Mark 6
Go Deeper
Chapter 6 begins and ends with amazement: verse 6 says Jesus was amazed at the lack of faith shown by the people in his hometown, and verse 51 says that the disciples were amazed at Jesus’ ability to walk on water (even though they had just seen him feed 5,000 people a few hours previously). Jesus was amazed at the lack of faith He saw and His disciples were amazed at Jesus because of the lack of faith they had in Him. Does it ever make you feel a bit hopeless that the people who actually witnessed Jesus heal the sick and blind still doubted his power? If they doubted, what hope is there for the rest of us to still believe in him 2000+ years later? But look what happened to those doubting disciples a few books later in Acts.
In our reading today, verse 56 says that they would place the sick in the marketplaces and beg just to touch the edge of Jesus’ cloak to be healed. Jumping ahead to Acts 5:15-16, we see something similar: “People brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by… All of them were healed.” These same disciples who had such little faith when they were standing face to face with Jesus were the same disciples that would one day be described in similar ways as Jesus himself! The difference between the disciples we see in Mark and the ones we see in Acts can be summed up by this: the Holy Spirit. God gave His Spirit to the disciples so that they could amaze the world around them with the power of Jesus at work in them. The best part is that the same power is available to us believers today!
Questions
What was the first thing that stood out to you about the character of Jesus in today’s reading?
In chapter 6, we see times when the disciples had faith (like when Jesus sent them out in pairs to preach the gospel) and times when they didn’t (as seen in the feeding of the 5,000). Is that true in your life? When do you most often doubt God? When is it easiest for you to have faith?
In the midst of hard times, it often seems impossible to have faith. How can we, as Christ-followers, amaze those around us with the faith we have in Jesus?