John 6: 15 – 21
I Can Get There Quicker By Walking
“15 Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone. 16 Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them. 18 Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing. 19 So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid. 20 But He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” 21 Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.
If you have been studying the bible with us then you know that I include any other Gospel presentation of the same situation that we are reviewing. It seems that Matthew, Mark, and Luke cover the same events. Today, however, we see that Luke doesn’t mention our Lord walking on the sea, but John does. You have to remember that Matthew, Peter, and John were in the boat when they saw the Lord walking on the water. Obviously, it greatly impacted the memories for life. So, let us take a look at the other two descriptions of this amazing miracle by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Mark 6: 45 – 52 45 Immediately He made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He sent the multitude away. 46 And when He had sent them away, He departed to the mountain to pray. 47 Now when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea; and He was alone on the land. 48 Then He saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them. Now about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by. 49 And when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost, and cried out; 50 for they all saw Him and were troubled. But immediately He talked with them and said to them, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” 51 Then He went up into the boat to them, and the wind ceased. And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled. 52 For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened.
Matthew 14:22-33, “22 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. 23 And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there. 24 But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. 25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. 26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” 28 And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” 29 So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” 31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.”
It is quite clear from the fact that this event follows immediately on the other that Jesus was now trying to bring home to His disciple His own uniqueness. He wanted it to come home to them as to Who He really was. First the creation of bread and fish. Now the revelation that He controls nature and can, like God, walk on the seas
The importance of the incident is found in the Old Testament where it is clear that the One Who can walk on water is the omnipotent God - ‘your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters’ (Psalm 77.19). This was thus a direct claim to deity. To Israel the sea had always appeared as an enemy and a symbol of tumult. In their eyes there was only One Who could control it and that was their God. It also, of course, taught the disciples a great lesson about the powers of Jesus. In the future when they faced great difficulties they could look back on this incident and be aware that whatever their circumstances ,He was with them and could meet all their needs.
Please scan the various Gospel versions again. I want you to especially zero in on the beginning of each scripture writing. Do you notice the word ‘immediately’? There is a emergency action that our Lord recognizes needs to be made.
Peter had this incident on the forefront of his thinking when he told Mark, 45 Immediately He made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He sent the multitude away.
Now here is an open book exam, ‘what is causing our Lord to take this action? Do you have a possible answer which is in our Scripture passages? If you recognize the answer in John’s Gospel you are right and you get a cookie. In verse 15 John tells us why the Lord wanted to get away from the crowd.
‘15 Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.’
The people wanted our Lord Jesus to be their king for all the wrong reasons. I cannot stand politicians. Today there are very few honest ones. They will promise everything under the sun and never fulfill these vows. One famous politician promised food for every citizen ‘a chicken in every pot’ was the politician’s slogan.
Our Holy Master had just fed the people and they wanted this care for their lives so they wanted to grab the Lord and declare Him to be their king.
So, our Lord instructed His disciples to go get in the boat and sail the boats back to their home base Capernaum or is it Bethsaida? – ‘16 Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them.’ Mark says, ‘45 Immediately He made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, to Bethsaida.’
Do you think these verses create a problem? The old skeptics who will not surrender to the Lord do. They think this is another possible error in the bible. Of course, you know my answer, ‘ there isn’t any error. Both versions are correct.’ Look again at the verses. - 16 Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them.’ Mark says, ‘45 Immediately He made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, to Bethsaida.’ The disciples sailed to Bethsaida which is in the area of Capernaum. I live outside of Philadelphia, PA. If I was somewhere out of state and wanted to drive to my home the highway markers such as I95 would highlight Philadelphia not my little borough outside of Philly. Do you understand the reasoning?
15… He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone..
The Lord needed some alone time to be with ours and His Heavenly Father.
Now there are two things which get my interest. Do you notice that no one asks the Lord how He Is getting back home to Capernaum or Bethsaida. The apostles just get in the boat and cast off. The other thing that I would have concern about is going anywhere without the Lord. In my opinion something bad always is going to happen to me. If I was one of the disciples I would have in my mind somehow that this isn’t going to be a normal boat cruise? Somehow it is going to end like that cruise s ship off Italy that capsized. Have you ever felt the same way?
One of my favorite verses in the bible is in the book of Isaiah chapter 55, which I am sure that you are familiar with, “7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. 8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
You see our Lord Is Awesome in how He does all things. Remember, the word ‘immediately’. Our Lord sensed danger for His disciples. Now you might be saying, ‘Oh yeah, great, He takes them from the frying pan and puts them in the fire.’ No, He doesn’t. It may seem that way to our observation, sending His guys into a terrible storm on the sea.’ But there are a couple of things you have to remember and so do the disciples. You need to understand Who The Lord Is. He Is not going to let them drown. Our Lord knew that His guys would be safer in the storm at sea than what could have possibly happened with the mob. Can you understand this?
Matthew reports – ‘24 But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.’ John who also experienced this scary moment reports, ‘18 Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing.’
16 Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them. 18 Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing. 19 So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid.
‘And it was now dark and Jesus had not yet come to them.’ Perhaps John intends us to see that without Jesus the Apostles were still in darkness.
One thing I can tell you for certain is that the Lord Is never late. We may feel He Is when we are going through our individual storms but He always shows up at the perfect time.
I live and serve in the Philadelphia Pennsylvania area. If you have ever driven in cities then you can relate to what I am about to say. You notice that people can accomplish more distance by walking in the city then you can by driving. Here the guys have been rowing the boat for hours and they are only halfway to their destination.
I love our Lord’s sense of humor. Here the disciples are rowing like crazy and He comes walking by as though He Is going to pass by.’ Pass by? ‘Are you kidding us Lord’, the disciples must be thinking. ‘We’re sinking and You are just walking by?’
20 But He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.”
The disciples are scared out of their minds. The waves are crashing all around them. The boat is taking on too much water and the disciples are having a hard time bailing, sailing, and steering the ship. And then they glance out in the water and it appears as someone is out there walking on the water. Our Lord just calls out, ‘Hey guys, how are you doing? Great night for having for a nice stroll.’ What?
What did out Lord tell the disciples to do as He had set them out to sea – sail to Bethsaida. Then they should have taken Him at His word in which if He told them this is where they were to go, then He would have made it so that they would arrive there not be at the bottom of the Sea.
Now I find it quite interesting that Matthew is the only one to list the interaction between Peter and The Lord. Hey, after all it was Peter who gave Mark all the information about the years with our Lord Jesus Christ. It doesn’t take too much head knowledge to realize that Peter was a little embarrassed in his failure to trust the Lord. Let’s see what Matthew wrote again – ‘28 And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” 29 So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” 31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
If you are quizzical like me then you must be thinking the same thing I am. ‘Suppose it wasn’t the Lord walking on the water, and says, ‘sure come on out of the boat? Blub, blub, blub, is the result. [That is the noise of Peter drowning!]
21 Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.
We need to see some amazing things that just happened here also. First of all look at the miracle the Lord does when He gets into the boat – The storm ceases. Remember in a different situation our Lord was asleep and woke up and rebuked the storm. Here the Lord doesn’t say anything and the storm ceases. Imagine all the waves just stop and the wind stops blowing immediately. There is that word ‘immediately’ again. This affected the men so much that Matthew reports that all the disciples came and worship our Precious Adoni Yeshua – ‘32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.”
Having counseled for many years I pick up some emotional problems that Matthew still carried. The enemy of our souls must have paraded Matthew’s and the other disciples’ failures over and over in his mind. Look at Matthew’s thinking about why the Lord rebuked him and the others – ‘And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled. 52 For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened.’ – ‘Aaaant! [That’s the sound of a horn blast] Peter’s reasoning was incorrect. Do you actually think that our Lord would rebuke the disciples because they did not fully comprehend the things that were taking place? No, as I said earlier. Peter took his eyes of the Lord. He didn’t immediately sink but like quicksand he slowly began to sink. Our Lord reached out and grabbed him. If at first he could walk on water, fear overcame his courage and trust in the Lord to walk on the water to the Lord. This is the Lord’s rebuke at his actions.
And I think this last situation which John points out is mind blowing. Don’t miss this – ‘21 Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.
Do you catch what just happened? The disciples are out in the middle of the Sea of Galilee. After the Lord steps into the boat the storm immediately ceases. The disciples walk over to the Lord and worship him. Possibly they are knocked down. Why? - Because the boat has just hit the land. From the middle of the Sea they were all at their destination. Now that is something to write home about. Do we write to Capernaum or Bethsaida?
