6:45–52 Mark ties this incident closely to the preceding account of the feeding of the five thousand by noting in 6:52 that the disciples’ fearful collapse here was caused by their failure to understand that the feeding miracle revealed Jesus’ true significance and power. Since Mark thus ties together these two incidents, it is likely that he wants his reader to see them both as complementary revelations of Jesus. This means that this sea miracle is another manifestation of the divine significance of Jesus’ person and not just a miracle story.

This is the second sea miracle in Mark (see also 4:35–41), and in our comments on the earlier one we noted that Jesus’ command of the sea is so described as to make him seem to exhibit God’s own power over nature. The same is true here, where Jesus …