S8 Episode #21- Facing the Storm with Jes French

THE ONE WITH Jes + Mark 6 [revisited]

This week on The Collected Podcast, Jes revisits the powerful moment in Mark 6 when Jesus walks on water, uncovering how His compassion, His nearness in our storms, and His desire to reshape our hearts still speak to us today. Drawing from the disciples’ exhaustion, their missed miracle after feeding the 5,000, and their fear in the wind and waves, this episode invites listeners to see how Jesus meets us in our own moments of weariness, resistance, and uncertainty. You’ll hear how He reveals His glory, redirects our paths, sometimes through storms, and stays present with us even when we don’t recognize Him. If you’re longing for encouragement, a fresh perspective, or a reminder that God may be moving you from a place of stubbornness to a place of beauty and healing, this conversation will meet you right where you are.

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Jesus Walks on Water

Mark 6:45-56.

45 Immediately after this, Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.

47 Later that night, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. 48 He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, 50 because they all saw him and were terrified.

Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” 51 Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, 52 for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.

53 When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret  (jen-sr-ay) and anchored there. 54 As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. 55 They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.

Ok, let’s break this down verse by verse and see what we can glean from this story about the character of Jesus. 

Verse 45 starts out, “immediately after this…” After what?

LET’S BACK UP

Well, Jesus had just fed 5,000 people with only 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. The disciples had just witnessed a miracle, and yet many commentaries that I read tend to believe that the disciples didn’t recognize that a miracle had indeed taken place. There is a notable absence of admiration at the end of Mark 6:30-44 which gives an account of the story. We also read in verse 52 that they did not understand the loaves because their hearts were hardened. So right from the get go, we can read this story with the understanding that the disciples did not yet have an accurate view of who Jesus was and what He was coming to do. 

I find this particularly interesting because the disciples had just returned from their own successful missionary journeys where Jesus sent them out in pairs to teach, perform miracles and heal people in His name. Mark 6:30-34 tells us: 

30 “The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all that they had done and taught. 31 He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a remote place and rest for a while.” For many people were coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.

32 So they went away in the boat by themselves to a remote place, 33 but many saw them leaving and recognized them, and they ran on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them.34 When he went ashore, he saw a large crowd and had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Then he began to teach them many things.”

The disciples had finally made it back to Jesus and are most likely craving rest, food and quality time with their teacher. Jesus always recognized the importance of rest, yet when He saw the crowd that had gathered, Jesus had compassion on the crowd and began to teach. 

Inconvenienced by a change of plans

The Bible isn’t clear on the thoughts and feelings of the disciples here, but I imagine that they felt put out or inconvenienced by the crowds. They wanted rest, but they saw the crowds as more work to be done. 

David Guzik explains in The Enduring Word Commentary, “The disciples often saw the crowds as work, and as constant demands, especially at a time like this when their well-deserved rest was interrupted by the multitude. But Jesus saw them and was moved with compassion. Each face reflected a need, a hunger, or a hurt. Being a thoroughly others-centered person, Jesus cared more about the needs of someone else than he cared about His own needs.”

I wonder if the disciples missed the miracle because they were sulking about losing the rest that they believed they were entitled to after so much hard work traveling and teaching. 

This thought was immediately followed by a gentle tug of conviction. How often am I guilty of the same thing? I know there have been many times in my life where I felt I was entitled to one thing or another, but it turned out that God had a different plan. A God-ordained “inconvenience” might have been the very thing that He was using to reveal His glory and work a miracle. 

My prayer for us today is that we don’t let our annoyance at a change of plans get in the way of seeing the new work that The Lord is doing in and around us. Perhaps the miracle is seeing God carry you through and provide for you when you are stretched thin and out of your own resources.  

BACK TO THE BOAT

So, back to our original story, the disciples get in the boat and are headed to Bethsaida, without Jesus. Keep this location of Bethsaida in mind because we will come back to something significant about this place later. 

So the disciples travel on without Jesus, and Jesus goes to the mountainside to pray. What stands out to me here, is that Jesus has been ministering, performing miracles and engaging with crowds all day, he also recently learned about the execution of John the Baptist. He must be exhausted, processing, grieving. YET, in his times of greatest need and weariness, he ALWAYS turns to prayer. I find that so often when I’m weary, wiped out or worn down, the last thing I want to do is find the energy to pray. Yet I know from past experience that in those moments, even a simple prayer is the very thing my soul needs to begin to move toward rest and refreshment. 

Earlier that same day, we read in Mark 6:31, “Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” For the toiler, the one always on the go, Jesus is the Rest-Giver. He gives permission and space to lie down in green pastures. He gives rest to the weary soul. 

FIGHTING THE WAVES

The next part of the story is where things get really interesting! It’s about 3AM and Jesus can see the disciples rowing hard against the wind and waves. Verse 48 says that ‘the wind was against them’. The wording of that really stuck out to me. Have you ever felt like everything was against you… even nature itself seems to be pushing you back? 

This makes me think of a time when Jon and I went paddle boarding in the Catawba river. When we were paddling against the current, each stroke with a struggle, and if we stopped to rest for even a moment, all the progress we had made was quickly destroyed as the current pulled us back toward where we had started. Does this speak to anyone right now? Is this how your life feels? Like you just can’t catch a break? If so, I get it, and please stick with me because I truly believe that God has encouragement for you in this story today! 

WHEN JESUS GETS IN THE BOAT

Jesus sees the disciples struggling on the boat. Jesus walks on water with the intention of passing by the disciples – this is the SAME TERM used when God passed by Moses on the mountain and Moses was changed. Just as God was revealing His glory to Moses,  Jesus also intended to show the disciples His glory, thus leaving them changed. Leaving them with a longing for and deeper understanding of the power and presence of the Messiah. 

BUT the disciples didn’t recognize Jesus… They thought Jesus was a ghost. They didn’t recognize who He was, and once again their inaccurate view of Jesus led them to sitting in a place of fear, confusion and uncertainty in the storm.  The disciples saw Jesus walking on water, but they were still afraid, even though they already witnessed Jesus calm a storm back in Mark 4. In this story, Jesus was sleeping in the boat and a strom blew in, beginning to fill the boat with water. The disciples are filled with fear and they wake Jesus. Mark 4:39-41 tells us… 

39 He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Silence! Be still!” The wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 Then he said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

41 And they were terrified and asked one another, “Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!”

The command that Jesus uses to calm the storm here is the very same Greek term that Jesus used in Mark 1:25 to cast out an evil spirit. This is an important reminder for us today that Jesus can calm the chaos and confusion going on around us, but also the chaos and confusion going on inside of us. All things in Heaven, on Earth and under the Earth are subject to His authority. 

What does Jesus do when he realizes that the disciples missed his glory? Does he keep walking, disappointed in his hard-hearted followers? Did he give up on them when their hearts didn’t immediately change? No,  Jesus stopped and stayed with them. He gets in the boat and his presence stays with them. The disciples were no longer enduring the wind and waves on their own, they had the presence of Jesus to calm their anxious hearts and give them a fresh perspective. I feel like someone out there today needs the reminder that you are not on the waves all alone! Even though you feel tossed about in confusion or uncertainty, the presence of the LORD Most High is with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you, and even though you are tossed on the waves, you will not go under and you do not have to face it alone. 

And just like with the disciples, Jesus is about the condition of our hearts. Jesus may not stop the wind and waves, but this story reminds us that He is kind and He is present. He will show His glory and He will get in the boat and stay with you. Jesus’ main purpose is not always to change your circumstance, but to change your heart. 

When Jesus got into the boat with the disciples, he did also calm the wind. The wind is particularly significant in this story, because it not only shows the power of the Son of God, but it also changed the direction that the disciples were heading. As we saw in the beginning of the story, the disciples originally set out to travel to Bethsaida, but at the end of the passage, we see that they landed in Gennesaret (jen-sr-ay) and began healing people there. 

Even more miraculous is the little detail that we get in John’s version of this story. John 6:21 says, “Then they were willing to take him on board, and at once the boat was at the shore where they were heading.”

David Guzik writes, “Jesus rescued His disciples from working in futility. This was a miracle meant to assure them that He was in fact in control and that He would always lovingly be there to help them fulfill what He commanded.”

The disciples could stop fighting against the wind and suddenly arrive at their next destination, only to find that Jesus had a whole new destination in mind for them. 

A CHANGE IN DIRECTION

And now for a little geography lesson. In Luke 10:13-15, Jesus said, “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades."  We see here that Bethsaida is now most remembered for its stubborn lack of faith.

In contrast, Gennesaret (jen-sr-ay)  means “garden of the prince, valley of riches”. It was known as the “paradise of Galilee” because of its fertility and beauty. And it was in this place, this unplanned for diversion, that Jesus and the disciples were met with people with fertile hearts, ready and willing to accept Christ, healing and the gospel. 

So often in life, the storms that seem to come up out of nowhere will chart us on a new path. God can use these storms to get you to the new place that He has for you. A place of open-hearted healing, restoration and miracles! I believe that today God is trying to move someone from Bethsaida– a place of stubborn lack of faith– to Gennesaret (jen-sr-ay)-- a place of fertility and beauty. And God may be using a storm to change your direction, but even in the storm, Christ will never leave you and He offers rest for your soul. 

NEXT STEPS

Here are a few action steps to help you dip deeper this week!

  1. Reflect on Your “Bethsaida”.  Spend a few quiet minutes journaling about the places in your life where you may be resisting God, holding onto old expectations, or struggling to trust His direction. Then, ask God for Redirection. If you feel like the wind is against you, ask the Lord whether He’s using this season to steer you toward a new “Gennesaret”—a place of beauty, openness, and healing.

  2. Invite Jesus Into Your Storm. Pray a simple, honest prayer: “Jesus, get in the boat with me.” You don’t need fancy words. Just welcome His presence into whatever feels chaotic, heavy, or confusing right now.

  3. Intentionally look for small ways God is revealing Himself, through beauty, provision, encouragement, or unexpected peace. Write down one moment each day where you sensed His nearness.

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  • The Collected Podcast is produced by Jes French and edited by Jacob Early. Cover art designed by Ben Biondo.

Most Recent, Podcast Episodes, hope, InspirationJessica BiondorecentComment