January 26, 2025 Preaching | Ptr Michael Ramden
Have you noticed before what Mark 6:51-52 says about the disciples of Jesus? They were completely amazed at Jesus walking on water (vv.47-50) …because they did not understand the miracle of the loaves and the fish (Mark 6:30-44). “Understand” in Greek is the word for “synthesize” — to connect pieces of information and understand their significance and meaning. They had something in their hearts that prevented them from understanding (v.52).
Mark 6:7-13
Jesus is about to do something radical in His ministry. He sent out His disciples to multiply 6x what He has been doing — preaching the gospel. He is doing that multiplication to this day through you! But He is not sending you alone; we are to do His mission together just as Jesus sent His disciples in teams.
Before He sends them out, Jesus prepares the disciples for failure (v.11). We need to prepare for when things go wrong as we follow Jesus so that we can shake off the “dust” and continue in the joy of the Holy Spirit. We should not have false expectations that followers of Christ will never know failure, persecution, and hardship!
The disciples were instructed to take nothing with them except the gospel of Jesus Christ. They are dependent on those who receive them and give them hospitality. The disciples’ ministry was also holistic; they ministered to the physical and spiritual needs of the people (Mark 6: 12-13). This took place early on in Jesus’ ministry, and we may wonder how much the disciples knew and how much training they had before being sent out. They had very little, but what they had was Jesus. If you have Jesus, you can introduce people to Him. Get training, get understanding — but if you know Jesus, you can tell others about Him today.
Mark 6:14-29
We can find the conclusion of the disciples’ first mission in verse 30 — there’s a “gap” between verses 13 and 30. Liberal theologians say that this shows how the Bible has been changed because of this “rough connector” (vv.14-29). But this story is meant to be here.
King Herod heard about Jesus’ ministry which was getting more attention and multiplying through the disciples, Jesus was in danger of Herod killing him. Herod thought that Jesus was John the Baptist who had risen from the dead. Some people thought Jesus was Elijah or one of the Old Testament prophets. There was a debate about who Jesus was.
John the Baptist was the most influential public voice in his country, and people were shocked when Herod killed him. Jesus (who was John’s cousin) was now the leading voice, and many people came to console Jesus over John’s death, but they wanted to know also what Jesus would do in response to what happened. (Mark 6:21).
Mark 6:30-44
Jesus’ response was utterly remarkable (vv.31-32); Jesus brought His disciples to a remote place so they could be by themselves. Jesus wanted some peace and quiet…then He sees the crowd (vv. 33-34). As tired, hungry, and as utterly exhausted as He was, He still has love and compassion for them.
The disciples wanted to send the people away (vv. 35-36). But Jesus told them to feed them — though He commanded the disciples earlier not to bring any food or money with them. The disciples’ response was quite reasonable (Mark 6:8), and they continued to focus on what they lacked. Jesus tells them to look at what they did have: five loaves and two fish. Jesus blessed the food, and the disciples were able to feed 5,000 men and were able to gather 12 baskets of leftover food.
The place had green grass for people to sit on (v. 39). The Good Shepherd (Jesus) makes His sheep (people) lie down in green pastures beside still waters and prepares a table (food) for them in the presence of their enemies (Herod’s spies). Mark 6 is the fulfillment of Psalm 23! Who is Jesus? He is the Good Shepherd — and what happened here was the historical enactment of Psalm 23.
Mark 6:45-52
Jesus was left by Himself to pray after He dismissed the crowd and sent the disciples ahead of Him. Jesus then walked on water towards where the disciples were straining against the waves. It wasn’t a rescue mission — He intended to pass them by (v.48). When the disciples saw Him, they thought He was a ghost. They may have thought that because Jesus was left alone, Herod’s men had killed Him!
Someone greater than Moses, who did not need to part the water because He could walk on water, has come. When He spoke to the terrified disciples that night, He told them — “it is I.” It is the same as “I AM”, the name that God gave to Moses. Jesus gave bread from heaven, walked on water, calmed the sea, and told them that He is “I AM”, and they don’t know who He is because they did not understand the significance of what it meant.
You can know a lot about Jesus, His teachings, life, and miracles. You can even pray for His miracles in your life, but we can miss out on the single biggest thing — who He is. Is He Your Savior, Friend, your ever-present Help in trouble? It’s so easy to resist Christ’s call because our hearts are hard. It is God who will turn our hearts to Him (Psalm 23:3). When we go through dark valleys, become discouraged, see defeat, we can harden our hearts — we know what Jesus does, but we don’t know Him anymore. Is He at the center of Your life? If we know what He has done for us, we will want to get to know Him more, and we will love Him more. He’s the Savior, the Lord God, who is the compassionate Shepherd who loves His people and makes provision for them. Have you received Him?