The Bible Says
Mark 6:45-52 Meaning

The parallel gospel accounts for Mark 6:45-52 are found in Matthew 14:22-33 and John 6:15-21.

In Mark 6:45-52, after sending His disciples ahead by boat and dismissing the crowd, Jesus goes to pray alone on the mountain. A storm appears on the sea, causing the disciples to strain at the oars. Jesus later walks on the sea to His struggling disciples, who are terrified until He reveals Himself, to their astonishment.

The event of Mark 6:45-52 is referred to as “Jesus Walking on the Sea.”

When Jesus’s disciples had returned from their missions, He wanted them to rest and pray (Mark 6:30). But they were unable to do so in the fishing village of Bethsaida (Luke 9:10) on the northeastern shore of the Sea of Galilee because the people recognized Him and were constantly coming and going to see Him there (Mark 6:31).

Jesus had also recently learned of John the Baptist’s execution (Matthew 14:13). He was grieving His cousin’s murder and likely reflecting on His own looming execution on the cross that was about a year away.

To get away from the crowds so He could rest, grieve, and pray, Jesus had initially gotten into a boat to sail to a secluded place across the Sea of Galilee (Mark 6:32). But when the crowds saw to where Jesus was sailing, they raced ahead of the boat along the shore so that by the time Jesus came ashore with His disciples, a crowd of people was already there (Mark 6:33-34a). It continued to gather so that there were about five thousand men (Mark 6:44a).

Jesus felt compassion for the crowds (Mark 6:34b). He taught them (Luke 9:11). And He healed them (Matthew 14:14). And when it was getting late and there was nowhere for them to buy food in that desolate place, Jesus had His disciples gather what food they could find among the large crowd. A boy had five loaves of bread and two fish which Jesus blessed and miraculously multiplied so that everyone was full and satisfied, with twelve baskets of food left over (Matthew 14:15-21, Mark 6:35-44, Luke 9:12-17, John 6:1-14).

Mark wastes no time telling us what happened next.

Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the crowd away (v 45).

Immediately-as soon as the extra baskets of food were collected-Jesus made His disciples get back into the boat and go ahead of Him on their return voyage to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. His disciples were headed back to Bethsaida, the town they departed from (Luke 9:19).

The expression the other side was a Galilean idiom meaning “the other shore” or “to cross the border” into a different province. The Sea of Galilee was bordered by three provinces: Galilee, which encompassed the entire western shoreline from north to south; Gaulanitis along the northeastern shore; and the Decapolis along the southeastern shore. Apparently, they had crossed out of the predominantly Jewish district of Galilee and were now headed back toward Galilee.

Matthew, Mark, and John all use different expressions to describe the same place that Jesus’s disciples were headed and/or arrived at.

Mark says that the disciples set out for the village of Bethsaida, situated on the northeastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, near the border between Gaulanitis and Galilee. Peter was the primary source for Mark’s gospel account, and he identifies the specific village they departed to, which was his hometown of Bethsaida (John 1:44).

Matthew says they were headed for the region of “Gennesaret” (Matthew 14:34) which was the plain along the northern Galilean shore.

John’s account of this event references Capernaum-a more prominent and widely known city just west of Bethsaida in Galilee-as their destination (John 6:17). These geographical details together suggest that the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand likely occurred in the region of Gaulanitis, on the other side-along the northeastern shoreline of the Sea of Galilee.

John’s account also says that as the people recognized Jesus to be the prophet/Messiah (Deuteronomy 18:18, John 6:14), they came to take Jesus by force and make Him their king (John 6:15a). This was another reason He sent the crowd away (John 6:15b)-for it was not yet His time.

As the disciples began heading to Bethsaida, Jesus was sending the crowd away.

The Gospel of John says that the crowd tried to take Jesus “by force to make Him king” (John 6:15b), but Jesus denied them and “withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone” (John 6:15c).

After bidding them farewell, He left for the mountain to pray (v 46).

The mountain was likely the same mountain that Jesus went up with His disciples hours earlier when they first came ashore (John 6:3). At that time, Jesus was unable to be alone with God because of the crowd. But now, with the crowd sent away, Jesus was finally able to return to the mountain to pray by Himself.

The gospels do not say what Jesus prayed when He was alone, but they suggest that He was grieving the death of John the Baptist (Matthew 14:13). It was also shortly after this time that Jesus began to tell His disciples that He would be crucified-so it is reasonable to speculate that His cousin’s execution made the reality of His own execution feel more immediate. Jesus took His grief and fears to God.

When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land (v 47).

In this context, the expression-when it was evening-likely meant sundown or just after sundown. In Jewish terms, this would be the next day, since Jewish days begin and end at sunset.

By evening time, His disciples were in the boat, which was in the middle of the sea, while Jesus was up on the mountain overlooking the sea.

Mark says Jesus was alone on the land to make it clear that He was not with His disciples in the boat in the middle of the sea, and that Jesus was finally alone where He could pray to God.

By the time Jesus finally found the solitude He had sought to spend in prayer with His Father, evening had already fallen, and the sky was dark (John 6:17). Across the sea, in the city of Tiberias, the palace of Herod (the ruler who had John beheaded) would have stood as a foreboding beacon against the night.

As Jesus was praying, a fierce storm arose.

Given the turmoil that Jesus was feeling and wrestling through with His Father, some see this storm as supernatural. The ancient world understood the storm on the sea as supernaturally connected to Jesus’s struggles at this time.

The Romans (Mark’s audience) understood the sea as a place of chaos in opposition to divine order. For instance, “The Aeneid,” Virgil’s epic poem about the founding of the Roman Empire and its order, begins with its hero perilously tossed about in chaotic danger in a supernaturally caused sea storm (Virgil. “The Aeneid”, 1.50-156).

The Jews held similar views about the sea and chaos (Genesis 1:2). The sea was sometimes used as a symbol for opposing God (Psalm 74:13-14, Isaiah 27:1, Daniel 7:2-3). Furthermore, God caused a storm to get Jonah’s attention as He fled from God (Jonah 1:4-15). To be clear, Jesus was not running from God in this moment like Jonah was (Jonah 1:3). Jesus was ardently seeking God. T

The early church also interpreted the storm as supernatural. The early church saw the storm as symbolic of

• the spiritual conflict that was going on between Jesus and the devil
• temptation of Jesus and/or His disciples
• the persecution against Jesus

These things are presented here to demonstrate to our modern mentalities that the storm may have been supernatural and not just an external setting.

The boat was still in the middle of the sea.

The Sea of Galilee, roughly 13 miles long and 8 miles wide, meant that if they were in the middle, they were several miles from any shore. John, Jesus’s disciple, was there and he wrote that they were “three or four miles out [from land]” (John 6:19).

Even in the dark, from the mountain, Jesus saw His disciples struggling in the boat across the sea “a long distance from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary” (Matthew 14:24). Mark writes:

[Jesus] saw them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them… (v 48a).

The disciples were straining at the oars. They were giving their all to try and navigate the boat to land, but were unable to do so, for the wind was against them.

Several of Jesus’s disciples were seasoned fishermen. And the fact that they were still in the middle of the sea despite all their straining gives an indication of how powerful the wind was.

Mark’s language, the wind was against them, and Matthew’s language: “the wind was contrary” (Matthew 14:24) may also indicate that any possible supernatural forces causing the fierce wind were against the disciples as well as Jesus. And that any spiritual struggle that was going on involved His disciples.

Mark also notes that He was seeing them. This may indicate that Jesus may have been watching His disciples straining at the oars for some time as He prayed, and yet He did not go out to them or stop the wind the moment He first saw them.

By not going out immediately, Jesus may have been trying to teach them to trust in Him and be dependent upon Him even when He is not present. This ordeal could have been preparation for His disciples, when Jesus would no longer be physically with them on earth, and they would have to trust Him and the Holy Spirit to guide them through their difficulties. Jesus taught them this lesson in His “Parable of the Vine” (John 15:1-11) when He told them He was about to leave them on the night before He was crucified.

… at about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea… (v 48b).

Mark and Matthew both highlight that Jesus came to the disciples at about the fourth watch of the night (Matthew 14:25).

The fourth watch of the night was the final division of the night watch. It was between 3:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. If the disciples had departed around 9:00 p.m., they had been battling the wind for six hours or more, leaving them physically and mentally exhausted.

This timing of the fourth watch of the night also carries historical significance in Jewish tradition. It was during the fourth watch that Pharaoh finally released the Israelites from slavery (Exodus 12:29-41), and it was in this same watch that God parted the sea to deliver Israel (Exodus 14:21-27).

As God, Jesus had the authority to calm the wind and the waves with a single command. He had done so before (Mark 4:35-41, Matthew 8:23-27, Luke 8:22-25). But instead of delivering the disciples by commanding the storm to cease from where He was up on the mountain, Jesus came to where they were in the middle of the stormy sea.

During the fourth watch-the same watch of the night that God had parted the Red Sea and delivered Israel from their Egyptian pursuers-Jesus walked on the waters of the Sea of Galilee in the midst of their own storm.

Mark writes: He came to them, walking on the sea.

Jesus walked on water. Mark uses a continuous aspect in Greek to describe how He was continually walking on the sea as He came to them. Walking on the sea is something that no human can naturally do. A person’s density is heavier than water and naturally causes him to sink into the sea when he steps into it.

But through God’s incredible power, Jesus, the Creator of the waters and everything else (Genesis 1:2, 1:6-10) walked on top of the sea for several miles to get to His disciples who were in the middle of the sea.

Jesus’s walking on water may be an allusion or fulfillment of Job’s rebuke to Biladad. Job described God’s awesome and overwhelming power to his friend:

“Who alone stretches out the heavens
And tramples down the waves of the sea.”
(Job 9:8)

In other words, Job describes God’s power as being able to trample down the waves of the sea with His feet. And here is Jesus, literally trampling and walking on the water of the sea. This powerful act of walking on the sea clearly demonstrates His divine power and nature.

The watery element of Jesus’s powerful miracle makes it related to three watery miracles in the Old Testament. Jesus’s walking on the water is reminiscent of

• Moses’s parting of the water of the Red Sea
  (Exodus 14:21-22)

• The water of the Jordan River stopping so that the ark, Joshua, and the Israelites could cross.
  (Joshua 3:14-17)

• Elisha’s floating of an axe-head on the water of the Jordan River
  (2 Kings 6:4-6).

Jesus was a second Moses, a second Joshua, and a second Elisha.

But as he describes how Jesus came to His disciples miraculously walking on the water, Mark adds an interesting remark. Mark says:

and He intended to pass by them (v 48c).

In this, Jesus seems to have been testing His disciples’ faith and/or teaching them a lesson through His intent to pass them by.

Mark’s comment in verse 52 indicates that Jesus was trying to instill a similar lesson which He wanted His disciples to learn (but had not) from His miracle of feeding the five thousand (Mark 6:35-44).

If we momentarily jump ahead a few verses, verse 52 says:

for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened (v 52).

One of the lessons Jesus seemed to have been trying to teach His disciples when He multiplied the fishes and loaves of bread was to trust God to provide and to not become frustrated at their own limitations. And now the disciples were futilely straining against the wind and being tossed by the waves of the sea, instead of calling to God while Jesus was walking on the water.

From Mark’s account, it appears that unless His disciples called on Him as He walked on the water, Jesus intended to pass them by.

In the Old Testament, the LORD responded to His people when they called on Him. Even though God had foretold Israel's deliverance (Genesis 15:13-14), the LORD did not intervene until the people cried out (Exodus 2:23-25). His compassion and action followed their appeal.

Similarly, at different times and through different individuals, the LORD instructed His people to call on Him for assistance (2 Chronicles 7:14, Psalm 50:15, Isaiah 64:7, Joel 2:32). Paul quotes Joel 2:32 when he writes: “for ‘Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved’” (Romans 10:13).

Jesus, it seems, was demonstrating the necessity of calling upon Him as God for deliverance and giving them an opportunity to practice calling upon Him for His help when He intended to pass them by on the stormy seas.

But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out; for they all saw Him and were terrified (vv 49-50a).

As the disciples were straining at their oars they saw a figure walking out on the sea. What they actually saw was Jesus, walking on the water. But they did not recognize Him at first.

John writes that Jesus was “drawing near to the boat; and they were frightened” (John 6:19b).

It seems there are several reasons why the disciples were unable to instantly recognize their Rabbi.

• One reason for their failure to recognize Jesus seems to be because disciples were not looking for Him to be walking on the water. This was not something they expected to see. In fairness, considering how no one has ever been recorded as walking on water before or since then, it would have been rather shocking to see-especially in a storm.

• A second reason for why they did not recognize Jesus may have been because it was night and stormy and they could not see across the sea very well. It could have been difficult to get a clear view of who He was in the dark storm even if Jesus were only thirty feet away from the boat.

• A third reason for why they did not recognize Jesus may have been because this figure appeared indifferent toward them. Jesus intended to pass them by. This being the case, He may not have been walking directly toward their boat but simply passed it. The disciples were certainly not accustomed to seeing figures walk on water. (No one was). But even so, the disciples may have automatically assumed that if it were Jesus, He would be coming directly toward them to aid them instead of indifferently passing them by.

• A fourth reason for why they did not recognize Jesus was because their fears assumed the figure was something terrifying. Both Matthew and Mark comment how the disciples mistook Jesus for a ghost.

Whichever reason or combination, both Matthew and Mark both state how the disciples supposed that what they saw was a ghost (Matthew 14:26).

The Greek word that is translated as ghost is φάντασμά (G5326), pronounced “phantasma,” and the English words “phantom” and  “phantasm” are derived from it.

The Bible only says that the disciples were “terrified” (Matthew 14:26) of this ghost. It does not elaborate on what they thought this ghost or phantom actually was.

They may have been fearful that this ghost was a demon made visible. They had recently witnessed a legion of demons depart the Gerasene man and go into the pigs who then hurled themselves into the Sea of Galilee (Mark 5:1-13). Perhaps they feared this ghost was one of these demonic spirits walking on the water. Maybe they were afraid that the approaching apparition was the spirit of a departed human being or that it was the angel of death coming to kill them.

Whatever they imagined the ghost to be, they all cried out in fear, for they all saw Him and were terrified.

After they screamed in terror, Jesus assured His frightened disciples.

But immediately He spoke with them and said to them, “Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid (v 50b).

Jesus did not want His disciples to be scared of Him. He wanted them to know that they were seeing their Lord and not a ghost or anything else. This is why He immediately spoke to them when they cried out. Jesus reassured them and said: Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid.

Mark writes what happened after Jesus comforted His disciples:

Then Jesus got into the boat with them, the wind stopped (v 51a).

When Jesus got into the boat the storm was over. Mark’s simple and direct statement-the wind stopped-describes a dramatic and total shift from chaos to peace. This shift describes the instant cessation of the physical storm on the sea. The disciples knew Jesus was with them in the boat and that they had escaped the storm on the sea.

But there was still an inner storm that was blowing within the disciples’ hearts and minds. Mark alludes to this ongoing inner turmoil when he wrote:

and they were utterly astonished (v 51b).

Astonishment can amazement, surprise, or bewilderment. The disciples’ minds were blown by what they had experienced, and they had not processed or made sense of what had just happened. The disciples were not just astonished by these things-they were utterly astonished.

Mark then explained the reason they were utterly astonished:

The disciples were utterly astonished, for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened (vv 51b-52).

Mark wrote that the disciples’ heart was hardened as an explanation for why they did not understand the insight Jesus was trying to teach them through the incident of the loaves. From this explanation and their utter astonishment, it also appears that they did not gain the intended insight here either.

As explained earlier, the insight which Jesus hoped they would have gained from these events appears to have been to trust and call upon Him for help. In time, the disciples would gain this insight and teach others to do so through their examples, sermons, and writings.

There are four more things to point out in this commentary of Mark 6:45-52 before it concludes.

First is that Mark’s remark about how the disciples had not gained any insight and how their heart was hardened is a demonstration of the authenticity of this gospel account.

Only a disciple who was there would have been able to testify about what was in their hearts. Peter, who was Jesus’s disciple and who was in the boat, is widely believed to be the source for Mark’s account. Moreover, this comment reflects poorly upon the disciples and Peter. Normally when someone fabricates or modifies a historical account, they embellish their part and describe it in a good light. But this account does not do that. It reflects poorly on the disciples. This negative commentary about the disciples is a support for the authenticity of the gospel’s claims.

Second, and on a related note, Mark’s gospel does not mention that Peter got out of the boat and walked on water.

(To learn more about Peter’s walking on water, see commentary for Matthew 14:22-33.)

Only Matthew’s account of these events describes how Peter also walked on water when he trusted Jesus (Matthew 14:28-32).

Mark’s gospel, which was sourced by Peter, does not mention it. Peter likely deliberately omitted this part (especially if Matthew’s gospel was composed and published before Mark’s account).

Peter seems to have omitted this part of the story because he did not want to elevate himself and take any glory from Jesus. Peter does not boast about himself-even when he could have. Again, this omission by Peter helps support the authenticity of the gospel because Peter diminishes his actual role and passes on the opportunity to fully state this great thing that he did (walking on water).

Also, had Peter/Mark mentioned his walking on water with Jesus, it may have distracted Mark’s readers from the point that the disciples failed to understand and immediately learn from this event and the incident with the loaves.

Third, Matthew writes how the disciples worshiped Jesus when He got into the boat and the wind stopped. They declared: “You are certainly God’s Son!” (Matthew 14:33b).

Even though they were utterly astonished, and their heart was hardened so that they could not understand the specific insight He wanted them to learn, they still recognized that His walking on water and calming the storm demonstrated His divinity.

The disciples recognized and worshiped Jesus as God. They had good theology. But they did not apply their theology to trusting Jesus as God in the stormy circumstance. They were not depending on Him in this storm even though they knew Him to be God.

There is a lesson here for us too.

It is good to have correct theology. It is right to recognize Jesus as God. But it is better to apply what the Bible reveals about Jesus and to live by faith in the storms of our own circumstances, depending only upon Him.

And fourth and finally, John wrote that once Jesus got into the boat, that “immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going” (John 6:21b).

When Jesus first came to them in the storm, the boat was in the middle of the sea, or as John estimated, they were “three or four miles” (John 6:22b) out in the middle of the lake. But once “they were willing to receive Him into the boat, [then] immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going” (John 6:21).

This sudden transportation was another miracle.

Jesus instantly relocated Himself, the disciples, and the boat from one place to another. Not only was the storm over, but the disciples also no longer had to row to get to their destination. They were “immediately” (John 6:21b) there.