A Ghost or God-Incarnate?

2/13/25 Bible Thought

I find it rather encouraging that throughout the Gospels Jesus’ own disciples didn’t always get it. They aren’t model disciples who perfectly followed Jesus. At times they had faith, at other times they doubted. At times they are commended, at times they are rebuked. Truly, their stories are relatable with our own as we walk our own journeys of sanctification. Some days we do great, others maybe not. Some days we seem to get it and place our trust in God perfectly and other days we wrestle with unbelief in the midst of life’s trials.

Mark 6 begins with Jesus’ rejection at Nazareth, where those who knew His upbringing didn’t believe in Him. Jesus marvels at their unbelief, in one sense He couldn’t believe that they couldn’t believe! Yet, at the end of the chapter, we see a similar thing happening amongst His own disciples. These are the guys who are supposed to get it. Maybe His hometown would have questions as they had seen Mary’s scandalous pregnancy and been around Jesus as He grew, and He probably at times seemed like an ordinary child. He grew up physically like all of His peers, despite being God-incarnate. But the disciples ought to be different. They are the ones who clearly saw more to Jesus than just the carpenter, at the very least a teacher worth following, and eventually much, much more.

Yet, it was a journey for them, and they didn’t get it right all the time. Jesus miraculously feeds a crowd of 5,000 men with five loaves of bread and two fish. This is reminiscent of God’s provision for Israel in the wilderness with manna, and yet they still didn’t get it. They had seen Jesus calm the storm on the sea back in chapter four, they had seen Him deliver the demonized man from His legion of demons in chapter five, and yet we see another instance of them not quite getting it at the end of Mark 6.

After a long day of serving, Jesus determines to send the disciples ahead of Him in order to have a time of rest and prayer. Truly, the disciples and Jesus were supposed to be getting a break in a desolate place when the crowds came to them! (Mk. 6:30). That’s the whole reason they found themselves in a desolate place, they needed rest. Instead of resting, they served the crowd, and Jesus sends the disciples on another journey across the Sea of Galilee.

Now, this time, there isn’t a cataclysmic storm, just some difficult winds that keep them on the lake longer than they should’ve been. At this point, the Lord Jesus decides to catch up to them by walking on the sea. Once again, He puts His miracle-working power on display. Fishermen, of all people, know that water isn’t intended to support anything but a boat. Hence the whole reason for having a boat! So, they cry out in fear, believing that He is a ghost. Jesus responds, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid” (Mk. 6:50). Literally in the Greek Jesus says, ego eimi, which is “I Am” and hearkens back to the divine revelation of God’s name to Moses (Ex. 3:14).

Jesus in this instance both displays His divinity by doing the impossible: walking on water, and He declares His divinity by saying, “I Am.” The disciples might have known that Jesus was more than just the carpenter, Mary’s son, but they clearly still lacked an understanding of who Jesus is. Jesus climbs into the boat, the wind suddenly ceases (another miracle) and the disciples, “were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened” (Mk. 6:51b-52).

The disciples had first-hand encounters with the Lord Jesus. They saw Him multiply bread and fish indefinitely to feed a crowd. They saw Him heal the sick. They saw Him cast out demons. They saw Him command nature. They saw Him time and time again doing things that only God could do. Yet, times came that they still didn’t get it. They were astounded at this miracle, losing sight of every other miracle that Jesus had done. They didn’t quite realize that miracles, although by definition being outside of the norm, for Jesus, they were the norm. I find it encouraging to know that the disciples’ journey was a bit bumpy. They had days they got it, and days they didn’t. They had times they believed and others where they lacked faith. They had successes and failures along the way, but Jesus never gave up on them. Eventually, this rag-tag group of faithless disciples would change the world forever through the gospel message. I thank God today that while our journey in discipleship might have its ups and downs, its good days and bad days, that we serve a Savior who not only works miracles but works on people. One who will not abandon us along the journey, even if there are times that we don’t fully get it. I thank God for His patience today.