Episode 191: Utterly Astonished
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 6:51, 52)
This takes place right after the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand. Jesus sent the disciples out ahead of Him while He sent the crowd away. Seeing them straining against the wind and seas in the middle of the night, Jesus walked out on the water to them. Caught up in the midst of their struggles, they didn’t recognize Jesus in this moment. They were scared and thought He was a ghost. He immediately spoke to them to calm them down.
This is where we pick up in the verses. You would think the disciples would recognize Jesus. You would think seeing Him on the water wouldn’t be a surprise to them. After all, He had just used five loaves of bread and two fish to feed well over 5000 people with abundantly more leftover than what they started with. But, the disciples missed it. They didn’t grasp the deity of Jesus from the miracle of the loaves and fish. Now that they see Jesus calm the wind and seas, they were once again astonished, beside themselves in amazement at this power.
We need to be careful in our own lives not to miss what Jesus is doing around us. We would like to think we would not have misunderstood the miracles if we were there to witness what the disciples saw. How could they possibly see what they saw and still not get that Jesus was God? How could they have a front row seat for so many miracles and still need to be told over and over again that Jesus was the Son of God. In a way, it’s comforting because it shows that the disciples were mere humans just like us. It also show us that we can be in the presence of God, in the middle of the movement of God and still be blind to what He is doing.
When we begin to acknowledge all of the ways God has shown up for us in the past, we can then begin to expect Him to show up for us again and again. We shouldn’t be so caught up in our storms that we are surprised when Jesus shows up in the middle of them to get in the boat with us. Let us be a people who acknowledge God in all His ways. Let us be expected and thankful when He meets us in our storms. Let’s not get so caught up in the storms and trials that we don’t recognize God moving in the midst of them.
Love Y’all! Be Blessed!
Let Us Be A People 