ON THE SHORE (Mk. 6:53) Yesterday I was watching some of the activities commemorating the sixtyfifth anniversary of D-Day when the troops landed on Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword beaches on the Normandy coastline. 160,000 troops landed and over 4,000 died along that fifty-mile stretch of beach. It is quite an experience visiting that whole region and walking on those beaches. It was the commencement of the Allied invasion that saw the ultimate defeat of Hitler and Nazi Germany. I wakened this morning thinking about another shoreline, - the shoreline of Galilee. John the Baptist had been beheaded and his disciples had retrieved his body and laid it in a tomb (Mk. 6:29). They then went and told the Lord Jesus, Who said to them, v.31 Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while. Once again, the Word of God teaches us there is nothing wrong with a desert place. We find so often in Scripture God s people finding solace in the wilderness. However, the crowds were intent on following Jesus and Jesus could not dismiss them as easily as the disciples suggested (v.36) because His heart went out to them (v.34). So, He fed them with the five loaves and two fish. Following this event He instructed His disciples to get into the boat and cross the Sea of Galilee to the other side (v.45). Meanwhile, v.46 he departed into a mountain to pray. It was evening time, and the sun was going down over the hills of Galilee. The fishermen s boat was out in the centre of the sea, and Jesus was alone on the land (v.47). A wind had gathered, - nothing too strong, but sufficient for them to have to row fairly vigorously, - they were sailing into the wind. He began to walk out towards them on the water (v.49ff.). As you might imagine they became frightened as to what was happening, but Jesus called out and they knew His voice. He entered the boat and the wind calmed but the disciples were still a bit flustered! v.53 when they had passed over, they came into the land of Gennesaret, and drew to the shore. DEPARTURE I want to take the picture of the Lord Jesus arriving on the shore and link it in with the troops as they came on to the Normandy beaches.
Early that morning they had been standing in their ranks along the south coast of England. They were preparing themselves and trying to anticipate the encounter with the enemy. They would enter the craft and sail across the Channel with their rucksack and their rifle. Beyond any shadow of a doubt they knew they were entering into enemy territory and many of the soldiers travelling across were about to experience their first military contact. Let s go back before time began. Let s enter eternity. In eternity, before anything was created, - the angels, the world, the stars, the sun, - before anything was God! God was complete in absolutely every way imaginable. Perfect, He needed nothing to compliment Himself. God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit enjoyed pure and uninterrupted harmony. In the Council Room of Heaven the eternal Godhead drew up a plan. In the plan God determined upon a course of action that would involve creating another sphere, - the sphere of time. Into this time He would invest Himself. He would invest Himself in its creation, His continued attention and He devised a very special plan. In the Council Room of Heaven the eternal Godhead ultimately planned for the Son to enter into this world. If you like, in the stable in Bethlehem, He entered on to this world s stage, - He drew on the shore. He did not send an army of angels. He did not leave the citizens to the mercy of the enemy. He arrived on the shore Himself, for God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son I looked at the old soldiers yesterday, with their rows of medals proudly worn and I looked at the Prince, and I saw the rows of medals he was wearing. What a privilege for those old soldiers to be wearing medals they deservedly won on the battlefields. For many of them yesterday, they relived the experience of 6 th June 1944. They could hear the shouts and cries of their comrades. They could feel the breeze of the bullets passing them by as if it was yesterday. They had departed the southern shores of England but our Saviour had departed the shore of Heaven in order to cross a sea and into time and pull up on to another shore where the enemy was lying in wait for Him. The enemy tried to kill Him at His birth. They tried to kill Him during His ministry and the Lord Jesus departed Heaven and arrived on to the shores of earth to draw conflict with the greatest of enemies. Departure. 2
3 DETERMINATION I don t think I know anyone who was on the Normandy beaches on D- Day, but in my first church we had a member who was a sailor involved in landing the soldiers on the beaches. I would imagine there would have been a host of thoughts going through the minds of those who were going into conflict. What must it have been like possibly you were going to die on that Normandy beach? You would never see your wife and children again, your mother or your father. What must it have been like to be sailing into the most harrowing of experiences?! I listened yesterday to a sailor who said he can still see some of the faces of the soldiers some of them who wanted to go back to England and not enter the battle area But the journey they were on was a one-way journey. Those soldiers were not for turning back, - they had to do their duty, no matter what it entailed even death! The journey of the Lord Jesus Christ into this world determined His death. He could have given up, even before He started. He saw what the people were like. They were fickle, easily-led, and weak. None of them would have died for Him and yet He pulled up on to the shore to come to die for them. It was sheer perfect and Heavenly determination that drove Jesus to victoriously accomplish the plan of the Godhead. From before the foundation of the world He already was the Lamb slain (Rev. 13:8). Even before the Romans and the Jewish leaders crucified Jesus upon Calvary, the conflict had already been won in the eternal will and plan of God. I would imagine the life would have been scared out of you as you would have disembarked from the boat on to the shore of Northern France. I would imagine you dare not have anything else in your mind but moving forward with your platoon and reaching your objective. And many did not make it! But who else accompanied Jesus when He drew up on to the shore? Who was with Him as He came on to the shore of time to face the most evil of all enemies? Who was on the cross of Calvary with Him? He and He alone! Only Jesus Christ could take on my enemy and be sure of victory. If I had gone out to fight the devil myself, I would surely have lost and been defeated. My armoury would not have stood up to his. He would have won there is no doubt about it! But Jesus drew to the shore and He faced the enemy alone, on my behalf, and He won! At the cross of Calvary the greatest conflict this world has ever known took place and Jesus won! Yes, departure, determination and
4 DELIVERANCE The BBC correspondent was interviewing a grand-daughter of one of the soldiers yesterday. This soldier was one of the first ashore. She had in her hands her grandfather s Bible. He had his Bible in his breast pocket and as he was coming up the shore he was struck by a German bullet and where did it hit him, but in his breast pocket where he kept his Bible. The grand-daughter opened the Book and showed the BBC interviewer the holes the bullet had made in just about all of the pages! Saved by the Word of God! That is true deliverance! But again, let s go back. Let s go back, not just to the written Word but let s go back even further to the Living Word, Jn. 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. I Jn. 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life. The war cemeteries are full of men and women who gave their lives for their country. As you walk along the rows, every grave has its own story to tell But when you look for the grave of our Saviour, you will find it nowhere on earth and nowhere in Heaven because our Saviour is not dead! He is alive!! Yes, He drew to the shore and He did die Low in the grave He lay, Jesus my Saviour, Waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord! But Death cannot keep its Prey, Jesus my Saviour; He tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord! Jesus came on to the shore of my battle scene, and He took the enemy on in my place. He did not remain in the land of safety but He came to win the battle for me that I could never have survived. Wallowing in the pit of my sin, I could do nothing more than cry as the psalmist cried, Ps. 40:17 I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer. CONCLUSION The Lord Jesus Christ drew to the shore. He came into this world to die for me, - He departed Heaven for my salvation and yours. Nothing could hold Him back from that task, - the task of bringing glory to His Father and bringing salvation to my soul, - His determination.
And yes, all His plans succeeded for He sealed my deliverance. Nothing more needed to be done. He drew to the shore of Calvary and He not only won the battle He won the whole conflict! And even look at these verses again You will see in them also the beautiful position of every child of God, chosen from before the foundation of the world and washed in the precious blood of the Lamb. Like the disciples we are tossed to and fro in the inevitable storms of life, - even the little breezes can sometimes knock us off. During these times it is hard to see where the Lord is just like it was on the Sea of Galilee. The fishermen could not see Him, but He could see them! What a beautiful confidence we have in Him! We are never beyond His care. And there is just one final thought Mk. 6:53 when they had passed over, they came into the land of Gennesaret, and drew to the shore. Gennesaret means a garden of riches. After having sailed across the sea with the wind in their faces they arrived in the land of the beautiful garden, - this was the ancient Paradise of Galilee. Our Saviour drew up on to the shore of time in order to one day, - sometime in the future, - welcome us into the garden of riches I have a confidence Jesus is coming back for me to take me to Heaven, do you have that confidence? I am going to a city Where the roses never fade, Here they bloom but for a season, Soon their beauty is decayed; Where the tree of life is blooming And the Roses never fade. I am going to a city Where the roses never fade, Loved ones gone to be with Jesus, In their robes of white arrayed, Now are waiting for my coming Where the roses never fade. Yes, the Lord drew on to the shore for He is come to seek and to save that which was lost (Lk. 19:10). Are you saved? Look what happened when He arrived on the shore v.54 straightway they knew him, 56 and as many as touched him were made whole. He changed their lives and He can change your life today too. Believe on Him and be saved! 5