John 6:16-21

04/19/09
John 6:16-21
Hudson UMC

It has been a few weeks since we looked into the Gospel according to John, so there might be a need to do a little recapping so we can be caught up to speed with what is going on. We just witnessed Jesus feeding the five thousand people. The people were so impressed with this miracle that they wanted to make Him their king; indeed, we read that they were going to take Him by force. Jesus, when He realized this, departed up a mountain to be by Himself and pray. On top of all this, we are told that the events of chapter six are happening during this time of year, right around the Passover festival, which is at the same time as the Christian celebration of Easter.

So we are considering the miracle of Jesus walking on the water. In John’s version of the story, he leaves out a bunch of familiar details, like Peter getting out and joining Him on the water (one of my favorite parts). We have a very straightforward, simple story where Jesus is presented as walking in, sitting down, encouraging His disciples, and it’s over.

And yet, I think that there is more to this story than meets the eye. Did you know that this story, of Jesus walking on the water, occurs in three of the Gospel accounts, Matthew, Mark, and John? This in itself is not so surprising, but it is incredibly interesting that in each of them, it follows immediately after the miraculous feeding. Now, I cannot tell you why the authors would be so careful to make sure these two stories are right next to each other when there are many differences in order, especially in John, but it is true. Clearly, the early church tied these two stories together and insisted that they went together. Unfortunately, I must admit that I do not know what to make of this connection. Perhaps God will give you an insight today. Remember that, though it has been a few weeks, the feeding of the five thousand forms the immediate backdrop to this story and probably has some significance. Keep that story in your mind as we continue.

Jesus had gone up a mountain to pray. Our passage begins with, “When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum.” So far, no big deal. However, it continues, “It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.” Why in the world would the disciples leave without Jesus? Have they not given their lives to following Him? They know that He hasn’t gone anywhere; why didn’t they wait? I think that they felt like it was very important for them to get to Capernaum that night and not wait until morning. After all, I can’t imagine that rowing at night would have been pleasant.

Why would they want to leave? I suppose it is anyone’s guess, but it might be that they did not want to spend the night lying on the ground. Capernaum was a decent size city; surely they were staying with someone. Though the area was covered with grass, maybe they just didn’t want to stay there. Maybe they saw the storm coming and were hoping to get across the sea before it hit. After all, sleeping under the stars is one thing; doing it in the middle of a storm is something else entirely. Maybe it was simpler than that. Maybe they had an appointment to keep, something they did not want to be late for. Maybe they had waited as long as they could, but when Jesus did not show up, they got in the boat by themselves and left.

Regardless of why they left, we read that they left. Without Jesus. No matter how good of a reason they could have for taking off, they did not seem to care whether Jesus was with them. How telling this simple behavior is. How often do human beings go about their business, intently aware of where they need to be or what they have to do that they do not seem to care whether Jesus is with them. The disciples not only left Jesus behind, they left Him behind when a storm was coming. If there was ever a time to want Jesus by your side, you would think it would be in the midst of a storm. However, the disciples left, without Jesus.

So the disciples went off, like we do all too often, by themselves. They had the illusion of security so they did not even seem to care that by doing things on their own, they had abandoned Jesus. If someone were to do something like this to you, how would you feel about it? What if you were supposed to go on a trip with a group of people and they just took off without you, alone, while a storm was coming? Would that fill you with compassion for them? Would you be excited about helping them out? Probably not; I know that I would not likely be full of warm fuzzies if that were to happen to me. And yet, what do we see Jesus doing? He does not seem to get mad. The disciples had left without Him, but does He let them be overwhelmed by the storm? No, He follows them. He comes to them, walking on the sea.

Many people in contemporary society have a hard time believing that Jesus really walked on the water. Some people argue that they cannot believe it because they don’t see things like this every day. Some others think that, because the disciples lived in a time before sophisticated science, before they had as advanced an understanding of the world around them as we do today, they would have had no problems believing that a man could walk on the water. It is as if we believe that it is because we are so scientifically enlightened that we have difficulty accepting the miracles as truth. And yet, I don’t think that it takes a scientific culture to know that people just do not walk on the water. I didn’t need to go to college to understand that this is something that just does not happen. And yet, the disciples were face-to-face with this incredible sight. What does the story tell us, that the disciples were unimpressed with this miracle, that it made perfect sense? No, we read, “they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified.” This was not something they expected. Who knows how they thought that Jesus would catch up to them, but they surely did not think that He would do this.

It is interesting to notice that the disciples were not afraid when the winds started to blow. They were not afraid when they had to struggle to keep the boat moving forward. They were not afraid until they saw Jesus walking on the water, and then they were terrified. I don’t think that it was Jesus’ main goal to terrify His disciples. I think His point was to come to help His disciples. Though they had abandoned Him, He did not abandon them. They were having problems and Jesus shows up at their moment of greatest need. He was not coming to them in anger. If He were, the disciples would be quite correct to be afraid. Instead, He is coming to bring them aid.

What does He say to them? “It is I; do not be afraid.” Think about it. If you were in a boat, being tossed by the waves and blown by the winds, if somebody were to come up to you and say, “Do not be afraid,” do you think you could follow their advice? Yeah right! If you were not already frightened by the storm around you, the person coming up, walking on the water, would scare you to death. Sometimes, God wants to comfort us, but we are frightened just to see Him. Maybe we have been like the disciples, people who have turned our backs on God, who have said, “We waited long enough for God to move, now we’re just going to get it done by ourselves.” Maybe, when Jesus shows up, we are not overjoyed that God is in our midst, but rather grieved because we have turned our backs on Him so many times. I sometimes wonder if the fear of the disciples was based on this unexpected visitation of Jesus on the water, or if it was because His presence reminded them of how foolish they had been for leaving Him behind.

In any case, it is important to look carefully at what Jesus says. “It is I.” I don’t like to bore you with Greek, but there is an idea conveyed in the Greek phrase, “εγω ειμι” that we simply miss when we translate it into English. It literally means, “I AM” with emphasis, but, since “I AM, do not be afraid” does not make sense in English, we change it to “it is I.” However, people, especially Jews, did not usually say this. When they talked about themselves, they would say it differently. You might be wondering, “Who cares? Why does it matter?” It actually matters a lot. Think back to your Sunday School days when you were learning about Moses. When Moses asked God what His name is, he was told, “I am who I am,” or, more simply, “I AM.”

Do you understand why Jesus said what He said? He was not simply saying, “Hey guys, it’s me, Jesus, don’t worry.” Instead, He was saying, “I am the Lord and I am with you. Because the very presence of God is among you, you do not need to be afraid.” He was not simply giving them human reassurance, He was reminding them that, though He was a man who they could touch and know, He was also very much God, co-equal with His Father.

Let me try and tie some things up for you. Remember, this story is happening around the time of Passover. Jesus had just fed the people with a miracle of bread and is going to connect this bread to the Manna from heaven in the Exodus story very soon. Now, Jesus is walking across a sea. Are things connecting for you? I will continue. When Jewish people celebrate a Seder dinner on Passover, they recall how God had delivered them from Egypt. Aside from the initial deliverance, there are two symbols that they focus on. The first of these is the crossing of the Red Sea. The second of these is that God provided for them for forty years as they wandered in the wilderness. Have you made the connection now? It is as if Jesus is miraculously providing bread and dramatically crossing a sea, all during the Passover season, to remind the disciples of the stories of God, to remind them that, although they live in a world that is, in many ways, different from the world of Moses and those ancient Israelites, God has not changed and is still working for their good.

My encouragement for you, on this first Sunday after Easter, is to be reminded that we do not serve a dead Jew who is nothing more than a wise spiritual teacher. We serve the living Christ, not only a man, but fully God. He is the Lord who provided for His people to deliver them from Egypt, He is the Lord who walked on the water and provided for His disciples by the Sea of Galilee all those years ago, and He is the Lord who will provide for us in our time of trial. When we are in the midst of life’s storms, we are no worse of than the disciples were. When Jesus got into the boat, we read that they immediately reached the land toward which they were going. They had been striving all night to row and make it in their own strength. When they invited Jesus into the boat, they were delivered. When they realized that they needed Jesus and turned their situation over to God, they received divine help. Let us invite Jesus into our boat today. Let us, as a church, a body of believers, let God get into the boat with us instead of leaving Him behind. He will bless our labors. Let us pray.

AMEN