By this time we have learned that Jesus according to Mark leaves his disciples to wonder at who He is. This place in the Gospel is not an exception. “And straightway he constrained his disciples to get into the ship, and to go to the other side before unto Bethsaida, while he sent away the people. And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray. And when even was come, the ship was in the midst of the sea, and he alone on the land. And he saw them toiling in rowing; for the wind was contrary unto them: and about the fourth watch of the night he cometh unto them, walking upon the sea, and would have passed by them. But when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out: For they all saw him, and were troubled. And immediately he talked with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid. And he went up unto them into the ship; and the wind ceased: and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered. For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened” (Mk.6:45-52).
It seems like that at this point Jesus disciples were ready to be tested in a surprising way. It may look like Jesus has a certain plot in mind to give a certain lesson to His disciples. The text says, - ‘Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd’. So, disciples agree to get on the boat and sail unto the other side. Meanwhile Jesus goes up on a mountainside to pray. In the middle on the night disciples experience difficulty in sailing the boat because of the wind. They remember their last experience on the sea very well. But at this time Jesus is not in the boat with them. He has them left all alone. Of course they are not easy to give up guys. They do their best to oar the boat. But the wind is still hard and their strength is quickly weakening. Almost left out of strength they gaze at the strange figure at the dark. They think it is a ghost. They cry in fear to the darkness of the night and the figure seems to turn away to pass by the boat. They look more closely and the stranger talks back to them, - ‘Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid’. They recognize Jesus getting into the boat and feel the wind calming down. They were afraid to ask Jesus and it left them more to marvel and be amazed. Who is He who knows when to come? Who is He who actually can come on the water? Who is He who comes in time to help?
The text implies that they were perplexed over the nature of Jesus over a certain period of time. Jesus has spent considerably long time with them and they still were not able to grasp who He was. It was their second time in the boat. There were other divine miracles in the past, like feeding of 5,000. And they still did not understand, - ‘for they had not understood about the loaves’.
Mark gives us one more reason of why disciples were not able to recognize Jesus as He was, - ‘their hearts were hardened’. It seems like all they needed is explanation of the event but more than that they needed the change of their hearts.
Sometimes, friends, we do not understand what happens in our life. We stay marveled, confused and in fear. Things do not seem to be clear for us at all and we are caught fighting against the wind. And one of the reasons for that to happen is the condition of our heart. It is good time to think about it. How much timely help were there in our lives? Where the help came from? Who was the One who provided it? These are the questions which we all need to answer. How we answer these questions depends on our heart. We need to do something about it and that is why.
- Because hardened hearts will not allow us to move forward
- Because hardened hearts will not let us to receive timely help
- Because hardened hearts will not allow us to recognize Jesus
But be of good cheer. Jesus says, - ‘Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid.’ Help comes timely to you from Him who can walk to you on the water. He comes first to you so that your heart will not be hardened!