South's SOAP for the Day
S-Read Mark 6:45-56.
O-Between feeding thousands and healing multitudes, Jesus took time alone to pray.
A-What hectic parts of your day are you allowing to keep you from praying?
P-Spend time talking to God about your daily activities, asking for Him to help you make more time for Him.
Allow your minds to get into our story today. Jesus just blessed and broke bread for this mass of people. They all ate their fill and still had twelve baskets of food left over. The day is coming to an end. Maybe the sun is beginning to set. Its time to move along. Jesus tells his disciples to get in a boat and head to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Then he dismisses the crowds that he just fed. He heads up the mountain to pray.
Jesus is always sneaking away to pray. Its one of the things that I try to do like he does, though I can't say that I'm very good at it. I have my phone set to go off at different times of the day to pray. I pray through lists each day. I pray for my family, my ministry partners, and for South. I also pray for missionaries and the continents, that the good news would be heard there. My phone helps me be somewhat consistent, though, even when the notification to pray goes off, it gets pushed aside for awhile till I have time.
We see Jesus making time here. We see him make time to pray often. I wonder what he prayed about. Was he praying for the people he healed? Was he praying for his disciples, that they would get it? Was he praying for bigger things?
This makes me ask the question, what things do I need to be praying for that I am not? How broad is my prayer life? Am I simply praying for those around me for peace and hope? What outward focused, good news focused prayers am I praying?
Later that evening, Jesus sees that his disciples aren't that far along in their journey to the other side of the lake. One scholar I read this morning said that Jesus saw through the dark at their struggle on the lake. Maybe Jesus could see in the dark. Maybe it was a really bright moon that night. Maybe, as the disciples were struggling to row across the lake in the wind, they were noisy as they went? Jesus sees their struggle and heads out on the water...walking.
The text said that he looked to pass by them as they rowed, but when they saw him the freaked out and thought he was a ghost. Picture it. Twelve grown men in a boat screaming like little girls in the wind and the waves because they see a ghost. I am sure I could relate. To calm them down, he gets into the boat with them. At that point, the wind they have been fighting calms down.
And yet, the disciples still don't fully get it. Mark tells us the disciples were "completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened." Think about it. The first time Jesus calmed the wind and the waves, the disciples were amazed and asked, "Who is this guy?" Then they saw him do great miracles, raise the dead, AND send them out to do miracles. One would think that they would get it at this point. But, clearly, they do not get it. Mark tells us they don't get it. They are amazed again at the calming of the wind. They didn't understand the loaves of bread--the breaking of bread and Jesus feeding the thousands.
At this point, we need to stop for a minute and dig into some parallels going on between this story and the Old Testament. If you don't know about the story, you should take some time and read the first 17 chapters of Exodus. In the book of Exodus, we encounter a guy by the name of Moses. Moses is chosen by God to help bring God's people, Israel, out of slavery in Egypt. In the process of this rescue, God does many miracles that the people see in the form of plagues against Egypt. Plagues like flies, locusts, complete darkness, water turned into blood and so on. Each time a plague happens, the text states that Pharaoh's heart is hardened. See sees the miracles, experiences them, but still doesn't get it.
The Israelites see all these things. They experience it. They see the results--the Egyptians giving them all their good stuff and then pleading with them to get out of Egypt so God will leave them alone. The Israelites also see God part the waters of the Red sea so they can pass through it. They walked on the dry ground. They saw Pharaoh and his army drowned by the waters. Once on the other side, God feeds them manna, bread from heaven, and quail--even though the Israelites are a bit whiny about all of it. And, to quench their thirst, God brings water out of a rock for them to drink.
There are a few parallels there that the disciples should have caught. Jesus, blesses and broke the bread and fish that they fed to the thousands. It was nothing to something, just like with the manna and quail that God fed the Israelites. God performed a miracle parting the waters of the Red Sea so they could cross. Here, in our story, Jesus is walking on the water AND he calms the wind so they could cross. Yet they don't get it.
And, a bigger parallel that one scholar that I read points out, Jesus had intended to pass by them. This possibly parallels a plea that Moses has with God later on in Exodus. To make sure that God is engaged with this people, Israel, Moses tells God that he wants to see his glory. That's a pretty bold thing to ask for. But, in the story (Exodus 33), Moses wants to make sure God is with them as they continue on in their journey to the promised land--where God was taking them after Egypt. In our story, Jesus is going to pass by his disciples. The fullness of God, who has come in flesh, is going to pass by them, so they can see him, and know that he is the Kingdom of God who as come near. Yet, they are caught up in their fear. They don't get what Jesus did with the loaves--they don't see the connection, even in all they have seen--all the miracles and so on--even doing miracles themselves!
No. Their response is is amazement with the question, "Who is this?"
I think we can relate sometimes. We know God is who he is. We have faith and trust him. But we don't fully trust him. We don't go all in.
Our passage closes with Jesus and the disciples arriving at a different destination than they had set off for. They have been blown off course. And even being off course, the place they arrive at sees and understands who Jesus is. They begin bringing their sick and lame to Jesus for healing. Its almost like Jesus is giving the disciples another chance to see more miracles, so they will get it.
I am thankful that our God is a patient God. We are much like the disciples, continually not getting it, even though we see it in front of us. We hear it, even though we don't fully hear it. His response is not frustration. I think his response is, "SEE!!!! HEAR!!!! Take hold of what I am calling you to and LIVE IT!"
Lord, help us to see and hear. Help us to change our lives so that you are the one living them. Empower us with your spirit to be Your Kingdom!
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