True Faith

Scripture

Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage! I am here!

~Mark 6:50, NLT

Quote

Faith rests on the naked word of God. When we take Him at His word, the heart is at peace.

~George Mueller

Life is a series of storms: either you are in one, coming out of one, going into one or in between one. If the sky above you is blue and the water beneath you calm, enjoy it but do not be shocked if it does not last. In Mark 6, Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and He then sent them into a storm. Why would Jesus send His own disciples into a storm? Good question and easy answer: He did it to test them and to teach them. There is a lesson in every storm and some times more than one. Mark 6:52 in the Williams translation reads…So they {disciples} were completely dumbfounded, for they did not understand the lesson of the loaves; their minds were dull.

According to John’s gospel, the multitude {20,000 estimated} that Jesus fed wanted to make Him their warrior king {John 6:15}. They wanted Him to lead them in a bloody revolution against Rome. Jesus made the disciples leave first because they were probably stirring the stink. Even His own disciples had misunderstood His mission for they too wanted Jesus to be a king and restore the kingdom of Israel. Most translation speak of the disciples as having hard hearts…The NASB for example… For they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their hearts were hardened. The disciples were very young and I do not think Jesus would choose 12 hard hearted followers to get His kingdom off the ground. I think Williams hit the nail on the head; the disciples were dull or slow to learn and they were lacking in faith.

Jesus intentionally put them in a terrifying situation; by the time He came along side them; they were horrified. When they saw Him walking on the water, they were traumatized by pure fear. Then Jesus spoke these few words, “Don’t be afraid, take courage! I AM here! His word and His presence brought immediate relief. Let me put this in the JEV, “Don’t be afraid, I will give you some of My courage: Yahweh is here!” Mark uses the Divine Name {Yahweh/I AM} three times. One of the three is in Mark 14:62 where the High Priest asks Jesus “Are you the Messiah?” Jesus said, “I AM.”

Remember this: faith has nothing to do with feelings, impressions, experience or improbabilities: it rest solely on the word of God. The disciples didn’t really have a clue as to what Jesus mission involved {death on the cross}. He tried to help them understand but their hearts were dull so He basically went back to the most elementary rule or lesson: live by faith… learn to trust Me even when you don’t understand what is going on. This was the lesson of the storm.

April is zooming by and so is 2021: I can’t believe it is Friday. I hope you have a great weekend. LORD willing, we will be in the MIRACLES OF MARK: Jesus walking on water Sunday morning and Cleansing the Leper on Sunday night. Thanks for reading the blog and have a great day!

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