51Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished, 52for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened. Mark 6:51-52 NASB
Before this incident of Jesus walking on the water, the disciples had just experienced a stunning miracle where Jesus fed a crowd of 5,000 men with 5 loaves and 2 fish. Not only did they see it happen, but they actually participated in the miracle. Their very hands were used to pass out the miraculous food. Yet, once Jesus gets into the boat from walking on the sea, Mark says that they had not gained any insight from these things because of their hardened hearts. They were participating in ministry, yet still had not gained any insight into who Jesus was or the reality of the kingdom of God. Jesus gives the “why” behind the disciples unbelief, and their lack of understanding of how Jesus could walk on water, by saying that their hearts were hardened. They didn’t understand or have any insight into who Jesus was through the miracles He was doing, which is a major problem. The revelations they were receiving were not leading to transformations in their hearts and lives. Jesus had been teaching the disciples, showing them, and even allowing them to experience the power of the kingdom. They held actual supernatural food in their very hands just hours before this scene of Jesus walking on the water took place. Yet, they still did not understand the ways of the kingdom or who Jesus was. This demonstrates the enormous, catastrophic problem of a hard heart. A hard heart prevents transformation from taking place because the soil is not ready to receive the seed being planted. There are many things in the mind of man that will never reach the heart. But there is nothing in the heart of man that did not begin with the mind. In the parable of the sower in Matthew 13:19 Jesus says that the seed that is sown beside the road is the one that the birds of the air come and snatch away. When Jesus explains the parable He says, it is those that hear the word and do not understand, that have the seed snatched away by the evil one (birds). The word for understand that Jesus uses in Matthew 13:19 means: to "put facts together", to arrive at a summary or final understanding (complete with life-applications). It means to fit everything together into a whole, complete understanding or insight. What prevented the understanding from taking place with this seed that landed on the road? A hard surface; i.e. a hard heart. There is nothing wrong with the seed; in fact, the seed possesses a life source that is is more powerful than a subatomic particle that is sitting in the mind of the hearers. The issue is the soil on which the seed resides. It is stuck in the hearing stage (mind) and never moves along because the hardness is preventing it from reaching the understanding stage (heart). In contrast, the one who hears and understands is the one that produces fruit and life. This is why Paul says in Ephesians 5:17: So then do not be foolish but understand what the will of God is. The word for "foolish" there means: properly, lacking perspective because short-sighted, i.e. lacking the "over-all picture". Understanding the will of God is prevented by foolish thinking that is short-sighted. All of us have the sinful roots of hardness from our depraved hearts that we must fight against. It is the natural course of our hearts to enter into a hardness stage. Left unchecked our hearts will drift towards hardness preventing us from gaining the insights from our Father in this life. Break up your fallow, hardened ground today so that transformation may flow from the revelations of God. Questions to Consider: 1. Are there areas in your life where you feel a coldness or hardness developing? What are some steps you can take to prevent that from happening? 2. Do you know someone today that is dealing with a hardness towards God? Will you take time to pray for them today?
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
September 2022
Categories
All
|