“Seeing Jesus Clearly” – MARK 6:46-52

What is that?

They thought He was a phantom (6:49).  When you think about it, that is a pretty strange reaction.  Stress does that to you, and the pressure of the rowing against the wind was getting to the disciples (6:48).  But to assume they were seeing a ghost is a bit much, isn’t it?

IF Bible critics were correct in their assertion that the disciples embellished the life of Jesus and made up His divinity so they could start a new religion, this is one of the scenes they would have omitted because it made the disciples look bad.  By including this in the narrative, however, Peter and the others are revealed as quite human and quite normal.  What can we learn from this “phantom sighting”?

Jesus was continuing His disciple training program in preparation for the time He would return to the Father and reign at His right hand (i.e., the church age).  He had commanded them to feed the people, and then He provided the means.  Now He sends them out onto the sea while He went to pray (6:46).  Since four of them were fishermen, they had some expertise in rough seas and prevailing winds against them.

Equipped as they were to handle this on their own, Jesus did not expect them to.

Even though He has ascended to the Father, He is watching over us as we labor and toil in this world.  We should expect to “see” Him as we go about our lives.  Often times, we do not look for Him.  Other times, we are surprised to see Him.  Still other times, we mistake Him for something else.

Maybe we could stand some more “training”.

When Jesus calmed both the men and the wind (6:51) they were amazed.  Notice how the Holy Spirit draws us back in our memory to the event of the miraculous feeding (6:52) and connects these events.  Their hearts were “insensitive” and their minds unclear to the nature of Jesus and His power.

With Jesus, we should expect to be amazed.

With Jesus we should expect to be empowered.

With Jesus, we should expect Him to be there.

The disciples “saw” Him as being absent while they struggled.  We tend to reduce Him to being simply a character in a book.  They saw Him as a phantom in a storm instead of as the possessor of power over creation.  We tend “see” Him as a “phantom” of hope instead of a present hope.

In the gospels, we are treated to the revelation of God to man so that we can better understand Him.  Jesus is that revelation (John 1:18).  How can we read of His miracles and then not expect Him to work through us?  I guess we are just like the disciples, after all.  They should have known better, but did not.

Maybe our hearts are insensitive, too.

Maybe our understanding is limited like Peter and the eleven.

After all, we can see the cross and the feeding of the 5000.  We can see the resurrection and the walk on the water.  We know now what the disciples clearly did not yet know.  Since Jesus is never-changing (Hebrews 13:8), in order to “see” Him clearly working in our lives, maybe we should train our hearts and minds to always expect the unexpected!