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of you are familiar with this story. Right? You might say, “I know this story.” You would
get bored with my sermon. You might be able to put your heads down while I am
preaching. But don’t worry. This story won’t let you sleep. This story won’t let you
yawn. Do you know why? The Word of God that goes out from His mouth will not
return to Him empty, but will accomplish what He desires and achieve the purpose
for which He sent it(Isaiah 55:11) You will be refreshed. You will be revived, restored,
and rejuvenated. Amen!
The story of Jesus walking on the water is written not only in the Gospel of Mark, but
also in the Gospels of Matthew and John. So, by comparing these three Gospels
with each other, I think we can see the big picture of this story.
First of all, let us take a look at Mark chapter 6. There is a story of Jesus feeding the
five thousand with five loaves and two fish. And then, Jesus told his disciples to get
into the boat. Jesus sent them ahead to the other side of the lake. And Jesus sent
the crowd away and stayed there alone. Do you know why? Jesus knew that the
crowd wanted to make him their king. So Jesus went up to the mountain to spend
time alone with God. He wanted to get away from people. He wanted to talk to God
alone. Although Jesus was the Son of God, he had many problems. He faced many
difficulties like us. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law opposed Jesus. Herod
Antipas was a cruel man who was afraid of Jesus.
Jesus needed his alone time although he was the busiest man in the world who ever
lived. Jesus was always surrounded by a large crowd as well as his disciples. So it
was not easy for him to spend time alone. But Jesus knew how important taking a
break was in his ministry. He knew how significant being alone with God was in his
life.
Brothers and sisters, the truth is that the busier we are, the more we need quiet time.
The more responsible we are, the more we need time with God. The more problems
we face, the more often we need to go to God.
Let us go back to today’s passage… Let us take a close look at Mark chapter 6 verse 47. We
can notice that when the evening came, the boat with the disciples was still in the middle of
the lake. In other words, the boat was already a long way from the land. They traveled about
5 kilometers away from the land. They were having a hard time rowing the boat because the
waves beat against the boat and the wind blew against it.
We can guess it’s between 6 and 7 o’clock in the evening. When we look at Mark chapter 6
verse 48, we can notice that Jesus could see that the disciples were struggling against a
strong wind to reach the other side. It was near the time of Passover. I mean it was in April.
So there was probably some light from the moon on the lake. Jesus knew that the disciples
were in difficulties.
But interestingly enough, Jesus didn’t help his disciples quickly. From a distance,
Jesus was just watching them struggling in the boat. In other words, he didn’t try to
help them. It’s weird. Isn’t it? It seems like Jesus intentionally let them go through
hardship.
Same thing… When we are in trouble, oftentimes God doesn’t help us quickly. It seems like
God is watching us from afar. He is just crossing His arms. Have you ever experienced that?
I have… I have experienced that many times in my life.
If Jesus intentionally had let the disciples have difficulty, when did they notice that he
was coming to help them? When we look at Mark chapter 6 verse 48, we see that
Jesus was walking to the disciples about 3 o’clock in the early morning. In fact, the
disciples had been struggling against a strong wind and fighting against heavy
waves from the previous evening(6 o’clock in the evening) to early the next morning
(3 o’clock in the early morning). It’s about 9 or 10 hours. Jesus could have come to
help them earlier. But he didn’t. It would have been better if Jesus had come to help
them more quickly. Don’t you think so?
But Jesus didn’t do it. So the disciples had been completely exhausted. They had no
power at all. At that moment, Jesus began walking to help the disciples.
Brothers and sisters, have you ever experienced that? In times of trouble, it seems
like God is just watching us from afar. He is doing nothing for us. We pray and pray
and pray persistently. But nothing happens. We wait and wait and wait patiently. But
nothing happens. We feel frustrated.
Moreover, when we take a close look at Mark chapter 6 verse 48, we can find Jesus’
strange behavior. Did you notice that? When Jesus came to them, walking on the
water, he intentionally tried to pass them by. Probably Jesus wanted to see how they
would respond. Jesus might have tested their faith. Same thing… God wants to see
how we would respond to delayed answers to our prayers. God would test our faith.
God wants to see that we have faith to be saved. God wants to see that we have
faith to be healed. God wants to see that we have faith to receive His blessings.
Believe it or not, our faith must be tested for our benefit.
Hey you folks, how did the disciples respond to Jesus walking on the water? When
they saw Jesus, they were terrified. No man could walk on the water. So they
thought that they had seen a ghost. They were so afraid that they cried out in fear.
But at once, Jesus said to them, “Have courage! It’s I. Don’t be afraid.” At that
moment, Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, if it is really you, talk to me. Tell me to come to
you on the water.” Jesus said, “Come!”
Brothers and sisters, if Jesus said to you, “Come!”, would you be able to get out of
the boat? If you jumped into the water, you would die. But Peter jumped into the lake.
I have no idea what prompted Peter to get out of the boat. His faith in Jesus was
remarkable. Amazingly, Peter didn’t drown. Looking at Jesus, Peter began to walk on
the water to go to him. Incredible! A miracle happened. Peter did what Jesus had
done.
But when Peter walked almost to Jesus, he felt the strong wind. He saw the rough
waves. Peter probably thought to himself, “What in the world am I doing here? What
am I doing wrong?” He might have thought that he had done a foolish thing. In fact,
his faith turned into doubt. When he doubted, he began to fear. When he feared, he
began to sink. We don’t know how far Peter walked on the water. When faith is gone,
miracles are gone, too. When we stop walking by faith, miracles stop in our lives,
too.
Brothers and sisters, we always have to walk by faith, not by sight. If you only look at
your reality, if you only look at your surroundings, you will certainly fail. If you put
limits on God’s power, you will certainly sink into the bottomless pit. Brothers and
sisters, let your eyes look straight ahead. Fix your eyes on Jesus.
Fortunately, the moment Peter began to sink, he cried out to Jesus, saying, “Lord,
save me!” For a time, we would make mistakes. We would fail like Peter. We also
have to cry out to Jesus, saying, “Jesus, save me!” like Peter. If we call out to Jesus
for help, immediately Jesus will reach out his hand and take hold of you. He will lift
you up although you are heavy. He will save you!
Brothers and sisters, you know what? Jesus wants us to continue to grow in faith.
Jesus wants our faith to grow as big as his. That’s why He allows suffering in our
lives. Furthermore, he wants us to go through suffering by faith.
As we all know, Jesus was a man of suffering. Although he was the Son of God, he
learned obedience from what he suffered.(Hebrews 5:8) Psalm chapter 119 verse 71
says, “It was good for me to suffer, so that I might learn your laws.”
I have no idea what season of your faith is. I don’t know what stage or what level of
your faith is. I am sure God will continue to test your faith accordingly. I pray that we
all would pass the test of faith on every occasion. Is there anyone who is walking on
the water now? Look at Jesus. Don’t look around your environments, temptations or
bad events! Fix your eyes on Jesus. Walk on the water by faith to the end.
Let us all pray
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“Walk on the Water”(Mark 6:45-52)_Missionary Paku