What a blessing it is when we read a familiar passage of Scripture and the Holy Spirit reveals a deeper understanding or even something we missed the first 49 times we read those verses. That’s just what God blessed me with this morning.

I firmly believe that the best way to start your morning, whatever time that might be, is with prayer, studying the Bible, and meditating upon what you’ve gleaned. That’s what I was doing when the Holy Spirit unveiled something I missed every time I read it.

The Setting

Jesus – significantly – spent his time in Galilee during the winters of the first three years of his ministry (26-28AD). The Sea of Galilee lies about 700 feet / 200 meters below sea level. This causes the climate to be warmer than in Jerusalem. It would have been pleasant weather for the people (the multitude) that came to hear Jesus speak.

Jesus was on the northwestern side of the Sea of Galilee when He sat in a boat and taught the people using parables. He then tells his disciples to use the boat to travel East, across the sea, to the Roman protectorate of Decapolis, located on the eastern side of the sea. It was on this voyage that I learned something new.

The Disciples are Tested

This passage of Scripture is about the time when Jesus got in a boat with His twelve disciples and began a voyage across the sea of Galilee.
Here’s the passage:

So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed1).

In the King James version, it read, “were also with him other little ships2.” Little ships gives me a better picture. Jesus is asleep after teaching, healing, and casting out unclean spirits. A sudden storm breaks upon this small flotilla. The gale is so powerful that the disciples fear their boat will sink and all, including Jesus, will drown – silly rabbits.

This brotherhood included at least four professional fishermen. They awakened Jesus and asked if He didn’t care if they drowned3. This was not one of their better days. Jesus first rebukes the storm, and all becomes quiet4. Then Jesus asks His disciples why they are so lacking in faith5.

Something New to Me

So, the voyage was going well, and then a storm arose; Jesus rebuked the storm and then questioned His disciples. But what about the “little boats?” The people in those little boats were certainly a mix of people Jesus referred to at the beginning of chapter four.

Jesus had just taught these people using parables. For His disciples, He had explained that when planting the Word of God, Satan will immediately snatch the Word away from some people. Others receive the Word but reject it when afflictions come. Some receive God’s Word, but they value cares of life, so they produce no fruit. Then there are people who receive God’s Word and produce a harvest, some 30, some 60, and some 100 times more than they received.

We are not told of the fate of the people in the “little ships,” but from other passages of Scripture, it seems likely that the grace given to the disciples was also given to the folks in those other boats. The first verse that comes to mind to make me think this is, “[God] He sends rain on the just and the unjust alike6.”

Good News

Sending rain on the just, His children, and the unjust, teaches us about adjunct grace (ancillary blessing). Adjunct grace is God’s grace that He extends beyond His children and out to the unsaved.

The “little ships” teach us that outside of the Body of Christ, there are people who follow and watch. Some are just looking for a hand-out, but others God will bring into the Body, and they will become fruitful.

Let’s not ignore or dismiss the “little boats” of your local church and your personal witness.

** No part of this article was produced by artificial intelligence (AI). **

Footnotes

  1. Bible Gateway passage: Mark 4:36 – New Living Translation. (n.d.). Bible Gateway. Retrieved December 16, 2023, from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%204%3A36&version=NLT ↩︎
  2. Bible Gateway passage: Mark 4:36 – King James Version. (n.d.). Bible Gateway. Retrieved December 16, 2023, from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%204%3A36&version=KJV ↩︎
  3. Bible Gateway passage: Mark 4:38 – King James Version. (n.d.). Bible Gateway. Retrieved December 16, 2023, from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%204%3A38&version=KJV ↩︎
  4. Bible Gateway passage: Mark 4:39 – King James Version. (n.d.). Bible Gateway. Retrieved December 16, 2023, from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%204%3A39&version=KJV ↩︎
  5. Bible Gateway passage: Mark 4:40 – King James Version. (n.d.). Bible Gateway. Retrieved December 16, 2023, from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%204%3A40&version=KJV ↩︎
  6. Bible Gateway passage: Matthew 5:44-46 – New Living Translation. (n.d.). Bible Gateway. Retrieved December 16, 2023, from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%205%3A44-46&version=NLT ↩︎

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Rock Excavation Service

Digging for the truth.