Many of us believe when we’re facing a tough patch it’s because of poor decisions or sin in our lives, but sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes God puts us there.
Let’s look at the Gospel of John chapter six, specifically the story of Jesus walking on the water. John’s description of the miracle is a little shorter than those in Matthew and Mark. So, I went to Mark’s gospel to get a fuller picture, and what a picture.
My favorite portions of Scripture are those which tell us things about Jesus’ personality, His nature, how He thinks, and Mark 6:45-51 says a lot:
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. 46 And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. 47 And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. 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, 52 for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.
In verse 45, the word “made” means exactly that: Jesus forced them into the boat to sail to Bethsaida which was just up the coast from where Jesus had just fed the 5,000 men. It was not until evening that the disciples were to head for Capernaum (Mark 6:47 cf John 6:17)
The disciples were having a terrible time in the storm rowing to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. In fact the word translated “painfully” in verse 48 is the word used to describe the torments of hell (Matt. 8:29; Mark 5:7). So, Jesus’ disciples where having more than just a miserable time rowing across the sea.
A couple of other verses tell us how tough this journey was. John 6:19 tells us they had only rowed about three or four miles when Jesus came by them walking on the water. This was probably a 27 foot boat that held 17 people if needed. The ruins of such a boat dated to this time were found at the Sea of Galilee in 1986. This boat could only be rowed by four men at a time, so it was tough going in such a storm.
Verse 48 above tells us it was the “fourth watch” when Jesus came by. The Romans divided the night into four three-hour watches: six p.m. to nine, nine to midnight, midnight to three a.m., and three to six. So, the disciples had been rowing most of the night. It was after three in the morning, and they had only made it three or four miles since evening. Here I’d like to say “Hooray for the disciples” who stuck to is for so long.
The most fascinating verse in this passage to me, though is, of course,verse 48. Jesus was going to pass the disciples by even though they were in a torturous situation. In fact, as we saw in verse 45, Jesus forced them into this. He wasn’t meaning to do anything to help them? The text seems to say “no.”
Why is this important?
From this, I get that sometimes Jesus puts us in extremely situations as He did with Job, and like this example with the disciples, He isn’t going to get us out of it unless we invite Him to.
Let’s look at a couple of other verses before we conclude:
Again in verse 48 we see that Jesus kept His eye on them all the time. When we face storms in our lives, God’s eyes are never diverted from us. He keeps a close watch on us. We also see in this same verse that the storm ceased once Jesus was in the boat with the disciples. It hadn’t stopped when Jesus was walking on the water or when the disciples were doing their best to follow Jesus’ orders. It stopped when they invited Him in. Had they not invited Him in, I think He would have allowed them to suffer on their own.
Our storms are just like that. Our own efforts are not enough, but the effects of the difficulties in our lives can cease once we invite Jesus into the boat. Yes, the difficulties themselves can continue, but the calm arrives with Jesus.
So, why would Jesus force the disciples to go through this and why do we need to do the same sometimes? The text doesn’t say directly, but I think the same event as it is recorded in Matthew can help with this:
Matt. 14:33 (ESV) And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Storms in our lives point us to God. Reliance on Him to “save the day” and seeing that salvation brings us to the only conclusion we can see, that He is the Son of God (God the Son – John 5:18) and to fall on our knees and worship Him. If we just don’t get it, He will force us into situations that cause us to arrive at the same conclusion the disciples came to.
Believers Armed and Dangerous 