followers—than this verse.
This verse tells us: first, we must “leave the world behind;” and second, we
must enter
an intimate, life-changing relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Too many people who call themselves followers
of Christ, or Christians, fail to completely sever ties with this world or make
a life-changing connection with God’s world.
No activity better
represents the true life of a believer than prayer. And, no activity provides more power for
sanctified, holy, set-apart, mission-driven living than prayer.
Prayer puts a person under the Canopy of God’s Presence. The Psalmist (91) describes what this means:
Psa 91:1 The one who lives under
the protection of the Most High dwells in the shadow of the Almighty.
I remember vividly the very first time I read this passage. We had just closed the hatch on my first submarine patrol. As I heard the Captain say, “Dive, Dive.” I knew that my life had taken a radical turn from the country roads of West Virginia. I was both excited and terrified in the same moment. I realized that millions upon millions of cubic feet of water had now engulfed me. Below my ship was the bottom of the Marianas Trench—over 36,000 feet (6 miles) below.
In about an hour or so, we secured the maneuvering watch and I was given a break from my duties as the fathometer watch which was supposed to keep our ship from hitting an undersea mountain or some other ship as we descended.
I took my Bible and I went down to the Middle Level of the Missile Compartment. I leaned up against the silo of a nuclear Poseidon Missile, sealed in that sub for the next 2 and a half to three months. I was overwhelmed with thoughts. I opened my Bible and my eyes fell upon Psalm 91:1
Psa 91:1 The one who lives under the protection of the Most High dwells in the shadow of the Almighty.
From that day to today, I have been a man of prayer. Not a giant of prayer, but a pigmy of prayer, but a man of prayer nonetheless. I realize that the possibility of living a life of significance is directly related to learning to “walk beneath the canopy of God’s Presence.” This is absolutely “critical” to victorious Christian living. Practicing the Presence of God in Prayer is the missing link in the lives of most believers and most churches, and sadly most preachers.
If we are going to “walk on water,” we need to first “follow Jesus and walk beneath the canopy of God’s Presence through prayer.
Someone I once read describes the importance of “living beneath the canopy of God’s Presence” like this: “Much prayer, much power. Little prayer, little power. No prayer, no power.”
I don’t think
you can say it any clearer than that.
Jesus felt the need to “get away from the world and get into the
Presence of the Father.” How can we hope
to accomplish anything of value in this world if we do not “walk in the steps
of Jesus.” This means, “walking
beneath the canopy of God’s Presence” through regular, passionate times of
prayer.
46 After
He said good-bye to them,
He went away to the mountain to pray.
2. we need to walk ABOVE the circumstances of life (47-52)
(CSB)47 Well into the night, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and he was alone on the land. 48 He saw them straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Very early in the morning he came toward them walking on the sea and wanted to pass by them. 49 When they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out, 50 because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke with them and said, “Have courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” 51 Then he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. They were completely astounded,
The majority of sermons
dealing with Jesus walking on the water during a storm deal with this issue of:
rescuing us from treacherous circumstances. In fact, most preaching in
general has this or a similar theme: a God
is here for us theme. The worst of
these types of sermons are the God-is-here-to-make-me-healthy-happy-and
rich. They call this the
“health/wealth or prosperity gospel.” It
is quite popular as Joel Olsteen’s followers and other Christian celebrities
attest. People seem to eat up preaching
aimed at meeting their physical and emotional needs—especially if it promises
riches.
This “Save-me-from-my-circumstances” preaching usually takes Matthew’s version talking about how Peter cried out upon seeing Jesus, (Mat. 14:28ff)
“Lord, if it’s You command me to come to You on the water”
I’m sure you know the story well. Jesus said, “Come,” and Peter jumped out of the boat and began walking on the water toward Jesus. But, verse 30 says that Peter then noticed the fury of the storm and began to sink beneath the waves.
The application of this particular overcoming circumstances sermon stream is something like this: “When we keep our eyes upon Jesus, we walk above our circumstances, but when we take our eyes off Jesus and look at our circumstances, we sink.”
I have no quibble with such an application of this text, if it does not degenerate into a “prosperity gospel that makes God little more than a Cosmic vending machine into which we put in a dime’s worth of prayer hoping to get back a dollar’s worth of blessing.”
The primary concern in this text—listen to this—the primary concern of God in regard to people is not providing for our comfort and safety but providing for the salvation of our souls. You hear me say this often: “Jesus didn’t die to make us HAPPY, but He died so we could become HOLY! God is not so much concerned about “changing our circumstances” as He is “changing our attitudes” in regard to our circumstances. Paul said it like this: Phil 4:11: for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. It’s not our circumstances in life that determine our happiness, but our attitudes.
So, I do think that part of what it means to “walk like Jesus” is to walk “ABOVE the circumstances of life.” I do not think that means we should constantly be asking God to give us “lighter circumstances, but to give us stronger backs.” Notice that when Jesus walked on the water, it was in the middle of a raging storm. The waves were swelling and crashing but Jesus stayed above the waves. V 51 says that the “storm didn’t cease until after Jesus got in the boat.” Even when storms come in life, we can follow Jesus’ example and walk “above our circumstances as we walk in faith like Jesus.”
A third issue arises in our text essential to learning how to “walk like Jesus.” This issue is outlined in verses 51-56:
Now,
verse 52 may seem, at first glance, to be simply an editorial
comment with only a general connection to what has gone before. Upon closer inspection, I think one can see a definite link to
what it means to “walk on water like Jesus.”
Walking like Jesus means:
3. Walking INTO
the
battle for Souls (53-56)
Now, this aspect of walking like Jesus does not immediately spring off the
page unless: 1) you believe that the Holy Spirit is guiding
the writing of this passage with a clear theme in mind, and 2) you read the context of what has gone
before closely. Look at vv 50-52:
Have
courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” 51 Then He got into the boat
with them, and the wind ceased. They were completely astounded, 52 because they had not understood about the loaves.
Instead, their hearts were hardened.
Peter may have instructed Mark not to record the incident of him
walking on the water. One author
suggested this is because Peter was embarrassed at his failure. That may very well be, but I believe what
Peter is really trying to point out as Mark writes the story down is this: he [Peter] was not the only one who failed the test that day.
On the back of the miracle of the Feeding of the 5000 that
impressed greatly all four gospel writers, we now have Jesus walking on the
water in the midst of a storm. The
language in verse 51 is such that it paints the
picture of the disciples in a near state of hysteria, or heightened euphoria over all
that had taken place. We might say they
were “beside themselves
with emotion,” or “crazy
with emotion,” or any number of idiomatic expressions denoting a
feverish reaction to what took place. The Word says they were “astounded,”
which we could translate, “Flabbergasted!” The word, “astounded” translates a six-word phrase in
Greek that is “expressive and intensive.”
That’s how things looked to a casual observer. Literally it might say, “from this
extraordinary event they were exceedingly and supernaturally beside themselves
in an altered state of mind”
May
I suggest this is the ONLY reasonable reaction to experiencing the awesome
Person and Work of Jesus Christ!!
But verse 52 gives the “inside view of the Holy Spirit”
(a Holy commentary)—they were “hard-hearted.” In other words, even with all the miracles they had seen, including the
miraculous feeding of the 5000 and the experience of watching Jesus walk on the
water—they just didn’t get it. “It” being, Jesus is Almighty God
present in the flesh!! They did not get it—just as many of us do not get
it—Jesus doesn’t do miracles to “impress us with His power but to inspire us by
His example.” Get this: Jesus didn’t die to get us out of trouble—but to
inspire and empower us to sail straight INTO trouble without fear or the
slightest hesitation.
Notice the
condition of the disciples that is so much like most church-goers on a Sunday
morning: They were
excited and clueless.
Then, notice what happens immediately after Jesus steps hit the shore: 53–56
(NIV84) 53 When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. 54 As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. 55 They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56 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.
Jesus is like a battle-hardened marine captain leading his troops to storm an enemy-held beach and liberate an imprisoned people.
That’s our MODEL: that’s what it means to “Walk Like Jesus!”
Seeing Jesus walk on water raised the emotions of the disciples to a fever pitch, but then the word says in v52 they were “hard-hearted.”
They were “excited
but not engaged!”
That’s a picture of Sunday Morning at nearly every church in America: excited for a MOMENT but not engaged in the MISSION! Oh my . . . that’ll preach!!!!!!!!
This can and does happen to all of us. We get all “revved up so to speak” and ready to charge hell with a squirt gun. But, then when the final amen comes, we make
our ways back into the “routines of life” (ruts) and the
emotion passes.
We get “excited, but not engaged.” We fail to
grasp fully why Jesus does what He does and how that instructs us about what we
should be doing. It’s not about “Walking ON Water,” but “Marching
INTO battle!
Jesus did not walk on water to
impress us with His power, but to inspire us by His example.
This section of the Scriptures which began with Jesus’ rejection in
His hometown of Nazareth now concludes with a statement that summarizes the
mission of Jesus: He went about
everywhere healing the sick and serving others.
In short, Jesus went about “spreading the good news of the Kingdom of
God.” Verse 56.
Let’s bring this text right into our hearts. Verses
53-56 outline for us exactly what Jesus expects for us if we are going to
be His disciples – Walk Into the Battle for Souls—souls that need healing; souls that need helping; souls that need saving!
It is all about winning souls:
miracles, healings, exorcisms are all examples of Christ’s power that
accompanies those who “preach His Word.”
Focusing on the miracles of
Christ and not the message behind those miracles is like a “man in the
desert dying of thirst licking the sign that says, ‘This way to water.” The miracles are just the “signs,” pointing to Jesus as the “Living
water.” Everyone who has ever received a
miracle of healing (or any other miracle) has ultimately died. Miracles
are temporary—the message is eternal.
Walking on water—the miracle—is not the issue, but walking like
Jesus—spreading the message—is the issue in this text and throughout the New
Testament.
Miracles without a message are nothing more than magic tricks. Oh, let me say that again: “miracles without a message are nothing more than magic
tricks.”
What does it matter if the sick are healed, the possessed are
delivered, the storms are calmed, or the multitudes are fed if they all
eventually die without receiving the “life-giving message of the Bible.”
I really do not think that Jesus walked on water to impress us with
His power, but to inspire us to follow His example. Walking on Water is nothing compared to
“walking INTO faith.”
Get INTO the battle and get the gospel out. This is what this text is saying. Feed the hungry, heal the sick, and walk on
water if you have to—but get INTO the battle for the souls of men, women and
children. Make a difference just like
Jesus did. Everything you need for the
battle, God will provide, even if it means providing the power to walk on
water. That’s the point of this passage.
So often, we focus on the “miracles of Jesus” and not the “message
behind those miracles.” The message
today is this: Jesus did not walk on water to impress us with His power but to inspire
us by His example. GO AND DO LIKEWISE!
Don’t make it your goal to “walk on water.” Make it your goal to “Walk Like Jesus”
bringing the healing, saving message of God to the masses. If that requires a little walking on water,
then God will give you that ability.
NOTE ON WHY MARK IS IN THE NEW
TESTAMENT
The question often comes up among believers, and others in the
public, as to “why were certain books (or writings) included in the Bible and
why others were not?”
The discussion of “How the Bible Came to Be” requires much more
length than a footnote. It happened over time as Christians shared the writings
of the Apostles. Certain writings received almost universal acceptance as being
“inspired by God” (2Timothy 3:16). The technical word used to describe the
collection of inspired writings is, “canon.” This word comes from Latin, kanon,
(the language related to Greek that influenced the development of New Testament
theology in the Church). The word kanon means, “measuring reed,” extended to
mean “standard,” such as a twelve-inch ruler is a standard of measure.
Very early, even during the lives of the Apostles, certain writings
(books) were being collected as the “standard by which all truth is judged.”
These became, officially, the New Testament, by 350 A.D. Here’s an important
principle to take special note of: “Books [did] not become inspired because
they are recognized as being canonical; rather, they are recognized as being
canonical because they are inspired by God. Thus, the church did not
"produce" the canon.”
(copied).
The three criteria for recognizing a book as inspired were: (1)
they were written by or associated with one of the Twelve Apostles. Thus, Mark
was associated with Peter as Mark records what Peter shared with him. (2) The
books had to have been widely recognized over the years by the entire Church as
being divinely inspired. Some Biblical books such as James and Revelation faced
initial challenges while other books such as the Didiche—The Teaching of the
Twelve, was initially received favorably but later rejected. (3) The third
requirement for a book to be received as inspired dealt with the “content.”
This referred to the established recognition that the content agreed with the
oral teaching of the Apostles while they were alive.
