I invite you to open the Bible and turn with me to the Gospel of Mark. And we have had so many new folks joining us in the month of September, we welcome you to Compass Bible Church, and we are, yes, we'll give you a round of applause. We're so glad that you're here, and we are a church that tries to live up to our name. We want to keep the Bible central in everything that we do, and so if you come to our services, you will know that we preach through books of the Bible. What's going to happen next week? Well, we're going to pick up, most of the time, where we left off the week before. And if you open up to the Gospel of Mark, which is the book that we're going through right now, look at chapter 1, verse 1 of Mark, and where, as he introduces this gospel, he says, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” And so, what is happening is the gospel is being preached, people like Peter and Paul the Apostles, people like Philip the evangelist, they're going out and they're sharing that there is a Christ, a messiah, an anointed one, and he died on the cross to pay for your sins, and on the third day, he rose from the dead. And that message is spreading. People are believing it. People are being saved by the power of God. But Mark is writing to say, let's go back to the beginning. Let me tell you the whole story. Let me lay it out for you. You've heard the message preached. Let me tell you what happened. And so now, for weeks and months, we've been going through the story of the life of Jesus in Mark.
If you've been here at our church, if you've been paying attention to what we've been learning, Mark is ramping it up as we go through this gospel. It seems like what Jesus is doing is continuing to increase in the epicness of these miracles. He's calming the wind and the waves. He's casting out thousands of demons. He's healing this woman with her touch of faith, and he's raising this girl from the dead, and people are afraid. People are overwhelmed. If you were here last week, Jesus saw thousands, like sheep without a shepherd, and he fed them like he was the shepherd that God had prophesied who would lead his people. So, what is Jesus going to do next? Well, I invite you to stand for the public reading of Scripture and turn with me to Mark 6:45 to the end of the chapter. And what Jesus does here, this could be the most epic of all. Please follow along as I read 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. And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night[a] he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, 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.” And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened. When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore. And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was. 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.
That's the reading of God's Word. Please go ahead, grab your seat. There is a handout in your bulletin if you want to take some notes, and the first thing I want you to do, if you are taking notes, is underline verse 46, “he went up on the mountain to pray.” I don't think that's just an incidental detail. I think, the fact that Jesus is sending the disciples ahead in the boat, sending the crowd away after he's fed them, and now it's Jesus by himself on the mountain to pray. This seems to me to be very intentional. In fact, there are three different times that Mark, throughout his gospel, wants to highlight to our attention that Jesus set himself to pray. And every time Jesus prays, every time it highlights this, something extremely significant happens after these times of prayer.
Go back to chapter 1, verse 35. Maybe you remember, in the city of Capernaum, when he taught in the synagogue with such authority, and he cast out a demon for the first time, and people were so amazed. And that night, when he was at Simon Peter's house, all the town showed up with their demon possessed and their sick, and he cast out all the demons and he healed them. And then remember this verse, Mark 1:35, “Rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.” And then, when everybody else wakes up, they're like, where did Jesus go? They come and find him, and look at what he said in verse 38, “He said to them, ‘Let us go on to the next towns that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.’” Seems like after he rises up early and goes out to pray, he has a clear purpose. I came to preach the gospel in the synagogues of all the towns. So, we’ve got to keep moving. We’ve got to keep going.
Now go towards the end of Mark, Mark 14:35, let's jump all the way to the end so you can see; we’re kind of in the middle. Now we're getting towards the middle of Mark here at the end of chapter 6. So, there was a time at the beginning of Mark where we highlighted him getting away to pray. There's a time towards the end of Mark where he famously prays in the Garden of Gethsemane, and here in Mark 14, verse, 35 and 36, and going a little further, “He fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, ‘Abba Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me, yet not what I will, but…’” what? You will. So, this is perhaps his most famous type of prayer. Some of us have been blessed to go to this very garden of olive trees to feel the pressure that Jesus was feeling as he's about to die on the cross for our sins, how he's being squeezed, how he's being pressed. He's feeling the weight literally, of the world where he's going to die to pay for our sins. And he's like, “Father, if possible, let this cup pass, yet, not what I want, but your will.” And so, we know he spent three earnest times in prayer in the garden. What is he preparing for? Well, he's preparing for the climax where he's going to surrender himself to the chief priests, scribes, and elders who are going to beat him, mock him, and crucify him. He is laying down his life for us.
So, I want you to see that, when we see Jesus devoting himself to prayer, it's very significant for us to observe that usually something very significant follows after that. Keep turning to the right, over to Luke, chapter 6, verse 12, another example where Luke here wants to highlight in Luke, chapter 6, verse 12, again, notice the writers want to draw your attention to Jesus going away to pray. A lot of people, they even ask, well, why would Jesus pray? Why would the Son pray to the Father? Well, remember Jesus, he is the Son of God. He has also put on flesh. He is also a man. And so, he is praying, and he is showing us an example. And the disciples, they saw him praying so much that that's what inspired them in Luke 11 to say, “Lord, teach us how to pray.” We see you praying. We see you making it a priority. We see you going away for long periods of time to pray. Teach us how to pray. And so, Jesus, he's showing us the way. He's showing us how to know God and to spend time with him in secret; and here in Luke 6:12, “In these days, he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.” Wow. That seems like a big commitment to pray all night. What does he do? The next day, he goes and calls the twelve to be his disciples, whom he's going to send out as his apostles. So, we're seeing a clear pattern as we go through the gospel, that Jesus would get away to pray, and usually when he did that, you should really pay attention to what happens next. There seems to be a real power when Jesus would pray.
Let's get that down for point number one, if you are taking notes: “What is the power of his prayer?” We want to make some observations about these verses, and we want to ask questions. We want to really try to think more about the Scripture than we have before. We want to pay closer attention to this story, this famous story of Jesus walking on the water. We want to think more about this than we ever have before. So, the first thing we want to see is that Jesus went out to pray. He sent the disciples away intentionally, and then he sent the crowd away. In fact, go back to Mark 6. Let's pay attention to the specific language that is used here in Mark 6:45. You might notice the word that begins our text, “Immediately,” which we've seen, is the key word of the gospel of Mark, going all the way back to chapter 1, verse 3, the quote from Isaiah 40, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight away,” immediately, at once. Hey, the Lord is coming. Are you ready? Are you ready now? And so that word has been used in an important way throughout the gospel of Mark. And here it says that after this amazing thing of feeding five thousand men with twelve leftover baskets, just taking five loaves of bread and two fish and feeding the multitudes in this miraculous way. Immediately, when that's done, boom, disciples in the boat, crowds, he dismisses all the crowds, and he gets up on the mountain to pray.
So, what we're supposed to do, picking up from where we left off last week is that was epic when Jesus kind of said, I'm the one. I'm the shepherd. I can feed God's people. It's like that kind of kicks Jesus into gear here, and immediately, like, he's got a plan of what he's going to do, and it includes sending the disciples off. It includes then sending the crowd away, and he's got to get up on the mountain to pray for what exactly is he about to do? Well, that's what we see next in verse 47, “When evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land.” Now verse 48 is key. Look at this verse. “He saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. This was about the fourth watch of the night.” So, if you are taking notes, write down 3 to 6 AM would be the fourth watch of the night, 3 to 6 AM so these guys have been out there on the sea, struggling in this boat against this wind. This has been going on for hours now, this has been going on for a long time, and notice verse 48 how it begins, “He saw that they were making headway painfully.” How far can you see when you're outside and there are no lights around from 3 to 6 AM, right? So, first of all, how does he see them out on the boat on the lake? That may not be normal human vision, even the ability to perceive them out on this lake, but he knows they're out on the lake. He knows they're not making progress. He knows they were going to go not too far on the Sea of Galilee, and they still haven't gotten there hours later, and now he's done praying. And then this happens about the fourth watch of the night. He came to them walking on the sea.
I remember the last time we got to go to Israel. That was by far my favorite moment, like hundred of us got in a boat, and we went out on the Sea of Galilee, and we studied the miraculous walking on water that Jesus did there. It was such a profound time of worship. I remember people crying. I remember just all one hunded of us having this like we are at the place that Jesus proved who he was, when he mastered his own creation by walking on the sea. Now, I want to really have you look at this last part of verse 48, “he meant to pass by them,” because I've talked about this phrase. This phrase really seems interesting, almost like Jesus was just going to pass on by the disciples. But then they see him, and they freak out, and they shout, it's a ghost, because they've never seen anything like this on the Sea of Galilee before. And then he's like, oh, you guys see me. So, he talks to them. Now, I've said that before, but when you really study, “he meant to pass by them,” or he intended to pass by them, or really, his will was to pass by them. What does that mean “to pass by them”? Does that mean like he was just going to go past them? Or does that phrase have a more significant meaning that you and I perhaps need to consider?
In fact, has there been anything else that's happened in Scripture where someone has been “passed by” that maybe a passage could be similar. This is one of our key principles when we're going through the Bible, is we want to use Scripture to interpret Scripture. And so, this idea of “passing by,” hmm, let's think about that for a second. Is that significant? Is there something about passing by that Jesus might be intending to do here, that we're not supposed to think, oh, he was just walking by them on the sea, but actually he's showing them something.
Go with me to Exodus 33. I want to take you to two other passages that talk about “passing by.” One of them is in the Law. It's Exodus 33, and this is in response to the people worshiping the golden calf. And then Moses has to come and pray to Yahweh, and he has to say, hey, don't leave us, Yahweh, You're the God who delivered us. And God's like, fine, I'll send my presence ahead of you into the Promised Land. And Moses is like, no, you've got to go with us. And God's like, okay, Moses, I'll go with you. And then Moses says, no, show me your glory. Moses prays. He says, “Moses spoke to God as a man.” Speaks to his friend in this powerful, profound way. There was real power in the prayer of Moses as he prayed to God, and he says, show me your glory. And so, look with me at Exodus 33:18 where Moses says that show me your glory. And then look at what happens. Look at God's response to Moses saying, I don't just want your presence with me. I don't even just want you to go with us. I want to see who you are. I want to know you. Show me your glory. Look what God says, verse 19, “And he said, ‘I will make all my goodness’” what everybody? “’Pass before you, and will proclaim before you my name, the Lord. And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy, But,’ he said, ‘you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.’ And the Lord said, ‘Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by.’” Are you telling me that when Moses asked God to “show me your glory,” the way God answered him was saying, okay, Moses, I'll pass by, and you can get a glimpse of my glory. Are you saying that Jesus, when he intended to pass by the disciples, walking on the sea, that perhaps he wanted to give them a glimpse of his glory.
Turn with me to 1 Kings 19. You know, there are two men in the scripture that really have these mountaintop experiences where they interact with Yahweh. One of them is Moses. The other one is Elijah, here in 1 Kings 19, now into the prophets. And what's going to be fascinating is when Jesus is transfigured into his glory on the top of a mountain in the Gospel of Mark. Guess what? Two men show up with Jesus when he's up on that mountain. It just happens to be Moses and Elijah. These same two guys. And so, in 1 Kings 19, verses 11-14. Let's jump down to verse 11 here. And this is where Elijah, in fleeing Jezebel, has gone out to the mountain. “And he said, ‘Go out and stand on the Mount before the Lord.’” So, he's on the mountain, and he's supposed to go out and be there before Yahweh and behold, look at this. This is 1 Kings 19:11, “And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ He said, ‘I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.’” And then I love, if you continue to read there, what Yahweh actually tells Elijah is, you're not the only one. I have a bunch of other people, and in fact, I'm not done with you, Elijah, because I need you to go and anoint this king and anoint this king, and I need you to go raise up a prophet, Elisha, who's going to follow in your footsteps. Hey, you might have done some great things, Elijah, but I'm not done with. God says to him, I need you to go and make disciples of the future of my people, but I want everybody to go back to verse 11. And when there's this wind and when there's this earthquake and when there's this fire and when there's this low whisper, what is the phrase that is used to describe that? It says, “Behold the Lord passed by.”
So, with two of his prophets in the past, God was willing to show his glory to them in very unique and profound ways by “passing by” them. So then, if Jesus is out very late one night after spending time on the mountain, praying, and now he's walking on the sea, and he intends to “pass by,” I realize for myself, I've maybe passed by that phrase way too quickly in the past. In fact, if you go to the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, which is known as the Septuagint, if you go to Exodus 33 and you go to 1 Kings 19, and you look at the Greek word that they use for “pass by” in both of those passages, it's the same Greek word that Mark uses for Jesus intending to “pass by” them. So, if you were reading the Bible all in Greek, you would see the same word there as well. I think what Jesus is doing as he walks on the sea is he is showing who he really is to these disciples.
Go back with me to Mark 6 and let me show you their response. Let me show you that if you saw Jesus walking on the sea in the fourth watch of the night, it was an overwhelming experience for these disciples. Now, they've already been afraid of the wind and the waves before in the Gospel of Mark, but what happens here? It says, “When they saw him walking on the sea” in verse 49 “they thought it was a ghost.” When they saw Jesus passing by, whatever that looked like to them, it did not look like a normal experience of this world. It didn't even look like a normal human thing that was happening. They thought it was something like a ghost, like something out of this world, something from another dimension is the idea that comes to them. And they all saw him. They are terrified by this. So, you can see that there's a terror that strikes the heart of the disciples to see as Jesus “passes by.” And then Jesus says to them, “Take heart.” And I love this line. It says this line in Matthew, it says this line in John. Those are the other two gospels that talk about Jesus walking on water. All three of them, they say the same line. “It is I, do not be afraid.” Take heart. It is I, do not be afraid. Like, can you just imagine? You see this figure out on the lake. You think, this is crazy something. This is like, the stories are real. Something's happening here. And then you just hear him say, “It is I.”
And then look at their response. “And he got into the boat with them.” Notice the wind ceased. That was a big deal when it happened the first time, when he spoke to the wind and it ceased. Now it's just like a little detail given on this account here, “The wind ceased and they were utterly astounded.” This is a Greek word we've talked about before. Existemi. So, it's like an out of mind experience. This is what Jesus' family said when they were coming to talk to him, because he's out of his mind. He's not even eating. There's such a big crowd around him, he's always teaching. He's out of his mind. That's what it's saying here the disciples, when they see Jesus walking on the sea, they're terrified. Then he says, “Don't be afraid. It is I.” He gets in the boat with them. The wind stops and they are out of their minds. This is too much for them. This is overwhelming to them. This is woe to them.
Let's get this down for number two: “Who is this person who passes by?” Who is this person who passes by? It seems like this is something that got the disciples’ attention in this profound way, and they're out of their minds like, wow, and the wind all of a sudden stops. In fact, in John, chapter 6, when John talks about Jesus walking on the water, it says, “When Jesus gets in the boat, not only does the wind stop, but they're immediately at the place to which they were going.” If you want to write that down, that's John 6:51.
So, Jesus passes by. They are terrified. He says, “It is I.” They get in the boat. Gone is the wind and, immediately, they're where they were going. So, they've been going for hours against this wind, getting nowhere. Jesus gets in the boat. They're there right away, and they are out of their minds at what they just saw with Jesus. That's what it says. Now, notice it goes to verse 52, and notice there's a contrast here. I believe it is a contrast because it says they did not really understand about the loaves. If you were here last week, we tried to make a point of that at the end of the service that Jesus does this miraculous multiplying of the loaves and the fish, and he feeds thousands of people, and it seems like the thousands of people don't really appreciate the miracle Jesus just did. They don't really see him doing it. And it even seems like his own disciples don't really understand who he is and what he just did. And Mark proves that here, when he says, “They didn't understand because their hearts were hard.” But is it possible that now, as Jesus went to pray, and as Jesus passed by, and as they were terrified, and he said, “It is I,” is it possible now, as these disciples are out of their mind, that they're starting to see who Jesus really is?
Go with me to Matthew 14, where he gives his account. And there are a few things that I want to draw to your attention in the other gospels that I think will help us understand how Mark is saying there's a contrast. The way they respond to Jesus walking on the sea is different than how they responded perhaps to the feeding of the five thousand. Here in Matthew, he gives us a part about Peter that we don't get in the Gospel of Mark. This is Matthew 14. You can see at the end of verse 27, Matthew 14:27. We have the exact same quote from Jesus. “Take heart. It is I.” Now, if you know the Bible, if you've been around church, if you've studied the Scripture for yourself, “It is I” gets your mind going in a lot of places because when God Yahweh originally spoke to Moses from the burning bush, And Moses said, well, if you want me to talk to the people of Israel and introduce you, what should I say your name is? And he said, YHWH, which means “I Am that I Am.” And then we know, if you go through the Gospel of John, Jesus keeps saying, I am this. I am the bread of life. I am the living water. I am the light of the world. I am before Abraham even was I am. And people understand what Jesus is saying. He's claiming to be God; they want to kill him. So, here's Jesus saying, “It is I” as he “passes by.” And look at the response here from Peter. This is something Mark didn't say. Only Matthew says this, “Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you command me to come to you on the water.’” Wow. What a bold thing to say, Peter. You’ve got to love this guy, right? Sometimes he says stuff that makes you cringe, and then sometimes he says stuff that makes you want to stand up and cheer this guy. And he says, Lord, if it's you, command me to come to you on the water. Wow, we're out here on this rocky sea for hours, and now we're just ready to walk on the lake to Jesus. And look at what Jesus says, “Come”. So, “Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus, but when he saw the wind, he was afraid and beginning to sink, he cried out, ‘Lord, save me.’ Jesus immediately reached out his hand, took hold of him and saying to him, ‘Oh, you of little faith. Why did you doubt?’” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. Now notice how the conclusion is here in Matthew 14:33, “Those in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly, you are the Son of God.’”
So, this sounds way different than the loaves to me. The loaves, their hearts were hardened. They did not understand when, after Jesus prayed so see immediately when Jesus can tell they don't understand about the loaves. When Jesus knows that they don't understand, boom. He sends them away, he sends the crowd away, he goes and prays, and then he seems to intentionally “pass by” in a way where it seems to me like he's like we're taking it up a notch with these disciples. We're going to show them who I am. And now they're in the boat worshiping him. Now they're saying, “Truly, you are the Son of God.” The disciples are having their eyes opened to see who Jesus is.
Go over to Luke. Look at what happens in Luke, chapter 9. Luke, chapter 9 does not talk about walking on water. Luke does not give us an account of that but look what Luke does. This is very interesting. He goes straight from the feeding of the five thousand, which ends with the twelve baskets of broken pieces in verse 17. And then look at what he goes to right next. This is a very pivotal passage in the Gospel of Luke. Luke, chapter 9, verse 18. “Now it happened that as he was praying alone, and the disciples were with him, he asked them, ‘Who do the crowd say that I am?’ And they answered, ‘Well, some say you are John the Baptist. Others say Elijah, others that one of the prophets of old has arisen.’ Then he said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ And Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ. You are the Messiah. You are the Anointed One of God.” So even though Luke does not give us here the story of the account of Jesus passing by, walking on the sea, where does Luke go? He goes from the feeding of the five thousand, right to the disciples giving the right answer of who Jesus is.
Go over to John 6, and let me show you how John does this account. So, what I'm trying to prove to you is that Jesus “passing by” the disciples is a turning point in how the disciples see Jesus from here on, not that they're always going to be people of faith. No, sometimes they will still be rebuked for not understanding and for their little faith. But when after Jesus “passes by” them, I think things become more clear. And here in John 6, you can see the chapter begins with the feeding of the five thousand, then they have the walking on water. And in verse 20, he says to them, this is John 6:20. “He said to them, ‘It is I.’” So, this phrase, “It is I” seems to be very significant. This phrase, “It is I,” okay? Well, what does that mean, “It is I”? Well, don't be afraid. Okay. “And then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.” So, that's the detail John gives us. Boom. Not only did the wind immediately stop, but they somehow immediately got to where they were going. So, this was a powerful moment when Jesus gets in the boat, and the whole scene changes. When Jesus gets in the boat and the wind is gone and they're suddenly at a different place. Now, John, if you were here, we looked at this last week. He really wants to give us how the people, they were just looking for more loaves, and they weren't really seeing who Jesus is. But then, if you skip all the way down to John 6, way down at verse 66, “Many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.” So, after he has that whole interaction with the crowd about being the breath of life, the bread of life, and you’ve got to eat my body. You’ve got to drink my blood. And he's saying these things to the crowd, but they're not getting it, and people are turning back, he says to the disciples in verse 67, “So Jesus said to the twelve, ‘Do you want to go away as well?’ Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.’” Verse 69, “’And we have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God.’”
So, Mark tells us that they were out of their minds. They were utterly astounded or amazed. Well, Matthew has Peter making this bold declaration to come out on the water. And then Matthew says they all worshiped him. Luke goes immediately to a cut scene where Peter is saying, “You're the Christ of God,” and John by the end of the feeding of the five thousand and the walking of water and the crowd leaving, he's got Peter saying, “Where else could we go? We know who you are. You are the Holy One of God.” And so, it seems like when Jesus “passed by” and showed who he really was, walking on the water on the Sea of Galilee, that the disciples were able to see Jesus in a way that was profound, in a way that will change the tone of the conversation. Peter is now saying things about Jesus that we have not heard these disciples say up to this point.
And so, this is where I want to ask you, as our church, this is our twenty-second week going through the Gospel of Mark. So that means we've now been going through for months, and as we've been going through this for months, the stakes of what Jesus is revealing, what he's doing in his miracles, what he's teaching, it seems to me like they keep on escalating. And this idea that he's now full God mode, walking on the water, “passing by” and they're terrified because we've never seen that, doesn't even seem normal or natural. What is that? And he says, “It is I.”
Okay, so what is your response to Jesus? Go back to Mark 6 with me, and you'll see that the disciples are astounded. The disciples in Matthew, they're worshiping him. Here in John, they're saying, we can't leave you. You are the one. You're the one that God sent. You're the Holy One. The disciples are now starting to say the same things about Jesus that the unclean spirits, the demons, have been saying. They've known that about him. Well now the disciples are seeing it. And so, I really think this idea that Jesus “passed by” his disciples is like just like when Moses said, “Show me your glory,” and just like when Elijah had that encounter with God, and it wasn't in the fire, the earthquake, the wind, no, but he did encounter God. See, that's what I think happened to these disciples when they were struggling against the wind, and they looked off into the distance and they saw something unlike they had ever seen before. Jesus is showing them who he is. Are you seeing who Jesus is? And what effect does seeing Jesus have on your life? Are these just interesting Bible studies that we do together, or are we actually getting to know a person, getting to know someone for who he really is and the thoughts of who he really is? Do they have an effect on us? Because Jesus is clearly having an effect. Look at what it goes on to say right after that, in verse 53 it gives us kind of this update, hey, when they crossed over, when they got to the other side of the sea and they landed there at Gennesaret, they moored to the shore when they got out of the boat, it's like somebody recognizes Jesus, and there's just a word of mouth chain reaction that just goes off. Look, he's here. And the people just start running. And they grab their friends and everybody. They're running around the whole region, and they're beginning to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was and wherever he came. And you name it. Was it a village? Was it a city? Was it the countryside? It doesn't matter where he goes. They laid the sick in the marketplaces. They implored him that he might touch even the fringe of his garment, and as many touched it were made Well, see, back in Mark, chapter 3, it talked about how people were trying to touch him, and they were being healed. And then the woman came in the massive crowd, and she had the faith to touch him, and she was healed. And the stories keep echoing and the reports keep ringing out that if you just go and touch him, you could be healed of all your disease. He's making the sick well. And if we were reading this and Jesus was out there somewhere right now, I would be saying, everybody, let's get in our cars and let's go. If he's somewhere, we’ve got to take a train. We’ve got to take a plane. Let's go. Like, how could you hear what Jesus is doing, demons are fleeing, the lame are being healed, the sick are being cured. How could you hear all of that and be like, yeah, well, let's go home and see what's on TV. Let's go home and do the same things we always do. No, if this was happening in a contemporary setting, you know what we would all be doing? We'd be thinking, yeah, my aunt or yeah, my cousin. Have you ever shared prayer requests with Christians before. Have you ever been in the room where we pray for people and it seems like when you get when you open it up and you say, does anybody have a prayer request? All of a sudden, everybody's got a relative who's sick somewhere. Have you ever had this experience before? And some of these sicknesses are very serious, but I remember this one time, a young man was like, well, we really need to pray for my aunt because she's going to die. And I was like, wow, that sounds intense. What's her name? And the guy didn't know his aunt's name, but if you knew that your aunt was sick, and you knew Jesus was over here and he could heal her, would you be going to pick up your aunt and getting her to where Jesus was? See, if this was contemporary, and this was happening during our time, no one would be here by this point of the sermon. We would all be going to wherever he is, and maybe there are even people here in this room, and you'd be like thinking to yourself, if I could just touch him, I could be healed.
There's a response that is happening here, a response in what Peter is saying that is different than what he has said before, a response where now everybody kind of has this word association, this connotation with Jesus. If Jesus is coming, bring the sick, they will be healed if they could just touch him. We don't even need to have this long interaction. It's just in who he is. The power is just there, in his person. It's just in his being. If you just touch him, it's like you're better, you're healed, you're made well. So, nobody's hearing about Jesus, shrugging their shoulders and thinking, what's for dinner? They're all thinking, I need to respond.
Well, let's get this down for point number three: “If ‘It is I,’ what is your reply?” If “It is I,” if Jesus is “passing by” because he's God, if Jesus is showing us his glory, if Jesus is revealing himself, walking on the sea, and the disciples are out of their minds and worship, saying, “You're the holy one,” and the people are bringing everybody they know who's sick to touch him so they can be healed, well then, what are you going to do about who Jesus is? This not meant to be knowledge that we get together at church that puffs us up. We're not supposed to sit here and think that we know more than other people or we're hey, I know who Jesus is. No, no. Jesus is the Son of God, and Jesus, when he did this, the disciples, they saw him differently. And so, what is going to be your reply to all that we're learning in Mark about Jesus? This is something I really want to encourage everybody here to think about, some of these things that we've learned together. Some of you have been saying to me, wow, I'd never heard that like that before. I'd never really thought about it like that before. I'd never really seen how people were afraid of Jesus like that before, because he was more than they could handle. He was from another place. They knew he wasn't just from around here. I haven't really thought that all the way through. Well, I want to encourage you to think that all the way through. What is your response to Jesus?
Don't just know these stories. What are you going to do? We can't go to where he is. We can't reach out and touch him. That's not our application here at the end of Mark 6. So, what is going to be your application? What is going to be your response to Jesus? Look at your handout. Flip it over, you'll see some of the questions that I want you to consider. Okay, I need everybody, not just to hear the sermon, but I need us to do something that a lot of people have a hard time doing if you just say, go do this. People, sometimes they're ready to go do it, but this isn't necessarily just go do this. This is like, how do you interact with him? How do you interact with who he is? Like, look at number two. What is something you have learned about Jesus from the Gospel of Mark? Has anything changed in your thinking about him? Has anything become more clear or specific? Has anything stood out to you like you knew it a long time ago, but you've been refreshed. You've been reminded of what is actually happening. We're six chapters deep into this book. What's actually happening in your heart? Can you quantify it? I love this question here in number five at the end of Mark 6, we see the people wanting to touch Jesus. How are you going to respond to what you have been learning about him?
I talked to a lady this last week. She said, wow, I'd never heard that. How Jesus is the shepherd there on the feeding of the five thousand and she's like, I immediately went to work and I re-preached that sermon in my workplace. She was fired up. She thought it was worth sharing with other people. So, this is my question is, Does Jesus get a reply from you, other than just, well, that's interesting, well, it's nice? I'm glad to know that, and so this is where I don't even want to give you, here's what your reply should be. I just want you to think this story through with me for a minute. I just want you to picture yourself as one of the disciples in the boat, and Jesus sent you out there, and you're out there, and you guys are going against the wind. The wind is trying to blow you a different way, and you're trying to keep there with the wind. And you're doing this all night long. And then you see something. You're not even sure what it is, but what you see terrifies you. It overwhelms you. And then his voice comes to you, “Take heart. It is I. Don't be afraid.” And as he comes closer, as he “passes by,” you realize that's Jesus, but Jesus like I've never seen him before. See, that's what I want you to think, are you seeing Jesus like you've never seen him before? Because, if not, what are we doing here? There's something to see about him. And then he says, “It is I,” which has all these connotations that he's claiming to be the self-existent, self-sufficient, eternal, immutable God. I am. It is I? And they bow down and they worship him. They're out of their minds about him. Peter's like, let me come to you on the water. What kind of a man says, let me come to you on the water? And Peter says, “Where else would we go? You are the Holy One of God.”
So, if he's saying, “It is I,” what is your reply? And let me just go back to Mark 1:15 because I just want to say to so many folks who are coming to our church in this season, Jesus had a clear message. And Mark, I don't think spends a lot of time on the message of Jesus, because Mark is trying to give us the full story of Jesus. Mark, I think really wants you to see that Jesus is the Son of God, and he wants you to be out of your mind about Jesus. He wants you to be blown away. He wants you to be like when Jesus “passed by,” he was showing them he was God. How come I've never seen that before? But what Mark wants people to do, the message of Jesus was very clear in Mark 1:15 “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the gospel.” Okay, so that is the summary statement of the teaching of Jesus. And so, if you're checking out our church, if you're just joining us here in this month of September 2025 that's a phrase you really need to think through. What does it mean to repent, to change your mind about how you're living, to turn from your sin, to believe, to transfer your trust? And what is it about the gospel that Jesus is the Holy One of God, that God actually sent his Son, the Son who is one with the Father, and that Jesus, he was God who put on human flesh. And one night, he went up on a mountain and he prayed, and then he walked on the sea to “pass by.” Just like Moses’ face was shining after he saw the glory of God, just like Elijah experienced some kind of whirlwind, an earthquake and fire, well, Jesus, he showed something by walking on the lake. And if you can see who Jesus is, as the Son of God. If you know that Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins, and you know that Jesus rose from the dead, he's alive forevermore. He's at the right hand of the throne in heaven right now getting ready to return. And let me tell you, you think walking on water is awesome. You think feeding five thousand is awesome. You think raising the dead or healing the sick, or stopping the wind or casting out demons, is awesome way to you see what Jesus does when he comes back, we haven't even seen it yet, the full manifestation, the full revelation of the glory of God. Just wait till you see what Jesus does when he comes. People say ridiculous things, like, I wonder when Jesus comes, how we'll all be able to see him all over the world. Just get ready, my friends. I remember when people say to me, oh, well, I'm glad they created YouTube, because now people all over the world will be able to see Jesus. I don't think he's going to have a hard time with this, folks.
If you get to go to Israel, and you could tell I'm thinking a lot about it, because we have planned a trip for Israel next summer, and we'll have more announcements about it next week. But if you ever get to go to Israel with us, we'll go out in the desert where there's just like nothing but wilderness and sand and desolate places. And it looks like a riverbed, but it's just desert, and Jesus, when he comes back, he's going to start a river that will go from the temple, and it'll go out through that desert all the way down to this place called the Dead Sea. And this river, it will be a river of life, and it will have trees, trees next to this river that change their fruit every month. It will have so many fish you can go and catch. And I remember being out in this desert one day, hot out here, just looking at this like what looks like this valley of nothing, and I'm thinking to myself, you know, the dead. See is like the greatest setup job in human history. When Jesus comes back, he's not just going to do miracles with people's bodies. He's not just going to do miraculous things with his own body. When Jesus comes back, he's going to do geographical miracles. He's going to change the way the planet is. He's going to do things that are outside the box of what you could imagine, things that don't fit into categories, things that will leave you completely out of your mind and terrified like I've never seen anything like this before. See, when Jesus walked on a sea it's not just a great story to know it's a preview of coming attractions. It's a chance for you to prepare yourself for the end of the world as we know it, because the Kingdom of Jesus is coming. And wait till you see what he can do. They saw it, and they knew who he was when they saw it. Let's pray.
Father in heaven. We just want to confess to you how easy it is for us to be unmoved by the Bible, how easy it is for us to take these miracles and stories of Jesus for granted, how easy it is for us at church on a Saturday night to hear something so amazing that there was a man who “passed by” people on a lake like he was you Father, and for us to just go home and say, well, what's next? What's next? I pray that nobody here would be able to go home tonight and not think about Jesus. I pray that everybody here would think, what should I do about Jesus? I can't be content with how much I know him. I want to know him more. I want to turn from my sin to him. I want to trust not in myself, but in him. I want to worship him. I want my whole life to be defined, not by me trying to live, but by Jesus leading me into the way of life. And so, Father, I pray that this would be on all of our hearts, and I pray that all of our fellowship groups would have some of the best conversations that they've ever had, not because here's what I'm going to do, or here's something new I learned, but here's who Jesus is. The only one who could say “It is I,” and everybody knows. And so, Father, please don't let us be content with yesterday's knowledge of Jesus, but let us want to know him more today. Let us respond to him in a way that is profound, worthy of what we're learning here, what is being taught to us the way Mark is saying it, that even men who already knew him were terrified when he walked on the sea, and they were out of their minds, and they bowed down and they worshiped, and they said, “Truly, He is the Son of God.” Let us have that response. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.