I put my oldest daughter on my shoulders when she was three. The verbal screech she let out was accompanied by an anaconda like grip around my neck and the weight of her face pressed against my hat. I tried desperately to convince her that I would not let any harm to come to her - she would not believe me. Her reaction bothered me not because she was afraid, not everyone deals well with heights. What hurt me was that in spite of her fear, she did not trust me. If not me, whom would she trust?
The disciples found themselves in a situation similar to my daughter's, one which revealed more about themselves than about the one they called the Christ. I think I would have been afraid of my mentor gliding along the top of a raging sea. No matter how much time we spent with Jesus, actually watching him walk across a raging sea would have terrified even the most dedicated believer. Doubt would be natural but that is not what Mark says about the disciples. Mark reveals something else about the disciples in the boat. They did not believe in Him. The question is, if they harbored disbelief, in whom did they believe if not Jesus? Mark's statement is more telling than at first glance. When it comes to our relationship to the creator God, we either believe in and trust Him or we believe in and trust something/someone else. Scripture is clear, there is no position of neutrality. Christ warns that we are either for him or against him; to disbelieve is to trust in an idol. My guess is that the disciples trusted in a Christ who was different than the one they encountered on the water. That different Christ was an idol. Their disbelief revealed their misplaced loyalties - they wanted their idol back, not this son of man who walked past them on the water. The text does not say what they wanted and so we are left to guess but the fact is, they did not want the Jesus who had come to them. The disciples' response is instructive to us, doubt and fear are normal, but disbelief is an act of idolatry. Whom do we believe in if not Christ? Whom do we trust? Who else do we credit with having the words of life?
