Mark 6:45-52, Not Quite what We Expected

Tradition holds that the Gospel of Mark was written by John Mark (who Paul and Barnabus argued and parted ways over in Acts 15:36-41). If Mark wrote the Gospel, it’s likely that He was going off much of what the Apostle Peter taught. If this is the case, then I think it’s interesting that verses 45-52 unfold the way they do.

In Matthew 14:22-32, Matthew tells the story with Peter getting out and walking with Jesus until he becomes more focused on the wind and the waves and begins to sink. If Mark’s gospel is based on Peter’s teaching than why is this part left out? Especially since it ends with one of Peter’s “A-Ha!” moments as the Holy Spirit opens his eyes to the fact that Jesus is the Messiah?

John talks of Jesus walking on the water as well. His account is in John 6:16-21, and he leaves out Peter walking on the water too! Why?

In all three accounts it comes after Jesus feeding the 5000, which is another impossible event! To the rationalistic mind, the answer is easy, “It didn’t happen, there must be a reasonable explanation for what the disciples saw and for what Matthew says Peter experienced.” And though many of us are okay with excepting that God incarnate had the ability to do miraculous things that backed up His claims of being God, we’re still left with questions that need answers if we are going to understand what God is trying to communicate through these authors.

Let’s take a closer look at what Mark writes… first he says, in the beginning of verse 45, “Immediately.” So, there is some level of urgency, “Immediately He made His disciples get into the boat.” Jesus rushed the disciples off, why?

To answer that question, we might get a little insight from John’s perspective of this event. John writes in 6:14-15, “When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, ‘This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!’ Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.” Jesus ministry in this “desolate place” (Mark 6:32) created such a stir the people were ready to grab Jesus, make Him king, and take over the world! But it wasn’t time, so Jesus sends the disciples off ahead and withdraws to the mountain to pray.

We don’t see Jesus off alone praying mentioned a lot. In Mark it only happens three times (1:35; 6:45; 14:35–39). James Edwards observes that “in each Jesus faces a formative decision or crisis. Following the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus reaffirms by prayer his calling to express his divine Sonship as a servant rather than as a freedom fighter against Rome.” (Edwards, 2002)

The people, likely including the disciples, want to set Jesus up to overthrow the government. Jesus shoo them across the sea and sends the crown away (Mark 6:45). Then He goes to pray and wrestles with the direction of His ministry. Then He catches up with the disciples in the middle of the lake, but they’re in a boat and He’s on foot!

The disciples are out in the middle of the lake, without Jesus, and there “making headway painfully.” In the Greek this literally means that it was tormenting to get the boat to move in the direction they wanted. This was a rough night for the disciples. They just saw their Lord feed probably about 12,000 people with 5 loaves and 2 fish with way more left over than they started with. They were ready to set Jesus up and take Israel back from the Romans, but Jesus turned it all down. Now they’re stuck in the middle of the lake in a storm.

To the believer Jesus is everything, we praise Him as Lord and Savior, but rarely is He what we expected. And this too is the case with the disciples. They had imagined an outcome to their day that was way better than where they find themselves, and we’ve all been there. But this is when Jesus walks by doing something only God can do. He’s walking on the water.

No matter what the disappointment is that you are facing, God wants to show Himself to you as God. He doesn’t have any interest in living up to your expectations, but He has every intention of showing Himself to you. When everything doesn’t go our way, we’re afraid and don’t see a way out. Jesus walks by and says, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” (Mark 6:50) He may not live up to our expectations, but He wants to show you something more, something bigger than what you expect.

Jesus steps into the boat with His disciples, the storm becomes calm, and verse 51 ends with “And they were astounded.” Verse 52 tells us that they were astounded because they didn’t understand about the loaves. So, what’s that all about?!

They didn’t understand that Jesus wasn’t there to take over the government as they expected the Messiah to. He wasn’t there to make their lives what they always wanted. Like the loaves and fishes, He was there to be what seems like could never be enough, but when it’s broken it becomes far more than was ever needed. He didn’t come to be exalted; He came to be broken and die. And because He was faithful to stay His course He was exalted by the Father far above all authority and power and now is seated on the throne of power sovereignly ruling all creation and bringing it to it promised end… complete restoration!

It’s not always what we think we want or expect, but the outcome is way more than sufficient! Praise God for His faithfulness!

Works Cited

Edwards, J. R. (2002). The Gospel according to Mark (p. 197). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: Eerdmans; Apollos.