"And the apostles gathered together with Jesus; and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught. And He said to them, ‘Come away by yourselves to a lonely place and rest for a while.’ (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. And they went away in the boat to a lonely place by themselves. And the people saw them going, and many recognized them, and they ran there together on foot from all the cities, and got there ahead of them. And disembarking, He saw a great multitude, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things. And when it was already quite late, His disciples came up to Him and began saying, ‘The place is desolate and it is already quite late; send them away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.’ But He answered and said to them, ‘You give them something to eat!’ And they said to Him, ‘Shall we go and spend two hundred denarii on bread and give them something to eat?’ And He said to them ‘How many loaves do you have? Go look!’ And when they found out, they said, ‘Five and two fish.’ And He commanded them all to recline by groups on the green grass. And they reclined in companies of hundreds and of fifties. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food and broke the loaves and He kept giving them to the disciples to set before them; and He divided up the two fish among them all. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they picked up twelve full baskets of the broken pieces, and also of the fish. And there were five thousand men who ate the loaves.
And immediately He made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the multitude away. And after bidding them farewell, He departed to the mountain to pray. And when it was evening, the boat was in the midst of the sea, and He was alone on the land. And seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night, He came to them, walking on the sea and He intended to pass by them. But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out; for they all saw Him and were frightening. But immediately He spoke with them and said to them, ‘Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid.’ And He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were greatly astonished, for they had not gained any insight for the incident of the loaves, but their hearts was hardened.
And when they had crossed over they came to land a Gennesaret, and moored to the shore, And when they had come out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, and ran about that whole country and began to carry about on their pallets those who were sick, to the place they heard He was. And wherever He entered villages, or cities, or countryside, they were laying the sick in the market places, and entreating Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touch it were being cured."
(Mark 6:30-56)
"Perhaps God can do many great things, even in some cases miraculous things, but this is impossible." Have you ever found yourself making such a statement? All of us know of situations or problems which seem impossible to face or solve. We all know people who are the "hard cases" and seem impossible to reach or to deal with. And while we have seen God at work in our lives and in the lives of others, we still have those areas which we write off as too difficult even for God. Even though we say we believe in a God of miracles, we don’t really believe God will do anything about this particular situation.
Then is God a God of miracles? Is He the God of the impossible? Can He work the impossible in our lives? The answer to those questions is yes. God is a God of the impossible. He is a God of miracles today. He certainly can work the impossible in our lives. But "can He" may not be the question you are asking. "Will He" may be the real question on your mind.
Again I believe the answer is yes. God will work the impossible in your life. He does it every day in the lives of many thousands of people who trust in Him. Would you like for Him to do miraculous things in your life? Would you like to see Him work the impossible for you? Is there an impossible situation, problem, or person you would like to see the Lord deal with?
Our text reveals some of the ways Jesus sought to liberate His disciples from the limitations of the impossible. He desired to see them begin to move in the power of the supernatural realm of the Spirit of God. He desired to see them begin to trust in the power of God. And He desires that for us as well. May God grant that we can catch a glimpse of what is ours in Christ Jesus. May we come to the conclusion today that the impossible isn’t.
As this passage begins, we see the disciples returning from their mission on which Jesus had sent them two by two. They are here called apostles for the first time. "Apostle" means "one sent". They had been sent out. Now they returned to report.
"And the apostles gathered together with Jesus; and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught. And He said to them, ‘Come away by yourselves to a lonely place and rest for a while.’ (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.)" (vv. 30-31)
They had ventured forth at the command of Jesus to do ministry. They had been sent forth two by two without Him. Jesus being the master teacher he was, knew that they had come to the place in their development where they needed to test what they had learned on their own. In the beginning of our Christian walk Jesus does everything for us. As we grow He begins to allow us to do things with Him. Finally there comes a time when He gives us the opportunity to do things ourselves. Of course, we do those things in the power He gives. The disciples had been given power over the demon spirits to cast them out. That they did, and came back rejoicing over it. When they did Jesus reminded them to rejoice because their names were written in heaven.
But they still had much to learn. Like an eagle teaching her young to fly, Jesus would have to bear them up again and again before they really learned to trust in His power to work in their lives. But He is patient. Thank God for that. He will take the time to see to it that we learn how to trust Him.
They returned exhilarated and enthusiastic. Their first excursion had been a success. But Jesus knew that they needed to pull away from the busyness of their success and recharge their spiritual batteries. So He called them to come apart for a period of reflection and rest. This is the need for any servant of God who would be continually empowered for the work.
Jesus knew this in His own life. He was always pulling away from the affairs of life to catch a fresh glimpse of God. It was the habit of Jesus to steal away early in the morning to pray. Sometimes He would tarry all night in prayer. Even in our text today you will see Him going up into a mountain to pray. This is where He received refreshing. This is where He received communion with God. This is where He received power to act according to the will of God. We have already seen this in our study of Mark, in 1:35, where it says,
"And early in the morning, while it was still dark, He arose and went out and departed to a lonely place, and was praying there."
This was Jesus’ habit. He prayed so much that on one such occasion His disciples came to Him and asked Him to teach them to pray. Someone said that Jesus life consisted of going from one place of prayer to the next, and working miracles in between. What a way to live!
Jesus knew that His disciples needed refreshing. They also needed time to meditate on what was happening in their lives, in order to see that it was God’s power at work in them and not their own. You see, it is in our successes that we are vulnerable, as well as in our defeats. When Elijiah was victorious over the prophets of Baal, he was immediately tossed into a tailspin by the threats of Jezebel. Sometimes we forget that even in the high times we need to renew our strength in the Lord. We are tempted to think that we can do it in our strength after times of victory. The thrill of victory clouds our thinking and we forget that it was God who did it through us. Then we are setting ourselves up for the agony of defeat. Jesus says, "Come apart before you come apart – literally."
This was a preparation for the disciples to enable them to continue to move in the supernatural realm of the impossible. If we would see the impossible isn’t, then we must prepare ourselves by looking to Jesus in prayer. We must spend time with Him and come to see Him as our source and power. But more than that, we must come to see Him as our best friend. He desires to do great things in our life. He will. But we must come to truly believe that He can and will.
"And they went away in the boat to a lonely place by themselves. And the people saw them going, and many recognized them, and they ran there together on foot from all the cities, and got there ahead of them. And disembarking, He saw a great multitude, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things." (vv. 32-34)
Of course, it wasn’t always easy to get away for Jesus. As they boarded the boat to travel to a solitary spot the people ran on ahead of them by foot and were waiting for them when they arrived. Jesus, seeing their need, began to minister to them.
An interesting thing was about to happen. The disciples were about to be encountered by the impossible. They were about to have their faith stretched. Electricians will sometimes send a novice helper to the truck for something called a "pipe-stretcher." Of course, such a tool doesn’t exist. The novice, not wanting to admit that he doesn’t know what a pipe-stretcher is, will hunt and hunt for the tool. But Jesus does have "faith-stretchers." And often times He pulls them out and uses them on us! This was one such occasion.
"And when it was already quite late, His disciples came up to Him and began saying, ‘The place is desolate and it is already quite late; send them away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.’ But He answered and said to them, ‘You give them something to eat!’ And they said to Him "Shall we go and spend two hundred denarii on bread and give them something to eat?’ And He said to them, ‘How many loaves do you have? Go look!" And when they found out, they said, ‘Five and two fish.’ And He commanded them all to recline by groups on the green grass. And they recline in companies of hundreds and of fifties. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food and broke the loaves and He kept giving them to the disciples to set before them; and He divided up the two fish among them all. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they picked up twelve full baskets of the broken pieces, and also of the fish. And there were five thousand men who ate the loaves." (vv. 35-44)
It was getting late and the disciples saw that the multitude had nothing to eat. Their minds worked like calculators and quickly they knew that they had a potential problem on their hands. There was no food. They did not have the money to buy any. And they were not close to a supermarket, not even a 7-11. So they came to Jesus and tried to make a case for sending the people away.
But Jesus, in His own perplexing style. Didn’t seem moved by their human logic. Someone called the disciples arguments "the paralysis of human analysis." They were looking at human potential rather than divine enablement. They were not open to the impossible. Rather than seeing this as an opportunity for God to do something great, they were limited in their vision.
Jesus then gave them a vivid and visible example of what God could do. He wanted them to encounter the power of God once again to witness the possibilities of God. So he called for what food they could find – five loaves and two fish, hardly a meal for a multitude. But Jesus blessed it and broke it and gave it to the disciples to pass out. The original language says that He kept giving it to the disciples. In other words, as He broke it the food was multiplied. This was a miracle indeed.
Some have tried to explain it away. Some say that people were moved by this act of generosity and brought out their hidden bags of food. Others say that the multitude was filled with the spiritual bread He had been giving out and were no longer hungry. These sound sentimental and sweet, but they miss the point. This is not what Mark intended to convey. This was a miracle. This was evidence that the impossible isn’t. Perhaps those who try to explain this in human terms are guilty of the same thing the disciples were guilty of – failure to be open to the impossible. But God wants to create within us an awareness of what God can do. He desires us to be expectant and open for Him to act in our lives, even do miracles for us.
Now we come to another encounter with the miraculous, with a challenge to their faith as well.
"And immediately He made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the multitude away. And after bidding them farewell, He departed to the mountain to pray. And when it was evening, the boat was in the midst of the sea, and He was alone on the land. And seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night, He came to them, walking on the sea and He intended to pass by them. But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out; for they all saw Him and were frightened. But immediately He spoke with them and said to them, ‘Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid.’ And He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were greatly astonished, for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened." (vv. 45-52)
Jesus sends them away and goes up to a mountain to pray. There he communed with the God who was His strength. As it became late He looked out over the sea and saw them straining at the oars. Undoubtedly they had come against a turbulence which pushed them back with the same force they were exerting as they tried in vain to make progress. They were in trouble again.
Jesus then came to them walking on the water. It is interesting that it says He intended to pass them by. Why do you suppose Jesus did that? Could it be because He wanted them to be aware of the possibilities of their situation rather than the impossibilities. Verse 52 seems to indicate so. The insight they could have gained by witnessing the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand was lost on hearts that were hard, not open to the supernatural.
The challenge is implicit – take charge of your situation in the power of what can be if God intervenes. Look to God in faith not fear. They thought Jesus was a ghost. They were afraid. They were looking to the boat as the realm of their resources instead of looking outside the boat to God, their real resource. To them comes the admonition, "Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid." The same word comes to us today.
Undoubtedly Peter felt more bold than the others. Matthew’s account tells us how he called to Jesus to bid him walk on the water. Jesus called him to come. In boldness and faith Peter stepped over the side of the boat and onto the water which all his logic as a fisherman told him was not going to hold him. But here we see the beauty of faith. His faith was not in the ability of the water to hold him, his faith was in Jesus. As Peter took his eyes off his situation and put them on Jesus, he walked on the water – for a while! Then Peter took his eyes off Jesus and put them back on the waves and wind and he began to sink. Being a great apostle and what some consider the first pope Peter prayed a religious prayer – Heeeeeelp!!! And Jesus saved him. Together they walked back to the boat, on the water!
The challenge was there. Do something. Just as the challenge was there at the feeding of the multitude. In verse 37 Jesus said, "You give them something to eat!"
In other words, we are challenged by God to trust in the supernatural power of a supernatural God. We are challenged to look to Him in the midst of our situations and be open for Him to act.
What are the situations in your life that seem impossible to you? There may be a situation you are facing at work that looks bleak and impossible. There may be a loved one or mate for whom you have been praying, but you are tempted to give up because they look impossible to reach or to change. There may be a need in your life that has you pinned to the wall. It seems impossible. All outward signs look hopeless. You say "This is impossible!"
Go back to where we began. We need to get away with the Lord for a time of renewal of our spiritual energies. We need to spend time with Him in prayer seeking His power and provision. We need to be made aware again of the eternal possibilities of His power and grace.
"With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." (Matt. 19:26)
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