Must be God
by Pastor Matt Bishop
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Shortly before dawn he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them (Mark 6:48b).
Read Mark 6:30–46
I’m blessed by God every winter to spend a week in the beautiful Venus Bay in South Australia fishing for King George Whiting with some friends. Unfortunately, one day each year is usually too windy for us to get out in the boat.
In today’s gospel account, the wind doesn’t faze Jesus. He walks straight out over the water. The significance of Jesus walking on water is not the miracle here. Instead, it’s how he shows he is God by demonstrating mastery over the sea, a place in Hebrew thought of chaos, worry and terror that only God could control. Job 9:8 puts it: ‘He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea.’
Mark, the gospel writer, makes this God connection dead obvious for us in the choice of words, ‘He was about to pass by them’ (Mark 6:48). God famously passed by both Moses (Exodus 34:6,7) and Elijah (1 Kings 19:11–18). Hence, when Jesus goes to pass by, it’s not meant to be lost on the disciples. Or us.
The disciples don’t understand, though, even to the point of having hardened hearts (verse 52). Can we really understand either? Probably not.
But what we can do is trust the revelation of God’s word. The one who feeds his people on the Galilean mountain, just as he did in the Sinai wilderness. The one who walks over the water – just as he parted the sea ahead of Pharaoh’s chase. The one who, when he passes by Moses in the cleft of the rock, proclaims, ‘The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness’ (Exodus 34:6). The one who had proved exactly those words to us as they laid him in the tomb cut out of Calvary’s rock.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, that your life, death and resurrection showed me that you are God. Send me your Holy Spirit so I can keep trusting in your word. When I’m fazed by life, let your word pass closely by to comfort me and bring, by faith, your promises to life. In your name, I pray. Amen.
Pastor Matt Bishop serves the St Paul Lutheran Church and co-located primary school at Blair Athol in Adelaide. He delights in his wife Mel, three young adult daughters and, soon, a son-in-law. He would like to spend more time fishing but loves being a pastor and sharing the gospel with everyone God puts in his path, not least the nomads, prodigals, exiles and sceptics of the Christian faith.
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