Mark 6:30-52 It is Hard to Understand

Mark 6:52  " . . .their hearts were hardened."

People disagree about the meaning of hardened hearts as described in the Bible. I'm putting an idea out for reflection that I have found helpful to me this week, but I know my view does not explain all the passages in the Bible on this important topic: why does it seem so hard to understand what God is doing?

This question came to me in a practical personal way recently. Through a tanslator I had a conversation with a man from Syria. He asked me why Christians in his country are called upon to suffer so much. Suffering of the innocent is a mystery, and I simply acknowleged that I didn't know the answer. He didn't let me escape the question with such a facile response. We struggled together to explore the question, and because everything was being translated we had to keep things simple, even a bit raw. He didn't want to hide behind nuances, and our exchange didn't allow me to hide either. Finally, we finished with his testimony: he said, we want to do God's will, and we are prepared to continue to suffer if that is our calling whether we understand fully or not.

The disciples saw the miracles of Jesus as recorded in Mark 6:30-52. They were immersed in the wonder working ministry of the Lord, so much so, that they often did not have time to stop and eat. They saw and heard Jesus as no others have. They saw him feed 5,000 men from five loaves of bread and two fish. They saw him walk on water. They saw the sea go calm in his presence. Still, the text says, "They were completely amazed for they had not understood about the loaves and fishes; their hearts were hardened." (Mark 6:51-52)

They did not understand the good work, the miracles, Jesus performed. God hardened their hearts because they were not ready to understand. For the time, amazement, was enough. They knew Jesus. He calmed their fears (v. 50), and that was enough. They did not yet need to understand. Later, after the cross and the resurrection and the day of Pentecost they would understand much more. The time would be right.

On many subjects--particularly the suffering of the people in the world's oldest churches--our hearts seem hardened. We don't understand, at least, not fully. The time is not right.

In amazement, in shock, in near but not total despair, the persecuted church continues to give witness. May God soon help this suffering church. May they and all who care for them and pray for them, find a way to go forward in the trust that the time is coming when all will be clear, and all will be made right.