Where is Jesus When I Need Him?

January 10, 2023

There is a curious story in Mark’s gospel, chapter six. Jesus had held a three day seminar for the crowds of people who gathered to hear him. Unlike most seminars today, meals weren’t provided, and by the end of the third day, people were hungry. To make a long story short, Jesus fed them and sent them home. It is there we pick up the story. Teaching for three days is exhausting work, and Jesus wanted a little alone time to recuperate, so he sent his disciples on ahead, telling them to take the ferry to the other side of the lake while he spent some time praying (This detail is important). 

A storm came up, and these normally stolid fishermen were afraid. Wait! Haven’t we heard this story before? We read an almost identical story chapter 4; they were in a boat when a storm arose, threatening to sink the ship. They were scared then, too. But there is a difference in these stories. In the first, Jesus is asleep in the back of the boat; here, he is nowhere to be found. He’s somewhere back on land, praying. I imagine the disciples were saying to themselves, “Where is he? We need him here! Now!” 

Suddenly, they see him in the distance, walking on the water! Mark says Jesus would have passed by, except they called out to him. 

 I wonder how often I bungled my way through a crisis, missing out on what God intended for me simply because I didn’t ask for help. How often was Jesus walking by and I was grumbling because I couldn’t find him in the boat? I wanted to be able to shake him awake, to shout in his face that I’m sinking, but he wasn’t there; he was passing by.

It’s a good thing that he wasn’t in the boat, and a good thing that he’s not in the boat with me today. Hebrews 7:25 tells us that while Jesus isn’t in the boat with us, he is praying for us, which I suspect is more important. While the storm is raging, Jesus is praying for me…for you, and will come by at just the right time for us to cry out. But if we are going to see him walking on water, we have to quit looking for him in the back of the boat and be willing to stare the storm in the face. And if it looks like he’s passing by, it’s time to shout, “Lord, HELP!”