Compassion for His Struggling Apostles
Compassion for His Struggling Apostles
As the disciples gathered up the pieces of bread and fish that were left over from the miraculous meal (Mark 6:30–44), they must have overheard what some of the men in the crowd were saying to one another:
“Jesus may be the prophet that Moses promised would come. Let’s make Him king. See how easily we were all fed and satisfied and it didn’t cost us anything. Perhaps He could even get rid of the Romans and give us our freedom.”
Of course, this undisciplined crowd was completely unprepared to confront the Romans and take over the government, and furthermore, that wasn’t the plan Jesus had in mind. The Twelve frequently discussed matters concerning the kingdom and had debated among themselves which one of them was the greatest, so a popular uprising might have fit right in with their ideas (Acts 1:6–9). This is why Jesus compelled the apostles to get into the ship and sail back to Capernaum while He dismissed the crowd and went into the hills to pray. Danger was in the air, and He had to protect them. Jesus knew that the storm was coming and deliberately sent the apostles into that storm rather than allow them to be influenced by the unbelieving, politically minded people in the crowd. The Twelve were safer in a ship on the stormy sea than on land with a group of spiritually blind, selfishly motivated people!
As Jesus prayed, He kept His eyes on the ship and saw that the Twelve were in danger; so He went directly to them, walking on the water. (This is when Peter walked with Him on the water in Matthew 14:25–33.) When Jesus and Peter got into the ship, the storm ceased and immediately the boat was at the shore in Capernaum. What a dramatic series of miracles! He fed more than five thousand people with a small lunch. He walked on the water and enabled Peter to walk on the water. He stilled the storm and instantly brought the ship to shore.
I cannot help but see in these events a picture of the church of Jesus Christ in this tempestuous and dangerous world. As we obey the commands of the Master, we sometimes find ourselves caught in storms and seemingly make no progress. But our Master is interceding for us in heaven; He comes to us at just the right time. He enables us to overcome the storm and finally reach our intended destination.
Some of the people wanted to make Jesus king, but He already was king! “The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD is enthroned as King forever. The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace” (Ps. 29:10–11). “You rule over the surging sea; when its waves mount up, you still them” (89:9). “He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed” (107:29).
In the years following, when the apostles experienced storms of persecution, no doubt they remembered this unique experience and it encouraged them. After all, they were not in the storm because they disobeyed God, as was Jonah (Jon. 1–2), but because they had obeyed. They could say, “The Lord brought us here and He will see us through.” Jesus said to them, “It is I,” which literally is “I am” (John 6:20). If we are in the will of God, Jesus is with us and we need not be afraid.