WHAT JESUS WALKING ON WATER ACCOMPLISHED: Seeing this miracle strengthened the disciples’ faith in Jesus.
- John 6:16-21.
- Matthew 14:28-33.
- The disciples have just seen Jesus multiply the loaves. It is an incredible miracle that they got to see happen up close.
- That evening, Jesus sends the disciples across the lake while He disperses the crowd.
- The disciples are struggling with the wind and rough waters when Jesus comes walking on the water.
- There are actually four miracles that happen as part of this story:
a. Jesus walks on the water.
- John 6:19.
b. Peter walks on the water.
- Matthew 14:28-31.
c. The wind and waves calm at Jesus’ command.
- Matthew 14:32.
d. The boat is miraculously transported to its destination shore.
- John 6:21.
- Why did this last miracle happen? Robert Deffinbaugh has a helpful suggestion. Perhaps it was because Jesus wanted to be on the far shore before dawn. As we will discuss momentarily, He is not interested in making a public spectacle of this walking-on-water miracle.
- How do we know that this walking-on-water miracle strengthened the disciples’ faith?
- We don’t have a direct statement here in John, but we do in Matthew. After seeing Jesus walk on water, empower Peter to walk on water, and calm the wind, those in the boat proclaimed, “Truly You are the Son of God” (Matthew 14:33).
- In other words, it strengthened their faith in who Jesus was.
WHY KEEP QUIET ABOUT IT? When directly questioned, why didn’t Jesus tell everyone about the miracle?
- John 6:22-25.
- I think we can all agree that walking on the water is one amazing miracle. If any of us could do it, we’d probably tell all our friends, videotape it and post in on Facebook, and generally publicize it in any way that we could. “Check out what I did!”
- Jesus, though, goes in the opposite direction.
- Jesus is directly asked about when He got there (v. 25). The crowd that was with Him the previously day knows that He didn’t stay with them, that He didn’t get in the boat with the disciples, and that He didn’t get in one of the boats that came the following morning (vv. 22-24). They ask when He got there, but implied within that is also them asking, “How did You get here?”
- Right there it is – the perfect open door. All He has to say is, “Well, actually, now that you ask, I walked here, but not around the lake. I walked across the lake!” The disciples would corroborate His story and the crowd would be even more hyped to make Him the king.
- But Jesus doesn’t do that. Instead (and we’ll get more into His actual answer in a moment), He doesn’t say anything at all about walking on water. Can you imagine? Why not tell everyone about it?
- There is something going on here that is important. Jesus downplays the miracle, not even mentioning it when there is ample opportunity. Why?
THE PROBLEM WITH THE CROWD: Don’t pursue Jesus for secondary reasons.
- John 6:14-15, 26.
- Sometimes people say that Jesus is good at everything, but I’m not sure that’s true. I can tell you one thing Jesus is bad at: P.R.!
- Here He has a terrific public relations moment and He completely squanders it. Why? Because He has other, bigger goals.
- When the people experience the bread miracle, their response is to try to make Him king (vv. 14-15). That sounds like a good thing, right? Making Jesus king sounds like a good thing.
- Yet Jesus withdraws from them (v. 15).
- Why did He walk away from them like that? Verse 26 tells us it was because they were only pursuing Jesus for secondary reasons. In this case, because He looked like a source of endless food.
- Note the “Verily, verily” or “I tell you the truth” that starts v. 26. That’s a recurring phrase in John that always points us to Jesus sharing a key truth.
- They didn’t want Jesus because He was the Son of God. They wanted Him because He could provide them with the stuff that they wanted.
- That translates into the lives of many people concerning why they seek Jesus.
- Many people seek Him for secondary reasons. What might that look like?
- Examples of secondary reasons:
a. I bring my kids to church because I want my kids to behave.
b. I want my spouse to shut up about all this God stuff.
c. I need healing from my sickness.
d. I’m depressed.
e. I’m about to go bankrupt and need help.
f. This guilt is killing me.
g. Going to church will make my mom happy.
- Now, some of those are better reasons for talking to God and coming to church and some are definitely worse reasons.
- Almost all of us come with some secondary reasons for coming to Jesus. Some of them are legitimate and some are questionable.
- The larger issue here is that, whether legitimate or questionable, some of us stop when we get our secondary reason fulfilled.
- What should we go for beyond that? Jesus gives us that answer in v. 27.
THE RIGHT REASON TO SEEK JESUS: Pursue Him for what will satisfy your soul eternally.
- John 6:27.
- While there are almost always some secondary reasons, it’s important to get the primary reason right. Jesus gives it to us in v. 27: we need to pursue the spiritual food that will satisfy our soul.
- We need to want Jesus for what our soul needs. We need to want Jesus for all that He gives us. We need to want Jesus because He’s Jesus.
- This is where we learn why Jesus wasn’t interested in talking up the walking-on-water miracle.
- Jesus did the bread miracle and the response was not worship of Him as the Son of God, but attraction to Him as a source of more food. To put it a way we did a moment ago, these are people completely stuck in secondary reasons for pursuing Jesus. They are only interested in the secondary reasons. They’re not interested in worshiping or obeying Him. This will be painfully clear before we get to the end of this chapter, as most of the people walk away from Him.
- Here is the way I think it generally works:
a. When you start with a commitment to Jesus for who He is, miracles deepen your faith.
b. When you start with the miracle, people just want more of the secondary things.
- This may explain why the general rule that amazing miracles from God don’t usually result in deep and lasting faith in Jesus. There are certainly exceptions, but that’s just what they are: exceptions.
- When I’m already fully committed to Jesus and the thing I want most is the spiritual food He provides that satisfies my soul, then seeing a miracle confirms that belief and encourages me that He is worth giving my life to.
- When I start with the miracle, I am fascinated with the possibility of getting more of that out of this source. I want what the gift, not the Giver.
- So Jesus doesn’t publicize or brag about the walking-on-water miracle because He knew it wouldn’t create what He wants: those who want the spiritual food He provides.
- It’s worthless to get a huge crowd if the crowd is only interested in eating more baked bread. It’s not worth gathering a crowd for those secondary reasons. He wants people who want a full soul, not a full belly.
WHAT'S THE FIRST STEP FOR THAT? Believe in Jesus.
- John 6:28-29.
- The crowd asks a pretty good question in response to Jesus’ words. They inquire about how to bring this into their lives.
- It’s easy for us to misinterpret Jesus answer. So let’s make sure we get its full impact.
- The work, Jesus says, is to believe in the One that God has sent.
- Many of us today will hear that as less than it is. Because of the way we often talk in church, we think of “believe” as simply saying that I acknowledge there is a guy named Jesus and He was who He said He was. That type of “belief” doesn’t require any change in our lives. It’s like saying, “I believe Lincoln was the sixteenth president.”
- What Jesus has in mind here is much broader. To believe in Jesus means to take Him at His Word. It therefore means to do what He said to do. Jesus made numerous claims of authority and if we are to truly believe in Him we must submit to that authority. We must seek to obey His teaching. As Jesus said, “The one who loves Me will obey My teaching.” So what Jesus is saying here is “come, follow Me.”
- This ties in perfectly with what we’ve been saying throughout this sermon. Jesus downplays the miracles because they don’t inspire people to seek Him as the One who can satisfy their soul. He wants obedience to His teaching. He wants followers.
- Jesus invites you to pursue this type of belief in Him this morning if you never have.
