by Dennis Pollock
Nearly every Christian has read or heard the story of Jesus walking on the water. However, there is an aspect of that story that we often overlook, and I would like to share it with you in this study. Jesus had sent His disciples to the other side of the Sea of Galilee and had apparently arranged to meet with them later. For now, He wanted some alone time to talk to His Heavenly Father.
After some time, He looked out on His disciples rowing in their boat, and they were having a hard time of it. A strong wind and storm had risen, and their boat had become difficult to manage. Jesus decided He had prayed long enough and did a most extraordinary thing: He started walking on the water in the direction of His disciples. Now this was clearly a miraculous feat, and some have scoffed at the notion that a man, any man, even Jesus, could walk on water. But this has never troubled me in the slightest. The truth is, Jesus’ life, from the moment of His baptism by John, was filled with miracles. He healed sick people, made lame men walk, raised the dead, and made lepers clean with a touch of His hands. Why should walking on the water be any more difficult than those things? Who are we to limit Jesus and say to Him, “You can do this, but not that? I will grant that You might be able to do a few smaller miracles, but the big ones must surely be a myth!” If Jesus is truly God manifested in human flesh, one miracle would be no more difficult than another.
So, Jesus walked toward His disciples, and now we get to the part that seems almost stranger and more unusual than His walking on the water. When he reached His disciples, straining with all their might to keep their little boat afloat and to get across the expansive lake, the Bible tells us: “And He would have passed them by…” (Mark 6:48). I find that astounding. Jesus gave no indication that He was going to get into the boat with them. You can almost imagine Him saying something like: “Good to see you guys. I’ll see you on the other side. God bless you!” Of course, we don’t really know what He said to them, or if He said anything to them at all. But clearly, He gave every indication that He wasn’t planning on stopping or joining them. He was on His way to the other side, unbothered and unconcerned about the tremendous rain or winds.
Jesus Decides to Join Them
But He did stop and join the disciples, and it was apparently the fact that they cried out that moved His heart to join them. At least some of them thought He was a ghost, and out of His love for His friends, He walked up to them and entered their boat. The winds and the storm immediately became calm, and they made the rest of their journey safely, no doubt feeling a lot more peace than they had before Jesus showed up. But we must ask, “Why would He have initially given every appearance of walking right on past them? And what was it about their cries that changed His mind?”
Now let’s look at another similar and yet very different story. This takes place after the cross and resurrection of our Lord. Two disciples were making a journey from Jerusalem to the village of Emmaus and were despondent. They had loved Jesus, but now he was gone, having died a cruel death on a Roman cross. They had been so sure that He was the Messiah of Israel and would bring about a glorious future for their nation. But now He was dead, and their hopes had been dashed, and their friend and Mentor was no more – at least that’s what they assumed.
But as they walked, they were joined by a mysterious stranger who asked them why they were talking in such a sad manner. The story of Jesus’ death was huge news in Jerusalem, and there was hardly a man, woman, or child who had not heard of it. They said to this stranger, who was actually Jesus in a disguised form, “Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?” (Luke 24:18). Jesus asked, ever so innocently, “What things?” and they replied: “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel…” (Luke 24:19-21).
Jesus rebukes these disciples for having no faith to believe that He had been raised from the dead. By this point, Jesus had already appeared to several of the ladies, who were spreading the word that Jesus was risen, but these two men obviously could not believe it. He responded by saying: “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” (Luke 24:25-26).
Time for Bible Study
And then Jesus gave these two disciples an amazing gift. For the rest of their walk to Emmaus, He gave them a personal Bible study. We are told: “And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” (Luke 24:27). Point by point and prophecy by prophecy, Jesus shared with them the major Old Testament passages which spoke of Himself as Israel’s Messiah. Wow! I would love to have been there and heard this Bible study from the prince of all Bible teachers. The journey to Emmaus was seven miles in length, and they must have been walking mighty slowly to soak in these amazing Biblical insights.
Finally, they reached their destination, and we read these words: “Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther.” (Luke 24:28). Does that sound familiar? Just like on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus gave no impression that He was planning to stay with them. Even though these men did not yet know that the One who taught them the Bible so eloquently was Jesus, they still could not bear to let Him go so easily. The Bible tells us: “But they constrained Him, saying, ‘Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.’ And He went in to stay with them.” (Luke 24:29). Once again, Jesus was moved by the urgent pleas of His disciples. He was ready to go on, they called out to Him, and boom – change of plans, and He stayed with them for a while. But He didn’t stay too long. He sat down at the table for a meal with them, and they gave Him the honor of saying the blessing over the food. He broke the bread, blessed it, and gave a piece to each of them. Suddenly, their eyes were opened, and they realized that they had just spent the afternoon with the resurrected Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Sometimes God gives the appearance of being ready to move on, without responding to the desires of our hearts. And He might do just that, the passing Jesus may just keep on passing, but in truth He waits for us to call out to Him, to beseech Him to stay with us, to bless us, to reveal His truth to us. And what a blessing we will miss if we indifferently allow Him to “go His way.” Jesus loves to move in our lives, but often He waits for us to call out to Him in faith. And when we do call out, we discover the truth of the Scripture that says: “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.” (Romans 10:12).
