“And when even was come, the ship was in the midst of the sea, and he alone on the land.”
Later that night, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land — the spatial positioning (disciples in the lake's middle, Jesus on the shore) sets up the sea-walking. The boat is far from land, the disciples are straining at the oars against the wind, and Jesus is separated from them by the entire width of the lake. The situation mirrors the storm of chapter 4 but with one significant difference: Jesus is not asleep in the boat this time but separated from them on shore, approaching from outside.
Church Fathers on Mark 6:47
But it is with reason that we wonder how Mark says, that after the miracle of the loaves the disciples crossed the sea of Bethsaida, when Luke relates that the miracle was done in the parts of Bethsaida [Luke 9:10], unless we understand that Luke means by the desert which is Bethsaida not the country immediately around the town, but the desert places belonging to it. But when Mark says that they should 'go before unto Bethsaida,' the town itself is meant.
But when He had dismissed the crowd, He goes up to pray, for prayer requires rest and silence.
But how could they understand this, except from His going a different way, wishing to pass them as strangers; for they were so far from recognizing Him, as to take Him for a spirit.
Read all 13 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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