“Christ Sees, Knows, & Pursues His People” - Mark 6:45-56

We've got a Bible. We're going to be back in Mark 6. Lord willing,

we'll be in Mark 7 next week.

If you haven't figured out that's kind of how this works, whatever is next is where we'll be.

Again, this week, we're going to be at a passage that most of you probably know.

Last week was Jesus feeding the 5,000. This week is Jesus walking on water.

I can remember being at AD now when I was probably 14 or 15.

And at the time, what had become real popular was like worship painting.

Does anybody know what this is?

That's good. Okay. So basically, you would have someone come in and they like

every night that you had a worship service, you know, four or five nights in a row,

they would start with this blank canvas and they would paint something on there

every night and you couldn't tell what it was it was very like oh they're doing

the base layer and they're doing this i can remember one year they did this

this was the painting it was jesus walking on the water,

and i also remember thinking you can either get me to watch this person paint

or you can get me to sing but i'm not doing both because it's so distracting um but.

It's a story that everyone knows and i think that's why that girl painted that

way i think that's why people talk about it a lot.

But like last week, I think we miss much of the point of Mark telling us this

story, the point of Jesus doing what he does, because we don't tie it to the

things that Mark is trying to tie it to, namely the Old Testament.

If you remember from last week, we talked extensively about what Jesus is doing

here and the things that he's doing are not simply miracles.

He's not simply doing things to say, well, look what I can do.

Look how powerful I am. Of course I'm God. I can feed 5,000 people. I can walk on the water.

What he's doing is becoming, not becoming, but he is the embodiment of the God

of the Old Testament. He is God made flesh.

And he is doing the things that the prophesied Messiah would do and also doing

things that God has done in the past.

He's simply doing them in flesh and blood, right? Jesus can walk on water.

He can feed 5,000. He can raise the dead. These are all things that we see God

do in the Old Testament. The difference is in the Old Testament, God hides his face.

God doesn't fully make himself known to people. We're going to see that this

morning. Jesus does that.

That's the point of Mark's Gospels. Not that you would walk away from them and

go, man, Jesus can do something incredible.

The point of Mark's Gospels is that you walk away going, Jesus is God made flesh.

And God made flesh, took on the sin, my sin, died for my sin,

rose, and has offered salvation to all who would trust in him.

That's the point of Mark's Gospel.

And if what we take away from the gospels is simply man, jesus did some really

cool stuff Don't you want him to do some really cool stuff for you?

We kind of missed the point So let me just start by reading this passage. This is mark 6 Thanks.

Verse 45 through 56. It says, immediately he made his disciples get into the boat.

Interesting phrase. He doesn't ask them to, he tells them to.

In the same way that this is just a complete aside, in the same way that when

Jesus gives you a command, he's not asking you to do it, he's telling you to do it.

And there's a massive difference. These are not suggestions that Jesus gives

his disciples. He doesn't say, hey, if you guys feel like it,

get in the boat. He says, get in the boat.

Now, obviously, if you just watched him feed 5,000 people and seen him do some

of the things he's doing, you're more inclined to listen.

So they get in the boat and they go before him to the other side,

to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. So he puts them in the boat with

their holy leftovers. Remember, they all take a basket with them.

And he goes back to dismiss the crowd, gets them to go home.

It says, after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray.

When evening came, the boat was out on the sea and he was alone on the land.

And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them.

And about the fourth watch of

the night, he came to them walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them.

But when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought he was a ghost and cried out.

It's always fun to read things like that. Gives you a picture of the spiritual

mindset the disciples were in.

Remember, these were real guys, and they really lived in first century Middle

Eastern countries, and their theology allowed for—this may be a ghost walking on the water.

This may be a literal thing. I like to remind people of that when they study

guys like Martin Luther and John Calvin.

These were brilliant men, but they were still men of their time.

Luther talks often about, you know, Satan being in the room with him and him

fighting him and him being on the road.

And, you know, that's how they thought that these things were just happening

all the time. And I'm not saying they're right or wrong, but that is the mindset that these people have.

Gives you kind of a window into how did the disciples think about spiritual

things? Well, they thought there was a ghost on the water. That gives you an

idea of where they're thinking.

For they all saw him and were terrified, but immediately he spoke to them and

said, take heart, it is I, not be afraid.

And he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased and they were utterly astounded.

For they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened. Let's stop there.

The end of that passage is kind of a summary of what's gone on.

But just think of some of the similarities from last week, right? We're in the boat again.

Last week, they all get into the boat. They're all tired. They're all hungry.

They're looking for a place to rest, looking for a place to eat.

The crowd sees them get in the boat and they chase them around.

It seems like this time Jesus takes a little more authoritative stance on this

and he tells his disciples to get in the boat.

And then he goes back to the crowd and says, y'all got to go home.

I think part of this y'all got to go home is I'm about to go get in this boat

or my disciples are getting into this boat. Do not follow them again.

We gave you a pass. I fed you, but you got to go home.

Jesus goes up to the mountain to pray. his disciples get into the boat.

And remember, they're leaving this scene with their baskets of food.

They wanted to rest. They wanted to eat in the last story and they didn't get

the chance to. And now Jesus is saying, listen, here's your food. Here's a boat.

Take off. Go get some rest. At least they think.

Remember what we said last week. That story wasn't just about Jesus doing a

miracle. As we've said, Jesus, just as Moses did in the wilderness,

divides people up into groups and feeds them. And why is that?

Well, because Jesus is the better Moses, who doesn't just come to feed people's bellies.

He doesn't just come to deliver people from Egyptian slavery and take them to

a worldly promised land.

He's the better Moses who comes to smite their greatest enemy,

sin and death, and to free them from that slavery and to fill their bellies,

not with bread and wine and fish, but to fulfill them for eternity.

Now, again, to the disciples, this feeding the 5,000 is just another miracle

that they're trying to understand. They're trying to put this patchwork of things

together. They're trying to figure out who this guy is.

They know who he's said he is. They know what he's saying about himself.

They've heard him teaching. They've even done ministry for him.

They've gone and proclaimed the gospel.

They're still trying to figure that out.

And I think the biggest reason is what I said at the beginning.

They miss that the miracles are not an end in and of themselves.

When miraculous things happen in our lives, the point of those miraculous things

is not for us to go, man, that was miraculous.

That was wonderful.

I can't believe that happened. Can't believe they got healed.

I can't believe that worked out. I can't believe they made it home.

The point of the miracle is to point to the miracle worker, not to try and twist

his arm so that he would do it again, not to try and figure out,

well, what is the formula for getting God to do what I want?

Because God does whatever he wants, whenever he wants, however he wants, right? They miss it.

They miss that, man, this is the greater Moses who walks among us.

And in this story, they will miss once again, what Jesus is trying to show them. So.

Get into the passage here. Jesus goes up to the mountain to pray.

What a powerful picture, right? Jesus is tired too. He's exhausted.

In the story last week, he got in the boat with them because he knew they all

needed rest. They all needed a break.

And yet he gets done doing the miracle and he sends his disciples to get rest.

And his desire is not, well, now that I've done what I'm supposed to do,

I'll go get rest too. He goes to pray.

I don't think this passage is about that prayer, but I do think it tells you

something about the heart of Christ, right? What is Jesus doing even today in

his glorified body, seated at the right hand of the Father? We read this verse all the time, right?

He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him.

Why? Since he always lives to make intercession for them, to pray for them.

He prays for you. That's what Jesus is doing right now.

He is interceding on your behalf at the Father's.

He's doing those things as he sits in heaven, as he waits to come back and enact

the new heavens and the new earth and to rain down judgment on this world and to save his people.

What's he doing? What Jesus, what is he up to? He's praying for you.

I think oftentimes we read this and the issue is a felt distance,

right? Well, you could say, well, the disciples knew Jesus. The disciples heard Jesus pray.

They heard Jesus teach. They saw him. They put their hands on him.

I love this quote by Robert Mishane. He says, if I could hear Christ praying

for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies.

Yet distance makes no difference. He prays for me still. All right, that's the point.

The point is Jesus is praying for you. Don't lose heart.

What is it that you're going through? What struggle is it? What sin is it that

besets you? What bitterness and anger and nervousness and insecurity is it?

Man, these thick headed disciples can't figure it out. They can't do it.

Guess what? Jesus prays for them. You can't figure it out. You can't quite get

it right. You're a certain point in your life and you think,

man, I really thought when I got to this point in my life, I would have some

more of this figured out.

I really didn't think I would struggle with that sin. I really didn't think I would do those things.

And yet here Jesus says openly, I'm praying for you. I'm interceding for you. Don't lose heart.

What else do we see about Jesus? He's praying for them. He sees them. He sees them.

The text seems to make this pretty clear that the disciples and John will tell

us they're about three to four miles out at this point. But listen to how Mark says this.

Verse 47, and when evening came, the boat was out on the sea,

and he was alone on the land. Mark makes a point to say this.

He's alone on the land there in the sea, verse 48, and he saw that they were

making headway painfully.

I don't think this is a comment on Jesus's 2010 vision, right?

And I don't think that Jesus is on the land with a night vision telescope at

this point in human history, and he's able to see three to four miles out there and see them.

I think the text is trying to say Jesus sees them in the sense that he knows where they are.

He's the one that made them get in the boat. He knew what they would encounter

when they got out there. He knew what was going to happen as he went up to pray for them.

He knew exactly the situation they would be in, in the same way that Jesus sees you.

He knows your family situation. He knows the sins that you don't want anyone to know about.

He knows the struggles. He knows all of the things about you.

He knows all of the injustices that have been done to you.

He knows all of those things. He sees you in a way that no one else sees you.

The disciples are three to four miles out, pitch black night. It's windy.

There's a lot going on. And what does the text say? Jesus sees them. He sees them.

What does Jesus do when he sees them? Is it like you and me,

when I come upon a situation that it's obvious that a group of people needs me?

Can I be honest? Most of the time, my first response to that is like, dadgummit.

Like, you know what I would really love to do? Show up and nobody said they

needed anything, right? That would be great.

I would love to just show up somewhere. And I love when I do show up somewhere

and I walk in and nobody goes, hey, you got a minute?

That's my least favorite phrase. Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?

It's like, this is never a minute. This is never a minute.

You're about to ask me for three days of time. I just know this is coming,

right? Hey, can you come out here real quick? Hey, can I have a conversation with you?

I had a pastor that I worked for for a while. He said, one of the worst things

that pastors get to hear in the week is like, hey, can we get coffee?

Because you have no idea what that's going to be. You have no idea what that

conversation is going to happen, which he gave me this advice.

And if you've tried to get coffee with me, you know, if you go,

hey, can you get coffee? My response to you is always going to be,

yeah, what do you want to talk about?

I'm not walking into a trap, okay? I'm just letting you guys know right now. I'm not doing it.

But that's not Jesus' response when he sees them in there. Why?

Because he knew that's where they would be.

Jesus' response is to go to them.

He draws near to them. He doesn't just watch them, but he sees them,

right? They don't need to send up a flare.

They don't need to try and figure out where he's at and why he's not there.

They don't need to do that.

Jesus knows exactly the situation they're in, and he's going to come to them

exactly when he meant to, exactly when he decided to.

He sees them. He knows their situation, and he goes to them.

This is the story of scripture. This is the story of the Bible.

No one comes to God, but that he goes to them first.

Adam and Eve in the garden sin, do they go looking for God? No,

he goes and looks for them and he calls out to them.

Does Noah go looking for God? No, the text says very clearly that Noah found

favor. He found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

And then God came to him and therefore Noah goes to God. What about Abraham?

The son of an idol-worshiping mom and dad in an idol-worshiping country.

Surely Abraham goes to God first. No, that's not the story we get.

Right? What about Moses? Surely Moses came. Now, listen, you can make the argument

that God came to Moses from the very day he was born and preserved him in the

Nile, put him inside of the Egyptian royalty.

And then Moses does what he probably shouldn't have done, could have done.

You could have that discussion, right?

Kills someone there and he takes off and Moses thinks, well,

this is over. I'm going to go out there and I'll be with God and he'll be with

me and it'll be fine. And what does God do? He shows up in a burning bush.

What about David? David's out in the pasture. His own dad thinks nothing of him.

He trots out his other sons and he's like, hey, do you have another one?

He's like, I mean, yeah, but I don't know if you want that one.

Which is always awkward when the parent of a child is like, listen,

don't pay attention to that one.

I'm like, do you not love your children? Is there a problem here?

I feel like I need to pay a lot of attention to this child.

God calls David. What about these disciples in this boat? Do they go and find

Jesus? No, Jesus walks up to them.

He calls them. He goes to Matthew's tax lector booth. He goes to the fishing

boats of these disciples. He goes to these places. What about the apostle Paul?

Does Paul go to him? Of course not.

He meets Paul on the road to Damascus and he calls him to himself.

Listen, this is the same of you and me. If you know who God is,

it's because he came to you. He saw you.

He saw you and he made a beeline towards you. He knew where you were at.

He knew what sins you struggled with and what sins you would always struggle with.

He knew your past. He knew the bitterness and anger you might have towards certain people.

He knew the injustices, again, that had been done to you. He knew how hard your

life was or how hard it wasn't.

He saw you and he goes to the disciples.

Why does he go to the disciples? The text tells us explicitly.

This is where we're going to get to our Old Testament.

Why does he go to the disciples? He says, verse 48, and he saw that they were

making headway painfully for the wind was against them.

And about the fourth watch of

the night, he came to them walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them.

He meant to pass by them. The Greek word there is a fell. It means that he desired to do something.

It's almost like Jesus planned it, right? It's almost like he did.

I think this is exactly what's going on.

He shows them with the feeding of the 5,000 that they don't understand.

Listen, I'm better than Moses. Moses needed manna from heaven. I'll make it myself.

I'm giving people the bread of life. And the text is clear. They don't get it.

And so now what's he going to do? Well, he's going to do another thing that,

testifies to who he is. He's desired to pass by them. Again,

it's not, ugh, these people need help again.

Like I literally picked a bunch of fishermen. They should be good in a boat.

Why do they need it? The one thing you're supposed to be good at, you can't be good at.

That's not his response. Jesus' response is, I have called them to myself.

I will go to them. Why? Because he who begins a good work and you will complete

that work. That's what you're seeing in the person of Jesus. He's doing it.

Now, this Old Testament reference, if you have a Bible and you want to turn

there, Exodus 33. This is a story, again, most of you know.

It's going to be Exodus 33, 18 through 22.

Moses is asking that God would show him his glory.

He wants to see it. At this point in Moses' life, he's seen a lot.

He's seen God do a lot of things, but that's one thing he hasn't seen.

He asks, God, please show me your glory.

God says, I will make my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name, the Lord.

And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious. And I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.

But God says, you cannot see my face for man shall not see me and live.

And the Lord said, behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock.

And while my glory passes by you, I will put you in the cleft of the rock and

you will cover and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by.

Now, this is an incredible grace that God gives to Moses.

He knows he can't do what Moses asked of him because it will kill Moses to see God in his sinful state.

He says, I'll show you my glory. Again, you don't turn there.

Let me read this for you. 1 Kings 19, 11.

And he said, go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord.

This is Elijah. And behold, the Lord passed by and a great and strong wind tore

the mountains and broken pieces and rocks before the Lord. But the Lord was

not in the wind after the wind and earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.

This phrase passed by is what I want you to zero in on.

The Lord passes by these men, these incredibly godly men, but what does he ask

of them? You've got to cover your face.

If you see me in your sinful state, you'll die.

You can't come this way. You can't do that. We'll go back to Mark 6. What does Jesus say?

Jesus says, I intend to pass by them.

I intend to pass by them. The God of Israel, majestic and wonderful and holy,

who has hidden his face from sinful men, has become a man so that his glory may walk among them.

And he has a face, and the face is the face of a man named Jesus of Nazareth,

and God has made himself a tabernacle to dwell among his people.

And the disciples do not get it, and neither do we.

We do not sit around and think very much of the incarnation.

The God of the Old Testament who is unable to be seen, who can't put your face

on, you can't see him, he can't touch him, you can't do anything with him.

He loves his people. He desires to be with them, but their sin has kept them far away.

That he clothes himself in humanity, that he is flesh and blood,

and that he is not fed up with his people, but he, in fact, becomes flesh and blood so that, why?

He can pass by them. He can show them who he is. He can put on a face.

Their face cannot see him, but he puts on the face of man so that he can walk

with his people. What does John say?

And the word of God became flesh and dwelt among us.

And we beheld what? We beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of

the Father, full of grace and truth.

Hebrews 1 verse 3, he is the radiance of the glory of God, that's Christ,

Hebrews 1:3

and the exact imprint of his nature.

And he upholds the universe by the word of his power. This is what Jesus is

trying to get people to see in this story. Not Jesus can walk on water.

Jesus is God and he walks, passes by his people. He is with them.

He sees them. He loves them.

And if that wasn't enough proof for you, there's a crescendo that happens in Mark 6.

If you read verse 49, when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it

was a ghost and cried out. Verse 50, for they all saw him and were terrified.

The truth is they should be a lot more terrified of Jesus than they should be a ghost.

What Jesus is capable of doing is far greater than that. But immediately he

spoke to them and said, take heart in his eye.

Do not be afraid. If you translate the Greek literally here,

they literally say, he says to them, take heart, I am, don't be afraid.

That's the Greek. Take heart, I am, or I am he, don't be afraid.

Well, what does that make you think of? It should make you think of Exodus 13.

When Moses asked God, hey, when I go to these people and they ask me,

well, what's the name of this God?

As if to say, listen, the Egyptians gods have names.

They've got Osiris, they've got this, they've got a name. What's your name?

And God says, I am, I am is my name. In other words, I don't have a name.

I am God. That's who I am. I'm not the God of the sun. I'm not the God of the

rivers. I'm not the God of fertility or rain. I am. I am God. I am God of very God.

And what does Jesus say after he passes by them? Take heart. I am.

God has come to his people. The great I am has clothed himself in human flesh

and blood, and he dwells among them. And what is his response when you get that?

What is our response supposed to be? Do not fear.

Take heart. Be of good courage. The sin that so entangles you, I will pay for.

The injustices that are done to you, I will make right.

The things in your life that you know are not fair, you know they're not working

out for you, they know that shouldn't have happened that way,

you wish they wouldn't have happened that way, the words you wish you wouldn't

have said, the thing you wish you could take back, Jesus said,

listen, take heart, take courage. Don't be scared. Don't be fearful.

I am is here. I have walked among you.

You can take courage, church. Christ has overcome this world.

Whatever this world offers you, whatever this world gives you,

whatever it does to you, Christ has overcome the world. How do you know that?

How do you know that Christ has done that? Because I am is here.

He has come. He has dwelled with his people.

He has prayed for you, he has seen you, and he has walked among you.

And lastly, he gets in the boat with you.

This is not as much a story about Jesus walking on water. This is a story about

Jesus getting into the boat with his sinful disciples.

At this point in the story, honestly, Jesus walking on water, not that impressive.

I'm more impressed by him feeding probably 10,000 plus people with five loaves

and two fish than I am in walking on water.

I'm more impressed that he can cure diseases on the spot, that he can raise

a little girl from the dead. He's done more impressive things than walking on

water. Walking on water is not the point.

The point is he saw his disciples, he walks out to them and he gets in the boat with them.

Surely at this point, his disciples are like, Oh, I get it. We know our Old Testament.

We know what Jesus is trying to show us here. Oh, he's God. I get it.

Absolutely not. Absolutely not. Think of these disciples.

They've been called by Jesus. They've watched Jesus do ministry.

They've listened to Jesus teach. They've seen Jesus do miracles. Uh-oh.

It's going to be okay, people. We're inside.

First one to say we needed it is the oldest one in the room.

I'm just saying. All right, that's the rule.

But they've been sent out by Jesus to literally duel with demons and preach

the gospel. They've seen miracle after miracle.

They're just coming off being a central part of a miracle. In fact,

they're in a boat with baskets full of miracle bread and fish.

And what is their response? They did not understand why, because their hearts were hardened.

Their hearts were hardened. All of the things the world can do to you.

And for some of you, all of the things the world has done to you,

that your own body has done to you, that your own family has done to you,

listen, they pale in comparison to the damage that your heart can do to you.

They pale in comparison, no matter what it is, no matter how awful the thing

is that happened, no matter how awful the thing is that could happen.

It pales in comparison to what your own heart can do because a hard heart misses

who Jesus is. Notice too, they're in awe.

It's not that they're not amazed by what just happened. They don't see Jesus

do that and at this point go, man, we just saw you feed 5,000.

We've seen you raise a girl from the dead.

Great, you can walk on water, is what it is.

They're still amazed by him. This is still an incredible thing.

He says they were utterly astounded in the ESV.

What an incredible warning, right? Hell will be filled with a lot of people

who were astonished at Jesus, but astonishment is not faith.

Being amazed by what Jesus can do does not mean you believe and trust him.

In the same way that the Pharisees think that what they know equals their salvation,

In this story, it's what you experience doesn't equal salvation either.

Salvation isn't your mind being saved, and it's not your experience or your

feelings being ratified.

Salvation is Jesus Christ saving you, God giving you a new heart,

the Spirit drawing you. You need a new heart. Right?

Said this last week. Again, I think it's important, but chasing spiritual experiences,

but never surrendering yourself to the Lord of glory is a quick ticket to be

found like people are in Matthew.

Didn't we cast out demons in your name? Didn't we preach your gospel?

Didn't we give to the church? Didn't we serve the church? I was there every week.

I did everything you asked me, and Jesus is going to look at them and say, what?

Depart from me. I never knew you. And that's a really important passage because

I think most people do that to scare you into knowing him.

The problem is Jesus doesn't say, depart from me. You never knew me.

That would honestly be much easier. Well, depart from me.

You never knew me because then it would make it go, well, you need to get to

know Jesus. That would solve your problems. Jesus says, I never knew you.

Now that's hard because I can't make Jesus know me.

Can't make Jesus do anything. I'm at the mercy of him, just like the disciples

are. If he tells me to get in a boat, yes, sir.

I've seen what you can do to wind and waves. I don't want to see what you do to me.

We are at the mercy of Christ Jesus, and we don't need to chase experiences,

and we don't need to try to be the smartest person in the room.

Neither of those things are inherently evil, but they are not salvific.

They don't save you. Jesus saves you.

If you remember about a month ago, my whole sermon, I probably said it 37,000

times in that sermon, Jesus can save anybody.

Jesus can save anybody. And maybe the most important take-home note that week

was, I don't know if this was as encouraging to you, Jesus can save anybody. You can't save anybody.

Jesus can save anybody. You can't save anybody, including yourself.

That's the good news here is Jesus saves. The good news isn't necessarily found

right in this passage. The good news is that we have the rest of the New Testament.

And we realize he didn't leave 11 of these 12 disciples with a hard heart.

We're going to continue to read. Most of you have read the gospels.

You know, this isn't the last time the disciples don't get it.

In fact, none of them get it until after Jesus' resurrection,

none of them, zero percent.

You think of how many people say things like, you know, if God would do this, I would believe in him.

If he would save this person, if he would do this miracle, if God would show

up right now in a ball of fire, I'd believe him.

Listen, there's an easy answer to that. The disciples saw him do way more than

that, and they didn't believe him. They didn't know who he was.

Jesus saves. He continues to walk with his disciples. He gets in the boat with

them and he continues to walk with them.

He continues to see them for who they are. He continues to pray for them.

He continues to teach them. He continues to love them. He continues to discipline

them. And so it is with you and me.

If he has called you to himself, he continues to do all of those things for you too.

He doesn't, as amazing as it is, come in flesh and bone, make himself known,

and then you don't get it or I don't get it. Him go, well, you had your shot.

That would be, depart from me. You never knew me. But since it's depart from me, I never knew you.

He goes, listen, if you're mine, you will know me because I will know you.

I know you. I see you.

I'm you. I'm disciplining you. I pray that if there's anything else that we

walk away from this morning, it's this, that the work that Jesus does in you

is so much greater than the circumstances He may change outside of you.

The worldly problem that He may fix in your life, the health issue that He may

take care of, the family issue that He may or may not solve,

the bully at school that He may or may not get rid of, right?

All of these things in our lives that we certainly wish would go away,

we certainly wish would be fixed.

There is no indefinite promise that those things will go away.

The promise is, I see you, I know you, I love you, and you will be with me forever.

That one day I will make every wrong right. I will make every injustice justifiable.

I will make everything that's ever happened correct.

I will bring it all back and you will be with me forever.

Why? Because he does a work in you. He does a work in you.

All right, as we close, first thing, all right, Jesus sees you.

You can't hide anything from him. He knows where you're prideful.

He knows where you're arrogant. He knows where you're cowardly.

He knows where you're lazy.

He knows what you're good at. He knows what you're bad at. He knows what you're

good at that you think you're bad at.

He knows what you're bad at that you think you're good at. He knows everything about you. He knows.

And those sins that you have kept deep down and try to say, well,

it's not that big of a deal. You know, that's just who I am.

And I'm not really going to be able to fix that on this side of heaven. He knows those things.

But he doesn't just see you, he goes to you.

He intends to pass by you. He intends, God intends to make himself known through

the person and work of Jesus in your life.

The great I am allows himself to be touched and felt and seen and cut and bruised

and ultimately murdered on a cross.

Why? So that his people can see his face one day, so that he can be with them.

He can walk with them once again in a garden called the New Jerusalem.

He can be with them forever and he can love them forever. He cannot just see

them from a distance from the beach, but he can walk with them and talk with them.

He sees you. He knows you. He has come to you.

And listen, Jesus saves you, saves you. Jesus gets in the boat with you.

He walks with you. He disciplines you. He loves you.

He does all of the things that he promised he would do.

And what is his encouragement to the disciples? What are the only words that

Jesus says in this whole story?

Take heart, I am, do not be afraid.

That's the message. Take heart, I am, do not be afraid.

Take heart, I am. I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

I am the creator of the heavens and the earth.

I am the sovereign Lord of the universe. Not one speck of dust goes anywhere

without my hand allowing it or purposely doing it.

I am the one who is in control of all things everywhere at all times.

I am outside of time and space. Whatever was happening a million years ago,

whatever's going to happen a million years from now, God is not just knowing those things.

He didn't just see those things. He is at those places right now,

sovereignly ruling over those moments.

And as great as all of those things are, that's not why he tells them to take courage.

He tells them take courage because that sovereign Lord has made himself known to them.

Means nothing to know who God is if you don't trust him to take care of your

life, your situation, your life, and your death, your kids, your job, your stuff.

If you don't trust that to the sovereign Lord of the universe,

you'll always be afraid.

You'll come into church every week going, I just need a word,

man. Can you play this song for me?

I need an experience. Is there a revival coming up. Man, I'm just going to turn on Christian radio.

I hope they play my favorite song. Does anybody have a book I can read?

Is there a devotional you can give me? Man, I'm just doing this and I can't

do this right. Man, I've got this sin I can't fix.

You're terrified because you failed to trust that God has saved you.

He has saved you, not because of something you've done.

There is nothing in the disciples that makes God go, man, these guys, real sharp.

Really, you've been reading the Old Testament your whole life and you can't

see these phrases. I literally said, I am. And you didn't go, oh yeah, Exodus 13.

Take heart. I am. Don't be afraid.

Another way to say that is let the peace of God dwell in you richly.

What is the peace of God? The peace of God is you'll never figure it out.

You'll never know everything in theological terms that you wish you would.

You'll never do everything you wish you could do. Your life will never go exactly as you want it to.

And Jesus' response is that is, I am. Be encouraged.

All right, let's pray. Father, thank you for our time this morning in your word.

Thank you that you are good, gracious, and kind.

That as we walk out of here this morning, we would be reminded from our time

in Mark 6 that you, first and foremost, that you see us.

You see everything about us. You see all the things that we wish weren't true.

You see the things that we don't even know that we should have seen.

You know every blind spot and every blunder and every crevice of our heart that,

has sin dwelling inside of it that we don't know.

You see us, but God, most importantly, that you have come to us,

that you have come to us, that you have literally split heaven and earth apart,

that your son, Jesus Christ, is the embodiment of who you are,

that he took on flesh and blood, that he was truly God and truly man,

and he truly walked among his people.

God, that we would be reminded that you save, that you save through the blood,

and body of your son, Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit,

you save people. You save us. You come to us.

You see us, you know us, and you save us. You get in the boat with us.

No matter how frustrating it is, how frustrated we get with ourselves,

you get all the things that we wish we could make right, all of the knowledge

we wish we could gain, the questions we wish we could answer,

all those frustrations, God, that does not deter you from walking with your people.

It does not deter you from, again, lovingly coming beside us and carrying us

from beginning to end, God, that what you began in us, you will finish,

that you are able to save us to the uttermost because you make intercession for us.

You pray for us, God, ultimately that you pay for the righteous penalty and

wrath that should be poured on our head at the cross.

God, that we one day will be with you forever. Yeah, great. Amen.