Lessons Learned
Scripture Reading: Mark 6:47-52
Now when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea; and He was alone on the land. 48 Then He saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them. Now about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by. 49 And when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost, and cried out; 50 for they all saw Him and were troubled. But immediately He talked with them and said to them, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” 51 Then He went up into the boat to them, and the wind ceased. And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure and marveled. 52 For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened.
“This is unbelievable,” might have been the way the disciples expressed their thoughts about seeing Jesus walking on the sea, striding confidently across the white-capped waves. The way the NKJV interprets what Mark wrote about their attitude is that “They were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled.” It was, to them at that moment, unbelievable.
That was a problem.
Mark adds the commentary: “For they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.”
It isn’t that they should have taken this miraculous event with a ho-hum attitude, but that they shouldn’t have been so surprised by and so unbelieving about it that their first thought was that it must be a ghost. They should have been in awe, but not terrified.
The reason they responded with fearful unbelief is they had failed to learn the lesson of the loaves. Just a few hours earlier, Jesus had fed a multitude with five loaves of bread and two fish, and they had leftovers to boot.
That miracle was meant to carry over into the rest of the disciples’ lives and their understanding of Jesus, Who He is, and His power. Unfortunately, the effects didn’t even last 24 hours. That is why Mark says “They did not understand about the loaves.”
Whatever work God does, is meant to deepen our faith in Him. It is meant to carry over and help us interpret whatever comes next in our experience.
Why didn’t the disciples learn from the loaves? Mark tells us it was because “Their hearts were hardened.”
That is an odd thing to say about the men who were Jesus’ most faithful and dedicated followers. Yet, it was the case that the disciples’ hearts were not able to receive the truth being taught through the miracle of the feeding of the multitude.
This reminds us that our lack of understanding of spiritual truth isn’t an intellectual problem as much as it is a spiritual problem. It isn’t the mind that resists the truth as much as it is the heart. The mind won’t believe what the heart won’t receive. It will come up with other explanations like “It is a ghost,” before it will believe it is the Lord.
We need to pray for understanding, but we need to pray that we have a soft heart and can learn the lesson of the loaves. We won’t understand if our hearts are hard.
Pray for a soft heart.
