The Point of Walking on Water?
Sunday, Feb 25, 2024
Series: Mark Part 2 - Scripture: Mark 6:45-46, Mark 6:47-56 (NIV11)
Community is shaped by the conversations we share. These questions are a tool to help you meaningfully engage with the themes of this week's teaching.
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Message Summary: Today we talk about the miracle of Jesus walking on water as a continuation of the miracle of feeding the 5,000. The main point is that Mark wants to open our eyes to see the Divine presence with us not only in the miraculous but also in the mundane.
Rest. Again: With feeding the 5,000, Jesus set his needs for rest and processing the death of his cousin John the Baptist aside for the sake of others, but now in Mk 6:45-46, he returns to the care that he needs to give to himself and his disciples. And this time, Jesus realizes that he needs time alone. Delayed rest becomes elevated rest.
Enough for All: When Jesus and the disciples land on the other side of the lake, at Gennesaret, they see people who are looking for Jesus again. But Jesus rest there enables him to respond here. However, there’s a socio-economic layer to Jesus’ miracles. The language of Mark about people who were like “sheep without shepherd” references Numbers 27 and Ezekiel 34. Those contexts though talk about someone who is more like a king or a leader. In feeding the 5,000 Jesus is concerned for the Jewish people (indicated by the location of his miracles) who are victims to a disruptive and predatory economic narrative. Two chapters later, Jesus would repeat the feeding miracle with the mostly Gentile population, showing that there’s not only enough for us, but that Divine Kingdom is enough for all.
Passing By: The Greek of the phrase “pass by” can take us in two directions, 1) we can read it more like “from the disciples perceptive it looked like Jesus was going to pass them by, but of course he was always intended to help.” Or, 2) it can be read as “Jesus wanted to pass their way”, meaning he wanted to go to them rather than past them. The idea that Mark is pushing at here is that Jesus is divine and this is another theophany - an image of divine self-revelation - and another step in the disciples’ uncovering of who Jesus is. Maybe Mark has in mind Exodus 33, or 1 Kings 19, or Job 9. All those three instances use God’s name “I AM”, and it is not a coincidence. It is a callback to the Jewish imagination of God.
Opening Our Eyes: Throughout this gospel, Mark uses the motif of a messianic secret, no one is allowed to say who Jesus is until it all builds up to chapter 8 and Peter’s proclamation of Jesus as the Messiah. But here, Mark gives the disciples (and readers) an opportunity to see what has been hidden - that God is closer than you think. And sometimes it is our “blinkered” and narrow imagination that doesn’t let us see it.
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Connect: In the sermon Jeremy mentioned how Jesus’ approach to rest encourages him to prioritize his own rest too. How have you been resting lately, or maybe prioritizing your rest, or even elevating your rest?
Share: What do you think about the socio-economic aspect of Jesus’ miracles of feeding 5,000 (more like 10 or 15 thousand) Jews and then later 4,000+ non-Jews? How does seeing these feeding miracles through this lens expand your perception of them? And how do these stories challenge (or maybe support) your understanding of abundance and scarcity, and communal care? Here’s the quote for reference: “Jesus is concerned that the social structure surrounding these people has become predatory. That's why they're hungry. That's why they struggle to look after each other. And so the feeding narrative is about disrupting the economic narrative within Jesus’ Jewish community. There is goodness and there is generosity in there world. Our default should be abundance and the sharing it inspires, not scarcity and the hoarding it leads to. God is still with God's people - that’s the story. But then, just two chapters later, Jesus does it again. This time on the other side of the metaphorical tracks. And by recreating this miracle for “them,” Jesus pushes that imagination even farther. Not only is there enough for us, Divine Kingdom is enough for all, by definition.”
Reflect: Read Mark 6:47-52. It is a moment of theophany where the disciples uncover the divinity of Jesus in real time. What stands out to you from how Mark describes this moment? Reflect on the words of Jesus to his disciples, literary: “Courage, I am, no fear.” How do they resonate with you at this moment in your life? Or where in your life right now you need to hear them and experience God’s presence?
Engage: Mark says that the disciples hearts were hardened (they did not grasp the connection between the miracle of the loaves and the miracle of Jesus walking on water). How do you understand what Mark is trying to say? What kind of hardening is that? Feel free to engage with Jeremy’s metaphor of blinkers: “I think something like blinkers have happened to us as well. Over time our religious systems, our religious paradigms, have taught us to see some things as divine and others as mundane. And I think what Mark is saying here is that hardening, that narrowing of view, that blinkered imagination of God is causing us to miss out on so much of the divine presence in and around us, bubbling up in surprising ways all the time… Or, to put it more bluntly: If you can learn to see God in lunch shared with a stranger, you won't need to see God walking on water”
Take away: Take a quite moment and make a mental list in response to this question: In what everyday moments this week would you be more intentional about noticing the presence of God?
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Pray: Creative God who sits behind all of our good stories, Who weaves in and out and through our experiences leaving behind hints of your grace and peace, May we develop eyes to see your presence near us today, And may that motivate us to look back and see where you have been in the past, Those moments of goodness that encourage and strengthen and point us forward with courage. May our eyes grow to see your goodness always, May our feet move to bring your goodness to those near us. And if we find ourselves today in need of you — For rest Or work Or friendship Or space Or healing Or kindness Or welcome Or correction We trust we might find you in just the way we need. Might your healing grace flood around us With the nourishment that we need, With the care that we crave. May all signs point us back to your arms We pray in the strong name of the risen Christ. Amen.
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CALL TO WORSHIP: Psalm 116
MUSIC: Curated by Kevin Borst
Mission House - Your Eyes See Me
Brooke Ligertwood - Bless God
Phil Wickham - Living Hope
Hillsong Worship - King of KingsEUCHARIST INVITATION: Written by Bobbi Salkeld
The Eucharist is where we practice our involvement in God’s economy.
In our gathering around this common meal we are invited to share what we have, to feast when the table is before us, and to give thanks to God for every season – the dormant winter, the bursting spring, the lavish summer, and fruitful fall.
And from the elements of this meal – grains harvested and grapes crushed – we remember the generous love of God as seen in the life of Jesus. This is love that never runs out, peace that heals ruptures, and life that persists past demise.
So as we prepare for the meal, consider what aspect of God’s economy can meet you today. Is it the meeting of a need? The quiet strength of grace? The way we come together in our differences.
On the night he was betrayed, Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and said, This is my body – a body given for your healing and wholeness.
Eat to remember.
In the same way, Jesus took the cup, blessed it, poured it out, and said, This cup is filled with my life – and it is poured out for many.
Drink to reconcile.
As Jesus said a prayer before sharing, let us do that too. Creator God, present at this meal, the bread that we break and the cup that we share are places where our Saviour meets us.
Broken, we are being made whole.
Poured out, we are filled with joy once again.
Holy Spirit, bless these elements of community.
Amen.
May the generous economy of God meet you with care today.
