Mark 6:54 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him

NIV: As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus.

NASB: And when they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him,

CSB: As they got out of the boat, people immediately recognized him.

NLT: and climbed out. The people recognized Jesus at once,

KJV: And when they were come out of the ship, straightway they knew him,

NKJV: And when they came out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him,

Jesus and the Twelve land three miles south of their home base of Capernaum. They are immediately swarmed by people who recognize Jesus and are desperate for His healing touch. Jesus has traveled around Galilee for some time now, healing, expelling demons, and teaching. The people recognize Him and the Twelve on sight (Mark 6:33). They trust Him because they've seen His good works. They admire Him because they recognize that He will be their King (John 6:14–15). But they don't have the full picture. They don't understand what He will have to sacrifice, and what He will call His followers to sacrifice (Luke 21:12).

People do not always react to Jesus in this way. In Decapolis, on the Gentile side of the Sea of Galilee, the people see His power and beg Him to leave (Mark 5:1–20). The Pharisees of Galilee are threatened by Him (Mark 2:6–7) and the scribes from Jerusalem claim His power comes from Satan (Mark 3:22–30). Jesus' own family thinks He's lost His mind (Mark 3:20–21), and the people from His hometown try to throw Him off a cliff (Luke 4:29).

We all have the same choice today. Some accept the parts of Jesus they understand and appreciate, like how He is a good teacher. Some get a glimpse of His power and glory and try to hide from Him. Others discover He will not stay in the box they have prepared for Him, so they try to destroy any trace of Him they can find.

His followers take a different route. They love others (1 John 4:7–12) and obey Him (1 John 5:2–3). They don't value the things of earth, including their pre-conceived notions of what Jesus should be (1 John 2:15–17). They also accept that they will never fully understand Him in this life. A true Christ-follower can express statements such as 1 Corinthians 13:12 with confidence: "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known."

The people of Gennesaret rush to Jesus because they recognize Him as the man who can heal them. Christ-followers rush to Him out of gratefulness for the healing He provided on the cross.

Mark 6:53–56 describes Jesus healing the sick in Gennesaret. After feeding the five thousand near Bethsaida, Jesus sent the Twelve ahead of Him across the Sea of Galilee toward Capernaum (John 6:17). Jesus spent some time praying, then caught up with them by walking on the water. For an unrecorded reason, they land at Gennesaret, three miles south of Capernaum. Jesus and the Twelve travel over the whole region while the sick take the example of the woman with an issue of blood (Mark 5:28) and receive healing by merely touching His robe. This account is also found in Matthew 14:34–36 and John 6:22–59.

Jesus returns to His hometown of Nazareth, but the people there are faithless and skeptical. As a result, Jesus performs no more than a few minor miracles. He then assigns His twelve apostles to travel in pairs, preaching repentance and healing various conditions. Mark then takes a brief detour to explain the death of John the Baptist, beheaded after Herod Antipas is tricked by his wife. The focus then returns to Jesus, explaining His miraculous feeding of thousands of people, walking on water, and healing people in Gennesaret.

Even as the Twelve are given opportunity to wield some of Jesus' power and authority, they still struggle to understand. They misinterpret who He is, what He has come to do, and how much He will ask of them. They fear Jesus' display of deity, but seem to dismiss the murderous rejection of His hometown and the death of John the Baptist. It's easy to have faith in a prophet who seems poised to rescue Israel from foreign rule. It is still beyond them to understand that He is actually God.

The Gospel of Mark emphasizes both Jesus' servanthood and His role as the promised Messiah: the Son of God. This is done through a concise, action-packed style. Mark provides relatively few details, instead focusing on actions and simple statements. This relates to the Gospel's authorship, which is believed to be based on the memories of the apostle Peter. These include many of Jesus' miracles, in contrast to other Gospels which include many more of Jesus' teachings and parables. Mark also makes frequent mention of Jesus' ministry being misunderstood by others.