"Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the crowd away.
After bidding them farewell, He left for the mountain to pray.
When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land. Seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea; and He intended to pass by them.
But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out; for they all saw Him and were terrified. But immediately He spoke with them and said to them,
"Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid."
Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished, for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened. "
Mark 6:45-52
In this passage, Jesus had just finished feeding the five thousand, with a couple of fish and five loaves of bread. Somehow though, the disciples were still clueless as to the personhood and nature of who Jesus actually was. Walking across the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) was nothing for the One who is able to command the seas, the winds, revive the dead, heal the sick, but the disciples were self-focused, looking for a messiah who would kick out the Romans, restore the Davidic dynastic line, in other words, fill their shopping list.
The disciples were worldly, their hearts were still stone, and although they had dropped everything career-wise, materially and followed Him, they were still without the revelation of the knowledge of who He really was, and is today: the Son of the living God.
These men spent most of those 3 1/2 years with Jesus. They heard him, saw how He lived and loved, and yet they didn't "get it".
Do we "get" Him, do we have that insight that was so illusive even to those who surrounded Him? Today, I want to put this out there: We who are His disciples, who are called by His name and know all about Jesus, the miracles, etc. that He did...
Are we drawn by who He is and His holiness, worthiness, magnificence, or are we just looking to the "benefits" part of what it means to follow Jesus?
How do you "see" Jesus?
In the end, it took the crucifixion,resurrection, and indwelling of the Holy Spirit for the disciples to gain the insight needed, and in the end they made the hard choices, the right choices, even losing their temporal earthly lives to gain eternity with Jesus.
Beloved, the time is coming, and even now has come in some countries, where our brothers and sisters are making those choices, who love Jesus more than their own lives, and are laying them down for Him.
Real insight and revelation is what gives us the strength to fearlessly make these choices.
Are you prepared to do likewise?
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