John • #5 of 7 signs

John 6:15-21 • Jesus walks on water...

• John's motivation to write? That we might receive eternal life by believing in Jesus.

John 20:30-31 → 30Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.

• The signs that John mentions are 7 which he recorded in his gospel. They are...

► Sign 1, Water to Wine, Jesus is the master of the ELEMENTS → John 2:1-12

► Sign 2, Nobleman's Son, Jesus is the master over DISTANCE → John 4:46-54

► Sign 3, Lame Man at Bethesda, Jesus is the master over TIME → John 5:1-18

► Sign 4, Feeding of 5,000+, Jesus is the master over DIMENSION → John 6:1-15

► Sign 5, Jesus walks on water, Jesus is the master over NATURE → John 6:15-21

► Sign 6, The Man Born Blind, Jesus is the master over HISTORY → John 9:1-41

► Sign 7, The Raising of Lazarus, Jesus is the master over DEATH → John 11:1-46

• Sign 5, Jesus walks on water, Jesus is the master over NATURE

John 6:15-21 → 15So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone.

• This is a transitionary verse, which I've included in Sign #4 and #5. The two events are one right after the other. The "feeding" was for all to see; the "walking" is only for the disciples.

16Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, 17and after getting into a boat, they started to cross the sea to Capernaum.

• Matthew 14:22 tells us that Jesus instructed the disciples to take a boat and cross the sea ahead of Him. He did this before He went up on the mountain to pray alone.

• Mark 6:45 concurs with this, and also tells us that they were only supposed to take the boat to Bethsaida. Not sure if that is where He planned to get in the boat with them, but they will end up a lot farther away than Bethsaida.

It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18The sea began to be stirred up because a strong wind was blowing.

• Matthew 14:24 tells us that the boat was "a long distance from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary."

• Mark 6:48 tells us that they were "straining at the oars, for the wind was against them,..."

• Needless to say, it wasn't the best night to go sailing!

19Then, when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat; and they were frightened.

• Matthew 14:25-26 says "25And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. 26When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear."

► "fourth watch of the night", based on a Roman timetable would have between 3:00am and 6:00am.

• Mark 6:48-50 agrees with this and adds the comment that Jesus "intended to pass them by". Some of the commentators I read indicated that this wasn't so much as Jesus just wanting to get past them, but rather that He was passing along side them, for the sole purpose that they could see Him doing this miraculous thing.

• When John mentions that they "rowed about three or four miles", I don't know when the last time you rowed a boat 4 miles, but rowing is really hard. And yes, I know they were fishermen by trade, and were probably used to doing this, BUT not in these conditions! I'm sure they were rowing into the wind.

20But He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.”

• Matthew 14:28-31 tells of the added event of Peter asking Jesus to call him out to walk on the water with Him, which Jesus does, but then Peter, who is already walking on the water, takes his focus off of Jesus, and looks at the violence of the waves, begins to sink and to cry out for help.

21So they were willing to receive Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

• Both Matthew 14:32 and Mark 6:51 tell us that when Jesus got in the boat the wind stopped.

• John tells us that the boat also was "immediately... at the land to which they were going", which according to Matthew 14:34 is Gennesaret, which is south and west of Capernaum, which is where they originally planned to go, apparently with a stop at Bethsaida according to Mark 6:45.

• John doesn't tell us any specifics about the disciples responses to this event. But Matthew does in 14:33 where it says "And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are certainly God’s Son!”" Mark 6:51b-52 tells us that "51bthey were utterly astonished, 52for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened." So apparently, if one tries to meld the worship and belief recorded in Matthew, and the astonishment and hardness of heart in Mark, that there must have been some processing going on in their minds and their hearts that took them from not being able to perceive what has just happened, to the point where they finally got it, and to exclaim praise to the Son of God. It must have been an awesome and amazing thing, to not only be saved from imminent death, from to be saved by a Person for whom the laws of nature do not apply.

• Jesus is the master over NATURE

Photo → 5/14/2022 • Sunrise at Oologah Lake, OK