Mark 6:45-52-- Crazy Jesus

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. After bidding them farewell, He left for the mountain to pray. When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land. 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. But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out; 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." Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished, for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened.

After feeding the five thousand and teaching all of them, Jesus decided that it was time for him to get a little rest (that neither he nor the disciples got previously).  So he sent the disciples in the boat across the lake, and then he send the crowd away to go home.  Then Jesus was by himself, praying, asking the Father and listening to the Father.  

It happens, at times, on the Sea of Galilee (or, called the Lake of Genessearet) that strong storms come suddenly.  The disciples came against one of those storms.  In the text it says that the “wind” was against them—meaning the power of the wind.  Rather than pay attention to Jesus’ lesson earlier against the storm—where he showed them that all they needed to do was to command the winds to be silent (Mark 4:37-40)—they were working with their oars, trying to battle the wind in a puny human way.  Jesus was determined to help them, so he used his authority over the power of the water and walked on it to the boat.  At first the disciples were frightened, thinking it was a spirit coming to attack them.  But he commanded them not to be afraid.  As he entered the boat, the wind stopped at his authority.  

Mark then makes a comment on the disciples.  They were supposed to have learned about the authority that Jesus gave them—from him calming the storm, him sending them out to cast out evil spirit, from them distributing the impossible food.  They were supposed to learn that the authority he had to draw on God’s power of provision and protection over against any spirit doing them harm.  But they did not understand.  The term “heart was hardened” is used a number of times in the Old Testament (Exodus 7:13-14; Exodus 9:12; Deuteronomy 2:30; II Chronicles 36:13).  It means to lack understanding in a stubborn, rebellious way.  Sometimes the Lord can harden someone’s heart, but more often than not, they do it to themselves.  In this case, the disciples refused to believe that they had received the same authority that Jesus had.  That they could command the wind and water to obey.  That they could cause the loaves to multiply.  Because the same power that God displayed in the Scripture, that was the power in Jesus and that was the authority Jesus had given them.  Because they refused to pay attention to what Jesus was teaching them, they lacked understanding.

To live the Christian life, the main thing is to just pay attention to Jesus.

When I say "Christian" I don't mean being a good person in society, like being a proper husband or wife.  Because Jesus wasn't that kind of person himself.  He wasn't a very good son (he didn't take care of his mother), he wasn't a very good husband (without a wife), he wasn't a good provider (he quit his job).  

Jesus was a revolutionary and a charismatic.  He saw the world differently than other people, and so reacted differently to situations.  He used his words to make reality change.  He asserted his God-given authority.  He stepped into situations that most of us would have thought to be impossible.

If we would have seen the disciples in trouble in the middle of the lake, we might have done the "good Christian" thing and pray for them.  Maybe we would have prayed "with power" (which would have meant firmly and loudly), but we would have stayed on shore.  Only Jesus saw that the disciples needed more than a distant prayer, they needed his presence, and so he walked out to them.  On the sea.

Jesus doesn't ask for much.  He isn't asking us to do anything he wouldn't do.  But he is asking us to live out radical love like he did.  And if we step out in that love, he promises to help us fulfill it.  

If we pay attention to Jesus' love, we will do, says Jesus, even crazier things than he did.  Cool.