The Wrong Boat To Be In

I have a tendency to neglect Mark's Gospel. I don't really know why. Maybe it's because it's the shortest. But I have been reading through it slowly over the last weeks. Toward the end of chapter 6 there is a verse that has been on mind a lot lately. I just can't let it go.

A lot is going on in chapter 6. Jesus returns to His home town, He sends out the twelve without many material comforts, John the Baptist is murdered and that's just the first 29 verses. I want to pick up in verse 30. Here Jesus receives the apostles back and they jump in a boat to go find a quiet place to rest. But a bunch of people crash their plans for rest and Jesus, being the awesome Lord that He is, gives the crowd what they came for and starts teaching. But it was getting late and the people were hungry, so Jesus uses His divine power to take five loaves of bread and two fish to feed five thousand men and everyone else that had showed up. Then there is leftovers.

Right after that Jesus sends His disciples back to the boat with orders to go ahead of Him. He'll catch up later. He takes His leave and finds a place to pray to the Father alone. By the time He is done the boat is in the middle of the lake with the wind working against them. They had to row instead of sail. It has not been their day.

Jesus, being God and man, just walks out onto the lake and begins to pass the disciples in the boat. They of course freak out and are terrified, like anyone in their right mind would be. He puts their minds at ease and announces “Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid.” Jesus climbs in the boat and immediately the wind dies down and the disciples are shocked into amazement.

Then there is the little verse 52. It says “for they had not understood about the loaves: their hearts were hardened.”

At this point all I can think of is Pharaoh and his hard heart. Look what happened there. His kingdom is ravaged by plagues and then he loses a whole bunch of slaves. The disciples must be in the same boat with Pharaoh. Not a good boat to be in. I think that I am in that boat sometimes. I just don't understand what God is showing me and my heart hardens. My new prayer is that God will work in my heart to soften it and that I will understand His messages to me.

Even on the worst days we are still expected to understand what God is doing when He reveals Himself to us. Look at the disciples' day. They get back from a mission trip expecting to debrief with Jesus (who sent them in the first place), and they end up in a large crowd, seeing a miracle, get sent ahead in bad weather, so instead of sailing they have to row. Then Jesus shows up walking on water. And what do you know, they don't get it that Jesus is the Son of God, God Himself.