When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed… And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed.
Doug McCoy, Minister
First Christian Church of Pleasant Hill
The Discovery Channel recently aired a show about a man in Louisiana who farms alligators. As an alligator farmer, this man does a lot of unusual things. One thing he does is separate the baby alligators from their mothers; he removes the baby alligators from their mother’s nests. When he does this, these baby alligators make an unusual and very sad sound, a bleat from their throats, a desperate and surprisingly heart-wrenching cry for help.
Jesus was at a critical time in His ministry. He was fleeing from the people who wanted to make Him a king by force (John 6:16; this happened on the day before the events of this passage in Mark) and would soon be abandoned by the people when He refused to continue feeding them (John 6:66; this happened on the day after the events of this passage in Mark). Here He encountered two groups of people who were similarly crying for help. The first were His disciples, who were caught at sea in a storm, and the second were the people of Gennesaret, who were in need of healing. Both cried out to Jesus in a desperate way, and, though Jesus was in a hurry on both occasions, He took time out to answer them.
There is every reason to believe He will do the same for us. Without doubt, our Lord Jesus Christ, the High Priest of the whole world, is busy; without doubt, He has other things on His agenda besides us. And yet all of Scripture indicates that when we cry out in desperation, He takes time out to answer us; all of Scripture indicates that when we cry out in desperation, He is happy to take time out to answer us.
We are crying out to You, Jesus, as desperately as the disciples and the people of Gennesaret did. Please take the time to answer us.