Chapter # 6 Paragraph # 5 Study # 1
February 1, 2022
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
(282)
1901 ASV
6:45 And straightway he constrained his disciples to enter into the boat, and to go before [him] unto the other side to Bethsaida, while he himself sendeth the multitude away.
6:46 And after he had taken leave of them, he departed into the mountain to pray.
6:47 And when even was come, the boat was in the midst of the sea, and he alone on the land.
6:48 And seeing them distressed in rowing, for the wind was contrary unto them, about the fourth watch of the night he cometh unto them, walking on the sea; and he would have passed by them:
6:49 but they, when they saw him walking on the sea, supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out;
6:50 for they all saw him, and were troubled. But he straightway spake with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid.
6:51 And he went up unto them into the boat; and the wind ceased: and they were sore amazed in themselves;
6:52 for they understood not concerning the loaves, but their heart was hardened.
- I. And Immediately...
- A. Mark's use of "immediately" is more about focusing the attention of his readers upon the next important issue than it is about making a chronological comment, though getting them to leave was a "chronological event".
- B. There was a reason for Jesus to "constrain" His disciples "immediately".
- 1. This is linked to the fact that there were 5,000 men that ate of the loaves and left twelve baskets of uneaten food.
- 2. Mark depends upon his readers' attention to the "martial" aspects of his language.
- a. The military-like "command" in 6:39 using a word that is only used by Mark when the setting is "military-like authority" (Note 6:27 as the near contextual use of this word).
- b. The "hundreds and fifties" order of 6:40 with the link to the concept of a centurion who recognized the identity of Jesus at the cross (15:39). Mark is the only recorder of this event that utilizes the "hundreds" terminology (Luke on uses "fifties"; 9:14: Matthew does not mention this "organizational point" and neither does John).
- c. That there is a specific limitation to the "number" to 5,000 men, when there were both women and children present, has to mean something and that something is very likely to be the fact that 5,000 men was almost the same number of warriors in a Roman legion; a fact to which we were directed in our thoughts with the exorcism of "Legion" in 5:9. Thus, again, we have a "military" connection that indicates the possibility that a "king" might be crowned by such a group to take on the "legions" of Rome with the same kind of success demonstrated by the exorcism of "Legion".
- 3. Thus, Jesus' constraint of The Twelve into departing may well have been to get them away from a "let's make Him our king" mindset (something John directly declares in his record in 6:15).
- a. It is a grave danger for the people of God to get excited about the establishment of The Kingdom of The God when their focus is upon their part in ruling over others (9:34 and 10:41-45).
- b. Jesus sensed a significant danger for The Twelve and "constrained" them to get away.
- II. Jesus Made His Disciples Get Into The Boat...
- A. The issue of "made" is the issue of being forced to do something even if it was something highly repugnant: anagkazo.
- 1. This word is only used in the New Testament in 9 texts and in every one of them (Matthew 14:22; Luke 14:23; Acts 26:11 and 28:19; 2 Corinthians 12:11; and Galatians 2:3, 14 and 6:12) either has the concept of "forcing" someone to do something, even if it is against their will, or, at least, allows that idea to be present.
- 2. Mark's record is one that lends itself to that idea, even if the paucity of his record only gives the notion of "force" by implication.
- B. There are several Greek words that Mark could have used if there was no sense of urgency in the setting.
- C. The use of the boat is not unusual, but its mention at this place sets the stage for this "next important event".
- 1. The verb used to indicate what Jesus was "forcing" them to do is a word first used in 4:1 where Jesus "got into a boat" because of the great crowd pressing upon Him. This first use indicates that the "boat" was a way to separate Himself from those crowding Him. The second use is His "getting into the boat" to leave the people whose financial losses caused them to seek to get Him to leave their region (5:18). His third use in our current text/context. The fourth use is another "immediately He entered the boat" after feeding the 4,000 (8:10) and Mark's final use is 8:13 where Jesus "embarks" to leave argumentative Pharisees to get away from them. These uses indicate Mark's penchant for selecting this verb when He is presenting Jesus as "putting distance between Himself and 'difficult' people" who have no interest in the truth.
- 2. The references to "the boat" indicate several key situations that occurred in the boat as a tool to enable men to deal with the threat of death that was a constant with the "sea". It is not unlike the famous "boat" that delivered Noah from death in the massive flood. There are two notable "storms" on the sea while the disciples were in the boat and both had extreme examples of Jesus' power because of those storms (4:37 and 6:51). The last time Mark records Jesus' association with a "boat" was the critical "lesson of the loaves" issue (8:14).
- III. The Destination Is "Stage-Setting".
- A. Bethsaida is "the house of fish".
- B. Bethsaida is also the place where, in Mark 8:22, Jesus demonstrates what He has been doing with the disciples.
- 1. He has been "healing their eyes" because they are as blind as the blind man before Him. It is an extended analogy.
- 2. He is "healing their eyes" because, as "apostles" they absolutely have to "see" the significance of what He was doing with the feeding of the 5,000 and the follow-up feeding of the 4,000.
- 3. He heals the blind man in two stages because it has taken two events of the same nature and significance to make the points He has been making. The disciples' "eyes" are those of their souls that have to do with the intake of "things seen" and the consequential reasonings that followed. Jesus fed two massive crowds to make the same point: "Thou art the Christ" (8:29).
- C. Bethsaida is also, though not mentioned by Mark, the hometown of Philip and Andrew and Peter, (John 1:44), and it was one of the few cities that Jesus condemned for impenitence: "Woe to you, Bethsaida: for if the miracles had been performed in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes" (Luke 10:13).
- IV. "While Himself Is Sending The Crowd Away".
- A. This is what the disciples, in their uncompassionate blindness, wanted Him to do that morning, and actually insisted that He do so the crowd could go and feed themselves (6:36).
- B. Having "shepherded the sheep" by "teaching them many things", He rejected their intentions and "is sending them away".
- V. Then He Went Up Into The Mountain To Pray.
- A. This is an indication of the seriousness of the matters that were developing.
- B. Luke tells us that Jesus did this same thing the night before He chose The Twelve (6:12-13).
