Don't See the Ghost. See Jesus!

One of the reasons people miss out on an intimate faith in Jesus is, because they allow their fears to loom larger than His presence. We look back at the disciples and judge their faith (or lack of), but the fact is we are not much different than they are. We have experienced God at work in our lives; He has answered prayer to impossible situations; we have glimpsed His power around us, yet, we still lack faith when the next big trial slams us.

In Mark 4:35-41, the disciples experienced Jesus commanding and calming the storm on the sea; in Matthew 5:1-20, they encountered the most evil site: a demon possessed man abusing himself horrifically. This man was not only possessed with a demon, but a legion of demons: 6000 of them in one body! Can you imagine? Jesus in his matchless power cast these demons into swine and they all went into the sea to drown. In Mark 5:21-43, the disciples witnessed Jesus healing a hemorrhaging woman and bring back to life a dead twelve year old girl. The disciples themselves were given authority by Jesus over unclean spirits. (Mark 6:7). And lastly before the one event that revealed their hardened heart, the disciples set their eyes on the miracle of Jesus feeding over 5000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish. (Mark 6:33-44). We ask ourselves, how could anyone ever lose faith, fear trouble, and not trust in Jesus after these?

After feeding the 5000, Jesus instructed His disciples to “…go ahead of Him to the other side of Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending away the multitude…” (Mark 6:45). Jesus sent His disciples on ahead across the sea to the other side, without Him. This seems very simple and effortless. I mean, some of them were fishermen, surely this would be easy. But what most people don’t understand is what was in the minds of these disciples every time they crossed the sea. What baggage of fear were they bringing in their hearts that made crossing the sea so terrifying? Reading an insightful article from That The World May Know website (http://www.followtherabbi.com/Brix?pageID=2754) about the Sea of Galilee, I discovered what the baggage was that harbored the hearts of the disciples. It explained their deep fear and reason why they were so incredibly afraid every time a storm arose on the sea.

In summary, the sea did not have a positive light. The Jewish people were culturally desert nomads, not seafaring natives. The disciples grew up hearing seafaring stories: monstrous beasts rising up from the depths, the sea was the place Baal went to battle with Yam, the sea god, the sea was a place of judgment (the flood of Noah and Jonah thrown into the deep). The sea represented a place of evil, evil spirits, the terrible dragon, Leviathan (which represented the pagan nations), the home of wickedness, doom and chaos. This belief would have even been more confirmed after the disciples watched Jesus cast the legion of demons from the Gerasene demonic into the swine that drown, where? The Sea! Which sea? The one they were crossing, alone, without Jesus. The first time the disciples crossed the sea, Jesus was with them. This time, Jesus sends them on their own. I commend the disciples for going; this in itself took courage. Let’s find out what happens:


“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. After bidding them farewell, He left for the mountain to pray. When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land. Seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea; and He intended to pass by them. 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. But immediately He spoke with them and said to them, "Take courage ; it is I, do not be afraid." Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped ; and they were utterly astonished, for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened.”(Mark 6:45-52).

One of the biggest lessons to be learned from this passage is “Jesus’ presence is always with us. And in His presence we are safe.” We see this first in this passage when Jesus is on the land, alone, praying. He can see His disciples, straining at the oars as the wind was beating against them. Jesus is always watching closely, no matter what the trial may be, He is watching and praying. I ponder, what was Jesus praying? The passage doesn’t say, but I believe He was praying for His men. He may have been praying that their faith would be tested, yet completed. I believe that Jesus was more concerned about these men releasing their baggage and embracing faith in His power, than their safety on the sea. Not that their safety wasn’t important, but their hearts were elevated higher.

At the right time, Jesus graces His presence on the sea, walking in victory over the deep. His intention was only to supply them with His presence, not interfere with their struggle, at least not at first. When His disciples couldn’t grasp fully the lesson to release their baggage, He came to them in the boat. But the interesting part in this scripture is that the disciples did see Jesus. Unfortunately, their fear loomed larger than the truth that stood before them; they saw a ghost and did not recognize that the One walking on the water was their Savior. Isn’t this like us, our fears will be so great, we don’t even see Jesus in our midst; our hearts, like the disciples, are hardened by our own fears. We end up missing the opportunity for intimate faith in Him. The disciples allowed all the stories and their fears learned growing up to become their focal point on the sea. Jesus wanted them to let it go; stop giving their full energy and time to this defeatable fright. He desired full faith in Him, the One they followed.

Jesus, seeing that His men had suffered enough, He got into the boat and said to them, "Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid." In essence, Jesus was saying, “My presence is here, do not be afraid. You can rest, because I AM.” Notice how the storm stopped in this passage vs. Mark 4:39. Jesus spoke to the storm in Mark 4:39, and the sea and wind obeyed Him. But in this passage, it was His very presence that stopped the storm. We underestimate the power of our Lord in our lives.

We have the very same power living in us. When we accept Jesus as our Savior, His power resides in us by His Holy Spirit. His presence is with us at all times. We are graced with it, protected by it, empowered by it, and encouraged by it. We have the ability to turn away from the ghost that fears us and cling closely to Jesus in our midst.

We all have fears that look like a scary ghost in our lives. For me, the fear of being alone without my husband has been mine for years. My grandmother, married twice and engaged a third time; she lost all three to death. My mom divorced at a young age and never remarried. She was alone raising her children. These terrified me as a young child and spilled over into my adult life. It almost kept me from even getting married.

However, God allowed me to face this ghost head on in Hilton Head, Island. While on vacation this past year, my husband was rushed to the hospital near death due to acute pancreatitis. The first four days were touch and go. I watched him lay there, lifeless, unable to embrace me, comfort me and tell me all was going to be okay. I had to come to terms that this might be the end. The ghost was scary. It would have been easy to focus on the ghost and crumble, but instead I chose to embrace my Savior. I resolved that He was with me even if the end of this beautiful marriage was at hand. I pressed into my Savior. I chose intimacy with Him and He became my comfort. His presence overwhelmed me with love and power to go forward. Thankfully, as with the disciples, He saved me. He calmed the storm in my life and healed my husband. I am able to rest not only in the sovereignty of my Jesus, but also in the arms of my husband. I took a stand and chose to see Jesus, not the ghost!

What or who is your ghost? What keeps you so afraid that you can’t embrace the power of Jesus? Don’t forget that the Great I Am walked on the water, in victory over the deep; He can also walk in victory over whatever fear that ails you. Trust Him. He’s worth it!