Title: Me in the World
Contents
♡♥♡ Me in the world / Mark 6:45-52
*** Introduction
The story of this text is the miracle of ‘Jesus walking on the water’. These miracles are recorded together in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and John. However, each Gospel has a slightly different emphasis. In Matthew 14:22-33, Peter's faith through doubt is emphasized by introducing Peter who jumped out of the water. The text emphasizes the disbelief of the disciples due to their ignorance. John 6:16-20 briefly records only the event of Jesus walking on the water itself. And what all three Gospels emphasize in common is the divinity of Jesus, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
The focus of this miraculous event on the divinity of Jesus is because the nature of the event was associated with a special power to subdue nature. However, this time we want to look at this event from the perspective of Jesus, his disciples, and the world.
This event occurred after the miracle of Jesus feeding the 5,000 men with five barley loaves and two fish in the field of Bethsaida and leaving twelve baskets. While Jesus was sending the assembled crowd, he sent the disciples to go to the other side of the lake first. However, as the wind grew rough in the dark lake, the disciples found themselves in a dilemma in the middle of the lake. Jesus saw him praying on the mountain, and he walked on the water to the place where the disciples were.
In this story, Jesus' interest in his disciples is evident. It was for the sake of the suffering disciples that Jesus went to the disciples by walking on the water. Not only in this event, but in all that he did with his disciples, Jesus' eyes and attention were directed to them.
It was when Jesus sent out seventy disciples. When the disciples returned, they joyfully reported, “Lord, in your name even the demons are subject to us.” Then the Lord answered, "I saw Satan falling like lightning from heaven." In other words, he was watching all the situations in which the disciples were working. Not only that, he saw every situation in which Judas Iscariot sold himself and Peter denied that he did not know him.
1. The Lord is deeply interested in the disciples who are active in the world.
In the text, the Lord had the disciples first go across the lake while He was sending them. After sending the people, the Lord went to the mountain to pray. I do not know what the content of that prayer was, but there must have been a lot of content for the disciples. Even in prayer, the Lord did not take his eyes off the disciples' situation. This does not mean physical eyes. It means inspection as a divine power.
This observation of the Lord was not only seeing the physical reality of the disciples, but also the inner spiritual situation. In verse 31 at the beginning of the text, “He said, ‘Come yourselves to a secluded place and rest for a while.’ This is because there are so many people coming and going that they do not even have time to eat.” It shows the busy situation at the time. Verse 34 says, “When Jesus came out and saw a great crowd, he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he taught them many things.” It is the image of the Lord looking at the inner circumstances of the disciples and the crowd that followed, and feeling sorry for them. This is the Lord's interest in the saints.
But sometimes it seems that the Lord does not know our circumstances. There are times when life is difficult and the environment or conditions are painful. Just like the disciples rowing their oars painfully. But even in times like these, we must remember that the Lord's attention is still on the saints. The Lord has promised to be with us always. Deuteronomy 11:12 says, “This is the land the LORD your God has recommended. From the beginning of the year to the end of the year, the eyes of the Lord your God are always on them.” And in Matthew 28:22, “Look! I will always be with you, even to the end of the world.” God's promises are neither forgotten nor canceled.
We just have to beware of turning ourselves away from God. Because when I move away from God, it seems as if God has left me. Israel did. Listen to what God has to say. Let's read Isaiah 59:1-2 in the modern language of the Bible.
“Do you think, O people of Israel, that the Lord’s arm is too short to save you, and his deaf ears to hear your cry for help? Rather, your iniquities have separated you from God. Because your iniquities are piled up like a barrier between you and God, even if you cry out, God cannot hear you. God cannot see your misery because all your evil deeds have piled up and covered the face of God.”
2. The Lord wants to know our faith.
The Lord did not go straight to the disciples by walking on the water. Look at the second half of verse 48. “About the fourth watch of the night, he came to them, walking on the sea, to pass by” The Lord was about to pass by the scene where the disciples were agonizingly rowing. Why? The Lord obviously looked at the circumstances of the disciples and turned to them.
This was because he wanted to see the faith of the disciples. Verse 52 describes the situation as “because they did not understand the breaking of the loaf, but their hearts became dull.” They were the ones who experienced the transfer of 12 Gwangjuli left even after 15,000 people ate with just one small lunch box a few hours ago. But would they have forgotten about it in those hours? It is not that they have forgotten, but that they have become dull and did not understand. Why is your heart dulled?
Let's look at Luke 21:34. The Lord said to those living in the last days, “Be careful of yourselves. Otherwise, your hearts will be dulled with debauchery, drunkenness, and the anxieties of life, and that day will come upon you unexpectedly like a trap.” Also, this ignorant heart is expressed in Matthew 13:22, “Those that are sown among thorns are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it does not bear fruit.”
In other words, it is because of worldly worries that the heart becomes dull. The disciples had lost their hearts to the crisis that was unfolding right before their eyes. As expressed in the Gospel of Matthew, the reason Peter fell into the water was because of his concern and fear of the real crisis that was in front of him.
The Lord walking on the water to the disciples, full of anxiety and fear, was just a 'ghost'. The disciples had no choice but to treat the mighty Lord as a ghost, who came to the aid of the disciples in pain. This was the present status of the disciples' faith. However, the Lord did not reproach them, looking at the faith of the disciples, who were still childlike, and cared for them to be relieved.
The Lord does not rule over the disciples with an assertive attitude. He always went ahead of his disciples, setting an example of prayer and life. He prayed for rather than rebuke. Although he knew Peter's betrayal in advance, the Lord did not rebuke him, but rather prayed that Peter's faith would not be lost because of this.
Like the disciples who were rowing on the dark Sea of Galilee, you and I are living in a dark world. Like the disciples, there will be times when we will be faced with moments of difficulty and suffering that we cannot do this or that. However, we must not forget that we are not alone in the winds and waves of this world. The Lord of power watches without missing a single moment. However, you should not be afraid or concerned about the circumstances and circumstances in front of you. Because fear and anxiety are unbelief. Let's trust the Lord, even if the boat is about to overturn. The Lord never turns away from those who trust and approach believers. I pray that you will achieve a more abundant life with the faith that the Lord wants.