Mark 6:47-48

‘And when evening was come the boat was well out at sea and he alone on the land, and seeing them distressed in rowing, for the wind was against them, about the fourth watch of the night he comes to them walking on the sea. And he would have passed by them.'

Night drew in as the disciples were at sea. The lake was choppy and they were heading into a strong wind, and they were finding the going extremely difficult. As they pulled at the oars and seemed to make little headway they were becoming exhausted. They were no doubt wishing that they were back on land, and would have been wondering what Jesus was doing.

We are not told at what time Jesus ‘saw' them. It was possibly from the mountain before nightfall set in, so that, knowing the weather and their situation, He knew that their voyage would take some considerable time. Or it may have been by bright moonlight, looking across the lake. But we may assume that He spent some time in prayer, and then came down from the mountain and began His walk across the sea. Praying, making His way down the mountain at night, reaching the shore and then walking across to where they were (the waves were rough and the wind was against Him too) would also take some considerable time, and by the time He reached the spot where they were it was ‘about the fourth watch of the night' (following the Roman system, the Jews split the night into four watches), nearly three or just after three in the morning. Thus they had been at sea nearly eight or nine hours. The adverse wind was so strong that they had made little progress.

‘And He would have passed by them.' This was how it appeared to them and indeed was His intention if they had had sufficient faith. Mark wants us to recognise that without a boat Jesus could easily have reached the destination before them, wind or no wind. It is a reminder that there are no contrary winds to God. Passing by them may not have been His final purpose. They were not in danger, just exhausted, and He had compassion on their exhaustion. But it is clear that He had an important lesson to teach them about His power over the sea, (whose idiosyncrasies they knew), and therefore over nature. He knew that it was about time that they woke up to Who and What He was, so that they recognised His ability to be with them and keep them under all circumstances. The multiplying of the bread should have made that clear, but He knew that it had not, and now He was enforcing the lesson. And perhaps He wanted to test their faith and fortitude.