October 13, 2002
The death of Christ is a birth message – the life of Christ is a growth message. Therefore we can expect to study the events in the life of Jesus and draw from these events practical principles of truth and doctrine that can help us in our life and growth as believers.
The background for the event in this Pen Pulpit is the Feeding of the Five Thousand. Jesus had been teaching all day, it was late and there was nowhere to buy bread. Jesus took a small lad’s lunch and with it fed thousands. Immediately after this miracle He sent His disciples across the sea while He went up to a mountain to pray. As His disciples were rowing across the sea, a great storm came up and we read in Mark 6:45-53:
1. That Jesus sent His disciples into that storm (vv. 45, 46). The apostles are moving in accordance with their Lord’s direction. They did not know what was out there, but He knew (see Ps. 37:23, 24). We don’t know what the next day will bring but we can be assured that God is directing our lives.
2. Jesus saw His disciples in the storm (vv. 47,48). Jesus knew just where His disciples were. Likewise the believer is never out of the surveillance of the concerned Savior (see Psalm 32:8, I Peter 3:12, Hebrews 4:13). “He saw them” is translated “He knows and understands where you are.” You are not forgotten. His understanding, which is infinite, extends to even the tiniest of His creatures (Matthew 10:29-31).
3. He prayed for them in the storm (v. 46). The text says specifically that Jesus was praying. Is it assuming too much to say that He was praying for His disciples (Luke 22:32; John 17:9, 15; Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25)? Why is Christ able to pray emphatically for those of His own in trouble? Because He knows what it is to suffer as a man and to overcome. It is His death sufferings that qualify Him as Savior. It is His life sufferings that qualify Him as our sympathetic High Priest.
4. He came to them in the storm (v. 48b). They were not forsaken. Nothing was out of His hand (I Corinthians 10:13). Sometimes in great distress, there does not seem to be the sense of His presence, then suddenly He is there (Isaiah 50:10).
5. He comforted them (vv. 50, 51a). He comforted them by speaking to them, assuring His disciples that all was well. What comfort there is in the promises of God (Isaiah 41:10)!
Jesus designated the other side of the sea as the disciple’s destination and they reached that destination, but in-between was the storm! Between the beginning of God’s work and the completion of that work in our lives is the “in-between”, the storms that we all go through. Remember – one day we shall reach the other side (Philippians 1:6). But in the meantime take comfort in the fact that whatever our Lord sends to us, He sees us, prays for us, comes to us, comforts us.
My challenge to you is to forge ahead. Remember - if God is for you, who can be against you? God bless.
Love to you all,