GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 6:52
Hardheaded
Alice had a deep cough for three months. The cough sapped her strength and took away her appetite, which was a concern. Two physicians were unable to diagnose the issue. Given the pre-existing lung cancer, this was especially concerning. Her oncologist referred her to a pulmonologist, who conducted some tests.
One morning, Alice came into the office and said that something had happened while she was standing at the kitchen sink praying. She could not explain the experience, but something occurred in her body. It was intense—she could feel it. Something, she said, had changed. From that moment, she did not cough.
I described Alice’s experience to a friend and asked him how one explains something like this, and he said that he did not know.
In Mark’s story of Jesus feeding the 5,000, he sent the disciples on ahead to Bethsaida across the lake by boat, dismissed the crowd, and then he went to a mountain to pray. In the early morning, he saw the disciples in the boat struggling against the wind-driven waves and went to them, walking on the water. The sight of him frightened them. Then he got into the boat, and the wind ceased immediately. The disciples witnessed three miracles: the feeding at least 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish, Jesus walking on the water, and the sudden cessation of the strong, blowing wind. The disciples were amazed. “For they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.” (Mark 6:52)
The word Mark used for “hardened” in this context is derived from the name of a kind of marble stone, and is used figuratively to convey spiritual dullness or a lack of understanding; one linguist translated it as “hardheaded,” another as “so thick-headed were they.” Only Mark, who likely heard this story from Peter, makes this point. They were not antagonistic, hostile, or at odds—they had not grasped what they saw and heard. Peter told his young associate that they were just too hardheaded.
Matthew, who recounted Peter’s failed attempt to walk on the water, implies that the truth about Jesus broke through their hard heads: “Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’” (Matt. 14:33)
Hey, I can’t even understand this account—read it, yes; understand it, no; accept it, yes. Alice said she did not understand what happened while she stood at the sink praying—understand it, no; accept it, yes.
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