Mark 6:48 And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them,
49 but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out,
50 for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
51 And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded,
52 for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.
Perhaps one of the harder lessons, and one the disciples did not grasp right away. In the midst of their trial, Jesus “meant to pass them”. Why? Because they were in a test.
An engineer by trade, I’ve taken many tests. One thing I learned early is that I am NOT a good test-taker. I overthink, over-analyze, and have a brutal tendency to talk myself out of the correct answer. Such traits lend themselves to a lot of test re-taking. That said, it’s difficult for me to be very judgmental towards these poor chaps in the boat. They had missed the entire point from a previous miracle - and if we’re honest, we still miss it.
The miracle of the loaves was one where Jesus took a boy’s lunch and multiplied it, having the disciples pass it around to the hungry. “The loaves” were to have taught them one thing: after you’ve seen the power of the Father, you have no right to approach any situation from a position of lack. Oh, it may look dire, scary, even impossible, but… the loaves. The loaves WERE impossible by man’s standards. WE have no right.
He would have passed them by. Why? Because He knew they had the power to calm the storm themselves, or weather it. He had, after all, put them to the task. There was no way they could perish in the attempt.
