Exhausted people don't always make good decisions. After the disciples had served a miraculous picnic of bread and fish to five thousand families (Mark 6:39-44), Jesus told them to go back to Gennesaret by boat while He stayed up a mountain to pray (Mark 6:45-46).  It was a windy night on the Sea of Galilee.  The sail came down and they were soon rowing hard against the westerly gusts (Mark 6:48).  They were very tired and saw a shape coming towards them in the darkness.  As it drew closer, they saw it was the figure of a man, walking on water, in the middle of the night.  

Their conclusion, that it must be a ghost, owed more to superstition than reality.  As they screamed out in terror, Jesus brought reality a step closer.  He spoke and turned to climb into the boat.  His "take courage", recognised their immediate need to choose not to be controlled by fear but by His presence. "It is I", identified Him as the Master they knew and loved. "Don't be afraid", was a command, not only for that pre-dawn darkness but for every dark moment in the future.  It would be nice to think that the disciples instantly had faith and grasped what Jesus was doing in their lives; but that would only come after Pentecost when the Holy Spirit taught them what Jesus has said during His ministry (John 16:12-15).

As Jesus moved from the water to the boat, even the howling wind had to be quiet. The Lord, the Creator (John 1:1-3), had arrived and was in total command.  But the disciples could not work it all out.  That was because they had not understood the last lesson (feeding the 5000).  The lesson was one of identity, "Who is this Jesus?".  The mountainside meal should have given them the clue; so should the previous boat-in-a-storm experience (Mark 4:35-41): on that occasion they even verbalised the question, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"  But they could not understand, in the same way that people today cannot know who Jesus is while they insist He is just a prophet or teacher or miracle worker.  Such servants of God can never be the Lord (Mark 12:35-37): but Jesus was and is.  

The key evangelistic challenge is always the same, "What do you think of Christ?" (Matthew 22:42).  The only way to answer that, is by considering the evidence contained in the Bible.  An essential task for us who are Christians is to tell our friends - where to dig to find the treasure! (Matthew 13:44) How about starting a discussion group at work, looking at Jesus' central role in history?  You could use BeaconLight's 'CrossCheck' presentation at www.crosscheck.org.uk (the Bible verses are even written out for you!).  Just try asking a friend to watch it with you and then have the conversation about who Jesus must be to take all the sins of the world and come into the heart of all who will repent and welcome Him.