Follow: Take Heart (Mark 6) June 9, 2013 – Sunday Morning Message

“And when evening came…he was alone on the land (Mk. 6:47 ESV).” This is how Mark describes Jesus near the end of Chapter 6.  It’s been a tough chapter.  Jesus gave the sermon in his hometown and all anyone could do was criticize the preacher and his message.  Can you imagine that?  Jesus comes to Highland and preaches and all we can do is nitpick the sermon while we’re at lunch.  That’s what happened at the beginning of this chapter.  Then, Jesus’ cousin John the Baptist was arrested, imprisoned and executed. There are few people who were closer to Jesus than John.  And now John is killed.  Such injustice!  And while trying to find a quiet spot for his road-weary apostles to rest, thousands of people crowd around Jesus, clamoring for help.  It’s been a pretty tough chapter.

 

Mark writes, “⁴⁵ Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd…⁴⁷ And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land.” (Mark 6:45, 47 ESV).  The twelve disciples are sent sailing onto the lake, known as the Sea of Galilee. Meanwhile, Jesus remains alone on the land.  “And when evening came…he was alone on the land.”

 

It might seem that throughout this whole chapter Jesus has been alone.  Oh, there have been other people present.  Thousands of people have been present.  But reading through this chapter it could seem to us that God has not been present.  It could appear that God has been absent.  I don’t think Jesus felt this way.  But if many of us had to endure what Jesus endured in this chapter, we’d probably feel that way.  We’d probably be asking this question: Where is God?  Sometimes we wonder Where is God? Where was God when Jesus was booed by his hometown worshippers at the beginning of this chapter?  Where was God when Jesus’ cousin John the Baptist was arrested, imprisoned and executed?  Where is God this heavy night when Jesus is all alone?

 

Well, Mark says, it turns out that Jesus is not alone.  He’s in very good company.  Because notice what Jesus does.  He prays: ⁴⁶ And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray (Mk. 6:46 ESV).  God’s been there all along.  He hasn’t left Jesus.  He’s right there with Jesus.  And Jesus knows this.  Jesus knows all he has to do is lift up his voice and pray.  Because God has been there all along.  Through the rejection in his hometown.  Through the loss of his close friend John.  And on this dark and stormy night.  God has been right there all along.

 

In the past few weeks at Highland, we’ve gathered to pray for people who died in an Oklahoma tornado.  We’ve held a memorial service for a baby named Gloria.  We’ve held a memorial service for Highlander Rhonda Agee.  It’s left some of us feeling like we’re alone. It’s left someone us wondering, Where is God?  Where’s God in the midst of all of this?  And I think what Mark wants us to know is this: God is right here.  He’s been here all along.  He hasn’t left us.  And all we have to do is lift up our voice and pray.  Because God is right here.

 

But this point is made even clearer in the rest of the story:

⁴⁸ And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, ⁴⁹ but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, ⁵⁰ for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” ⁵¹ And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded (Mk. 6:48-51 ESV).

 

This is the second time Jesus’ disciples have been caught in a storm on the Sea of Galilee.  At the end of Mark 4 the wind is blowing, the waves are beating, and the disciples are afraid they are going down for the count.  Once again, now at the end of Mark 6, the disciples are in a boat facing a windstorm on the Sea of Galilee. And it’s not like they’re in some huge ship that is barely nudged by the wind and the waves.  Their boat would have been similar to the boat in this picture…In 1986 archeologists discovered this vessel in the Sea of Galilee.  It dates to the time of Christ.  It’s a pretty cozy boat, isn’t it?  Not the kind of boat you want to be in when a storm hits.  This is the disciples’ only protection as the wind stirs up the Sea of Galilee.

 

And there’s a reason why Mark includes these two stories with the disciples in a storm on the lake.  There was a popular belief in that ancient culture that deep waters were the home of dark forces.^[1]  This is why, in Daniel 7:3 and Revelation 13:1, evil powers hostile to God are pictured as coming up out of the sea.^[2] Deep and stormy waters were the home of dark and sinister forces.

 

And one of the most formidable images in the Bible is of God’s power over the sea. God overcoming the dark and sinister forces.  For example, it’s no coincidence that one of the most-remembered and most-celebrated miracles of the Bible is the parting of the Red Sea in Exodus.  That body of water prevented God’s people from escaping the slavery of Egypt.  But God proved sovereign over its waves and led the way through the water to freedom.

 

In Psalm 65 David sings of God’s power over the sea:

⁵ By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness, O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas; ⁶ the one who by his strength established the mountains, being girded with might; ⁷ who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples, ⁸ so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs. (Ps. 65:5-8 ESV).

 

Asaph similarly sings in Psalm 77: ¹⁶ When the waters saw you, O God, when the waters saw you, they were afraid; indeed, the deep trembled. (Ps. 77:16 ESV).

 

The author of Psalm 89 states, “⁸ O Lord God of hosts, who is mighty as you are, O Lord, with your faithfulness all around you? ⁹ You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them.” (Ps. 89:8-9 ESV)

 

Job writes about a God ⁸ who alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the sea (Job. 9:8 ESV).

 

One of the most formidable images in the Bible is of God’s power over the sea.  In fact, the Bible ends in Rev. 21 with imagery of the sea disappearing—God conquering all dark powers. One of the most formidable images in the Bible is of God’s power over the sea.

 

But one of the most comforting images in the Bible is of God’s presence in the sea.  The Bible doesn’t just talk about God overcoming the sea.  The Bible talks about God being present with his people on the sea.

 

Listen to this comforting testimony from Isaiah:

But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. ² When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. ³ For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. (Is. 43:1-3 ESV).

 

Jesus wants his disciples to know this critical truth.  Jesus wants us to know this critical truth.  And that explains what happens next.  Jesus sees the disciples “making headway painfully, for the wind was against them” (Mk. 6:48).  So Jesus “came to them, walking on the sea” (Mk. 6:48).  Why?  Why does Jesus go out onto the rough waves and walk toward the disciples on the sea?  Here’s how Mark answers that question: “He meant to pass by them.” (Mk 6:48).  This doesn’t mean Jesus was trying to sneak past the disciples.  That would be pretty odd, wouldn’t it?  Here they are, facing a windstorm on a body of water that, to them, symbolized dark powers, and Jesus, walking on the water, tries to sneak past them.

 

The truth is the opposite.  Jesus wasn’t trying to make sure they didn’t see him.  He was trying to make sure they did see him.  The phrase “pass by” is significant.[3]  This is the phrase used in the Old Testament for something called a “theophany.”  A theophany is an appearance of God.  It’s a moment when the invisible God becomes visible.  When the unseen God becomes seen.  Theophany comes from the Greek noun for “God” (theos) and the Greek verb “to appear” (phano).^[4]  It literally means “God appeared.”  It is a moment when God appears.  And when the Old Testament describes a theophany, it uses this phrase found in Mark 6.

 

Exodus 33 is an important theophany.  Moses begs God to make himself visible: ¹⁸ Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” ¹⁹ And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ (Ex. 33:18-19 ESV).  God promises to “pass by” Moses and reveal himself.  This is the same phrase used by Mark.

 

In other words, what God did for Moses, Jesus is now doing for the disciples.  Caught in the windstorm, on a foreboding body of water, it might be easy for them to wonder: “Where is God?”  Where is God in the midst of this storm?  Jesus sees their struggle, their painful headway.  So, in the manner of the God who is written about in the Old Testament, Jesus assumes control over the water.  He walks across it.  Why?  So that he can pass by them.  So that he can grant them a visible manifestation of God.  So that in him, the invisible God can become visible.

 

At first, they are scared.  There were legends and myths that told of spirits out on the water who might bring disaster.[5] This makes sense given the general negative perception of bodies of water in that culture.  The tired and discouraged disciples think Jesus is an evil spirit.

 

But listen to what Jesus says in v. 50: “Take heart; it is I.  Do not be afraid.”  The words “it is I” are very important.  This is the same phrase spoken by God to Moses.

¹³ Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” ¹⁴ God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” (Ex. 3:13-14 ESV).

I am.  The Great I Am.  Jesus passes by just as God passed by Moses.  God calls himself “I am” to Moses and Jesus calls himself “I am” to the disciples.  Out there, in the storm, where it seems they are all alone and God is nowhere to be found because they are on a body of water filled with evil, Jesus says this: “Take heart; I am. Do not be afraid.”

 

Where’s God?  Jesus is saying, “Right here.  He’s right here.  I am God in the flesh.  What has been invisible to you is now visible.  What has seemed absent to you is now present.  Though you thought God was not here, I am proof that he is here.  Right here in the midst of this windstorm.  Right here on this foreboding body of water.  Right here in the midst of your painful headway.  Right here where everything around you signifies that God is gone, he is not.  Take heart. I am.  Do not be afraid.”  Mark wants us to know not only God’s power over the storms, but God’s presence in the storms. “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.”  This is what Jesus is telling the disciples.

 

For the past 25 years, Jim Cantore, The Weather Channel’s “Storm-tracker,” has reported on extreme storms.  He has covered hurricanes, tornadoes, snowstorms and other forms of severe weather.   A USA Today article on Cantore, however, reported how storms can be a metaphor for other difficulties.  The article put it this way:

When he is not working in the studio or out in the field chasing storms, Cantore enjoys spending time at home with his two children, both of whom have Fragile X syndrome, a genetic disorder that can lead to autism-like symptoms, or what Cantore calls “the storm that hurts the most and never goes away.” Fragile X syndrome is often associated with learning and behavioral problems. “What my children have to deal with on a daily basis is by far more difficult than anything I will ever come in contact with,” Cantore says.[6]

Though he’s faced strong headwinds on bodies of water, Cantore realizes that the harshest storms are those similar to what his daughters are facing.

 

And sometimes these storms of life lead to doubt.  They lead us to wonder if God is still here. Max Lucado writes about the storm the disciples found themselves in and the storms we find ourselves in.  He writes that sometimes we face doubtstorms:

“There are snowstorms.  There are hailstorms.  There are rainstorms.  And there are doubtstorms.  Every so often a doubtstorm rolls into my life, bringing with it a flurry of questions and gale-force winds of fear…Sometimes the storm comes after the evening news.  Sometimes the storm comes when I’m at work…[We] wonder about starving children, the power of prayer, the depths of grace, Christians in cancer wards…Tough questions.  Throw in the towel questions. Questions the disciples must have asked in the storm. All they could see were black skies as they bounced in the battered boat.  Swirling clouds.  Wind-driven white caps.  Pessimism that buried the coastline.  Gloom that swamped the bow…Their question-What hope do we have of surviving a stormy night? My question-where is God when this world is storming? Doubtstorms: turbulent days when the enemy is too big, the task too great, the future too bleak, and the answers too few.”[7]

 

Doubtstorms.  Have you faced some?  What do we do when those waves hit?  What do we do when those questions come?  What is God’s answer to troubling times?

 

Here it is: “Take heart. I am. Do not be afraid.”  Cancer diagnosis?  Take heart.  I am.  Do not be afraid.  Relationship turmoil?  Take heart.  I am.  Do not be afraid.  Dream crushed?  Take heart.  I am.  Do not be afraid.  Lost job or lost loved one?  Take heart.  I am.  Do not be afraid.

 

What Mark and Jesus want us to know is that God is present in the storm.  Mark not only wants to show God’s power over the storm.  He wants to show God’s presence in the storm.  God may not prevent your storm.  He didn’t prevent this storm in which the disciples found themselves.  But God will be present in your storm.  The Great I Am walks the waves with you.  The Great I Am faces the headwinds with you.  “When you pass through the waters, he will be with you.”  And if you are facing a storm this morning, you need to hear these words: “Take heart.  I am.  Do not be afraid.”