Walking On The Water

WALKING ON THE WATER John 6:16-21

Have you ever gotten a pop quiz?

(ELAB)

In todays text The disciples are about to get a pop quiz. John 6:16-21

• They have just been through an incredible day.

• After sitting at the feet of Jesus and hearing Him teach the multitude,

• They watched Him feed over 5,000 people with five bagels and two sardines.

• This wasn’t done with mirrors.

• There was no trick photography involved.

• They felt the loaves of bread with their own hands

• As they were passing them out to all these people.

• And when it was over and everybody had eatin as much as they wanted

• They picked up twelve bags full of leftovers.

That was the lesson for the day.

• It was a lesson about the power of Jesus

• And it was a lesson about His sufficiency.

• And Now that they have been exposed to the lesson,

• Iit is time for the quiz.

• And The quiz takes the shape of a strong wind.

DISCIPLES IN THE STORM

Jn 6:16 That evening his disciples went down to the shore to wait for him.

Jn 6:17 But as darkness fell and Jesus still hadn’t come back, they got into the boat and headed out across the lake toward Capernaum.

Jn 6:18 Soon a gale swept down upon them as they rowed, and the sea grew very rough. (John 6:16-18).

Jesus and His disciples had been on the northeastern shore of the Sea of Galilee.

• The disciples then got on their boat and start across to the northwestern shore

• It is a distance of about five miles.

• When we read this it may seem like that the disciples

• Had abandoned Jesus and left Him behind

• When we assume this what we are really doing is reading more into the text than is really there

• We have to compare this account with the account that we read in

• Mark 6:45-46 where it says

Mk 6:45 Immediately after this, (Talking about the feeding) that Jesus made his disciples get back into the boat and head out across the lake to Bethsaida, while he sent the people home.

Mk 6:46 Afterward he went up into the hills by himself to pray.

He sent them away.

• Jesus told His disciples to do something and they did it.

• And in the middle of doing what they were told

• They found themselves in the middle of a storm.

And the question for today is are you in a storm right now?

• You may be thinking to yourself, "Lord, what did I do to deserve this?"

• And sometimes what makes a situation even harder is that

• It’s possible that you haven’t done anything wrong (ELAB)

• And even though you have been faithful

• You still find yourself in the middle of a storm.

Are you reading this passage and thinking that it sounds familiar,

• And if so I want you to know that you are not alone.

• The disciples must have experienced this same sense of déjà vu.

• Even though it’s not mentioned in the Gospel of John,

• The other accounts show us that this wasn’t the first storm the disciples had encountered on the Sea of Galilee.

• They’d been out there before

• Maybe even in the same boat

• The first time this had had happened

• They had come to this same spot on the lake

• And the boat had began to sink

• So they woke up Jesus who had been sleeping in the back of the boat

• And Jesus calmed the storm.

And now it was happening all over again

• We can imagine Peters first response is

• No problem I’ll just go wake Jesus up

• He can turn the storm off!"

• And John answers, "Uhh Peter, we have a bit of trouble.

• We left Jesus back on the shore."

• And to make matters worse, They had taken the only boat.

So What do you do when you are alone in the midst of the storm?

• Well we know one thing and that’s Jesus knows what we’re going through.

• But no matter how hard you look you can’t see Him.

I believe that there was something in the boat

• That should have comforted the disciples.

• There were 12 baskets of leftovers

• Which showed the power and the compassion of God.

• And when they looked at those baskets,

• They should have realized that the God who provided for the needs of all those people

• Is the same God that wouldn’t fail them in the middle of this storm