The Gospel of John. Water and Bread John 6:16-24

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1 The Gospel of John Water and Bread John 6:16-24 T HE TWENTY THOUSAND HAD BEEN FED now what? Let s join Simon Peter So I walked where Jesus stood on the shore, ready to admit my huge stupidity and pound him on the back for this miracle too. But I didn t. Even in the twilight I could see that there was no triumph in his face, no gladness or calmness either. His lips pursed: he was thinking, thinking. But he saw me coming. Simon, he said, tell all the disciples to board their boats and start back the way we came. I will dismiss these people myself. For just a moment his expression softened and he put his hand against my cheek. I want to go up in the mountain to pray, he said. I want to go alone. When the Lord touches my cheek like that pinches it, really he befuddles me. I huff and blush and cannot talk. So we left him ashore and pulled out toward dark water. Mary Magdalene always sits dead center in my boat, underfoot when I raise or reef the sail. And she sits in the bottom, not on a thwart. I ve asked her a thousand times to stow herself where she belongs, but she doesn t answer me and she doesn t move. Sickly child! No meat on her bones. How do you argue with silence and pitiful eyes? I give up. But I step on her sometimes and I wonder whether it doesn t hurt her. She doesn t say. That night I had to gather the sail in altogether. The wind was contrary, and the waves were swelling so that we couldn t tack. We had to row, and the rowing itself was a backbreaker the more so since Mary was crouched at our ankles, as miserable as a mouse, uncomplaining. What took two hours during the day now ate up most of the night. Our muscles were cracking. The boat heaved high, causing the oar blades to skip from the water: useless! It ll snap the spine, that sudden flip of the oar. Then Andrew cried out above the wind, Look! And I looked off starboard and let out a yell. There was something on the black water, something coming a human form, an apparition. The roots of my hair tightened. But it spoke. The ghostly figure said, No, don t be afraid! It s me! It was Jesus! Walking toward us on the rolling seas! Now I did burst out laughing. Great whoops of laughter not only that the Lord had come after all, but that he had come in so grand a manner. O Lord, is that you? I cried. Can I do that, too? Jesus, let me come to you on the water! He said, Come. So I stood up big as a tree. I stepped my left foot on the gunwale and swung my right foot over and put it on the water, and the water took my weight. It was a long, slick surface yes! But steady enough for both my feet. I was doing it! Everything in me wanted to throw back my head and bellow with laughter. But then Jesus rose ten feet on a huge swell, and I the sea, the water and my body sank into a deep trough, and my heart flew out of my mouth, and I felt my feet pop below the surface, and I shrieked, Lord, save me! Jesus was right there. He put out his hand and grabbed my arm and said, O Simon, such little faith! Why do you doubt? After he helped me into the boat and got in himself and moved to the stern, the wind ceased completely, and I sat shivering all over my flesh, trembling in my bones. I was cold to the marrow. I could not keep still. Then I became aware of a small hand patting my knee, and I looked down.

2 It was Mary s hand. The mouse who crouched beneath my thwart was peering up at me from her wet, white, anxious face and patting my knee. 1 VII The Christ Revealed to Israel Chapter 2:1-12:50 I. Demonstrations of Power Verses 16-21; Mat. 14: Here We Go Again Verses Introduction: Jesus has demonstrated His power by feeding some 15 to 20 thousand individuals. Now the crowd was getting out of hand. He had proved to them He was the prophet promised by God through Moses. He was the Messiah. But they wanted a Messianic King. And they planned to make Him one whether he wanted to be or not. Consequently Jesus has to deal with the crowd. The Synoptic Gospels expand on the events that lead into the next miracle. So this time the focus moves from bread to water. And next time it moves back. 2. Walking on Water: First Jesus sends the disciples on ahead and He lingers behind. He sends the crowd away, which considering their mood almost seems like another miracle in and of itself. Once they re gone He retreats into the hills to be alone with the Father. In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God (Luke 6:12 ESV). So we find the disciples out on a boat heading back to Capernaum. Things have gotten out of hand. You can imagine their feelings. The day had been another emotional rollercoaster. And yes, they d come to expect it, but that didn t make it any easier to deal with. All day they had been handling crowds while Jesus healed and taught. If that wasn t stressful enough at the end of the day, instead of letting the disciples send the people away Jesus told them to feed the crowd. And how did they do that? by Jesus taking a little tyke s lunch, five tiny loves of bread and two scrawny fish, and turning it into enough food for the huge crowd with twelve baskets of left overs. Unbelievable! Underlying all of this was the excitement that Jesus was finally being recognized for who He was. Did you see that crowd? They wanted to make Him king. Things were finally taking off. What do you think will happen when we go up to Jerusalem for Passover? Will He finally proclaim Himself King? But suddenly, Jesus just dumped them. Get in the boat and go back to Capernaum. I ll catch up with you later. If that wasn t bad enough, to add insult to injury, they had to row back because a storm had arisen and they couldn t put the sails up. This day was beyond crazy. If the disciples were exhausted, think how Jesus must have been doing. The whole point for Him was to get away from everyone. He needed some alone time. Actually, He needed alone time with the Father. He needed time to pray without anyone around. 1 Wangerin Jr., Walter; The Book of God, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI, p ) 150 (

3 Well at least the disciples day was coming to an end. They d be home soon. Nothing else will happen now But, as Mounce put it: It was an extremely difficult crossing. The Sea of Galilee lies some six hundred feet below sea level, and when the cool air flows in to displace the warm moist air over the lake, it often produces violent squalls. 2 In fact the storm was so intense that though they were trying to make row back home the disciples had only gotten about half way. When standing on the hills an observer could seem much of the sea. And so Jesus was able to observe them. Mark notes: And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them (Mark 6:48 ESV). Again, picture these men, physically exhausted from the long day, emotionally exhausted from all of the excitement of observing Jesus miraculous work and the crowd s response. Now they in the middle of a storm, just trying to get home. And then And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them (Mark 6:48 ESV). I love Mark s account. It s somewhere between 3 and 6 AM. The disciples are working like crazy, rowing and struggling against the storm. Suddenly Jesus comes strolling by. And it seems as if He doesn t even notice them as He walks by the boat on the way to Capernaum. Just a nice early morning stroll, right? So what s the disciples reaction? Panic. It s a ghost! which under the circumstances seems a pretty reasonable reaction. After all how many times have you seen someone out strolling on the water? And keep in mind in the midst of the storm, while they could see a figure, it was unlikely they recognized Jesus. When the waters saw you, O God, when the waters saw you, they were afraid; indeed, the deep trembled. Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet your footprints were unseen (Psalms 77:16, 19 ESV). So Jesus calls out to reassure the disciples. Don t panic, it s just Me. And while they were reassured the figure wasn t a ghost I m not sure how reassuring it is to find your teacher is able to walk on water. Card tells us The literal Greek is more succinct, I am, no fear. Though there is not general agreement on this question, Jesus may be uttering the divine name of God, I AM (Ex 3:14). He is revealing his divinity by walking on the water; perhaps by using the divine name he is expressing his divinity as well. 3 God said to Moses, I am who I am. And he said, Say this to the people of Israel, I am has sent me to you. (Exodus 3:14 ESV). 2 Mounce, Robert H., The Expositor s Bible Commentary, Vol. 10, John, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI, Card, Michael, John: The Gospel of Wisdom, InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL, 2014 ) 151 (

4 It is here John ends his account with the disciples helping Jesus into the boat. I m not sure why he stops here. Again, this is tied to his focus. The other gospels give us a second aspect to this account, Peter s walking on the water. And Peter, being Peter, hears Jesus calling to the disciples so he decides to confirm it s Jesus, and not a ghost, by asking to join Him on His walk. Note, Pete asks Jesus to command him to come out of the boat and walk. Clearly Peter understands that this is something he can do only at Jesus instruction. No one ever accused Peter of having a lack of hubris. Now I want to be very clear. When presenting this account the focus seems always to be on the fact Peter begins to sink. There are three points that must be recognized. First, Peter gets out of the boat. Second, the other disciples don t. And third, Peter does walk on water. Who else can make this statement? Matthew it very clear what happens here. It is only when Peter turns his eyes away from Jesus and sees the effects of the wind that he begins to sink. It is at this point we find one of the most profound prayers in scripture, Help. Okay actually he said Lord, save me! which boils down to the same thing. Jesus reaches down and brings Peter back to the surface of the water. Why did Peter sink? Jesus give Peter the reason. Peter sank because of a faith problem. He stopped looking at Christ and began looking at the waves. But before we re too hard on him, remember he d had an exhausting day. For a number of hours he d been rowing, trying to get to the other side. And as a result of his excitement at Jesus appearance he wanted to walk on water too. It really isn t surprising he lost it. While we don t know the specific details we do know that Jesus helps Peter back into the boat. I think it is reasonable to assume he walked from where Jesus lifted Him up. So holding fast onto the Lord he is again able to walk on water. Jesus and Peter climb back into the boat. If you were one of the eleven, how do you think you would you respond? The disciples responded by worshiping Christ. They did so by acknowledging who He was. They call Him the Son of God. This is a title of nature and not of office. The sonship of Christ denotes his equality with the Father. To call Christ the Son of God is to assert his true and proper divinity. The second Person of the Trinity, because of his eternal relation to the first Person, is the Son of God. He is the Son of God as to his divine nature, while as to his human nature he is the Son of David (Rom. 1:3, 4. Comp. Gal. 4:4; John 1:1-14; 5:18-25; 10:30-38, which prove that Christ was the Son of God before his incarnation, and that his claim to this title is a claim of equality with God) Here We Go Again: Meanwhile back at the lake the crowds came looking for Jesus. I am not exactly sure how the people knew the disciples went on in the boat or that Jesus didn t go with them. Additionally the word had gotten out about the miracle of multiplying loaves and fish. So more people started arriving. In any case even though Jesus left to get 4 Easton M.A., D.D M.G., Easton s Bible Dictionary, Son of God, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, TN, ) 152 (

5 away from their efforts to make Him King some wouldn t take no for an answer. They jumped back into their boats to follow Him. In other words, you just can t get away. Conclusion: And so we see the two of three types of responses to Jesus. The first, not seen in this section, outright hostility and the desire to kill Him. The second response, represented by the crowd in general, is curiosity and wanting what they can get from Jesus. Today this can be identified with those in the positive confession movement. It isn t about what God wants. It isn t about sin and Christ s payment for it. It s about God being the genie in the sky. The third response is the disciples worship. This should be our response. And no, we don t always understand what God is doing. But we trust Him. More than that we love Him for the gift of our salvation. Remember, being a disciple means learning thoughout our lives, just as these disciples did. Now as for two principles we can take from this section. The first is the importance of prayer and there are many ways to pray. Jesus went up into the hills to be with His Father and talk to Him through prayer. he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone (Matthew 14:23 ESV). Yes, Jesus gave a general pattern for prayer in the Disciples Prayer (Lord s prayer). But Peter s prayer is an example of prayer in the midst of the storm, Help. It may not be complex or in an approved format. But what it does show is Peter s complete trust in Jesus. And it is that trust which is the foundation of our salvation and our walk. For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, Fear not, I am the one who helps you (Isaiah 41:13 ESV). But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, You are my God. (Psalms 31:14 ESV) The second principle flows from the first. As we grow in our trust in the Lord, spending time with Him in prayer, also in His word and with others in His body, we grow in our trust in and dependency on Him. Then we can walk on water. We can do whatever He calls us to do knowing that He provides for what we need to accomplish His works, even if it means walking on water. As we saw last time I can do all things through him who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13 ESV). But there is an important lesson here. Where there is a tendency to be hard on Peter because he began to sink, he learned two vital truths. First, keep your eyes on the Lord to be able to walk in His ways. Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the ) 153 (

6 letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life (2 Corinthians 3:4 6 ESV). The other truth we can take from Peter is, the world doesn t come to an end if we start to sink. It was when Peter took his eyes off Christ that he began to sink. He responded by calling out to Christ to save him. We do take our eyes off the Lord. And we do begin to sink. But if we respond the same way as Peter, we grow. We grow in our spiritual maturity because we grow in our trust and dependency on the Lord. And because of the trust we can experience the peace that comes with knowing our security is in Him. So we can do what God calls us to do, even though at times we fail. And when we do He is with us. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matthew 28:19 20 ESV). Therefore Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; (Psalms 37:1 7 ESV). ) 154 (

7 The Gospel of John Water and Bread John 6:16-24 VII The Christ Revealed to Israel Chapter 2:1-12:50 I. Demonstrations of Power Verses 16-21; Mat. 14: Here We Go Again Verses Introduction: 2. Walking on Water: (Luke 6:12; Mark 6:48a, b; Psalms 77:16, 19; Exodus 3:14)

8 3. Here We Go Again: Conclusion: (Matthew 14:23; Isaiah 41:13; Psalms 31:14; Philippians 4:13 2 Corinthians 3:4-6; Matthew 28:19-20; Psalms 371-7) Personal Application: Have you ever had the opportunity to walk on water? Are you willing to risk doing so again? Ask the Lord to help you grow in your willingness to be a risk taker for Him. Prayer for the Week: Father, help me be willing to get my feet wet for You. In Jesus name, amen.