The Seventh Sunday After Pentecost, July 27, 2003 (Proper 12B)
2 Kings 2:1-15; Psalm 114; Eph. 4:1-7, 11-16; Mark 6:45-52
The lesson from the gospel recounts the occasion when Jesus walked over the sea to the disciples in the early hours of the morning when they were straining ineffectively against an adverse wind. The previous afternoon Jesus had multiplied loaves and fish for the thousands. The last line of the lesson says that after Jesus entered the boat and the wind ceased, the disciples “were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.”
Mark points out that the disciples’ “hard hearts” led to their being “utterly astounded” at the events that surrounded Jesus’ coming to them over the water, and their failure to connect that miracle with the miraculous feeding of the crowd the previous afternoon. In Mark’s Gospel, the 12 are named in chapter 3, and the events in today’s reading are only three chapters later. Nevertheless, in that short interval not only have the disciples heard Jesus deliver much profound teaching, but they also have seen him still the storm on the Sea of Galilee (4:35-41), deliver the man possessed by a legion of demons (5:1-20), heal the woman with a hemorrhage (5:25-34), raise the daughter of Jairus from the dead (5:21-24, 35-43), and that, without the faith of the inhabitants of his hometown, Jesus could do no “deed of power” except a few healings. Moreover, he had already sent them out with authority “two by two” on a successful mission; following that came the miracle of the loaves.
With this amazing recent history, one may well ask where the disciples’ “hard hearts” came from. After all this, why were they amazed at the wonder of Jesus walking on the sea? Yet is this not typical of fallen human nature? The Israelites under Moses saw their deliverance from Egypt due to miracles, yet still feared the Egyptians. They crossed the sea on dry ground yet doubted God’s ability to provide for them in the wilderness. They received the manna but wondered whether they would die in the desert without water. When Jesus visited his hometown, “he was amazed at their unbelief” (Mark 6:6). In today’s lesson, the same could almost be said of the 12 themselves. Fortunately, there is more to come. Like many believers, the 12 have yet to learn that the miracles Jesus did — and still does — can lead people to faith, but should never be the sole basis for that faith.
Look It Up
What is it that Paul says is vital to keep believers from being tossed about by the winds of false teaching and human trickery (Eph. 4:14)? Read Ephesians 4:11-13, 15-16.
Think About It
If God does a mighty work in your life, does it mean that you will never doubt or be discouraged in your faith from that time on? Consider the difference between a relationship with God based on faith in him alone and a relationship that depends on “what he does for you.”
Next Sunday
The Eighth Sunday After Pentecost, Aug. 3, 2003 (Proper 13B)
Exod.16:2-4, 9-15; Psalm 78:1-25 or Psalm 78:14-20, 23-25; Eph. 4:17-25; John 6:24-35
