“Doubly perplexed and confused”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Wednesday, August 2, 2023
Mark 6:47-56 (Forward, p. 4) CEV p. 1035
At my ‘advanced’, tottery, old age, I can often find myself confused or perplexed. But then, today’s news reporting doesn’t always help, for it often gives us incomplete or partial information, and sometimes, when looked at from a wider perspective, information that turns out to be false or inaccurate. And so, we find ourselves in good company with the earliest disciples.
We find two instances of confusion in today’s account from the hand of Mark. One of them is pretty obvious: the disciples are confused as to the identity, nature and power of Jesus Christ. Spotting Him walking on the water, they immediately jumped to the conclusion that they were seeing something supernatural, that is, a ghost, for mortal human beings don’t normally suspend the laws of nature by walking on water. It is simply that doesn’t ‘work’ with our physical bodies!
But then there is yet another instance of confusion. Mark ends this short narrative about Jesus and the Sea of Galilee by stating, “Then he got into the boat with them, and the wind died down. The disciples were completely confused. Their minds were closed, and they could not understand the true meaning of the loaves of bread (verses 51-52). So, what were they confused about—Jesus’ recent action, or, as Mark seems to indicate, the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000? But, why bring this up? Here it is yours truly who is confused. I don’t see the connection between the two, except, perhaps, to state Jesus’ supernatural power, His power over even the physical elements of this planet we call Earth. Indeed, that would well be suggested by Mark’s remark about their hardness of heart, their inability to see the hand of God at work, their lack of spiritual insight or perception, and, of course, their inability to apply the lesson of God’s intervention in the multiplication of the loaves and fishes to their present situation. Indeed, that lack of perception led ultimately to their fear and their lack of faith in this new situation.
And, cannot we find ourselves all too readily and frequently in this very same situation. We can fail to see—or remember—God’s workings in the past, and so, as a result, look at our present troubles or situations with fear and dismay.. Forgetting the past, we forget the present as well, forgetting
that as God has worked previously, so too can He work today. And so, our prayers—and our faith—are hindered, and we do not ask for His help, and thus see the results of that help in the here and now. So, my prayer is this: “Lord, help us to remember, and ever keep in the forefront of our thoughts, what you have done in the past, so that we might ever come to you for help in the present. Amen.”
Forward notes: “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid” (verse 50c).
“The first words spoken by a person to God in the Bible express fear. After the fateful bite of the forbidden fruit, God goes looking for Adam, calling, ‘Where are you?’ Adam answers, ‘I heard you…and I was afraid.’ If such fear and anxiety lie at the heart of our lives, it cannot be surprising that God spends the rest of the story trying to say, ‘Do not be afraid.’
“We are afraid of the unknown. We are afraid of the broken places within us. We are afraid of ‘the other.’ When the Israelites reach the Red Sea and the Egyptians scorch the earth in pursuit, Moses says: ‘Do not be afraid.’ And when, after the amazing hillside supper, the disciples see a figure coming to them on the lake, they are terrified. Once again, the steady voice says, ‘Take heard, it is I; do not be afraid.’ In the end, it is all we want to hear.”
Moving Forward: “Of what are you afraid? Can you hear God’s voice within your fear?”