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 fter
Jesus fed the 5,000 men plus women and children near the city of Bethsaida,
the people believed that He was the prophet promised by Moses (John 6:14).
Moses had predicted that a prophet would come in the future, and the
Jewish people believed that the prophet would be the Messiah (Deut. 18:15).
They expected the Messiah would come with new teaching and power, and
Jesus did (Mark 1:27). They could not believe what they had seen early
in His ministry, and they were astonished that He was able to create
food. Feeding so many people was more than just a miracle. It was another
sign that Jesus was the Messiah (John 6:14).Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.” The miracle was so significant, and the response of the people was so
great that all of the gospel writers included it in their memoirs: Matthew,
Mark, Luke, and John.
Make Jesus King. The crowd was energized
and excited with visions of bread and fish in their heads and thoughts
of more. As a result, the people wanted to make Jesus their king by force.
So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king . . . (NASB) John 6:15
But Jesus knew their thoughts. They did not know that their plans were
not God’s plans. Apparently, the disciples were also taken up with
thoughts of Jesus becoming king. We do not know for sure because none
of the gospels tell us, but yet we are told that Jesus “made” the
disciples leave.
Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida . . . (NASB) Mark 6:45a The Greek word that is translated as “made” actually means “to
force, compel, or insist.” This suggests that the disciples did
not willingly leave. Jesus had to “force” them to leave.
Only then was He able to deal with the crowd and send the people away.
. . . while He Himself was sending the crowd away. After bidding them farewell, He left for the mountain to pray. (NASB) Mark 6:45b-46 Then Jesus retreated to a mountain in order to escape and to be alone
(Matt. 14:23).
The Horrible Storm.When Jesus "forced"
the disciples to leave He had ordered them to get into a boat and go
to the town of Bethsaida, which appears to have been a suburb of Capernaum.
There were two cities called Bethsaida - one northeast of the Sea of
Galilee and one near Capernaum. Jesus had sent the disciples out onto
the Sea of Galilee in a boat without Him.
The gospels of Mark and John tell us that in the darkness
of the evening with the disciples a long distance from land, a raging
storm on the Sea of Galilee started battering the boat and the men.
It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. (NASB) John 6:17b But the boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary. (NASB) Matt. 14:24 The Greek word that is translated as “battered” actually
means “tortured or tormented.” That is, the boat was being
severely beaten by the wind and waves. I wonder how the disciples felt
being all alone without Jesus, who was still on the land? The gospel
of Mark adds that the disciples were straining on the oars. Even though
they were experienced seamen this storm was still very difficult.
Jesus was still on the seashore when He saw the disciples
straining on the oars.
When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land. Seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night . . . (NASB) Mark 6:47-48a He saw them at the fourth watch of the evening even though they were
3-4 miles away (John 6:19). The Jews had four watches. The first watch
occurred between 6 pm to 9 pm. The second watch was from 10 pm to 12
am. The third watch began at 12 am and went to 3 am, and the fourth watch
was 3 am to 6 am. It was dark and the disciples had been struggling a
long time. The trip from Bethsaida, northeast of the Sea of the Galilee,
to the Bethsaida in the suburbs of Capernaum should not have taken all
night. The storm had delayed their trip.
Two Miracles. Finally, Jesus came to help
them - walking on the water. He did not come to them in a boat, by swimming,
but with only His sandals, taking one step after another upon the water.
No rocks in the middle of the Sea of Galilee. There was just water and
Jesus! I would have liked to have watched Jesus do it.
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