And when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost, and cried out; for they all saw Him and were troubled. But immediately He talked with them and said to them, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” Then He went up into the boat to them, and the wind ceased. And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled. For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened. (Mark 6:49-52)
There is a lot going on in Mark 6 and the disciples are a part of it all. They are with Jesus in Nazareth when He is spurned and rejected. They are sent out to the villages to preach and heal the sick. They hear about John the Baptist’s execution. They are with Jesus when He feeds the 5000+ people with five loaves of bread and two small fish. But somehow in the midst of all this activity, they missed something.
When Jesus comes walking to them on the water, they are terrified. I can understand that! But after Jesus gets into the boat, Mark says “They were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure and marveled.” It’s like Mark cannot think of enough adjectives to describe their amazement. They can’t believe their eyes. They are utterly amazed, surprised, stupefied. Then Mark tells the reason for their excessive amazement, “For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened.”
What were they supposed to learn from the loaves? At first glance the two stories don’t necessarily go together. Jesus feeds 5000+ with little food then He walks on the water and calms the storm. What were the disciples supposed to learn from the loaves that applied to the storm? What did they miss? Quite simply, they missed Jesus. They still were not fully aware of who He was or, if they did know who He was intellectually, they still missed it in their hearts.
Jesus’ identity is at the forefront in Mark 6. People in Jesus’ hometown can’t believe in Him because they see Him as the local carpenter, Mary’s son and a part of her family. King Herod and the rest of the people don’t know if Jesus is John the Baptist resurrected or Elijah or some other prophet. “Who is this man who teaches with authority and has power over disease?”
Of all people, the disciples should know. They should know by now that Jesus is the Son of God with power over nature, power over demons, power over sin. But they keep missing it. Every time Jesus performs a miracle they are “greatly amazed.” They can’t believe it. “Wow! Look, guys, Jesus can do that too!” I am sympathetic to the disciples. I would be greatly amazed too. But Mark indicates that their amazement was not a good thing rather it showed the hardness of their hearts.
You see, a hardened heart struggles to believe. A hardened heart doesn’t expect Jesus to provide miraculously, to calm storms, to heal broken bodies and spirits. A hardened heart doesn’t really expect anything beyond the normal. And thus it is utterly amazed when Jesus does answer. A hardened heart simply forgets who Jesus is.
I forget who Jesus is. Intellectually I know Him but so often my heart is hardened. It struggles to believe. I think of my favorite character in the gospels who cries out to Jesus, “Lord, I believe! Help thou my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24) I am so engulfed in this natural world that I can’t see the supernatural. I am too skeptical, too cynical, too rational…nothing wrong with a rational mind unless it is connected to a hardened heart.
“Lord, I believe! Help thou my unbelief!” Help me not to miss Your hand today. Help me to expect great things from You rather than be surprised if anything beyond the ordinary happens.