Date: Sunday, January 10, 2021   Scripture: Mark 6:45-56 

Transcript .pdf

Well, this morning we're in Mark chapter 6. We're going to be finishing up Mark chapter 6 and the title of this sermon is Jesus Walks on Water. As we begin our message this morning I want us to read the scriptures before we get into it. We're going to begin in verse 45, Mark chapter 6:45. Will you read along with me? Mark tells us this starting in verse 45.

    45 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the crowd away. 46 After bidding them farewell, He left for the mountain to pray.
    47 When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land. 48 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. 49 But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out; 50 for they all saw Him and were terrified. But immediately He spoke with them and said to them, “Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid.” 51 Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished, 52 for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened.
Healing at Gennesaret

    53 When they had crossed over they came to land at Gennesaret, and moored to the shore. 54 When they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, 55 and ran about that whole country and began to carry here and there on their pallets those who were sick, to the place they heard He was. 56 Wherever He entered villages, or cities, or countryside, they were laying the sick in the market places, and imploring Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were being cured.

In a recent Gallup poll that was taken, this was back in December. The question was asked this. What do you think is the most important problem facing our country today? Which implies these are things that people are most concerned about in our country today. At the top of the list, number one was coronavirus and disease. The next thing on the list that people were concerned about is the government and poor leadership. Third was race relations and racism. Fourth was elections and election reform. Eighth down on the list was ethics, moral, religious and family decline? And then, sadly, abortion didn't even get a percentage as there weren't enough people to care about it.

In fact, more people were concerned with climate change and the environment then they were about innocent lives being murdered. A poll like that gives us a glimpse into what the people of our nation are most concerned about.

In our text this morning though, I want us to see the heart of Christ and see what was it that Christ is concerned about. What is Christ most concerned with as He walked this earth and had opportunities to overthrow governments? We'll see what was Christ most concerned about.

Did Christ get caught up in government reform and whatever else the people were into His day? What did he spend His time doing? What did Jesus think was the greatest problem facing the people in His day? What was Jesus most concerned about?

Many people think that Jesus walking on water was just about this narrative of Peter and Jesus overcoming nature, while a man walking on water -- what a miracle! And while it is about that, it is about Jesus overcoming nature that He is Creator God.

There's something else that we're going to see this morning as we look at this passage. We're going to really see a glimpse of the heart of Christ, and we're going to see the things that Jesus was most concerned about.

Well so let's pick up in verse 45, Mark chapter 6 in verse 45, and our first point we’ll call:

1.    “The primary concern of Jesus”. The primary concern of Jesus.

Verse 45 says this “immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the crowd away. After bidding them farewell, He left for the mountain to pray.”

Now, if you remember from last week, our sermon from last week, Jesus has just fed 5,000 people and we know as we study that it was 5,000 men -- and so there was upwards of 20,000 people that were there that Jesus fed with five loaves and two fish. Everyone got done eating and they were all satisfied with their meal. Because Jesus showed compassion towards them and He fed them when they were hungry.

And then we saw Jesus make 12 baskets full of bread. So that His 12 disciples could eat too. He cared about them and He showed compassion to them as they were serving the people all night long. We saw the compassion of Christ as He cared not only for the crowd, the people that were there, but also for His own disciples.

Well, as soon as He's done giving His disciples these baskets full of food, Mark tells us immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat. Now Mark loves this word immediately, right? As we've been studying through the Gospel of Mark, Mark uses this word time and time again…immediately, immediately, immediately.

And we know why, because Mark is a fast-paced gospel. He wants to get to the cross. He wants to tell us about the life of Christ and then he wants us to get to the cross. Mark doesn't give us the account of Jesus’ birth. Doesn't give us the account of John the Baptist’s birth. He gets right into the life of Christ and then he takes a beeline and he goes right for the cross. He wants to get to the cross. Mark uses this word immediately, and he uses it here not just to get us quickly through this account of Jesus walking on water, but because this account here happens right on the tail end of feeding the 5,000.

Jesus immediately made His disciples get into the boat after He fed the 5,000 after He gave the 12 baskets of bread to His 12 disciples. Immediately He calls them to get into the boat, and notice the word that is used there - immediately Jesus made His disciples…He made them…it wasn't a suggestion. “Guys, I think it's good time for you to leave now. I think maybe why don't you head on over to the boat?”

Jesus urges them. He compels them.

Jesus uses gentle, but necessary, force to get these disciples over to the boat to get them out of Bethsaida. Remember that's where they're at, where the feeding of the 5,000 happens, over on the east side of Bethsaida.  Why would Jesus want to get them out of Bethsaida?

Well, the answer is found over in John's account, so if you would turn in your Bibles over to John chapter 6 and we're going to look at the account John gives us. John gives us some more details to help us understand what is going on here in this event.

John chapter 6 and starting in verse 13 says this:

So they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. 14 Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”
    15 So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone.

The people realize the miracle that's just taken place, the miracle that Jesus has just performed -- and taking five loaves (five small biscuits) as we talked about last week. They were small. They weren't big loaves like we have today. They were small little biscuits and two fish and He fed 20,000 people.

They realized this. They understood this is a miracle that's going on here and what is their conclusion then? Jesus must be the Prophet. He must be the Prophet! Who is this Prophet though? Who is the Prophet that they're talking about?

Well, this is a messianic title and it comes from Deuteronomy 18 in verse 18 and it says this.  “I will raise up a Prophet from among their country men like you and I will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak to them all that I command him.”

So the people look and they see this miracle that Jesus has done in their conclusion is He is the Messiah. He's the Prophet. He's the one that our Old Testament scriptures were telling us about. This is Jesus. This is the Prophet. This is the Messiah. And what do the people want to do with him then?

What's their goal at that point? To make Him King. Let's make Him the King. Look at this. If He can feed 20,000 people with five loaves and two fish, put Him on the throne! He's the King. And from a human perspective, this seems like a good plan, right? Seems like a good plan to us.

But Jesus doesn't want to think from a human perspective. Jesus wants to think from a divine perspective. He wants to think about things from God's perspective. He knows that the reason why He was sent to Earth was not to overthrow the Roman government and establish His throne as the people wanted him to do. Rome was in charge then. And they say “let's make him King!” I mean if He can do this, He can surely take out the Roman government.

That's their thought. That wasn't Jesus’ mission. Jesus came to die for sinners, and he knew that that was His mission. That's what he came to do. Sure, he could have gone with the crowd and made Himself King. But He was more concerned about doing God's will than anything else. That's what He was concerned about. But what about the 12?

What about these 12 disciples that He's got? These 12 men whom He has chosen himself, whom He has called to follow Him? What about these guys?

Jesus knew that if the 12 would hear the crowd doing this -- coming and making Him, or wanting to make Him King, that the 12 would easily be swayed and they would go along with the crowd and say, yeah, that's a good plan.

That's great, well, Jesus. I mean, we've been, we witnessed, we’re the ones coming up to You and collecting the bread and collecting the fish and going and serving the people. And every time we come back, there's more and more food and we don't know where You're getting it from. But obviously this is a miracle. You're creating this. We see this happen. You must be the Messiah. Let's make you King! That's what the people want to do, so let's make you King Jesus.

And Jesus knows that these guys would jump on board with the crowd and be deterred from the main thing. So what does Jesus do? He gets the boys out of there. Immediately He gets them onto a boat.He gets them onto a boat and He sends them away because they don't need to get caught up with the crowd.

He wants them to stay focused on the mission that He has called them to do. Remember He called them, He chose them, and He has a mission for them to do and He doesn't want them to get distracted from it.

So He guards them, He protects them and He says “guys, get on the boat. You gotta go out and get on the boat.” Jesus wants them to stay focused, stay focused on what Jesus wants them to do. And so off these guys go. Off they go.

Now if you turn back over to Mark chapter 6.

Jesus has the disciples get into the boat and you can see there in verse 45 that it says they go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida.  Now there's much debate about this verse here, because the people will say – “Well, I thought He's already there in Bethsaida, right? Feeding the 5000 in Bethsaida.” But here's a simple explanation for this. They are over on the east side of Bethsaida in the green grass. Mark tells us they were in green grass and they are over on the east side of the town Bethsaida They're not in the town there on the east side of the town, and so Jesus tells them to head to Bethsaida, or the Greek word can also be translated “toward”.  That word “to Bethsaida” could also be translated as head “toward Bethsaida.”

And so Jesus tells them to go toward Bethsaida, which would be west of where they were. You can find a map in the back of most of your Bibles there, and you can see the Sea of Galilee. You can see where Bethsaida is there over on the east side, and they're making their way towards the west into town, where their boat would be. And they head to Bethsaida, they get on their boat there in Bethsaida, and then they get sent over to Capernaum, which is west of where Bethsaida is. About 6 miles west.

So John tells us in John 6:17, after getting into a boat, they started to cross the sea to Capernaum. It had already become dark and Jesus had not yet come to them. So off these guys go, Jesus gets them into the boat, off they go, towards -- for Capernaum from the east side of Bethsaida, westward toward Bethsaida, and then they head off west over to Capernaum. And as we'll see, they actually don't even make it to Capernaum because something happens to these boys while they're out on the sea.

And then what does Jesus do after He gets the boys in a boat and after He sends them off toward Capernaum, what does Jesus do?

He heads back to where the people are and what does it say. He sends the crowd away. He sends the crowd away. Jesus knows that the crowd is in an excited state and they want to take Jesus by force and they want to make Him King. And He doesn't want the disciples to be impacted by this, and so He sends them off. And then He comes to the crowd and He sends the crowd away. He says no, it's not my time. I'm not going to become King. He sends them away.

Look what Jesus does after He sends the crowd away in verse 46. “after bidding them farewell, He left for the mountain to pray.”  He left for the mountain to pray. Now, why would Jesus need to pray at a time like this? I mean, you're thinking the people they're pretty excited about Jesus. They want to make Him King. Jesus says, no, you're not going to make me King. And off I go to pray -- to pray to the Father.

Why does he do that? Think about what's just happened in Jesus life. He's been tempted to accept an offer that would bypass the cross. Think about this. If He goes along with the crowd and He becomes the King that they want Him to become. A King that will overthrow the Roman government. Jesus comes in, sets up His throne. And what does He not have to do then? Go to the cross.

But Jesus knows what His mission is. He knows what the will of God is in His life. And He's focused on that. This wouldn't be the first temptation that Jesus would have either, right? We know at the beginning of His ministry He was tempted by Satan. And what was the ultimate temptation? It was the same temptation as this... Satan says, “just bow down to me and I'll give You the entire Kingdom. It's all Yours, Jesus, if You will just worship me.”

That's all Satan wants. That's all that he's after is for people to worship him and he says, look, I'll give it to You. All… Just worship me.

What does Jesus say? I don't think so. Not going to happen Satan. He doesn't give in to the temptation. For 40 days He was tempted there by Satan and now at this moment, when the crowd is gathered around Him and you've got 20,000 people that are there and they want to make Him King. There is a great temptation to say, “yeah I'll do that.” But he doesn't give in because he's focused on the will of God.

What does he do? He prays, He leaves at that moment, and He goes and prays, and He seeks the Father. He runs to the Father for fellowship and communion with Him so that He can keep His priorities straight. 

What is His greatest concern? What is Jesus greatest concern? The salvation of people. If He becomes King at this moment, He's not going to the cross, which means there's no salvation for the people. He had His priorities straight. And what does He do at this moment? He goes and seeks the Father, and He prays for God's will to be done in His life.

Now if you remember from last week we talked about what would happen. On to Jesus the next day, after this day happens, after the crowd is there, after He feeds the 5,000, they head over to Capernaum and they are there. And what happens? John chapter 6 and verse 66. Easy to remember 6:66 John chapter 6 verse 66, the worst verse, the saddest verse in the Bible.

As a result of this, here's what it says in John chapter 6, verse 66. As a result of this, many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.

Within 24 hours the people turned on Him. They were saying He's the Prophet. Make Him King and what do they do within 24 hours?

We're done with him. And they walk away. They turned their back on Jesus. Jesus knew this would happen. He knew that people would reject Him. He knew that they would walk away from Him. What's His ultimate concern?

To do the will of the Father. That is what He is after. That is what He came to do. In fact He says in John chapter 6, verse 38, “I have come down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me.” That's what I have come to do. To do the will of the Father. That is what He is set on.

He needs to get away at this time and go to the mountain and pray with the Father so that He can be focused upon the Father's will. No doubt Christ was also praying for the disciples at this time. Think about this in in a moment where the disciples could easily be swayed with the crowds. He's praying for the disciples that God would guard and protect them as well. They are the future.

The gospel is going to be spread forth throughout the entire world through these twelve guys. Really, 11 of 'em, right? Because we know what happened to one of them. The gospel is going to go forth from these men, and He's praying for these guys. God, will you guard them? Protect them so that they don't fall away from the mission and what You called us to do?

One commentator says He most likely voiced His petitions for the 12 that they might not succumb to false messianic expectations. What were these false messianic expectations? Overthrowing the Roman government? Setting Him up on His throne that He would be the King in Israel.

And He would save the Jews from the Romans, not from their sins, but from the Roman government.

He doesn't want them to succumb to that…those false messianic expectations. He wants them to be fixed upon the will of God. Jesus is concerned about the will of God. Not only in His own life, but even in the life of His 12 disciples. That's His primary concern. To do the will of the Father.

2.    Second, we'll see the personal concern of Jesus.

Not only are we seeing the primary concern of Jesus, but secondly, we see the personal concern of Jesus.

Look at verse 47 when it was evening. The boat was in the middle of the sea and He was alone on the land. Now notice Mark tells us it was the evening.

It was evening time now understanding Jewish time. The first evening would have been when Jesus fed the 5,000. Remember the disciples come to Him and they say, hey, it's getting late, Jesus. Right? And the people are getting hungry. That's the first evening back in verse 35. It's already quite late. Matthew tells us it was evening at that time when he fed the 5000, that's the first evening and that would have been between 3:00 and 6:00 PM. Understanding Jewish time, first evening would be between 3:00 and 6:00.

The second evening would have been between 6:00 and 9:00 PM. And that's most likely what Mark is talking about here at the beginning of verse 47, when he says it was evening. That is, it was the 2nd evening.

John's account implies that the guys lingered around in the boat, waiting for Jesus to come. So Jesus compels them, urges them to go get in the boat. There they are. The 12 in the boat. And what do they do? They just sit around and wait. Alright, there's Jesus. OK, he'll come back though, right? Let's just hang around. Let's just sit around and wait for a little while.

They realized Jesus wasn't coming back. Because Jesus was going to pray. He was going to go spend time with the Father. And so the guys then set out on their journey across the sea. And they're out there on the sea. And Jesus is back on the land, praying. That's what it says there at the when it says at the end of verse 47 and “He was alone on the land.”  Jesus was back on the land and He's praying with the Father at this time.

Mark then speeds up the time, and he tells us in verse 48 that Jesus saw them on the sea, straining at the oars. Look at the beginning of verse 48, “seeing them straining at the oars for the wind was against them at about the 4th watch of the night He came to them.” Mark now speeds up the time here and he tells us Jesus saw them, saw them from the land, straining at the oars.

Now Jesus has just come down from the mountain praying with the Father. He comes now to the shore there, and He looks out and He sees the guys out there. How does He see the guys on the sea?

This is where the divine aspect of Christ comes in. The divinity of Christ comes in. He knows exactly where these guys are, and He knows exactly what they're going through and what are they going through at this time. A storm. That's what it says in verse 48, straining at the oars. Why? because “the wind was against them.”

And if you understand the storms that go on in the Sea of Galilee, those waves could be massive, and so there's massive waves as the winds come rushing down the hills there, and turning the water. And these guys are out there, they're straining on the boat all night long, they're straining out. And Jesus doesn't just stand on the shore and look out and see those guys there about 3 or 4 miles off.

Jesus doesn't just look out and see them. Jesus knows exactly where they're at because he's God. And He cares about them. He's concerned for them. He knows where they’re at and He knows those are my guys. My disciples, in whom I've chosen and they're out there, caught in a storm.

Now, if you remember these guys, this is not the first storm they've ever been caught in, right? This is not their first storm. This is the first storm without Jesus in the boat. Last time they were caught in a storm and Jesus was there with them. Remember he was sleeping. Well, this storm is going on and the waves are crashing around the boat and there's Jesus asleep and they wake Him up. Jesus, don't you care about us? We're going to die. Oh, you have little faith. Jesus calms the storm.

But here are these guys, this time without Jesus in the boat, and they're caught in this storm and the wind was against them. And if you think about out of these 12, at least four of them are fishermen, which they spent their life doing what? Being on a boat, right?

They know what boat life is all about. They've been out on the seas before they've been in storms before they know what's happening on this sea. There they are, these men. Experienced in boats. And they're fighting this storm all night long. John tells us there about 3 to 4 miles off the shore.

It takes about 5 to 6 miles to get from Bethsaida over to Capernaum. There about 3 to 4 miles off of the shore, and they've been rowing all night long.  Mark, in fact, Mark tells us what time it was. Look at what it says in verse 48 in the middle there it says it was about the 4th watch of the night.

The 4th watch of the night. Mark now gives us not the Jewish time. Not a Jewish times perspective, but now a Roman’s perspective of time. They went by watches. In Roman time, the first watch would be between 6:00 and 9:00 PM. The second watch would be 9 to 12. The third watch would be 12 to 3:00 AM and the 4th watch would be 3:00 to 6:00 AM. It's 3:00 to 6:00 o'clock in the morning and these guys are caught in a storm and they've been rowing all night. They were sent off about 9:00 o'clock that night.

And now it's 3:00 to 6:00 o'clock in the morning. It's the 4th watch of the night. They've been out there all night. They’re tired, they’re worn out. They've just been serving 5,000 men, 20,000 people. They've been serving them food, they've just come back from their preaching tour. If you remember last week they came back from their preaching tour. They wanted to get away from rest, but they got some people to feed. They got some people to go and serve. And so they're serving them and now Jesus gets them in a boat and off they go.

These guys are worn out at this time. They're tired and they've been rowing all night. It’s 3:00 to 6:00 AM. Jesus, out of great concern for them. Jesus knows exactly where these guys are. He knows exactly where there at. And he knows exactly what they're doing. And what does He do?

What does Jesus do? It says there in verse 48 He came to them walking on the sea. Out of great care and protection of His disciples, He comes to them and notice this -- He meets them where they are at. He meets them where they're at. Isn't that amazing that Jesus does that for us as well? In our own lives.

Jesus meets us where we're at. Your trials. Your struggles and your hardships. Jesus will meet you where you're at. He doesn't just throw you a life jacket. He doesn't just throw you a rope. He doesn't throw you an oar and say figure it out. He comes to you. And He will meet you exactly where you're at. He's there for you because He loves you and He cares for you and He's concerned about you.

He's concerned about His own sheep. He's concerned about these guys as they're out there in the middle of this storm. And Mark tells us at the end of verse 48 it says He intended to pass by them. He intended to pass by them. Now this doesn't mean that Jesus was just walking along on the water. He sees the boat and He's just going to give a wave…And “hey guys, hope hope you guys survive this.. I'm just going to keep on walking.”  That's not what's going on here.

It sounds like that's what Jesus is doing, but that's not the best way to translate this verse, in fact a better way to translate this verse would be that He desired to come alongside them that were there, intending to pass by would be to come alongside. He wasn't going to leave them on their own. His intentions were to come alongside of them as He saw them out there. And as they see Him walking on the water, what should they do? Respond in faith. And ask Jesus to help them.

If you get in the boat right? We need you, Jesus. But what's their reaction? In verse 49

“When they saw him walking on the sea, they supposed that it was a ghost and they cried out” literally. They screamed in terror. That's what that word means. There, they shrieked. They shrieked out in fear that he was a ghost.

They think that Jesus is there as He's walking along and He's a ghost, and there was Jewish superstition that ghosts were seen out in the water. And if you saw a ghost, that meant that destruction and disaster was in store for you in your future. It was a Jewish superstition. It was going on then, so they look out and they see there's a man on the water. Well, it can't be Jesus walking on the water. We've never seen that happen before, but it must be a ghost.

And they're fearful. They're terrified. They scream in terror. But what does Jesus do? As Jesus walks alongside them and sees them there, look at verse 50 what does it say there?  He says, “Take courage; it is I. Do not be afraid.”

Take courage guys. Don't be afraid. He's saying look. It's me, Jesus. Here I am for you. I've come to you. I've met you in your storm. I’ve met you out here on the water. I know the struggles in the trial that you're going through right now. I'm here, don't be afraid. Take courage. What's interesting here in this passage is that as we've probably all learned in Sunday school growing up, there's a part of this event that Mark doesn't give us, and it's the account of what?

Peter walking on the water, right? Get out of the boat, and he gets out of the boat and he walks on the water. And then he turns and he looks around him and he sinks and Jesus saves him, but Mark doesn't tell us that account. Only Matthew tells us of that account. Why would Mark emit that from his text here?

Well, if you remember, Mark is writing for who? Peter.  Mark is writing for Peter. And it's most likely that at this time, Peter doesn't want the attention on himself. Yeah, look, I know that happened, but we gotta keep the attention on Jesus. That's what Peter wants to do here. He doesn't want us to get our eyes off of Jesus and start to focus on Peter. He wants us to keep our eyes fixed upon Jesus.

That's the heart of Peter. Look to Jesus. It's not about me guys. It's about my savior. It's about Jesus. And so Mark doesn't give us that account. He omits it from his story completely.

But then Jesus gets on the boat. Look at verse 51 and verse 51. “Then He got into the boat with them and the wind stopped. The wind stopped” and look at their reaction now at this time when this happens, the end of verse 51 it says “they were utterly astonished.”

Not, they were astonished, but notice what it says there. They were utterly astonished. They were very much exceedingly astonished, amazed at what it they have just seen. And what is just happened? Now remember, this is not the first time that they've seen Jesus calm a storm. Right? They've seen that happen before. They understand they know the power that Jesus has over creation and how he can stop a storm.

But they hadn't seen Jesus walk on water. They see it now and it amazes them. They're very much exceedingly, astonished.

And if you think about all of the miracles that they have seen up to this point, think about this after they've been walking with Jesus and seeing all of the things that Jesus has done up to this point, they've seen Jesus heal people, they've seen Jesus calm a storm. They've seen Jesus cast out demons. They've even seen Jesus bring back a dead little girl to life. Now they're amazed.Now you're amazed at seeing Jesus walk on water. But they were very amazed. They were very astonished.

Jesus knew at this point at this moment in their life after all the things that they have witnessed and seen Jesus do, Jesus knew at this very moment that this was the miracle that they needed to strengthen their faith. Look, he's seen them calm a storm before. But they've never seen Him walk on water. And Jesus knew this was the miracle that they needed to strengthen their faith.

Why? Why did they need their faith strengthened? Will look at verse 52. Verse 52 tells us “they had not gained any insight from the incidents of the loaves, but their heart was” what? “hardened.”

They didn't get it when Jesus is feeding 20,000 people with five loaves and two fish, they don't get it. They're not amazed at that point. They didn't gain anything from that. They were probably caught up in the frenzy of the crowd. He must be the Prophet. Let's make Him the King. But after seeing Jesus walk on water, they recognize who He is. Jesus knew that's exactly what these guys needed at this moment.

In fact, Matthew tells us in his account and those who were in the boat worshipped Him, saying “You are certainly God's son.” That was their conclusion of this. You are Him. You are God's son. They fell down and worshipped as they are there in this boat with Jesus.

Jesus knew what their need was. Jesus was concerned for them. Cared for them. And He was there to protect them. Not only did He protect them spiritually. But He protects them physically as well. He cares for these guys. And He reveals to them His great power over creation, so that they would recognize Him as the Son of God, for who He really is.

He knew that at that moment they needed a miracle. And He did it for them. And some of you are here this morning and you're like these disciples. With hard hearts. Your hearts are hardened towards the truth of Christ and who He is. You need a miracle.

You're not that you need to see Jesus walking on water. Not that you need to see Jesus feeding 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish. That's not what you need. Your heart is dead right now. It's full of sin. And you are under the wrath of God. And your heart needs to be made alive. And you can't do it. You can't cause your heart to be made alive. You can't save yourself. But Jesus can.

And what He does is He calls you to turn from your sin and put your faith in Jesus. And if you do that, you will receive salvation. Eternal life. And that rebirth that happens  -- a dead heart to a live heart is the greatest miracle that can ever happen. And that's the miracle that you need.

If your heart is hard towards Christ this morning. Cry out to Him. In repentance and faith, give your life to Jesus. Beg with Him, plead with Him and ask Him to give you the free gift of Salvation. Eternal life. There is nothing you can do to earn it. But he offers it by grace to you. Come to Him this morning and receive that great miracle of salvation.

It's amazing to think about our savior and how concerned He is with us. Those of us that are here that have given our lives to the Lord, those of us that have been saved by Him, we understand how concerned He is with us. That He's concerned enough to save us. To give us eternal life. Jesus this morning is concerned with you. He's concerned about your needs. He's concerned about your personal needs and He cares about you.

He cares about your needs both physically and spiritually, and here's the amazing thing -- Jesus will meet you exactly where you are at. Because He's concerned. Because He cares about you. Let's look at our final point as we wrap up chapter 6 this morning.

3.    We'll call this final point #3. The physical concern of Jesus.

Not only have we seen the primary concern in the personal concern, but now we see the physical concern of Jesus. Look at verse 53.

53 When they had crossed over they came to land at Gennesaret, and moored to the shore. 54 When they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, 55 and ran about that whole country and began to carry here and there on their pallets those who were sick, to the place they heard He was. 56 Wherever He entered villages, or cities, or countryside, they were laying the sick in the market places, and imploring Him that they might just touch the fringe of cloak; and as many as touched it were being cured.

After crossing over, they come and they land at Gennesaret. Right? As we saw before, as we studied, they were headed over to Capernaum. But because of the storm, they actually end up landing in Gennesaret. In fact, John tells us in John chapter 6 in verse 21 in his account, John tells us immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

Which means the guys were out there on the sea. The Sea of Galilee 4 to 5 miles out. Jesus calms the storm. He gets in the boat and another miracle happens. They are now at the land.

They're transported from the middle of the sea, right to the land, exactly where Jesus wanted them. Another miracle takes place and Jesus puts them now on the shore of Gennesaret.

And as they land there, the people there recognize Jesus, and they bring all of their sick people out to Jesus, so that He could heal them. Jesus was popular in this day. People knew who Jesus was. They watched him.

They watched Him from the shores as He was out in the boat, they followed Him around like they knew who He was, and they knew the power that He had, and that He could heal sick people and so they brought their sick out to Him and they put their sick people before Jesus so that He could heal them. And here's the amazing thing out of great concern for the sick people,  Jesus healed them.

He healed them. He's concerned even for the world. It doesn't mean that all those who were healed at this point were saved. They didn't give their lives over to Christ. They didn't receive salvation. This was an act of common grace by Jesus. He's concerned and He cares for them and out of heart for those who are sick. He heals them.

And as they went from villages to cities to countryside, the sick were being brought out to Jesus and He healed them. And as many as touched His cloak, they were running up to Him because they just wanted to touch the fringe of His cloak. They knew if we could just touch His cloak we would be healed. We know the power that this man has.

And they came. And Jesus healed them. He healed them.  That's the heart of Christ. It's the heart of Christ on display. These people were able to see the priorities of Jesus. He cared for them. He cared for people. His priorities and His concerns were God first. And others second. Those were His two primary concerns. God first and others second.

That sound familiar?

How about the two greatest commandments that are given? Love, the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. And the second one. To love your neighbor as yourself.

That was the heart of Christ. He sought the heart of God. He wanted to do the will of God that was His main priority, and then He sought other people. And He was concerned for them.

How are you doing in this area? Where are your concerns? What are your priorities in life? Are your priorities to do the will of God? Are your priorities the salvation of other people? Or you caught up in this world?

Don't get caught up in this world. Don't focus on the government. Or the economy or coronavirus? Focus on God's will in your life. And focus on other people. And beg and plead with them to come to your savior, to our Savior Jesus Christ, to be saved. That's what our greatest priority must be.

What are you concerned about? Is your greatest concern the will of God?

In closing, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. - an American poet from the 1800s is attributed with a quote that I'm sure many of you have heard before. This quote goes like this.

“He is so heavenly minded that he is no earthly good.” You heard that before. Sadly, I think there are many Christians who are so earthly minded that there are no heavenly good. I think Oliver Wendell Holmes got it wrong. We need to be heavenly minded. We need to be focused upon God and His will and what God desires and what the heart of Christ is.

That's where we need to put our focus. Don't put your focus on the things of this world, it's passing away. Keep your heart and your mind focused upon the things of God. Heavenly minded. And seeking to do His will. That's what our Savior did, right? That's what we must do as well.

Let's pray.

Father, thank you for revealing to us the heart of our Savior who came to die on a cross for our sins. Who came to do Your very will. Who came because He was focused and set upon doing Your will, and because He cared and was concerned about people and their salvation and saving them. Father, I pray that you would help us to keep our hearts fixed upon that as well. Help us to be Your children who would be heavenly minded. That we would think upon You, and what You would have us do as we live here on this Earth. Father, help us not to stray. Help us to stay fixed and focused upon You. We pray all of this in the name of our Savior. Amen.