"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." Mark 6:48
Jesus had just performed the great miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 men, besides the women and children with a boy’s lunch of five loaves of bread and two fishes. Putting yourself in the sandals of the disciples, would you not think about the wonder of what had just happened? Yet, as you progress in the reading of these words, you will notice that this miracle will soon be forgotten. It is not just the miracle that will be forgotten, but it will be the display of power of the One performing the miracle that will be forgotten. The reason given by Mark for this failure of the disciples to consider the power of Jesus to do great miracles is because, “their heart was hardened” (Mark 6:52). This begs the question in the times of our great trials, “do we find ourselves at times with a heart that is hardened?”
Now the setting for this failure caused by hardened hearts is the disciples rowing a boat on the Sea of Galilee and going virtually nowhere. Having performed the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000, Mark records that Jesus tells the disciples to get into the boat and to travel to the opposite shore of the Sea of Galilee. The disciples do this. Judging by Mark’s account, as well as Matthew’s account (Matthew 14:22-33), it would appear that the disciples began their journey to the opposite shore as the sun was setting. It was the end of the day; the people, having been fed, now leave to find the place to rest for the night. Jesus goes to pray, and the disciples take their leave.
Mark then records the disciples are traveling in the boat, but because of the contrary winds (most likely caused by a storm), they are making no progress in getting to the other side. Jesus, upon concluding his time of praying to the Father and knowing all things that are happening with his disciples, sees them struggling to make headway in their rowing of the boat. Notice the time that Jesus sees their struggles. It is the fourth watch. This would be the time between 3:00 AM and 6 AM. So, considering the approximate time of the disciples entering the boat to begin their journey and the time that Mark records Jesus ending his prayer and seeing the disciples’ futile attempts to get to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, up to nine hours have passed. Can you begin to imagine both the physical and mental condition of the disciples as these hours passed? They must have been exhausted in both ways.
Jesus, seeing the difficulties of his disciples, is going to deliver them from their present circumstances by performing another miracle. He is going to walk on the water. Mark writes, “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” (6:48). How interesting is the phrase, “and would have passed them by.” In a humorous way, it is as though Jesus is uninterested in their plight and is going about his business. This obviously is not the case, but it would appear that Mark, who is writing these words under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wants the reader of his gospel to consider the gravity of the failure of the faith of the disciples. These who experienced the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 men by Jesus now see Jesus walking on the water, but they believe it to be a ghost. Mark then writes that they “cried out, for they all saw 3 Him and were troubled” (6:49, 50). Jesus then calms their spirits by saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid” (vs. 50).
Only Matthew’s account includes the account of Peter asking Jesus to bid him come and to walk on the water. Jesus bids him to do this, and Peter begins his walk but fails and begins to sink because of the stormy winds around him, causing the waves to roll around him. Why does Mark not include Peter’s failure? The only reason that one could say with certainty is that the Holy Spirit did not move him to include it in his gospel account. Regardless of this exclusion, the disciples’ initial response to Jesus’ walking on the water and Peter’s failure both speak to the main point of the failure of faith. This, again, is the result of their hearts being hardened.
Besides the point of the hardened heart leading to the failure of faith, what else is to be learned from this passage? One lesson is the importance of prayer. As the disciples begin their journey, Jesus goes to pray. Jesus would often go to a secluded place to pray to His Father. He needed those times of fellowship with his Father and so too do we. Prayer for our Lord was the means by which he would be strengthened to continue his work. So prayer is to be for us. Is it possible that the hardness of the hearts of the disciples, which led to their failure of faith, is due to absence of prayer? How often in the midst of a great trial in our life is prayer the last thing we do? It should be the first thing we do!
But the greater lesson here is that of our Lord’s willingness to let his people go through the afflictions of life. Again, notice the hour of their deliverance from contrary winds that impeded their progress to the other shore of the Sea of Galilee. It was not in the first hour, nor the second hour. It was not in the third, fourth or fifth hour. But rather it was no earlier than the ninth hour. For approximately nine hours the disciples labored but did not find success.
Beloved, for a number of you, Jesus has purposed to allow the afflictions of life to burden you such that there is no peace or joy. In the midst of such times, you may wonder – “does the Lord see me?” “Does the Lord care that I’m hurting?” In such times, our faith can become quite weak. This was the case with the disciples of Jesus. But know, dear one, that though it may be in the fourth watch of the night, yet there will be deliverance.
So, instead of displaying a weakened faith caused by a hardened heart, endure through the contrary winds of affliction knowing that Jesus cares for you. In the words of the hymn, “O yes he cares, I know he cares, his heart is touched with my grief. Though the days are weary, the long nights dreary, I know my Savior cares!”
Jesus cared enough for you to leave the glory he had with His Father in heaven to enter into this world to save you from your sins by suffering and dying on the cross. So, let us be patient. Let us endure through whatever afflictions may arise. For as the Apostle Paul wrote, “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison...” (2 Corinthians 4:16, 17). Praise God for the fourth watch deliverances in our lives