16 When evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. 20 But He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” 21 Then they were glad to take Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. 22 On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but that His disciples had gone away alone. 23 Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. 25 When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?”
I know it seems a bit odd to end right there, as Jesus gave the people a profound answer to their question, but we will be taking a close look at His conversation with them from next Sunday.
For now, our focus is on the 5th sign that John records for us in his Gospel: the miracle of Jesus walking on the water. This particular sign again highlighted that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God, as Jesus’ deity is demonstrated by His sovereign power over the laws of nature.
Before we get into the specifics of this miracle, it might help us to try and consider the bigger picture and the setting of this sign. In order to do that, we need to go back a few verses, as we see the large crowd’s reaction a little earlier that evening just after Jesus fed them with just 5 loaves and 2 fish. “When the people saw the sign that He had done, they said, ‘This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!’ Perceiving then that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by Himself.” (John 6:14-15)
Fast forward now to the disciples battling to make headway against the storm on the Sea of Galilee. They saw a figure approaching them on the water, walking straight into this strong headwind. Not only was He walking into the wind, but He was overtaking them. The wind which was holding them back was completely powerless to hold Jesus back.
The seas were raging, threatening to swamp and even sink their boat, but the storm had no power over Him. In Matthew and Mark’s accounts we’re told that they thought He was a ghost. Once Jesus assured them who He was and told them not to be afraid, He climbed into the boat, and they reached the other side safely.
An important detail in this sign is that this is the only recorded miracle in the Bible that Jesus performed exclusively for His disciples. There were no other people around. Why is that? The English Bible scholar George Campbell Morgan has an interesting take on this. He wrote in one of his books that as Jesus sent His disciples back across the sea to Capernaum on the western shore, He knew how disappointed they were that He had refused to be made king by force. Campbell suggests that despite the miracles the disciples had already seen, their faith was so weak, they might even have wondered if Jesus really was who He claimed to be.
Campbell writes, “So He gave them a demonstration of His present Kingship, and that in the realm of nature. It was as though He had said, ‘I have refused to be crowned king upon the basis of bread, but make no mistake, I am King in every realm, King in the realm of nature. Contrary winds cannot hinder me, the tossing sea cannot overwhelm me. I am King.’”
As we’ve seen before, Jesus’ signs and wonders were not random events, and they were most certainly not performed in order to entertain people. John 20:30-31 again: “Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.” The purpose of the miracle of Jesus walking on the water is no different to any of His other signs. He performed these miracles to prove that He is the Christ, the Son of God.
The Sea of Galilee is more than 200 metres below sea level, in a depression surrounded by hills, but it is only 40km inland from the Mediterranean Sea, and what often happens at sunset is that cool air is blown from the west, and it quite literally rushes down the hillside into this bowl which contains the Sea of Galilee. The strong westerly wind then churns up the lake, sometimes creating violent storms, which is where we find the disciples in John 6. They were sailing west towards Capernaum, directly into one of these strong winds, and they were making little or no progress. We shouldn’t forget that several of these men were fishermen, so they would’ve had plenty experience of sailing across the Sea of Galilee, but on this occasion it was dark and the waters were dangerous.
Verses 16 and 17 give us an insight as to why they set off for Capernaum so much later than they normally would have. “When evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.”
It was now evening, and knowing the unpredictability of the weather, the disciples would usually have left earlier while is was still daylight, but verse 17 implies that they were expecting Jesus to join them, but they waited in vain, so by the time they eventually did leave, it was too late to avoid the storm.
William McDonald writes in his commentary, “Jesus was not with them. Where was He? He was up on the mountain praying. What a picture of Christ’s followers today. They are on the stormy sea of life. It is dark. The Lord Jesus is nowhere to be seen. But that does not mean that He is unaware of what is going on. He is in heaven praying for those He loves.”
It’s interesting that as both Matthew and Mark tell us, Jesus instructed the disciples to get into their boat and head back to the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, knowing full well that He would not be joining them, and that a storm was approaching. They obediently did as He instructed them, yet they ran into a storm anyway. As Christians, and you don’t need me to remind you of this, struggles and difficulties are a reality, even when we are being faithful to God.
Jesus sent His disciples into the storm. Christians will go through difficulties because of the calling of the Christian life. Unbelievers are at war with God but at peace with sin, while Christians are at peace with God but at war with sin. We are the ones called to resist temptation and live against the grain of the world, and this will bring us into conflict with not only our own sinful desires, but it can and does bring mockery and persecution from the non-believing world.
It’s one thing to find ourselves in trouble because we have followed our own sinful desires, but what about the times when we are being obedient to God, but we still find ourselves in peril on the sea, as the old hymn goes? There are times when Christians are in all kinds of trouble, and to make things worse, there doesn’t seem to be any escape, and we see no logical reason for the situation we’re in.
On another occasion, Jesus was with the disciples when a storm came. He was in the boat with them, and He calmed the sea, but now He was nowhere to be seen. Each of us has said it before: “Lord, where are you?” We can all identify with David’s anguish in the first 2 verses of Psalm 22. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.”
The Bible commentator Matthew Henry wrote in his commentary on John 6, “The absence of Christ is the great aggravation of the troubles of Christians.” The truth is that suffering and pain comes to those who hate God and to those who love Him. The difference is the hope which we have, knowing that these things will pass, and that eternity with Christ awaits those who put their faith in Him. As the apostle Paul reminds us in Romans 8:34, “Christ Jesus is the one who died - more than that, who was raised - who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”
Look at the opening verses of Psalm 22 again, but see how David, in faith, looks to the God who seemingly has deserted him, for peace and comfort. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.” (Psalm 22:1-5)
Nowhere in Scripture does God promise that there will be no storms in the lives of His people, but He does promise comfort and strength in them. When life is good, be grateful and enjoy the moment. God does bless us with times of extreme joy and happiness, but because we are broken people living in a broken world, the next storm is coming. We don’t know when or how severe it will be, but it is coming.
The hope that we have though, is that God does not abandon us, and leave us to work it all out on our own. He still comes to us to bring us peace and strength. As we know, God works in mysterious ways, and most of the time we don’t even see His hand at work, but by faith we trust that He has not deserted us. Just before Jesus ascended to Heaven, He said to His disciples, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20) He has given us His Spirit, who guides us into all truth. Jesus might not come to us as dramatically as He did that night to His disciples, but we do know that He has never left us and He never will.
Mark 6:48 says that Jesus saw them making slow headway. He was watching them. He knew about their situation, and so, He miraculously went to them walking on the surface of the water. Seeing what they thought was a ghost, the disciples were terrified, and Jesus says, “It is I; do not be afraid.”
Jesus calmed their fears by speaking to them. The miracle of feeding a huge crowd with just one boy’s picnic lunch showed His power over matter, and now He reveals His power over the forces of nature. This was one more step on the disciples’ journey of faith.
Here we have the Creator and the Sustainer of the universe, the one who made the Sea of Galilee, who would take His disciples safely to shore. When Jesus said, It is I,” He wasn’t merely identifying Himself. The words “It is I” are literally “I AM.” We have still to come to the 7 “I AM” statements of Jesus in John’s Gospel - in fact, we’ll be considering the first of them next Sunday - but this is actually the second time in John’s Gospel where Jesus applied this name of God to Himself. You might remember His conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well back in chapter 4. “The woman said to Him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ). When He comes, He will tell us all things.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I who speak to you am He.’” (John 4:25-26) We’ll get into this in more detail next week, but when Jesus says “I AM,” the Greek translation in the original text is Ego eimi, as Jesus claims the same name for Himself as God the Father did with Moses in Exodus 3.
This miracle not only revealed Jesus’ authority to His disciples, but there is also an important faith lesson for them and us. In order for them to be saved in the middle of this storm, they had to recognise their need and invite Jesus into the boat. Look at verse 21. “They were glad to take Him into the boat.” Jesus didn’t just climb aboard. They had to receive Him, and they did so gladly.
Just seeing Jesus and recognising Him were not enough. They had to take Him into the boat. It takes spiritual appropriation and a personal commitment for us to receive the gift of eternal life.
Jesus says “It is I; do not be afraid.” Our true situation is much worse than bobbing about in a little boat in a stormy sea. We are guilty of cosmic treason against the Creator of the Universe. Our sin has condemned us to hell for all of eternity. That’s the bad news, but the good news of the Gospel is this: God comes to us in the person of His Son Jesus Christ. He reveals Himself as the great I AM, and tells us to not be afraid, because He offers us forgiveness for our sins and eternal salvation if we would confess our sins and turn to Him in repentance.
And now, in the midst of the storms of life, we have no reason to fear, but that confidence and assurance is exclusively given to those who put their faith in Christ. Later on in John’s Gospel, Jesus revealed Himself to His enemies, but their reaction to Him was very different. “Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to Him, came forward and said to them, ‘Whom do you seek?’ They answered Him, ‘Jesus of Nazareth.’ Jesus said to them, ‘I am He.’ Judas, who betrayed Him, was standing with them. When Jesus said to them, ‘I am He,’ they drew back and fell to the ground.” (John 18:4-6)
They were terrified to be in the presence of a Holy God, and they had every reason to be. Hebrews 10:31 says, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” It is only the righteousness of Jesus, given or imputed to us by faith, that satisfies God’s wrath at our sin. That is our only protection - Christ alone.
The reason for the difference is that when Jesus returns, He will not be returning as the Saviour, but as the judge of those who have rejected His gracious offer of forgiveness. The reformer John Calvin wrote, “Believers, who know that He is given to them to make propitiation, as soon as they hear His name, which is a sure pledge to them both of the love of God and of their salvation, take courage as if they had been raised from death to life, calmly look at the clear sky, dwell quietly on earth, and, victorious over every calamity, take Him for their shield against all dangers. Nor does He only comfort and encourage them by His Word, but actually removes also the cause of the terror by allaying the tempest.”
This particular sign that John records for us in chapter 6 is far more than just a demonstration of Jesus’ authority over the laws of nature. It’s about salvation. It is a lesson to us of the power that Jesus has over death itself, and how He delivers us from the eternal punishment we deserve.
The text continues in verses 22-25. “On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but that His disciples had gone away alone. Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’”
This is an important part of the whole narrative in chapter 6 which is easy to overlook. Jesus’ popularity was at an all time high, and it shaped much of what He did and said during this period of time, and it also sets the scene for the rest of the chapter.
The crowd that Jesus had fed were looking for Him, but there were no boats to take them to the other side of the sea, so they had to stay the night on the eastern shore until the next morning. There was only one boat there that evening - the one they had followed earlier as they ran along the northern coastline, but they hadn’t seen Jesus getting into the boat with His disciples, so when some boats did arrive the next day to take them back to Capernaum, they were amazed to see Jesus there. He hadn’t boarded the boat with His disciples, so their question to Him was basically, “How, and when did you get here?”
Obviously they were confused, as they had no idea how He got back to Capernaum ahead of them. They assumed the disciples had travelled alone, and that Jesus was still on the other side where He had fed them, but they couldn’t find Him, so they eventually they gave up and made their way back to Capernaum, only to be surprised that He was already there. Of course, they were delighted anyway, because just as before, they were looking for Him. The question is, what was their reason? What did they want? Was it more food? They probably hadn’t eaten since the evening before so they would have been hungry again, but they were hardly prepared for what they heard next, and this is what we’ll be looking at next week.
So what can we learn from the miracle of Jesus walking on the water?
Jesus comes to His people in their need. He comes to us in the storm, sharing our struggles, and there is no obstacle that Jesus will not cross to help us - not the sea, not the storm, and not even our sins.
This is why the incarnation is one of the great Christian doctrines. God the Son came personally into our world and suffered with us all the brokenness of this life. He knows firsthand what we are going through, because He has been there. In fact, He suffered more, enduring the hatred of those He loved when He went to the cross.
Jesus did not abandon His disciples that night. He went into the same storm they were experiencing in order to bring them peace and assurance. And He promises the same to us: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour.” (Isaiah 43:2–3)
He went to His disciples in their distress. He went to them in the storm, and that is often how He comes to us today, as He makes Himself more real to us in times of trouble and sorrow. We don’t know exactly why He waits until it is dark and the waves are threatening to swamp us, but maybe that is the only time we will listen to Him.
Amazingly, when we do turn to Him, His answer is not, “Where were you when everything was going just fine? You didn’t give me a second thought when life was good, but now you’ve changed your tune.” No. Instead we find grace and mercy, as He says, “It is I; do not be afraid.”
If you have yet to turn to Christ in repentance and faith, you need to know the seriousness of your situation. You also live in a dark and stormy world, and you have your share of troubles too. But do you understand your ultimate destination the instant after your draw your last breath in this life? You can have peace, you know. Jesus’ words, “It is I; do not be afraid,” can apply to you, but first you must recognise and admit your need.
Like the disciples that night and like every Christian, you are also battling through the storms of life, but without Christ, you have no hope of salvation. The reality of death comes to us all. We are all standing on the brink of eternity, but without the righteousness of Jesus Christ, you will have to satisfy the judgment of a perfectly holy God on your own. Turn to Christ while you still have the opportunity. Receive His grace, and be saved.
Because when you do receive Jesus Christ as Lord, you will have nothing to fear. It might be dark and the waves might be threatening, but this is the promise He gives you: “It is I; do not be afraid.” As Paul writes in Romans 13:11-12, “For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light.”
Homegroup Study Notes
Read John 6:16-21
See also Matthew 14:22 and Mark 6:45
Here we read that the disciples were instructed by Jesus to get into the boat, knowing that a storm was coming.
Why do you think we suffer at times, even when we are being obedient to God’s Word as revealed in the Bible?
What is the significance of Jesus appearing to His disciples in the dark, and during a violent storm?
How does this principle apply to our life of faith today?
What fears do we have that could be lessened or even removed completely by recognising that Jesus is with us, even when it appears we are alone?
How have you experienced the peace of God during a storm in your life, and how did this strengthen your faith?
Hebrews 10:31 tells us it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, yet Jesus reassures His disciples, “It is I; do not be afraid.”
What makes the difference, and how does this miracle speak to us about salvation in Christ?