So last month, PJ and I had an opportunity to go to a gathering sponsored by Revive Our Hearts Ministry, and it was in Colorado Springs. Some of y'all are familiar with that ministry. It's led by Nancy Lee DeMoss Wohlgemuth. But while we were there, we went to a place called the Garden of the Gods. Raise your hand if you've been there. Okay, so a lot of you know what I'm talking about. It's these... These, they're small mountains, but they've like, go up and they're like out of place because they're just there in flat areas. And they're these sandstone mountains. And at the park, they give a explanation of how these came to be. And that is that the pressure in the earth got got really high and it pushed him up. And they don't say anything about God, but in my mind, as I was hearing the explanation, I thought, well, maybe it was the pressure in the earth pushed him up, but it was God that ordained it. And it's God that has the power over creation. And we need to give God the credit for what he does. Well, in today's passage, We're going to cover three different types of events. And they all show that Jesus has power over creation. And I'll also use the word nature. He has power over nature. So the outline is Jesus has power over nature as demonstrated by the multiplying of bread and fish. And that Jesus has power over nature as demonstrated by walking on water. and calming the wind, and then Jesus has power over nature as demonstrated by healing the sick. And you may ask, well, what is nature? So Miriam Webster says, nature is the external world in its entirety. So it'd be the animals, the plants, the things that grow, the mountains, the wind, the rain. We wouldn't think of things like a car or a computer your phone or an airplane as nature. You know what nature is. Well, we think of God as being over nature. And in John 10, 20, Jesus tells us, I and the Father are one. So, if God's over nature, Jesus is over nature because Jesus and the Father are one. So, the title today of the sermon is, Behold the Wonder. As we behold the wonder of what Jesus does, we should be astonished, be amazed, be in awe. We should have admiration. And that should lead us to the conclusion that Jesus is worthy of our worship, our praise, and our devotion. So that's where we're going. Now, the first half of the Gospel of Mark develops the identity of Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God. And the second half concerns the mission of Jesus, which is the cross. And you see this pivot clearly in Mark 8, 31, where Mark says, and he, he being Jesus, began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed and after three days rise again. So, you see that pivot now from Mark describing his identity to now describing his mission, and that's what the second half of Mark is. Now, we're in the first half, so today we're still going to learn more about the identity of Jesus as God who has power over nature. Now, to put in context where we are as we start the passage today, we're in Mark 6, if you haven't turned there. But in the first part of Mark, Jesus sends out the 12, and he gives them power, including power over evil spirits. And in fact, in 6 verses 12 and 13, Mark says, so they went out and proclaimed that people should repent, and they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them. So that's what they did. Then Mark interjects something that happened around this time and that was the beheading of John the Baptist and that's what we studied last week. Now we come and we're gonna go over three different events that happen next and we're gonna ponder each one as it occurs to keep them straight. So, you can open your Bibles to Mark 6, and we're going to start reading in verse 30 through 44. And by the way, as we're reading, if you'll notice in verse 30, Mark calls the 12 the apostles. And when we get to verse 35, he calls them disciples. So be thinking in your mind, why does he change? Why does he do that? Verse 30, the apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. And he said to them, come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while. For many were coming and going and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. And when it grew late, the disciples came to him and said, This is a desolate place and the hour is now late. Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat. But he answered them, you give them something to eat. And they said to him, shall we go and buy 200 denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat? And he said to them, how many loaves do you have? Go and see. And when they had found out, they said five and two fish. Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups by hundreds and by fifties. And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up 12 baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. And those who ate the loaves were 5,000 men." So in verse 30, it says the apostles returned. What is an apostle? An apostle is a sent one. And what had they just done? They'd been sent out and they had been doing healing, they had been working and driving out evil spirits, and then they come back. So they are appropriately called apostles because they've been sent out. What's a disciple? Well, that's a student of someone. When we get to verse 35, they're functioning as disciples. And so Mark used the precise word to call them disciples. In verse 31, we're told that Jesus knew their condition. They were in need of rest. They were so busy, they didn't have time to eat. So they go in a boat and they intend to go to a desolate place. But the crowd sees them and they beat them there. Now, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all contain this story of the five loaves and the two fish. which we're getting into. In fact, when I was studying, one place said, this is the only miracle that's in all four Gospels. But as I got to studying, the empty tomb is in all four Gospels, and so that would be a miracle, a greater miracle. In verse 34, Jesus has compassion on them. And how's that shown? Well, he begins to teach the crowd He's providing spiritual nourishment Can you see yourself in the crowd wanting to come to Jesus and hear from him and be fed and In Matthew, he tells us that Jesus was also healing the sick at this same time. So he was teaching and healing. Healing again shows the compassion Jesus had. He met physical and spiritual needs. Now, think about this, the church is a continuation of Jesus' ministry. So, it makes perfect sense that as a church, we should meet physical and spiritual needs. And that's what you see in the body as we interact with one another. Now, in verse 35, you see they are sitting there, the disciples, they're being taught as Jesus is teaching, so they're called disciples. You know, another thing I noticed that Jesus was teaching the disciples, and that was to be flexible. Because, you know, they were going to go, they thought they were going to go get a rest, and then now they go to work, working with all these people, these thousands of people. And church life is like that. You may have something you think you're going to do, but God calls you to do something else when you get to where you think you're going to do that. And we need to be flexible submitting to God. Now, they start thinking about how they're going to feed everyone. Maybe they're starting to get hungry, but they say, well, it costs 200 denarii and one denarius was a day's wage. Most people work six days, so when you factor that out, that's about eight months of wages it would take to feed them. So, here the disciples are thinking in the physical realm. And I think that's...we normally default that. When a problem comes, we think of the physical realm. But there's a lesson here, and that's to see if there's a way there's a spiritual lesson or a spiritual realm we ought to be thinking about in an issue. So think about what challenge you're facing. Is there a spiritual aspect God may be wanting to deal with your heart about through this challenge? Now, in 38, Jesus says, well, how many loaves do we have? And they found five loaves and two fish. And it's actually John that gives more information. It turns out it was a boy that had these. He had the five, and they were barley loaves. Do you have that slide? There were barley loaves and he had two fish. So there's the verse that John gives us some more information. And I was impressed by this boy's willingness to give up his loaves and fish so that these thousands could be fed. Very impressive. Well, when we gather to worship, when we gather to hear a sermon, We use our senses, we use our sight, because you can see things on the board. You use your ears because you're hearing. But educators tell us it's good to engage all the senses, as many as you can. And so I got to thinking, well, is there a way we could engage the sense of taste, smell, and feel? And there is. So yesterday, PJ and I baked some barley bread. So barley bread is what these five loaves were. And it's cheaper than wheat. It was called the poor man's bread. So we bake some, and we want to give everyone a slice so you could feel like you're there. And you have a slice. And that's why you have a napkin. Barley bread has only half the gluten that wheat has. So it's crumbly. So just be careful so that our cleaning people do not get upset with me. But we've got some guys that are going to pass it out. You can do that now. So we cooked enough so that everyone can get a slice. And if you have kids that are like, oh, I forgot to announce that kids can go to the children's church. But if you have kids there, you can take one for them so they can have some. If it gets to a place and the bag's empty, then raise your hand because we have more bags we'll pass out. So I have a question for the kids that are here. Look at verse 39, and what season do you think it was? You can shout it out if you think you figure it out. The clue is in verse 39. Spring, okay. The grass was green, so it'd be spring, could be summer. If they had rain, it could be early fall. But their seasons are kind of like ours. So as you're reading through the Bible, you can kind of get an idea where Jesus is in his ministry by these clues sometimes. But it would be the warmer months. Good. Now, Jesus then looks up to heaven and prays. And I was thinking, the object of the blessing in such a prayer is not the food, but it's God who gave the food. And Jesus looked up to heaven, which is regarded as where God is, in dependence on the Father for a miraculous provision of this food. And then your version may say they were satisfied. If you have the King James, it says they were filled. So they had plenty, so much that there were 12 baskets full of food left over, and it fed 5,000 men, There would be women and children, so it could be 10,000 or 20,000 actually there. But after the next section, we're going to find that those that enjoyed this feast did not understand what it meant. So, the first point is Jesus has power over nature as demonstrated by the multiplying of bread and fish. Now we're going to go to the next passage, which is verse 45 through 52, if you'll read along with me. Immediately, he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountaintop to pray. And 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 them by, but when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out, For they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, take heart, it is I. Do 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. So, Jesus sends his disciples on a boat to Bethsaida, and Beth means house, and sud means fish, so Bethsaida means fish house, or house of fish. We don't know exactly where Bethsaida was, and in fact, there may be more than one Bethsaida, because it means fish house, so there could be communities called that. If you go to verse 53 of our passage, it says they arrived at Gennesaret, And then if you read John's account of this, it says they were going to Capernaum. So I tried to wrestle with how does that work, all these three different places. So if you look at the map, And you can see Bethsaida has a question mark, because we don't know where it is. But Gennesaret is on the northwest side of the Sea of Galilee, and it's actually an area. It's a city, but it's also an area when people say Gennesaret. So, Gennesaret's northeast, and Capernaum is northeast. So, they're going in that direction. And so, I think it all fits together as far as the geography, in case you're into that. So, in verse 46, Jesus goes up on a mountain to pray. You ever wonder what He was praying? It doesn't tell us what He was praying. But if He was praying like He did in John 17, then He was probably praying for the people and that He would bring glory to the Father. He's always close to the Father, you see Him praying a lot, and that's how we are to be, close to the Father. Now, the NASB says that they were straining at the oar, so they were going and they were going against the wind. If they left when it was just getting dark, say they left at 8 o'clock to go on this trip, it is now the fourth watch of the night, which would be in Roman time between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. It's late night, or you could say early morning. So it could have been eight hours that they were out on the water. I mean, it was a significant amount of time. And several of these men were experienced. They were fishermen, so they're used to being out in boats. But they realize they're in a bad situation now, because they're not making progress. And Jesus is up on the mountain. It's probably miles away from where they are. How did Jesus see them? His omniscience. He knows all there is to know. Nothing is hidden from Him. So, He goes out to where they are, and the disciples thought they were seeing a ghost. And actually, in your Bible it says ghost, but the Greek word is phantasma, P-H-A-N-T-A-S-M-A. So here's another kid question. Kids, any word that's kind of like ghost that we get from phantasma, P-H-A-N-T-A-S-M-A? You can shout it out if you think you know. Phantom, right. So we have that word, phantom. And that's what it was like, what they thought they were seeing, a phantom. Very good. Now, Jesus says, do not be afraid. That do not be afraid or do not fear, that's in the Bible over a hundred times, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament. With Jesus, we do not need to fear. He sometimes uses what we fear as a means of bringing us closer to Him. And He's going to do that with the disciples. He's going to use what they fear to bring them closer to Him. So, on a personal note, is there anything or any person that you are fearing? What does this fear reveal about your trust in God? So then Jesus answered, also He said, it is I. And literally He says, I am. And it could just be He's identifying Himself, it's me. But it also is an echo of what we hear in the Old Testament when God reveals Himself. Remember in Exodus 3, When God's telling Moses that He's going to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt, and He tells Moses, He says, I am who I am, thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, I am has sent you to me. I am speaks of the self-existence of God, the eternal existence, His being, who He is. He is I am. As I was studying, I ran across something else I didn't know, and that is that the Jews believed that only God could walk on water. And so when I tried to track that down, so they get that from Job 9, verse 8, where it says, who alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the sea? And the answer to that is God. God is the one that stretched out the heavens, and he trampled the waves of the sea. So trampling the waves of the sea is like walking. When you trample, you walk on something. And so in Job, they get the idea God can walk on water. So that would make more sense. When they see him, they say, oh, this is someone walking on water. This is God. So that's another way they could be getting this across. Now, God calms the wind. This is not the calming of the storm. Back two chapters ago in Mark 4, there was a time when they were out on the lake, and Jesus was in the boat, and they were, it was a storm. They were taken on water, and it says they thought they might perish. So, I mean, it was, they were in a bad situation there. And Jesus calms the storm. That's not what this is. This is the wind is going against them. They're not about to sink. They're just not getting anywhere. And Jesus calms the wind. Now, Mark 14, I'm sorry, Matthew chapter 14 has this same account. And Matthew tells us that besides Jesus walking on the water, you know who else was walked on the water? Peter, so this was the time where Peter got out and walked on the water. So, a number of miracles are involved here. There's Jesus walking on the water, Peter walking on the water, Jesus stilling the wind, and then there's another miracle that John 6.21 tells us about when you read that passage that describes what happens. And he says, then they were glad to take him into the boat. The him is Jesus. And immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. So that's like Jesus gets in the boat, calms the wind, and then like warp speed, they get to Gennesaret. Okay, so it's like that. So that's another miracle. Now, we get to verse 52. And just before verse 52 and 51, it says, the wind stopped and they were greatly astonished. For they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened. So, this is a hard verse. I've spent two months prayerfully pondering what this verse means. And I'm going to tell you what I came up with. There may be other ways to interpret it. But, they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened. So, I think clearly, it means they were spiritually imperceptive, okay? They didn't understand everything. I think that's granted. If you go back to Mark 4 when there was the calming of the storm, Mark says, he said to them, he being Jesus, why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith? And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, who then is this that even the wind and the sea obey him? So see, at this point, they see the miracle But they don't know who Jesus is. When they say, who then is this? They're trying to figure out who Jesus is. Now, after the feeding of the 5,000, We get a little more information in John chapter 6, which tells us the same story. In verse 14, it says, when the people saw the sign that he had done, that's the feeding, that's the multiplying of the five loaves. By the way, did everyone get barley bread? If anyone didn't get barley bread, raise your hand because we've got extra. Okay, everyone got it? Okay. Anyone want seconds? No, I'm just joking. Okay. Okay. Because in John 6, it says, when the people saw the sign that He had done, they said, this is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world. So, a prophet is one who proclaims the Word of God. And so, in a sense, Jesus was a prophet. So they're getting a glimpse of who he is, but they still don't know who he fully is. This is short of saying he's the Son of God, he's the Messiah. So they're not there yet. So that's after the feeding of the 5,000. They did not grasp, and this is referring to the people, but I think the disciples are included in this, because they were right there with the people. They didn't grasp the truth concerning the deity of Christ, which the miracles were continually demonstrating. So, that's what I think it's talking about when they didn't understand. Now, it goes on to say, for their heart was hardened, When you hear that heart was hardened, who do you think of? Pharaoh, because, you know, his heart was hardened. That was an active hardening God did so that Pharaoh wouldn't want to let the Hebrews get free from Egypt. But when I looked up this word for hardened in Greek, it is perfect passive participle. So it's not active, it's passive. It means to grow hard or callous, to become dull, to lose the power of understanding. And that can happen to people. We become hardened, we become callous. So that's what that refers to. Now, this calming of the wind that we just read about in Mark, Matthew describes it also. And in Matthew 14, we're told, and when they got into the boat, now this time when Matthew says, when they got into the boat, you know who the they is? It's gonna be Jesus and Peter, okay? They're getting into the boat. The wind ceased, and those in the boat worshiped him, saying, truly, you are the Son of God. So from what you see in Matthew's account, it appears that this is a point where they start to develop faith in Jesus as the Son of God. This is a process for them, and for us it's a process. They still don't have total understanding because I was reading ahead in chapter 8 of Mark, And there's twice where Jesus says to the disciples, do you not understand? So, I mean, they're still, they don't understand it all. And in fact, there's a high point in chapter 8, verse 29, where Peter says, Thou art the Christ. So there they're starting to get it. But I think it's not until after his death and resurrection does it all come together for them, who Jesus really is. So the second point is that Jesus has power over nature as demonstrated by walking on water and calming the wind. Now we'll move on to the last section, and that's verses 53 through 56. You can read with me. When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore. And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he came, in villages and cities to countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as has touched it were made well." So he's healing everyone that comes to him, even just touching the fringe of his garment. And this is common grace. Okay, grace is unmerited favor, it's a gift, as a manifestation of the compassion of God. And no requirement as all were healed. So whatever beliefs someone had, they touched them, they got healed. Common grace, Grudem has a definition for common grace, and that is, Common grace is the grace of God by which He gives people innumerable blessings that are not part of salvation. It is not restricted to believers. So, that is being shown. Now, common grace can lead to saving grace because when you think of all these people that got healed, did they eventually die? get sick again and then die. Yeah, they're not here with us now. So, we benefit from the common grace of God, but there is a saving grace that we need. And what is that? It is grace that is unmerited favor that saves us. In Romans 3, Paul says, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. and are justified, that would be justified is to be declared righteous by His grace, His unmerited favor, as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. We have to believe that Jesus died in our place on the cross and took the punishment of death for our sins. If you have not experienced saving grace, then talk to an elder or deacon or a friend. I'll be up at the front after the service if you want to come up and talk or pray. But again, common grace can lead to saving grace. So again, as Jesus met physical needs for healing, It made clear His power and led to revealing His identity as the Messiah, the Son of God. So, let's review where we've gone. We've talked about Jesus has power over nature as demonstrated by the multiplying of bread and fish. Olivia, you have the slide. Jesus has power over nature as demonstrated by walking on water. and calming the wind. Jesus has power over nature as demonstrated by healing the sick. Jesus has power over nature, His creation, over food, over health, over weather. He has power over all things. We need to behold the wonder of who Jesus is. We need to give Him the glory that is due Him, the credit that is due Him. Now, if you believe that Jesus is all-powerful, how would that affect our perspective during different circumstances? What if you're going through something hard, moving, changing jobs, having to give a public speech, whatever, family issues, whatever? Knowing that God is all-powerful can let us trust in Him, to lean into Him. By His power, we can find comfort and confidence. I was thinking, what's the best way to learn something? We can be told it, we can see a demonstration, but it's best to experience it. I was teaching my son years ago how to tie a tie. And I could tell him how to tie it, but he just needed to experience it and work on it and mess it up and then try again. And finally, he got it, how to tie a tie. Well, here, the people experienced the bread and fish expanding miraculously. They experienced it. The disciples experienced the wind calming and seeing Jesus walk on the water. The people experienced healing from their illness. So they experienced the power of Jesus. That should bring them to an awe of him. And what better way to show others our God than by having an awe of the greatness of God and the beauty of his truth through worship and adoration. But worship is not just a means of winning the world. It provides our motivation for doing so. If our hearts are filled with awe, we will also have overflowing joy as we know Jesus, and we'll want to share Jesus with those we meet. So, it's kind of like if you had developed a cure for cancer, you'd want to tell everyone. We have discovered the only one that can save us. We should want to tell everyone, forgive us for being silent, Lord, about what you have done. Does anyone come to mind that you need to share about Jesus? I've been studying Revelation, and in Revelation 4, John sees the elders with golden crowns around the throne of God, And there's four creatures around the throne with eyes all over them. And the four creatures were saying day and night, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come. And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the 24 fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created. So there is continual, 24-hour-a-day worship of God in heaven. And remember the Lord's Prayer? There's that part that says, thy kingdom come, thy will be done. on earth as it is in heaven. In heaven, they're worshiping continually. We should be worshiping continually, or at least have our heart of worship toward the Lord. Secondly, the 24 elders fall down and cast their crowns before the throne. That's a picture of submission. I don't know if you noticed it, but the world resists submission to God. but the Christian willingly submits. Now, to have the foundation of our life resting on Jesus, being in awe of His power over nature and mankind, and then to know the grace God has brought us through Jesus can affect how we respond to problems. How does that look? Well, when problems occur, we can respond with anger. with alcohol, with withdrawal, which all can lead to loss of hope. Or we can respond with dependence on Jesus and gratefulness for what he's done, which lead us to hope. I'm going to close with eight practical ways to keep the awesomeness of God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the triune God, in the back of our minds and thoughts. And you'll probably think of some other ways that are helpful for you. One, when we see nature or creation, give credit to the Creator, God. When we refuse to recognize God as our creator, it often leads to us desiring to be the ruler and to have the glory and honor and power ourself. But give the credit to God. Second, when you're praying, you can start off by words of adoration to God. And some of y'all use the acts. acronym, adoration, and then you'll go through confession, we do need to continually confess, and then thanksgiving, and then we get to our request, our supplication to God. Three, when the world comes up with a complex explanation for what God did, Remember that it's God that caused the event. I was thinking about those mountains in the Garden of the Gods. The earth had an explanation. I mean, the world had an explanation, but really, ultimately, it was God. Four, memorize verses that capture the awe of God. Deuteronomy 10.17. For the Lord your God is a God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who is not partial and takes no bribe. Exodus 15, 11, who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? Psalm 8, 1. Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. You have set your glory above the heavens. Isaiah 6, 8. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. Romans 11, 33. Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways. or John 1.14, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. Revelation has a lot of looking into heaven and seeing the glory. I've already quoted some of those verses out of Revelation. Fifth, recognize that because of the vastness of God, we will not be able to comprehend Him fully. Even in the passage today, the disciples are struggling to see that God came in human flesh, in Jesus. Six, when we encounter problems, remember His awesome power and might and look at the problem from a spiritual perspective. Seven, when you start to view life as a series of random events, realize that the truth is that God is sovereign over the events. And lastly, eighth, spending time in His Word gives us the correct view of God and lifts Him high. As you read, you just get a greater appreciation and awe of God as you read His Word. Let us pray. Father, when we see the mountains or the ocean or a beautiful sunset, it can take our breath away. As we behold the wonder and beauty before us, help the object of our devotion not stop at the creation itself, but may our object of devotion and awe be the one who did the creating of all that is of beauty. May the wonders of your creation help us see the source You, our Lord, and bring us to a place of awe and praise to you, who is holy, perfect, almighty, all-knowing, fully sovereign. Without you, we would not be made. We praise you and give glory to you, and may our awe of you transform our lives with gratefulness, obedience, devotion. In Jesus' name.