Mark 6:45-52 Walking on Water
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: February 1, 2018, Mark 6:45-52
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. 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, but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, 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.” And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.
(Understanding the Text) Crowd dispersal was going to take some power and the disciples’ hearts had been hardened just as the crowds. In other words, the disciples were looking at the feeding as a sign of earthly kingship as much as the crowd. They were probably full of their own dreams of being Jesus’ right-hand men in the new Jewish kingdom on earth, going around and doing miracles and having people follow them with worshipful gazes. If they had been in power at that moment, they probably would have become the new Pharisees imposing their will upon others. Jesus wanted to get the disciples away from the crowd. After they were gone, Jesus must have used some power to command the crowd to leave. Then, Jesus finally had time alone with His Father which is what He had been desiring since John died. The Heavenly Trio must have been getting ready for the next phase of Jesus’ earthly ministry.
Jesus stayed praying until the 4th watch. One version says that this was shortly before dawn. Another says between 3:00 and 6:00. The disciples left when it was near evening probably about 5:00. Thus, they had been out on the lake for about 10-12 hours. At first they probably took their time. They were tired from the long days. They probably talked among themselves about the miracle of the day and maybe comparing their experiences as apostles. Did they worry about how Jesus was going to reconnect with them on the other side of the lake? Did they think that they were going to have to go back to get Him? Or were they so trusting and/or focused on self that they did not even think of Jesus?
When Peter was first a disciple, he was frantic when he woke up and Jesus was not there, but in this case, he and the others left Jesus alone in the wilderness-first with a crowd and later alone. Jesus had established that He could take care of Himself and that Peter was a part of Jesus’ special group, so maybe Peter simply had confidence that Jesus would find Him again.
In a way, this was their alone time. After a while, some of them probably slept while others rowed, and then they might have changed out this arrangement. Sometime about 2:30 in the morning or so, the wind began to rise and the waves began to get higher and the sea began to get rougher. Then all the disciples were awake and rowing against the waves trying to get to shore.
(Revelation of God) Just as the crowd had been able to look down from the hills and watch them approach, so Jesus could see the disciples’ boat from His vantage point. The moon must have been out for Him to see them clearly on the lake, or they probably had some kind of oil lamp lit on board, so Jesus could see them. The wind had risen, and it was obvious that they were not as far along as they should have been. Jesus began walking on the water to them. In the past, I always interpreted this as He was going to their rescue and only pretending to pass them by, but why would He do that? To get them to call to Him for help? Maybe, it means what it says, and He was really walking over the lake by Himself and planning to meet them on the other side. Maybe He had walked on water before, and they never saw Him. Maybe He only came over to them this time because they saw Him and were being superstitious. I don’t know. The first interpretation is the accepted one and makes sense; however, it has always bothered me that it says that he meant to pass them by, yet the accepted interpretation ignores that.
(Understanding the Text / Revelation of God) Mark’s version leaves out Peter’s walk on water, probably, because Peter was being humble about performing a miracle that none of the other disciples had ever done. However, when that event is included in the scenario, it almost seems as if Jesus is feeling a little playful. This phase of the disciples’ training seems to be about using power. First, Jesus gave them power and sent them out in pairs to teach and heal and cast out demons. Then, He tells them to feed 5,000+ people with only a little bread and fish, and then shows them that they can. He divided the fish into their baskets, but He gave them the power to keep dividing the food as they gave it out. Now, He shows them that they should never fear either natural phenomenon nor be superstitious to fear apparently otherworldly phenomenon. He teaches them that with faith, they can walk on water themselves. Maybe this is what it meant when it said that Jesus meant to pass them by. Maybe if they had not feared, He would have, but because of their fear, He had to go comfort them and teach them not to fear the supernatural. After all, they were going to have the supernatural powers of the most powerful Being of all, so they would bring dishonor on God if they were fearful and superstitious.
Was the wind an attack on them or simply a natural occurrence? I need to read more for some insight on that. Either way, it stopped when Jesus got on board. They had not understood the power that Jesus had used to multiply the food, so they were still incredulous that He had walked on water. They still could not come to terms with Jesus the man also being Jesus the Son of God. They knew Him. They were with Him as He sweated, ate, went to the bathroom, got dirty and smelly, had aches and pains, bled, and maybe even spit on the ground. They KNEW He was human. He touched them and John, at least, laid His head on Jesus. That tells me that He was touchy-feely with all of them. They had to learn to KNOW that He was also divine. That would not fully occur until His resurrection. They might have known before, but their hardened hearts were still set on the world, and that caused their minds to be closed to other possibilities.
(Application / Prayer) I pray that I won’t be so focused on the limits of the world that I don’t see the possibilities that God is holding out to me. I pray to open my eyes and my ears and my heart to the ways that God wants me to travel. I pray that I will have faith that Jesus is watching me and watching out for me. I pray that I will not be so serious about the world that I am not open to God’s playfulness and joy. I pray to be open to God in all the ways You come to me and to share your joy and love when You come.