And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled. For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened

 

 Now when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea; and He was alone on the land.  Then He saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them.  Now about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by.  And when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost, and cried out; for they all saw Him and were troubled.  But immediately He talked with them and said to them, "Be of good cheer!  It is I; do not be afraid."  Then He went up into the boat to them, and the wind ceased.  And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled.  For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened.

When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret and anchored there.  And when they came out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, ran through that whole surrounding region, and began to carry about on beds those who were sick to wherever they heard He was.  Wherever He entered, into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in marketplaces, and begged Him that they might just touch the hem of His garment.  And as many as touched Him were made well.

 

- Mark 6:47–56 

 

Yesterday we read that the apostles, having returned from their first mission, gathered to Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught.  And He said to them, "Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while."  For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.  So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves.  But the multitudes saw them departing, and many knew Him and ran there on foot from all the cities.  They arrived before them and came together to Him.  And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd.  So He began to teach them many things.  When the day was now far spent, His disciples came to Him and said, "This is a deserted place, and already the hour is late.  Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread; for they have nothing to eat."  But He answered and said to them, "You give them something to eat."  And they said to Him, "Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?"  But He said to them, "How many loaves do you have?  Go and see."  And when they found out they said, "Five, and two fish."  Then He commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass.  So they sat down in ranks, in hundreds and in fifties.  And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among them all.  So they all ate and were filled.  And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish.  Now those who had eaten the loaves were about five thousand men.  Immediately He made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He sent the multitude away.  And when He had sent them away, He departed to the mountain to pray.

 

 Now when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea; and He was alone on the land.  Then He saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them.  Now about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by.  And when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost, and cried out; for they all saw Him and were troubled.  But immediately He talked with them and said to them, "Be of good cheer!  It is I; do not be afraid."  Then He went up into the boat to them, and the wind ceased.   My study bible points out that this is the second time that Christ permits His disciples to be caught in a storm (see also this reading from last week).  The previous time He was with them, but here He had commanded them to row alone without Him across the Sea of Galilee.  In this way, my study bible tells us, Christ strengthens their faith that He will be with them in the midst of the storms of life.  It is I is literally in the Greek "I Am."  That is the divine Name of God given to Moses in Exodus 3:14, and by which Jesus will also refer to Himself as Incarnate Lord (John 8:58).   In this way, Jesus reminds the fearful disciples that His authority over their lives is both absolute and divine.  

And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled.  For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened.  My study bible comments that knowing Christ is a matter of the heart, and not simply one's intellect.  It says that when our hearts are illumined by faith in God, they are open to receive God's presence and grace.  In the ascetic writings and tradition of the Church, the heart is known as "the seat of knowledge."  The loaves refers to the miraculous feeding in the wilderness in yesterday's reading, above. 

 

When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret and anchored there.  And when they came out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, ran through that whole surrounding region, and began to carry about on beds those who were sick to wherever they heard He was.  Wherever He entered, into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in marketplaces, and begged Him that they might just touch the hem of His garment.  And as many as touched Him were made well.  At this point, Christ is so well known and sought after in this region that people run to Him.  My study bible comments that Christ permits miracles through touch to show that His very body is lfie-giving (see also Mark 5:25-29).   

How can we understand the power and knowledge of the heart in a modern world?  It seems frequently that the modern world has forgotten all about this strange understanding of knowledge of the heart, and is focused exclusively on the mind or intellect, putting faith in abstraction and theory over experience and understanding as it pertains to the soul and the spirit.  That especially would include our connection to God.  In truth, a human being does not fully function as a whole picture of the self without all of these elements participating at once.  In fact, the intellect without direction from a true understanding of the heart does not fully grasp what is love, and easily mistakes a kind of selfish indulgence for the true things of love, which include the wisdom of what real needs human beings have.  As a child understands the gratification of selfish desire as some sort of paradisaical state, an adult with more experience in life understands deeper needs of the child that the child can't see, such as medical care that is not necessarily fun or enjoyable.  Education itself is another lifelong need of human beings; but that also might require changing our minds, enlarging our perspectives, growing and stretching  in ways that are not easy.  And there we come to the things of the heart that include knowledge, for this education also comes to us in spiritual things, and in learning the needs of our souls, even the need to prepare for a greater life than meets the eye in a worldly sense.  Expanding our understanding of life as fully lived, which includes the understanding of the presence of Creator within our material world, is something which is an affair not just of the intellect, but also of the heart.  Without the experiential life of faith, and especially as lived through the practice of prayer, worship, study of Scripture and the life of the Church through those who have come before us, we don't get to be fully rounded in our knowledge of who we are and who we are called to be and to become.  Finally, as God is love (1 John 4:7-21), we grow in learning and practicing love through our experience of communion with God.  This is a lifelong matter of coming to terms with our own corrections and needs for repentance and personal change within the context of the experience of faith.  If that seems too strange or overwhelming to consider, think about the experience of friendship.  Learning what hurts others, and what hurts oneself, becomes a process of growth in knowing how to be a friend and what to look for in a friend.  Our communion with God -- a reality of the heart -- becomes such a process that expands us and helps us to understand and grow in love, but incorporates so much more than a worldly friendship does.  God will ask us to constantly grow in all the dimensions of which we are capable, and that includes those we don't know about without participation in this life that is offered to us through Christ.  Saints are the product of this love and growth.  They are not necessarily "perfect" human beings without flaws and failures, but they are those who are forged and whose identity is born through this deepening process of love and communion with God.  They bring and anchor heaven into this world, material life and life in Christ at the same time.  In Acts 17, St. Paul tells to the Athenians that he is there to illumine to them "the unknown god" whom their philosophy has given them to understand exists, but of whom they have no knowledge.  He tells them that God is the creator of heaven and earth, and does not dwell in temples made with hands.  Rather, the entire race of human beings are created "so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also His offspring' " (Acts 17:26-28).   This reality that dwells among us, in Whom we live and move and have our being, therefore, is the one which is to be known and understood in the heart.  The heart, the center of the self, encompasses all of our faculties so that we come to grow and to understand our proper place in communion with God and midst all of creation, and that must be the fullness of love.  Let us open and nurture that place, and protect it from the influences which would deprive us of so great and precious a treasure.