THE WAVE WALKERS
(Message 15 Gospel of John 2021)
John 6:16-21 (also Matthew 14:22-33; Mark 6:47-53)
Greenmount and O’Leary Churches of Christ
May 2, 2021
Video Link: https://youtu.be/pv4KeckAs7w
INTRODUCTION:
1) Last week we looked at the feeding of the 5,000, and the events of that the next day.
A) Today we are going to look at an event that happened at night in between those events.
B) After the feeding of the 5,000 Jesus continued to teach and preach until into the evening hours.
2) As day nears its end and the sun is ready to set Jesus sends the disciples off in a boat, dismisses the crowd, and then goes off by himself for a time of prayer.
A.) This morning I want us to look at the original “Wave Walkers”.
I. THERE WAS A STORM.
1.) By now it was dark. (6:17)
A.) Certainly, in the darkness of night the storms seem even worse than at daytime.
aa.) Something about the darkness, the unknown, and the unseen, makes storms at night seem even more fearful and intense.
B.) These men were out in their small boat in the middle of a storm at night.
ba.) It was not like today with radars, Plotters, and other navigational equipment, radios, and lights.
bb.) These men would have been in total darkness other than the natural lights of the heavens and on the shoreline.
bba.) Amid a bad storm, it was quite likely they could not even see those lights.
2.) The Waters grew rough. (6:18)
A.) The storm had blasted them all night long.
B.) Eventually it came to the place of rough seas, and the waves breaking over the boat.
3.) The disciples were straining at the oars.
A) Mark 6:47 – “The wind was against them”.
B) Sometimes the wind can be greater than your ability to row.
ba.) This was just such a night.
bb.) Each pull of the oars would move them ahead, but the one or two seconds it took to reposition the oars for another pull was just enough time for the wind to lose half of what the last pull of the oars had gained.
bc.) John 6:19
bca.) The fact they had gone only 3-4 miles says a great deal on the intensity of the wind and of the sea.
bc.) The distance they had rowed would have been about halfway across the lake.
bca.) Good oarsmen can row around 3.5 – 4.5 miles in an hour.
bcb.) These men were fishermen; they were muscular; they were used to rowing their boats.
.01) If you were looking for some good men to pull at the oars this would have been some of the best men you could have found for the task.
.011) And yet these men left the other shore as the sun was going down.
.012) It was almost sunrise, but they had only travelled what would normally be covered in an hour or hour and a half.
4.) Jesus saw the disciples straining at the oars. (Mark 6:48)
A) When the Scriptures state that Jesus saw the disciples straining at the oars It was with the all-seeing eye of God that he saw them.
aa.) As we read our text it almost sounds as casual as though Jesus looked over his shoulder and could see the disciples in the boat a hundred feet away.
ab.) We must remember this was in the darkness of a stormy night and Jesus was on shore 3-5 miles from the disciples and the boat.
aba.) While Jesus saw these men, he saw them not merely from a human view, but with the all- seeing eyes of the eternal God, who sees and knows all things.
II.) THERE WAS A SCARY SIGHT.
1) To be honest, the night had already been scary.
A.) The men were now exhausted.
aa.) The previous day they had been working as servants or waiters distributing food to the massive multitude.
ab.) At the end of the day they got in boats to head home but ended up in a storm with winds almost defeating their efforts to row home.
aba.) You can be sure that by this time these men were totally exhausted.
B.) The men may perhaps have been a bit shaken from the weather.
ba.) All and all they had about all the excitement they could handle for one day and wanted to get home and have a few hours of sleep.
bb.) It was at that moment they experienced something more than they could have imagined.
bba.) Never in their wildest dreams would they have imagined someone walking on the water.
2) They thought they had seen a ghost.
A.) Matthew 14:25-27
aa.) Out text tells us that Jesus was about to pass by them but when they saw him, he came by to strengthen them and to give them comfort.
B.) Their immediate reaction was that they had seen a ghost.
ba.) Certainly, the last thing you would ever expect to see in the middle of the night and a storm was someone walking on the water.
bb.) Their natural reaction was that this had to be a ghost.
bba.) Like us they knew there was a lack of stability in water, and that it was an impossibility for anyone to be able to walk on the water.
bbb.) The only other conclusion was that this had to be a being of the spirit world.
.01) To say the least that was not exactly a pleasant thought.
.02) In fact this was not even comfortable to think on.
3) Their fears disappear because it is Jesus.
A.) Jesus identified himself and told them to take courage and not be afraid.
B.) The realization that it was Jesus and not a ghost must have put their minds somewhat at ease.
ba.) Just the same, it would have made them somewhat ill at ease knowing that Jesus was walking on the water.
III.) THERE WAS A STRONG FAITH.
1) The faith of these men is stirred because of Jesus.
A.) I suspect that each of the men on that boat were greatly relieved to find that this was Jesus and not a member of the Spirit world.
B.) These men had seen many things which made them to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
ba.) I suspect that this night the faith of these men grew even stronger than it had ever been.
2) Peter’s faith experienced no limits.
A.) Matthew 14:28
B.) Here in the excitement of the moment Peter’s faith went through the roof in His estimate of Jesus.
ba.) We do not know what got into Peter at that moment but seeing Jesus there, he had the confidence and faith that if Jesus would just say the word, that he too could walk on the water.
C.) Before Peter could even think about what he had just said Jesus answered his request.
ca.) Matthew 14:29
cb.) Instantly, Peter jumped up, stepped out of the boat, and walked with Jesus on the waves.
cc.) What a sight that must have been seeing Jesus and Peter walk on the water.
cca.) That is one of those accounts in the Bible I would have loved to have seen.
D.) I cannot help but to think on the scene in that fishing boat.
da.) What was going through the heads of those men?
db.) Were they thinking, “You’ve really done it this time Peter?”
dc.) Perhaps they admired Peter and envied the greatness of his faith at that moment.
dca.) Perhaps they were even trying to muster the faith to follow Peter and Jesus on the water.
dd.) Whatever these men may have thought, Scripture does not record it for us.
dda.) Yet as we think on this the scene there on the water Peter’s level of faith began to change.
3) Peter’s faith dropped from supernatural to natural.
A.) Matthew 14:30
B.) Peter felt the wind on his face, and looked down at the waves beneath him, and the boat far enough away that he could not just grab it or step into it.
C.) Peter was doing great when his eyes were on Jesus, and his faith in the power of Christ.
ca.) That should not surprise us as it is no different with us.
cb.) None of us have walked on water, but we do so well in our spiritual walk when we are focussing on Jesus Christ.
cc.) But how many times like Peter have we taken our eyes off Christ.
cca.) When is the last time you or I took our eyes off Christ?
.01) What happened in that moment?
.02) Did we become ineffective in our Christian faith?
.03) Did we become casual in our Christian walk and witness?
.04) Perhaps when we took our eyes off Christ it was even worse. Maybe we even entered into sin.
cd.) There is a reason why we need to keep our eyes on Jesus.
cda.) Hebrews 12:1-3
.01) When Peter had his eyes on Jesus he could run with perseverance toward Jesus.
.02) This passage of Scripture describes Jesus as the “Pioneer and perfecter of our faith.”
.021) That night with his eyes on Jesus allowed Peter to go where no man had ever gone before or since – to walk on water.
.022) Truly that night Peter’s faith was perfected more than it had ever been.
D.) Well let us look back at Peter and the scene on that water.
da.) He was “beginning to sink”.
db.) I want you to see that even this involved the miraculous hand of God out there on that water.
dba.) The normal thing would have been to just suddenly drop below the waves.
dbb.) That did not happen. Instead, he just slowly started to sink.
.01) As Peter took his eyes off Christ, he could feel the water around his ankles, and then up to his calves, and now to his knees.
.02) Peter felt the water as his body was slowly sinking beneath the waves, and before he completely went under the water, Peter cried out “Lord save me.”
.03) You know there are so many like Peter who only call out to Jesus when things get desperate.
.04) Even with salvation, many will go through all of life without Jesus.
.041) Many plan to come to Christ eventually, but sadly for many that day never comes, and they enter eternity without Christ.
.042) Certainly nothing could be sadder.
IV.) THERE WAS A SAVIOUR.
1) There was a Saviour for Peter.
A.) Matthew 14:31
B.) Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.
ba.) We see the loving hand of Jesus reaching out to lift Peter from the waves.
bb.) I expect he was actually saving Peter from drowning.
bba.) I have known a good many fishermen, and many of those men worked on the water all their lives but have never learnt to swim.
bbb.) I expect with the panic that Peter was in he probably was one of those men who could not swim.
.01) This might also have been the day that Peter determined he was going to learn to swim.
.02) I say this because at the end of John’s gospel after the resurrection that Peter jumped overboard and swam to meet Jesus.
.021) Perhaps in the time between those two accounts Peter learned to swim.
2) There was a Saviour for the 12.
A.) That night Jesus saved the entire boat of fishermen from the water, and the toil against the waves.
B.) More than this, that night everyone of them came to the point of realizing Jesus was the one they could fully trust every part of their lives to including eternity.
CONCLUSION:
1.) The final verse of our tests states: “Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there.
2.) Be a wave walker. Don’t take your eyes off of Jesus but keep your eyes of faith on Him.
