David Bahn – Reflections

Mark 6:51-52

And [Jesus] 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.

When we operate within our assumptions the conclusions we draw about anything will be shaped by those conclusions. If I assume that my family loves me I will anticipate good things from day to day. If I assume that my boss doesn’t like me, I will look for poor treatment and not expect good assignments or opportunities. So when the disciples don’t have good assumptions about Jesus’ real identity they miss the blessing of recognizing him when he comes to them. Mark tells us that they didn’t “understand about the loaves,” that their hearts were hardened.

I don’t ever want to be thought of as having a hardened heart. But there are many ways in which we harden our hearts – some of which have to do with assumptions, but most of all have to do with fear. I don’t want to get my hopes up so I don’t get disappointed. I don’t want to put myself out for someone else because I don’t want to be taken advantage of. I don’t want to give in to another because I don’t want to be thought of as being weak. Each of those are ways of hardening our hearts.

Because the disciples didn’t understand that Jesus was the Son of God; that the power that he manifest when he fed the 5000 men with two fish and five loaves of bread, they didn’t understand that he could do something as dramatic as walking on water.

But Jesus is the Son of God. He has all the power of God at work in him. He can do all things. So to walk on water is no problem for Jesus. It’s a problem for the disciples whose hearts are hardened against Jesus’ true power and identity. To understand the loaves is to expect the unexpected, to “allow” Jesus to do anything he will do. It is not to dismiss him or his work in our lives no matter how difficult and improbable it may be.

What work would Jesus do in your life today?

Mark 6:45-56

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.

⁵³ When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore. ⁵⁴ And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him ⁵⁵ and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was. ⁵⁶ And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.